Table of Contents

Learning: ........................................................................................................................... 2
Types of learning: ...................................................................................................................... 2
Opponent process theory (Richard Solomon’s (1980) ................................................................. 2
Associative Learning .......................................................................................................... 3
Classical Conditioning (CC) ......................................................................................................... 3
Behaviourism ..................................................................................................................... 8
John B. Watson (1878-1958) ...................................................................................................... 8
John B. Watson “Twelve Infants” quotation ................................................................................................ 8
Operant Conditioning ................................................................................................................ 8
B.F. Skinner & Operant Conditioning.......................................................................................... 9
Schedules of reinforcement ......................................................................................................11
Types of reinforcers ..................................................................................................................12
Shaping of behaviours: successive approximations ...................................................................13
Real-world applications of conditioning ........................................................................... 13
Aversion therapy ......................................................................................................................13
Exposure therapies ...................................................................................................................13
Token Economies ......................................................................................................................14
Week 2:

Learning: “Learning is a change in an organism’s behaviour or thought as a result of

experience”

Types of learning:

Non-associative learning

• Learning about direct properties of a stimulus

Two primary types:

Habituation: become less sensitive to a stimulus due to repeated exposure
E.g., being aware of sounds after moving into new house, not able to sleep,
after a week become less sensitive and less aware to the sounds, able to sleep now

Sensitization: become more responsive to a stimulus in the environment

E.g, Becoming sensitised to something annoying, eg talking, being driven
crazy by even the smallest bit of chatter

Associative learning
• Learning about relations between stimuli

Habituation & Sensitization in Aplysia californicus • Eric Kandel

• Gill and siphon withdrawal reflex
• Reflex is reduced to gentle touch: habituation
• Reflex is enhanced to a noxious stimulus: sensitization
• Why Aplysia? Go in at neuron level, and observe learning in a basic creature

Opponent process theory (Richard Solomon’s (1980)

New stimulus events — especially those that arouse strong positive or negative emotions —
disrupt the individual’s physiological state of equilibrium, or homeostasis.
This disruption triggers an opposite, process that counteracts the disruption and eventually
restores equilibrium. If the arousing event occurs repeatedly, this opponent process gets
stronger and occurs more rapidly. It eventually becomes so quick and strong that it actually
suppresses the initial response to the stimulus, creating habituation.

- for example, what happens as someone continues to use heroin. The ‘high’, that
follows a particular dose of the drug, begins to decrease, or habituate, with repeated
doses. Habituation occurs, Solomon says, because the initial, pleasurable reaction to
the drug is followed by an unpleasant, increasingly rapid opposing reaction that
counteracts the drug’s primary effects. As drug users become habituated, they must
take progressively larger doses to get the same high.
Associative Learning
Classical Conditioning (CC) Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
• Discovery of the conditioned reflex

Pavlov conditions his dog

Major Principles of Classical Conditioning

1. Acquisition of Conditioned Response ▪ How long does ‘learning’ take?
2. Extinction ▪ Can we un-do learning?
3. Spontaneous Recovery
4. Generalisation ▪ Does the pairing exist only amongst identical pairs?
5. Discrimination ▪ Can an organism discriminate between stimuli?
UCS: food CS: metronome
UCR: salivation CR: salivation
Before Conditioning NS (_________________)elicits no response.
UCS (_______________) elicits UCR (____________________) in response
to (_______________________)

During Conditioning NS is repeatedly paired with UCS to elicit UCR

After Conditioning Due to repeated pairings, an associated is made and the CS

(_____________) elicits the CR (_______________) in response to
(____________________) .

1. Acquisition of Conditioned Response

• The CS + UCS is crucial – How do we measure the strength of the CR?

• Response Amplitude – Amount of saliva •
Probability of Response – Proportion of trials when CR occurs Reinforced Trials
Strength of CR

The strength of the CR increases as a learning process

Timing of CS is also important –

The CS must precede the UCS in order for strong conditioning to occur (0.5-10 seconds is
best) – Animals will not condition to a CS that occurs simultaneously with the UCS or after
the UCS.
2) Extinction

The CR will disappear if the CS is repeatedly shown without the US (UCS).

3) Spontaneous Recovery

The CR can re-appear after the CS has been extinguished

4) Generalisation

Stimulus Generalisation – responding to stimuli that are sufficiently similar to the original CS

5) Discrimination

• Importance of discrimination
•Laboratory Evidence:

Higher-Order Conditioning

Once we learn that a conditioned stimulus (CS) signals the arrival of an unconditioned
stimulus (UCS), the CS may operate as if it actually were that UCS.

Second Order Conditioning

Once the CS + US pairing is established we can introduce a second stimulus
A second order stimulus. Light presented before the bell, creating new CS, causing
salivation (weaker response)
E.g.

For instance, suppose that a child endures a painful medical procedure (UCS) at the
doctor’s office, pain becomes associated with doctor’s white coat. The white coat then
becomes a (CS) that can trigger a conditioned fear response (CR) . Once the white coat is
able to set off a conditioned fear response, the coat may take on some properties of an
unconditioned stimulus.

If the child later sees a white-coated pharmacist at a chemist, that once-neutral store can
become a conditioned stimulus (CS) for fear because it signals the appearance of a white
coat, which in turn signals pain. When a conditioned stimulus (the white coat) acts as an
unconditioned stimulus, creating conditioned stimuli (the chemist) out of events associated
with it, the process is called higher-order conditioning.
Behaviourism
John B. Watson (1878-1958)
• cannot observe the mind directly
• subject of psychology is behaviour
• goal is to identify stimuli that lead to certain behaviours
• no fundamental difference between animal and human behaviour

John B. Watson “Twelve Infants” quotation

Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up
in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of
specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant chief and, yes, even beggarman
and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of
his ancestors.

