Learning

Classical and
Operant Conditioning
Chapter 6

AP PSYCHOLOGY
PERRY HIGH SCHOOL
 A Life without Learning

Learning is more than school, books and

tests. Without learning our lives would
simply be a series of reflexes and instincts.
 Wewould not be able to communicate, we
would have no memory of our past or
goals for the future.
 Learning
Learning is a lasting change in behavior or
mental process as the result of an experience.

There are two important parts:

 a lasting change…a simple reflexive reaction is not learning
 learning regarding mental process is much harder to
observe and study.
 Learning & It’s Effect on Behavior

In humans, learning has a much larger influence

on behavior than say instincts.
Types of Learning

SIMPLE AND COMPLEX

LEARNING
 Simple Learning

Habituation: Learning not to respond to the

repeated presentation of a stimulus.
 Example: Emergency sirens in the city

How often do
you look when
a car alarm
goes off?
 Simple Learning
Mere Exposure Effect: A learned preference for
stimuli to which we have been previously exposed.
 Ex-A coach/parent’s voice

Which do you
prefer?

Which did your

parents drink when
you were a little kid?
 Complex Learning

Behavioral Learning: Forms of learning, such

as classical and operant conditioning which can be
described in terms of stimuli and responses.

 Classical conditioning is more simple learning, operant

conditioning is more complex learning.
Ivan Pavlov and Classical Conditioning

 One of most famous people in the study of learning is

Ivan Pavlov.

 Originally studying salivation and digestion, Pavlov

stumbled upon classical conditioning while he was
experimenting on his dog.
 Classical Conditioning: A form of learning in which a previously
neutral stimulus (stimuli w/o reflex provoking power) acquires the
power to elicit the same innate reflex produced by another stimulus.
 Pavlov’s Findings Explained

 Pavlov discovered that a neutral stimulus, when paired with

a natural reflex-producing stimulus, will begin to produce a
learned response, even when it is presented by itself.

 Neutral Stimulus: Any stimulus that produces no

conditioned response prior to learning.
Pavlov’s Experiment
 Components of Conditioning

There are 5 main components of conditioning.

Classical Conditioning always involves these parts.
They are:
 Neutral Stimulus
 Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
 Unconditioned Response (UCR)
 Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
 Conditioned Response (CR)
 Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
UCS: A stimulus that
automatically-without conditioning
or learning- provokes a reflexive
response.

In Pavlov’s experiment, food was

used as the UCS because it
produced a salivation reflex.
 Classical conditioning cannot happen without UCS. The only
behaviors that can be classically conditioned are those that are
produced by unconditioned stimulus.
Unconditioned Response (UCR)

UCR: A response resulting from

an unconditioned stimulus
without prior learning.

In Pavlov’s experiment, the UCR

was the dog salivating when its
tongue touched food.

 Realize that the UCS-UCR

connection involves no learning or
acquisition.
 From Unconditioned to Conditioned

 During acquisition, a neutral stimulus is paired with the

unconditioned stimulus.

 After several trials the neutral stimulus will gradually begin to

elicit the same response as the UCS.

 Acquisition: The learning stage during which a conditioned

response comes to be elicited by the conditioned stimulus.

=
 Conditioned Stimulus

A CS is the originally neutral stimulus that gains the

power to cause the response.

In Pavlov’s experiment, the bell/tone began to produce

the same response that the food once did.
 Conditioned Response
 A CR is a response elicited by a previously neutral stimulus
that has become associated with the unconditioned
stimulus.

 Although the response to the CS is essentially the same as

the response originally produced by the UCS, we now call it
a conditioned response.
 Extinction

Extinction: The diminishing (or lessening) of a

learned response, when an unconditioned stimulus
does not follow a conditioned stimulus.
 To acquire a CR, we repeatedly pair a neutral stimulus with the
UCS. But, if we want to reverse this learning, we must weaken the
strength of the connection between the two stimuli.

 It is important to realize that extinction does not mean complete

elimination of a response.
 Spontaneous Recovery

 Extinction merely suppresses the conditioned response,

and the CR can reappear during spontaneous recovery.

 Spontaneous Recovery: The response after a rest period of

an extinguished conditioned response.
 Spontaneous recovery is weaker than the original CR.
 Classical Conditioning

Acquisition
Strength (CS+UCS)
of CR
Spontaneous
Extinction recovery of
(CS alone) CR

Extinction
(CS alone)

Pause
 Reinforcement Procedures

 What if we could not distinguish between stimuli that were

similar?
 The bell ending class vs. fire alarm
 The door bell vs. our cell phones

 Discrimination: The ability to distinguish between two

similar signals stimulus.
 Operant
Conditioning
 Classical vs. Operant Conditioning

With classical conditioning you can teach a dog to

salivate, but you cannot teach it to sit up or roll
over. Why?

Salivation is an involuntary reflex, while sitting up

and rolling over are far more complex responses
that we think of as voluntary.
 Operant Conditioning

An operant is an observable behavior that an

organism uses to “operate” in the environment.

Operant Conditioning: A form of learning in

which the probability of a response is changed by
its consequences…that is, by the stimuli that
follows the response.
 B.F. Skinner

B.F. Skinner became famous

for his ideas in behaviorism
and his work with rats.

