Download Learning program

Learning

Students to complete writing on reading activity
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of
experience. Can occur intentionally or unintentionally. Learning can refer to a change
in behaiviour potential as well as actual action – we know stuff but don’t use it.


Go through OH’s and Handouts, Read Pg. 425
Is learning separate or distinct from memory? NO CAN’T HAVE ONE
WITHOUT THE OTHER – Ability to learn separates us from the animals!
BEHAVIOUR THAT IS NOT DEPENDENT ON LEARNING
BEHAVIOURS THAT DON’T REQUIRE PAST EXPERIENCE!!!

Read as a class Pg. 426 - 428
REFLEX ACTIONS
Automatic or involuntary responses, which do not require prior experience (e.g.
Withdrawing hand from hot object, blinking when smoke enters eyes).


Handouts on behaviour that is not learning
2 minute warm up - observing a reflex response (Blink eye to wind, knee jerk)
FIXED ACTION PATTERNS
Inborn predisposition for organisms to behave in certain ways when
appropriately stimulated. Inherited behaviour of a species - instinctive or
species specific behaviour, e.g. A young herring gull with peck at a red spot on
its mother's beak when hungry.
BEHAVIOUR DEPENDENT ON MATURATION
Depends primarily on the development of the body and structures of the nervous
system, e.g. Most children begin walking at approx. 12-14 months & are toilet
trained between 18-30 months. Can’t learn it before this no matter how much
practice. EG. Puberty voice change.


Students to complete L.A. 1 & L.A. 2
Psych book activity 1 Pg. 161
How is Learning Measured

Read as a class BOX 1 – learning measured by performance
Observation of performance under experimental condition, e.g. it is not possible to
see learning taking place as you read a book, a test of your recall of the material is
some measure of learning that took place. Note shape of curve (slow at start) all
have experienced this.
Measurement of a performance can be measured on a Learning Curve.



Read through BOX 2 pg. 297. Can you learn during sleep? E.g. Homer and
his tapes
What is the simplest form of learning that is even below our awareness? Read
BOX 2. Habituation - the simplest kind of learning
Multiple choice questions
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
A simple form of learning, which occurs through repeated association of two (or
more) different stimuli. Learning is said to have occurred when a particular stimulus
consistently produces a response that it did not previously elicit. Learn to associate
two events, stimuli, eventually, one stands for the other in our minds.



Read as a class Pg. 435 - 436
Give handouts on CC
Read Pg 437 - 438 a class go through parts on board – students copy figure 12.4
In CC a response that is automatically produced by one stimulus becomes associated or
linked with another stimulus.
A simple form of learning that occurs as a result repeated association of two or more
stimuli. One of the two stimuli would normally elicit a reflexive involuntary or
automatic response - The Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) - as it doesn't need to be
conditioned in order to elicit the involuntary response - The Unconditioned Response
(UCR).
Learning occurs when a particular stimulus consistently produces a response that it did
not previously produce.

Feeding your pets at home
Go through Pavlov’s dogs experiment on the
board.
UCS – food
Food paired with bell
UCR - salivation
during conditioning.
NS– Bell
After conditioning bell
CS –Bell
takes place of food
CR – salivation
causing salivation
The Main Elements of Classical Conditioning
The Neutral Stimulus (NS) - the name given to the conditioned stimulus before it becomes
conditioned. In Pavlov's experiment NS = Bell or Lab technician etc…
The Condoned Stimulus (CS) - the stimulus which is neutral at the start of conditioning. It
wouldn't normally produce the Unconditioned response (UCR), but does so eventually
because of its association with the Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS).
The Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) - Any stimulus that consistently produces a particular
response. In Pavlov's Exp. UCS = food.
The Unconditioned Response (UCR) - A response which occurs automatically when the
Unconditioned Stimulus is presented. In Pavlov's experiment. UCR = Salivation.
The Continued Response (CR) - the behaviour which is identical to the UCR but is caused
by the CS after conditioning. In Pavlov's expt. CR = Salivation in response to the Bell
(CS).
Pavlov’s Study
BEFORE CONDITIONING
Neutral stimulus
(Bell)
Unconditioned stimulus
(Food)
No response
Unconditioned
response (salivation)
DURING CONDITIONING
Neutral stimulus + unconditioned stimulus Unconditioned
(Bell)
(Food)
response (salivation)
Repeated pairings of these two stimuli
AFTER CONDITIONING
Conditioned stimulus
(Bell)