Little Albert “experiment”

Operant Conditioning
Another form of associative learning
Form of learning where one learns to change behaviour in order to achieve favourable
outcomes
• The “operant” is a behaviour that operates on our environment to achieve these
outcomes
• While classical conditioning can explain simple responses to the environment, operant
conditioning can explain much more complex behaviour

Thorndike’s Law of Effect

• Importance of consequences of behaviour on learning – Law of effect

• If an association leads to:
• “satisfying state of affairs” - strengthen response
• “annoying state of affairs” - weaken response

• Beginnings of instrumental / operant conditioning

Cats in a puzzle box Hungry cats in the box – must learn to press lever to open the door and
escape!
• First and final trials behaviours are completely different – has some reason or
understanding had taken place?
• Assess via learning curves (time to escape with each trial)
The Law of Effect:
• To strengthen or weaken a response based on the outcome (gradual)

B.F. Skinner & Operant Conditioning

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) was a “Radical Behaviourist” who thought that all of human and
animal behaviour could be explained by the history of reinforcement and punishment

B.F. Skinner & Operant Conditioning

• Devised the ‘Skinner Box’ or “operant conditioning chamber”
• Difference from the Thorndike “puzzle box” as the puzzle box had 1 behaviour.
Skinner box was a much more versatile way of studying behaviour.

Positive reinforcement:
Sheldon giving Penny
chocolate to be quiet

Negative reinforcement:
rat finding hidden
platform, jumping onto it.
unpleasant stimulus of
water is removed

Positive punishment:
Sheldon spraying Lennon
with water
The speed and strength of learning

Schedules of reinforcement
• Continuous vs. Partial

Continuous: getting food pallet every time you touch lever

Partial: pressing lever a few times, to receive food pallets, not consistent

Ratio Schedule
• Fixed Ratio (FR) – Produce ‘x’ number of responses before a reward. FR2 , FR3 and
so on…
e.g. FR2, hit the lever twice, then receive pallet every time
• Variable Ratio (VR) – Produce ‘x’ number of responses but response number varies
before reinforcement. Usually varies around an average.
e.g. On average if you hit the lever 3 times, you will receive pallet,
(reinforcement)

Interval Schedule
• Fixed Interval (FI) – Reinforcers occur after a fixed amount of time.
e.g., hitting lever receiving pallet after set amount of time, or certain amount
of time before reinforcers
• Variable Interval (VI) – Reinforcers occur after a variable amount of time, usually
around some average.
eg On average after 30 seconds , you will receive pallet, (reinforcement)

• How successful are the schedules?

Partial Reinforcement & Extinction

• Partial reinforcement leads to slower extinction (Humphreys, 1939)

• It is harder to extinguish a response that was established with an irregular sequence of
events

e.g.: continuous reinforcement:

winning pokies every time, then
stop winning. After 3 or so times
you will stop using them, due to
change in pattern. Easily
extinguished, easy to identify when
it is working anymore

e.g.: variable reinforcement: never

know when reward is coming.

Types of reinforcers

Primary reinforcers

• innately rewarding properties

E.g., Food

Secondary reinforcers

secondary reinforcers are rewards that people or animals learn to like

previously neutral stimulus that takes on reinforcing properties when paired with a stimulus
that is already reinforcing/ through repeated associations with a primary reinforcer

E.g., money, money itself doesn’t do much but you can get things with the money
For example, if you say ‘Good boy!’ a moment before you give Bluey each food reward,
these words will become associated with the food and can then be used alone to reinforce
Bluey’s behaviour
Shaping of behaviours: successive approximations

So far relied on simple behaviours

– Circus performing animals can be ‘taught’ complex
behaviours through shaping
– This is done via successive approximations.

Is superstition based on O.C.?

Skinner believed that superstitions were based on accidental reinforcement of behaviour

• Study in food-restricted pigeons (1947)
• Fed every 15 seconds, regardless of behaviour
• Pigeons repeatedly engaged in various behaviours which they had associated with
the food

Real-world applications of conditioning

• Aversion therapy
• Treatment of phobias
• Behaviour modification: token economies

Aversion therapy
Aversion therapy – attempts to condition an aversion towards a stimulus that elicits an
unwanted response, by pairing it with an unpleasant UCS
• E.g. The drug ‘antabuse’ ® given to alcoholics which induces extreme nausea when
they ingest alcohol

Exposure therapies
Systematic desensitisation – imagining or experiencing versions of a feared stimulus along a
‘stimulus hierarchy of anxiety’ while practicing deep relaxation
• Joseph Wolpe, 1958

Exposure therapy – exposure to the feared conditioned stimulus without the UCS (i.e., in a
safe environment)

Flooding – total immersion in the fear evoking stimulus (e.g., flying in a plane)
Token Economies
Behaviour modification in difficult populations (e.g., psychiatric hospitals, juvenile detention
units)
• Good behaviour reinforced with tokens/points that can be traded for desirable
items or activities
• Bad behaviour punished by taking away of tokens/points.

Classical conditioning:

The loyalty rewards and buy 1 get one product half price is a form of positive reinforcement
operant conditioning used in marketing which encourages people to buy the product even if
they might not need it

Assignment guide: pick a topic

Assignment 1:
Oral presentation of essay Plan (PowerPoint slides an YouTube video) – week 6 Friday 16th
April 4:00pm

Read assignment guide: locate

Dot points on the slide:
Speak in more detail
Background music, engaging
Should be around 900 words, 10 minutes, preferably 9

Why is critical thinking important:

Is essential when we are evaluating evidence and forming discussion around evidence:
when want to prove or discover the truth of an idea, concept, model, or theory