LEARNING

Chapter 5
Chapter 5 Learning Objective Menu
• LO 5.1 Learning
• LO 5.2 Classical conditioning and who first studied it
• LO 5.3 Important concepts inclassical conditioning
• LO 5.4 Pavlov’s classic experiment inconditioning
• LO 5.5 Conditioned emotional response
• LO 5.6 Why classical conditioning works
• LO 5.7 Operant conditioning andThorndike’s Law of Effect
• LO 5.8 Skinner’s contribution to operant conditioning
• LO 5.9 Important concepts in operant conditioning
• LO 5.10 Schedules ofreinforcement
• LO 5.11 How punishment affects behavior
• LO 5.12 How operant stimuli control behavior
• LO 5.13 Kind of behavior resistant to conditioning
• LO 5.14 Behaviormodification
• LO 5.15 Neurofeedback and how it isused
• LO 5.16 Cognitive learning theory
• LO 5.17 Tolman’s classic study on latent learning
• LO 5.18 Learnedhelplessnes
• LO 5.19 Insight
• LO 5.20 Observationallearning
• LO 5.21 Bandura’s classic Bobo doll study
• LO 5.22 Four elements of observational learning
• LO 5.23 Real world example of use of conditioning
What isLearning?
• Learning – any relatively
permanent change in behavior
brought about by experience or
practice.
• When people learn anything,some
part of their brain is physically
changed to record what they have
learned.
• Any kind of change in the way an
organism behaves is learning.
 Learning
• Classical Conditioning Two stimulus becomes
associated with each other such that occurrence of
one predicts the occurrence of other.
• Operant Conditioning-Learn association between
behaviour & stimuli that precedes or follow.
• Observational learning- By observing the behaviour
of others.
 Pavlov andClassical Conditioning
• Ivan Pavlov – Russian physiologist (person who studies the
workings of the body) who discovered classical
conditioning through his work on digestion in dogs.

• Classical conditioning - learning to make a reflex response

to a stimulus other than the original, natural stimulus that
normally produces thereflex.
Classical ConditioningConcepts

• Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) - a naturally

occurring stimulus that leads to an
involuntary response.

• Unconditioned means “unlearned” or “naturally

occurring.”

• Unconditioned response (UCR) - an involuntary

response to a naturally occurring or
unconditionedstimulus.
 Classical ConditioningConcepts

• Conditioned
stimulus (CS) - stimulus
that becomes able to produce a
learned reflex response by being
paired with original unconditioned
stimulus.
• Conditioned means “learned.”
• A neutral stimulus can become a conditi CS– ice cream
stimulus when paired with an unconditioned truck
stimulus.
CR– salivation
• Conditioned response (CR)- learned when hear ice
cream truck
reflex response to a conditioned bell
stimulus.
• Sometimes called a conditioned reflex.
 ClassicalConditioning
UCS UCR
Loud Noise Startle

CS UCS UCR
Bunny Rabbit Loud Noise Startle

CS CR
Bunny Rabbit Startle
 ClassicalConditioning
UCS UCR
Dog Bite Frightened

CS UCS UCR
Sight of Dog Dog Bite Frightened

CS CR
Sight of Dog Frightened
ClassicalConditioning
UCS UCR
Car Crash Racing Heart

CS UCS UCR
Squealing Car Crash Racing Heart
Brakes

CS CR
Squealing Racing Heart
Brakes
 ClassicalConditioning
UCS UCR
Kiss Racing Heart