Conditioned response
(Salivation)
Discuss other examples of CC – cat and sound of can opener, dog and the lead
Do one of the examples from L.A 3 as a class – students go through the rest
and then check answers as a class
Students to complete L.A. 2
Psych book activity 2 Pg. 162
Skim 441 – 443
Acquisition: the organism learns to associate the two events, for this to occur there are
some
important– factors
to consider
Extinction
the gradual
decrease in the strength or frequency of a response that has
been conditioned when the UCS is no longer presented
Association
Association of two stimuli is the most important part of CC. Without this the UCS would
Spontaneous
- The
reappearance
of thememory.
CR when the CS is presented
not become linked Recovery
to the CS in an
organism's
Long-term
again after a rest period. This does not always occur
Timing of stimulus presentation
UCS must be delivered shortly after the (NS) CS for the association to be made
Stimulus Discrimination – Subject responds (shows the CR) only to the CS not
other similar stimuli
Stimulus Generalization – Tendency for other stimulus (similar to the CS) to
elicit a response that is similar to the CR




Students to copy figure 12.6 into notes –discuss as a class
Students to complete L.A 4, 5, 6
Students to complete Classical Conditioning worksheet
Show Pavlov video
Other Important Elements in Classical Conditioning
 Look at Box 1 – other important factors
Association
Association of two stimuli is the most important part of CC. Without this the UCS would
not become linked to the CS in an organism's Long-term memory.
Frequency and timing of stimulus presentation
How often the UCS and CS are linked is an important factor in establishing the
connection between two stimuli in CC.
Nature of the response
In CC the UCR must initially be an automatic or involuntary response, such as a reflex
response. The salivation that resulted from the smell or stage of food was a reflexive
response over which a dog had no control.

Read as a class Pg.446.
Classically Conditioned Behaviour
Conditioned reflex – automatic response that occurs as a result of previous
experience. Involves little conscious thought. EG. Hitting the brakes when you see a red
light, getting up to answer the phone etc. (CC in real life)


Do examples of conditioned reflexes – stopping at red light, going quiet in
cinema when lights go dim
Psych book activity 3 Pg. 163

Read as a class Pg. 446 - 450 how fears are learned – Watson’s Little Albert
Conditioned Emotional Response – Emotional reaction when the ANS
produces a response to stimulus that it did not previously trigger that response.




Go through Little Albert example on board
Look at Box 2 – CC used to alleviate phobia
Students to complete L.A 7, 8
Students to also complete Little Albert worksheet, Psych book activity 4 Pg. 164
Phobias
Intense, irrational and persistent fears of specific objects of situations. Phobias complex
instances of conditioned emotional responses, e.g. A person may develop a fear of birds from
being pecked by a pet duck in early childhood. Whilst no injury was sustained intense fear was
present at the time and it becomes deeply entrenched with the presence of birds - any birds (CS)
which produce fear (CR). Avoidance Behaviour reinforces the phobia – avoid fear = good feeling
= reinforced
 Look at Phobias list - do street and birds examples as a class
Classical Conditioning in Practice

Skim as a class 451 - 452
Aversion Therapy
Aversion is a complete dislike for something. Aversion therapy is a form of
behaviour therapy that applies classical conditioning principles to reduce or stop
unwanted behaviour by associating it with unpleasant stimulus. E.g. Drugs (UCS)
paired with alcohol (CS) consumption to make alcoholic feel nauseous (UCR) - (CR).
See research by Garcia & Koelling (1966) Text p. 340

Show clockwork orange

Read as a class 452 – 452 systematic desensitization, students to read about
treatment of bed wetting using Classical Conditioning.
Systematic Desensitization
Attempts to replace fear response with relaxation, patient taught relaxation
techniques and then gradually introduced to fear inducing stimulus while practicing
relaxation.





