LEARNING

HOW DO YOU LEARN BEST??

Ivan Pavlov and the role of Serendipity

• Russian physiologist studying the digestive system

• Focusing on what substance helped to break food down

• One notable substance studied was saliva

• Developed method to measure saliva production

Components of Classical Conditioning

Ivan Pavlov termed this type of learning as classical conditioning (a.k.a. Pavlovian conditioning)

UCS –

UCR –

NS –

CS –

CR –

Classical Conditioning

UCS ->->->->UCR

UCS naturally causes or:

Then, we pair the NS (which becomes the CS) with the UCS enough times to create the CR

CS ->->->->->CR

Salivary Conditioning Apparatus

Pupils dilating at the sound of a bell..

UCS – lights off -> -> -> UCR – pupil dilation

NS – Bell

CS – Bell -> -> -> CR – pupil dilation

The tale of Little Albert….

• Watson and his assistant Rosalie Rayner (okay, there is a scandal there with these two) trained Little Albert to be afraid of a white rat

• UCS – -------- UCR –

• NS –

• CS- ------------------ CR –

•   In delayed conditioning, the CS is presented:

• This is considered the most effective form of conditioning

• The CS is presented and terminated:

• This is the procedure of trace conditioning, which can be very effective if:

• Less effective than delayed conditioning

• In simultaneous conditioning the CS and the UCS are presented:

• Pavlov found that conditioning was very weak when:

• One explanation is that there is no time for the subject to anticipate the UCS and thus the CS does not take on the properties of the UCS.

• In the procedure sometimes called backward conditioning, the UCS is presented and terminated:

• Most psychologists argue that it does not work.

Generalization vs. Discrimination

• Response generalization – when the subject responds to:

• Response discrimination – when the subject responds:

What would happen if you….

• Kept presenting the CS without the presence of the UCS?

• Reintroduced the pairing of the CS and the UCS?

Taste-Aversion Learning

• When one associates a particular sensory cue (smell, taste, sound or sight) with getting sick and thereafter avoiding that particular sensory cue in the future

Behavior therapy using classical conditioning

• Aversive therapy-pair up bad behavior (acts as a CS) with some type of negative stimulus (acts as a UCS) to create a negative CR

• e.g. – you can pair up smoking with making a person really sick. They will then associate smoking with getting sick and usually just the thought of smoking will make them nauseous

Phobias…….so now you know how they occur

• Ways to deal with a phobia:

– Systematic desensitization

– Flooding

Operant Conditioning

• Operant Conditioning

– Response ->

– Subject a response

– Subject knows they are responding for stimulus

• Classical Conditioning

– Stimulus ->

– Subject has response

– Subject does not know that learning is taking place

Skinner

• Created the Skinner box, which showed how behavior could be shaped

Shaping

• Shaping – a system of quickly and systematically teaching animals/humans behavior

• Successive approximations –

Reinforcers• Skinner held that our behavior is learned

through the use of reinforcers – that is, any stimulus that will increase the likelihood that the behavior will occur again

• Primary reinforcers – unlearned biological needs/drives –

• Secondary reinforcers – learned needs/drives such as –etc.

Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery

• In operant conditioning, the response can be weakened and eventually extinguished by no longer presenting the reinforcer

• The response can be spontaneously recovered by reintroducing the reinforcer

Positive vs. negative reinforcement

Positive reinforcers –

In order for the reinforcer to be considered positive, it must be one which the subject considers to be positive – that is, if a subject does not like chocolate, offering this as a positive reinforcer will not work.

• Negative reinforcement – when a response is strengthened -

• With punishment, the behavior should decrease, while with negative reinforcement the behavior should increase

Examples of negative reinforcement

• Parent picking up baby to remove

the aversive stimulus of baby crying

• Child cleaning room to stop parent nagging

• Child being moved near teacher to stop them from talking – if the child does not talk again, then they have been punished – however, if the child was seeking attention, they will talk again to get the teacher’s attention

Escape and avoidance learning

• Negative reinforcement leads to 2 kinds of behaviors:

• 1) Escape learning –

• 2) Avoidance learning –

Continuous vs. intermittent reinforcement

• Continuous reinforcement: when the subject receives a reinforcer every time they do the response

• Intermittent: more variable – Schedules of reinforcement

Schedules of Reinforcement

OfficeClass vsOperantcond

Punishment1. It should be

2. Should

3. Explain why the person is being punished

4. Explain an

5. Be consistent-consistent punishment

6. Use physical punishment :

Negative effects of punishment

• Suppression of

• Triggers

• May lead to

Some suggestions

• Reinforce positive desirable behavior and ignore undesirable behavior (within reason)

• Praise children around the child for desirable behavior (vicarious learning – ripple effect)

• Reinforce behaviors as they get closer to the desired behavior-esp. with small children (shaping – successive approximations)

Learning

• Learning and learned helplessness

• Learning and the self-fulfilling prophecy

Observational Learning

When learning takes place via modeling – that is “monkey see, monkey do”

Albert Bandura – social learning theory

Bobo doll