 Law of Effect: The idea that

responses that produced desirable
results would be learned, or
“stamped” into the organism.
B.F. Skinner and The Skinner Box
 Reinforcement

A reinforcer is a condition in which the

presentation or removal of a stimulus, that occurs
after a response (behavior) and strengthens that
response, or makes it more likely to happen again
in the future.

Positive Reinforcement: A stimulus presented

after a response that increases the probability of
that response happening again.

 Ex: Getting paid for good grades

 Negative Reinforcement

 Negative Reinforcement: The removal of an

unpleasant or averse stimulus that increases the
probability of that response happening again.
 Ex: Taking Advil to get rid of a headache.
 Ex: Putting on a seatbelt to make the annoying seatbelt
buzzer stop.

 The word “positive” means add or apply;

“negative” is used to mean subtract or remove.
 Reinforcement Schedules

Continuous Reinforcement: A reinforcement

schedule under which all correct responses are
reinforced.

This is a useful tactic early in the learning process.

It also helps when “shaping” new behavior.

Shaping: A technique where new behavior is

produced by reinforcing responses that are similar
to the desired response.
 Punishment
A punishment is an averse/disliked stimulus
which occurs after a behavior, and decreases the
probability it will occur again.
 Punishment

Negative Punishment: When a desirable event

ends or is taken away after a behavior.
 Example: getting grounded from your cell phone after
failing your progress report, it is the taking away from a
fun activity
Reinforcement/Punishment Matrix

The consequence The consequence

provides something takes something away
($, a spanking…) (removes headache,
timeout)

The consequence
Positive Negative makes the behavior
Reinforcement Reinforcement more likely to happen
in the future.

Positive Negative The consequence

makes the behavior
Punishment Punishment less likely to happen in
the future.
 Reinforcement vs. Punishment

Unlike reinforcement, punishment must be

administered consistently. Intermittent punishment
is far less effective than punishment delivered after
every undesired behavior.

In fact, not punishing every misbehavior can have

the effect of rewarding the behavior.
Punishment vs. Negative Reinforcement

Punishment and negative reinforcement are

used to produce opposite effects on behavior.
 Punishment is used to decrease a behavior or reduce its
probability of reoccurring.

 Negative reinforcement always increases a behavior’s

probability of happening in the future (by taking away an
unwanted stimuli).

 Remember, “positive” means adding something and

“negative means removing something.
 Uses and Abuses of Punishment

 Punishment often produces an immediate change in

behavior, which ironically reinforces the punisher.
 However, punishment rarely works in the long run for four reasons:

1. The power of punishment to suppress behavior usually disappears

when the threat of punishment is gone.

2. Punishment triggers escape or aggression

3. Punishment makes the learner apprehensive: inhibits learning.

4. Punishment is often applied unequally.

 Making Punishment Work

To make punishment work:

 Punishment should be swift.
 Punishment should be certain-every time.
 Punishment should be limited in time and intensity.
 Punishment should clearly target the behavior, not the person.
 Punishment should not give mixed messages.
 The most effective punishment is often omission training-
negative punishment.
 Reinforcement Schedules

Intermittent Reinforcement: A type of

reinforcement schedule by which some, but not all,
correct responses are reinforced.

Intermittent reinforcement is the most effective way

to maintain a desired behavior that has already been
learned.
 Continuous Reinforcement

Continuous Reinforcement:
A schedule of reinforcement
that rewards every correct
response given.
 Example: A vending machine.

What are other examples?

Schedules of Intermittent Reinforcement

Interval schedule: rewards subjects after a

certain time interval.

Ratio schedule: rewards subjects after a certain

number of responses.

 There are 4 types of intermittent reinforcement:

 Fixed Interval Schedule (FI)
 Variable Interval Schedule (VI)
 Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR)
 Variable Ratio Schedule (VR)
 Interval Schedules

Fixed Interval Schedule (FI):

 A schedule that a rewards a learner only for the first correct
response after some defined period of time.

 Example: B.F. Skinner put rats in a box with a lever connected to a feeder. It
only provided a reinforcement after 60 seconds. The rats quickly learned that it
didn’t matter how early or often it pushed the lever, it had to wait a set amount of
time. As the set amount of time came to an end, the rats became more active in
hitting the lever.
 Interval Schedules

Variable Interval Schedule (VI):

A reinforcement system that rewards a correct
response after an unpredictable amount of time.

 Example: A pop-quiz
 Ratio Schedules

Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR):

A reinforcement schedule that rewards a response
only after a defined number of correct answers.
 Example: At Safeway, if you use your Club Card to buy 7
Starbucks coffees, you get the 8th one for free.
 Ratio Schedules

Variable Ratio Schedule (VR):

A reinforcement schedule that rewards an
unpredictable number of correct responses.
 Example: Buying lottery tickets
Primary and Secondary reinforcement

 Primary reinforcement: something that is naturally

reinforcing: food, warmth, water…

 Secondary reinforcement: something you have learned is a

reward because it is paired with a primary reinforcement in the
long run: good grades.
Is This Setting a Bad Example?