Students to complete Psych book activity 4 Pg. 156
L.A 9
Students to read Pg. 454 – 456, also Pg. 48 – 50 (chapter 1) – ethics and
conditioning
Discuss as a class ethical issues arising from A Clockwork Orange
Students to complete L.A 10 – use clockwork orange as their example

Read as a class 457 - 458
One Trial Learning
A particular type of learning that involves a change in behaviour as a result of just one
trial or event. It is generally a conditioned physical response that is Classically
Conditioned & is extremely resistant to Extinction.
Taste Aversion – the Garcia effect
A learned response in which the organism associates a particular taste (of some sort of
food) (CS) with the negative experience of that food (UCS) that made them feel sick
(UCR) e.g. If you were to become violently ill the first time you tried oysters the
association between oysters and feeling sick will be made immediately and an aversion
for oysters will occur




Note that text refers to the feeling sick as the UCS; it
should
be the negative experience with that food
cancer
patients
(UCS) that causes the (UCR) of feeling sick.
Look at Box 3 – taste aversions in
Students to complete L.A. 11, 12,
LA 13 – Table of Similarities and Diff’s b/t classical conditioning and one trial
learning.
Multiple choice Q’s
Note the use of CC in advertising everywhere – E.g. UCS – happy scene UCR – happy feelings
in viewer, NS – product, CS – product, CR – happy positive feelings towards product
Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning

OC worksheet as an intro – behaviour and consequences
OH &
handouts
A learning process by which the likelihood of a particular behaviour occurring is
determined by the consequences of that behaviour.
Theory of Operant Conditioning - Behaviour operates on the environment and our
behaviour is instrumental in producing the consequences - Rewards/Punishments.

Read as a class Pg. 463 - 464

Show Thorndike video - instrumental
Edward Thorndike’s (1874 – 1949) experiments with cats.
 Read
Pg 466 – 468
– show
Skinner
American
Psychologist,
B.F
Skinner
(1904 Video
– 1990)- operant
believed behaviour can be

Handout
on
skinner
box
reduced to the relationships between the behaviour, its antecedents (the events that
precede it), and its consequences.
Operant - a response (or set or responses) that occurs in the absence of any
stimulus and acts upon the environment in the same way each time


Students to complete L.A 1 & 2
Distinguishing between CC and OC sheet
Elements of Operant Conditioning

Read as a class Pg. 470 - 471
Reinforcement
Any stimulus (event or action) that subsequently strengthens or increases the
likelihood of the response (behaviour) that it follows.
The stimulus = The reinforcer
The reinforcer comes after the response (behaviour)
In CC the reinforcer (UCS) comes before the response (behaviour)
Schedules of reinforcement


As a class look at Box 2
Handouts on schedules
Go through
on OH
Fixed ratio – Behaviour reinforced after a fixed number of desired responses have
been made i.e. working for commission paid after a set number of sales
Variable ratio – Reinforcement made after a variable number of correct responses,
i.e. poker machine payouts
Fixed interval – Reinforcer delivered after a fixed time period provided the correct
response has be made
Variable Interval – Reinforcement given after irregular or variable periods of time,
provided the correct response has been made i.e. going fishing


Students to complete handout Old Psych Book activity 6 (pink sheet)
Read as a class Pg. 373 - 374
Negative
Reinforcer
Positive
Reinforcer
A stimulus
strengthens
a response
by the reduction,
or prevention of
A stimulus
whichthat
strengthens
a response
by providing
a pleasantremoval
or satisfying
an
unpleasant
stimulus
i.e.
The
behaviour
that
removes
reduces
or
prevents and
consequence, e.g. Skinner's expt. + the reinforcer = food pellets.
unpleasant stimulus is strengthened by the consequence.
E.g. Skinners Expt. - sometimes the grill on the floor of the box was electrified. The
rat could stop the current by pressing the lever, which it did more frequently. The
lever = the negative reinforcer which removed the unpleasant stimulus of the electrical
current.