CS UCS UCR
Sight of Kiss Racing Heart
Significant Other

CS CR
Sight of Racing Heart
Significant Other
Classical ConditioningConcepts

Although classical conditioning

happens quite easily, there are a
few basic principles that researchers
have discovered:
1.The CSmust come before the UCS.
2.The CSand UCS must come very close together in time—
ideally, only several secondsapart.
3.The neutral stimulus must be paired with the UCS
several times, often many times, before conditioning can
take place.
4.The CSis usually some stimulus that is distinctive or
stands out from other competing stimuli.
 Classical ConditioningConcepts
• Stimulus generalization - the tendency to respond to a
stimulus that is only similar to the original conditioned
stimulus with the conditioned response.
• Stimulus discrimination - the tendency to stop making
a generalized response to a stimulus that is similar to
the original conditioned stimulus because the similar
stimulus is never paired with the unconditioned
stimulus.
• Extinction - the disappearance or weakening of a
learned response following the removal or absence of
the unconditioned stimulus (in classical conditioning)
or the removal of a reinforcer (in operant
conditioning).
 Classical ConditioningConcepts
• Reinforcer - any event or object that, when
following a response, increases the likelihood of
that response occurringagain.
• Spontaneous recovery – the reappearance of a
learned response afterextinction has occurred.
• Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior.

• Higher-order conditioning - occurs when a strong

conditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral
stimulus, causing the neutral stimulus to become a
second conditioned stimulus.
Higher order conditioning.
Conditioned Emotional Response

• Conditioned emotional response (CER) -

emotional response that has become
classically conditioned to occur to learned
stimuli, such as a fear of dogs or the
emotional reaction that occurs when seeing
an attractive person.

• CERs may lead to phobias – irrational fear

responses.
 TasteAversion
• Vicarious conditioning - classical conditioning of a reflex
response or emotion by watching the reaction of
another person.
• Conditioned taste aversion - development of a nausea
or aversive response to a particular taste because that
taste was followed by a nausea reaction, occurring
after only one association.
• Biological preparedness - the
tendency of animals to learn certain
associations, such as taste and
nausea, with only one or few pairings
due to the survival value of the
learning.
Why Classical Conditioning Works
• Stimulus substitution - original theory in which
Pavlov stated that classical conditioning occurred
because the conditioned stimulus became a
substitute for the unconditioned stimulus by being
paired closely together.
• Cognitive perspective - modern theory in which
classical conditioning is seen to occur because the
conditioned stimulus provides information or an
expectancy about the coming of the
unconditioned stimulus.
 Operant Conditioning
•Operant conditioning - the learning of
voluntary behavior through the
effects of pleasant and unpleasant
consequences to responses.
• Thorndike’s Law of Effect - law
stating that if a response is followed
by a pleasurable consequence, it will
tend to be repeated, and if followed
by an unpleasant consequence, it will
tend not to be repeated.
Skinner’s Contribution
• Behaviorist; wantedto study
only observable, measurable
behavior.
• Gave “operant conditioning”
its name.
• Operant - any behavior that is
voluntary.
• Learning depends on what
happens after theresponse —
the consequence.
Skinner box: negative
reinforcement
 Reinforcement
• Reinforcement - any event or stimulus, that when
following a response, increases the probability that the
response will occuragain.
• Primary reinforcer - any reinforcer that is naturally reinforcing by
meeting a basic biological need, such as hunger, thirst, or touch.
• Secondary reinforcer - any reinforcer that becomes reinforcing after
being paired with a primary reinforcer, such as praise, tokens, or gold
stars.

Menu
Positive and NegativeReinforcement
• Positive reinforcement - the
reinforcement of a response
by the addition or
experiencing of apleasurable
stimulus.
• Negative reinforcement -the
reinforcement of a response
Example:Taking
by theremoval, escape from, aspirin for a
or avoidance of an headache is
unpleasant stimulus. negatively
reinforced –
removal of
headache!
 Punishment
• Punishment - any event or object that, when
following a response, makes that response
less likely to happen again.
• Punishment by application - the punishment
of a response by the addition or experiencing
of an unpleasantstimulus.
• Punishment by removal - the punishment of
a response by the removal of a pleasurable
stimulus.
Menu
 How to Make Punishment More Effective
1. Punishment should immediately follow the behavior it is meant to
punish.
2. Punishment should beconsistent.
3. Punishment of the wrong behavior should be paired, whenever
possible, with reinforcement of the right behavior.
 Other ClassicalConditioning Concepts
• Extinction – occurs if the behavior
(response) is not reinforced.
• Operantly conditioned responses also
can be generalized to stimuli that are
only similar to the original stimulus.
• Spotaneous recovery (reoccurrenceof
a once extinguished response)also One way to deal with a
child’s temper
happens in operantconditioning. tantrum is to ignore it.
The lack of
reinforcement for the
tantrum behavior
will eventually resultin
extinction
 Schedules of Reinforcement
• Partialreinforcement effect - the tendency for a
response that is reinforced after some, but not all,
correct responses to be very resistant to extinction.
• Continuous reinforcement - the reinforcement of each
and every correctresponse.