Make a maze, lead someone through it with reinforcement clapping as Positive,
Bad music (the removal of bad music) as Negative

Psych book activity 5 Pg. 166– go through answers as class

Students to complete L.A 3, 4

Read as a class Pg.
Punishment - the delivery of a punisher following an undesirable response.
Punisher – an unpleasant stimulus that when paired with a response weakens the
response or decreases the rate of responding over time. Punishers reduce unwanted
behaviour
It is usually more effective to reinforce alternative desirable behaviour than it is to
punish undesirable behaviour
Students to complete L.A. 5, 6, 7
Factors that influence effectiveness of reinforcement

Skim Pg. 476
Order of presentation – reinforcement needs to occur after the desired
response not before! So the organism associates the reinforcement with the behaviour
Timing – Reinforcers need to occur as close in time to the desired response as
possible. Most effective reinforcement occurs immediately after the desired response
Appropriateness of the reinforcer – For a stimulus to be a reinforcer it
must provide a pleasing or satisfying consequence for its recipient.




Look at Box 3 – escape and avoidance conditioning – punishment doesn’t teach
us the right thing it simply makes us avoid the negative consequence!
Look at Box 4 – Learned Helplessness
Students to complete OC worksheet
Key Processes in Operant Conditioning

Skim Pg. 482
Acquisition – establishment of the response through reinforcement
Shaping – a strategy in which a reinforcer is given for any response that successively
approximates and ultimately leads to the final desired response

Do the shaping of behaviour activity on students from the class. Reinforcement in
the form of “good” side of sign shown when something is done right or the
person is close to doing something right (each member of class holds up a sigh,
one side for good actions one for bad.

Dog shaping in class – shape dogs behaviour to run around class in a circle
Extinction – the gradual decrease in the strength or rate of responding after a period
Chaining
– in this procedure
theoccurs
bits ofafter
behaviour
in the final
response are
of non- reinforcement.
Extinction
the termination
of desired
reinforcement
shaped backwards from the order in which they are to be performed, the final response
being reinforced first.
Spontaneous recovery – the response is (after a rest period) again shown in the
absence of reinforcement
Stimulus generalization – occurs when the correct response is made to another
stimulus which is similar to the stimulus for which reinforcement is obtained
Stimulus discrimination - organism makes response to a stimulus for which
reinforcement is obtained but not for any other similar stimulus


Look at Box 5 – a real life Mojo the Monkey
Do Operant conditioning in practice positive reinforce (lollies) Punishment (bad
music) negative reinforcement (nagging)


Students to complete L.A 10
Psych book activity 7 Pg. 169

Look at Box 6 – Behaviour modification using OC
Behaviour Modification – systematic application of learning principals to change a
person’s behaviour
Token economies – individual receives reinforcement in the form of tokens that can
be cashed in for real rewards




Give handouts summing up OC Vs CC
Students to Read 488 – 489 in preparation for SAC
Students to complete L.A 12 – go through answers
Multiple choice questions
Sum up similarities and differences between CC and OC using
examples on the board
SAC 2 CC Vs OC
Observation and Insight Learning


Handout questions students to work through as we cover relevant sections.
Read as a class Pg. 493
The process of observational learning
Observational learning occurs when someone uses observation of another person's actions and their
consequences to guide their future actions. Because the person is being observed is referred to as a
model, observational learning is often called modeling. This is not to say that every time we watch
someone do something we learn how to do it. Observational learning is a more active process than
either classical or operant conditioning, although it is not entirely different from conditioning.


Discuss vicarious reinforcement and punishment – judge makes an example
Students to complete L.A 1 & 2

Read about Bobo Doll experiment Bandura – Pg. 495 - 497

NOTE: Latent learning – just because don’t do it doesn’t mean its not learned
Bobo Doll –
Model reinforced – more copied aggressive behaviour
Model Punished – Less copied aggressive behaviour
Model no consequence – More copies aggressive behaviour
Latent learning occurs in the absence of any direct reinforcement and remains hidden until it is
However
whenlearning
child offered
all conditions
aggressive
behaviour
copied
–
required.
Much latent
occursreward
throughin
observational
learning.
Latent
learningwas
- that
is, learning
shows
learning
- just because
don’t show it doesn’t
that occurs,
butlatent
remains
unexpressed,
until reinforcement
is given.mean it’s not learned

Skim as a class Pg. 499 - 501
Elements of observational learning: - the role of the leaner
The learner plays an active role in the learning process. They must:
a) Pay attention in order to observe the modeled behaviour.
Attention may be influenced by numerous factors, (e.g. the motivation and interest level of the
observer, or the personality characteristics of the model). Avoidance of distracters is therefore vitally
important to observational learning.
b) Mentally represent and retain what has been observed.
Responses learned by modeling are often not needed until some time after they have been acquired.
Therefore, memory plays an active role in observational learning. There is a need to make'~ mental
representation of what you have observed, and the more, meaningful you can make that image, ~e
more accurately you will be able to replicate the behaviour when necessary.
c) Convert these mental representations into actions (i.e. reproduce them) (our ability to
reproduce the modeled response may be restricted by physical ' limitations.
d) Be aware that reinforcement influences motivation to perform the learned behaviour: Unless
the behavioural response provides a reward for you, it is unlikely that you will want to learn it. 'The
last of these four basic processes therefore involves incentives or reinforcement - the key link
between observational learning and conditioning.




Copy figure 14.12 into books
Students to complete L.A 4, 6
Read as a class article on Pg. 504 – TV violence
Read as a class Pg 504 – 506
Go over Observational learning
and the stages of observational
learning – Bandura’s Bobo Doll
Learning set is the improvement in one's ability to learn which results from prior experience in a
similar learning situation. Learning how to learn. Also involves cognition not just stimulus response.
Learn a rule of what to do this those types of problems. Link between stimulus response and
cognition. Learn the rules through trial and error but once have them can apply them
elsewhere.
Harlows monkeys – learnt a rule – they developed a learning set making
them better equipped to deal with similar problems in the future
 Look at Box 2 – transfer of learning
Harlow: Insight (cognition or thinking) and trial and error not separate but linked. Insight requires
 Students to complete L.A 10, 11
past experience.
at Box
– insight
learning
Kohler the and
other
end of the
scalerules
fromthrough trial
Learning setLook
explains
the 3relation
between
past–experience
cognition.
Learn
skinner,
between
which
Harlow
created
a
link
and error & apply them later.
Insight is the result of cumulative learning – REORGANISATION OF ELEMENTS OF A
Insight learning
PROBLEM
Learning which involves a period of mental manipulation of information which is connected with a
problem, before the sudden realisation of a solution
Kohler: Insight learning is due to cognition; no past experience required (Kohler was criticized
for not taking past experience of chimps into account)
The main outcomes of insight learning are
1.
2.
3.
4.
learning seems to be sudden and complete
Performance of the solution is usually done with no errors
The solution is less likely to be forgotten than if it had been learned by rote
The principle underlying the solution is easily applied to other relevant problem solving
situations.
 Read as a class Pg. 393 – features and criticisms (refer to OH as summary)
Stages of insightful Learning – cognitive processes not just stimulus response, appears to
happen without prior experience (go through on overhead)
Preparation is the first stage of insight learning, when the person or animal gathers as much
information as possible. One way this occurs is by attempting to use the information available.
lncubation is a period of mental "time out" during which the information
gained during the preparation stage appears to be put aside. However, at an unconscious level, the
information continues to be processed. – Cognition takes place
The insightful experience is sometimes referred to as the "ah-ha” experience because it occurs
so suddenly that people often exclaim "ah-ha!" when they suddenly realize the solution. Perceive a
relationship between different parts of the problem to construct a meaningful whole.
Verification represents the last stage of insight learning, when the visual image that flashed into the
mind during the insightful experience is acted upon with overt behaviour.
Suggested that need past experience with the elements of the problem for insight to take place.

Multiple choice questions
Skinner – learning just behaviour and response OC
Kohler – learning just cognitive (in the mind)
Harlow – Cognitive learning (insight) is a result of accumulated experience, can’t have insight
without past experience