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 Schedules of Reinforcement
• Fixed interval schedule - of reinforcement
schedule of reinforcement in which the interval
of time that must pass before reinforcement
becomes possible is always thesame.
• Examinations?????
• Variable interval schedule of reinforcement -
schedule of reinforcement in which the interval
of time that must pass before reinforcement
becomes possible is different for each trial or
event.
• Pop up Quizzes?????
 Schedules of Reinforcement
• In ratio schedules, it is the number of responses that counts.
• Fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement - In a fixed ratio schedule of
reinforcement, the number of responses required to receive each reinforcer
will always be the same number.
Piecework, in which a certain number of items have to be completed before
payment isgiven
Some sandwich shops giving out punch cards that get punched one time for
each sandwich purchased.After 10 punches, the customer might get a free
sandwich.
• Variable ratio schedule of reinforcement - The number of responses
changes from one trial to the next. In the rat example, the rat might be
expected to push the bar an average of 20 times to get reinforcement. That
means that sometimes the rat would push the lever only 10 times before a
reinforcer comes, but at other times it might take 30 lever pushes or more.
 Behavior Modification
• Behavior modification - the use of operant conditioning
techniques to bring about desired changes in behavior.
• Token economy - type of behavior modification in which
desired behavior is rewarded with tokens.
• Time-out - a form of mild punishment by removal in which
a misbehaving animal, child, or adult is placed in a special
area away from the attention of others.
• Essentially, the organism is being “removed” from any possibility of
positive reinforcement in the form of attention.
• Applied behavior analysis (ABA) – modern term for a form
of behavior modification that uses shaping techniques to
mold a desired behavior or response.
 Cognitive LearningTheory
• Early days of learning – focus was on behavior.
• 1950s and more intensely in the 1960s, many psychologists were
becoming aware that cognition, the mental events that take place
inside a person’s mind while behaving, could no longer be ignored.
• EdwardTolman – early cognitive scientist.
Latent Learning
• Edward Tolman’s best-known experiments in
learning involved teaching three groups of rats the
same maze, one at a time (Tolman & Honzik,
1930).
• Group 1– rewarded each time at end of maze.
• Learned mazequickly.
• Group 2 – in maze every day; only rewarded on 10th day.
• Demonstrated learning of maze almost immediately after receiving
reward.
• Group 3– never rewarded.
• Did not learn maze well.
• Latent learning - learning that remains hidden
until its application becomes useful.
 Insight
• Insight - the sudden perception of relationships among various parts of
a problem, allowing the solution to the problem to come quickly.
• Cannot be gained through trial-and-error learning alone.
• “Aha” moment.
 Observational Learning
• Observational learning - learning new behavior by watching a model
perform that behavior.
• Learning/performance distinction - referring to the observation that
learning can take place without actual performance of the learned
behavior.
 Four Elements of Observational Learning
1. ATTENTION
To learn anything through observation, the learner must first pay
attention to the model.
2. MEMORY
The learner must also be able to retain the memory of what was
done, such as remembering the steps in preparing a dish that was
first seen on a cooking show.
3. IMITATION
The learner must be capable of reproducing, or imitating, the actions
of themodel.
4. MOTIVATION
Finally, the learner must have the desire to perform the action.
(An easy way to remember the four elements of modeling is to
remember the letters AMIM, which stands for the first letters of each
of the four elements).
 Real WorldExample
• Training a cat to use the toilet will
involve:
• Shaping.
• Preparing “the training
arena.”
• Positive reinforcement ona
variable schedule.