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LEARNING
(CONDITIONING)
Another word for learning is conditioning
Def: the process of learning associations
between environmental events and
behavioral responses
Two kinds of Learning: Classical
Conditioning and Operant Conditioning
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
A. Ivan Pavlov
B. Def: Classical conditioning—learning to
transfer a natural response from one stimulus
to another, previously neutral stimulus
C. Elements of Classical conditioning
1. UCS/US—unconditioned stimulus—the stimulus
that invariably causes an organism to respond in
a certain way
2. UCR/UR—unconditioned response—the
response that takes place in an organism
whenever the UCS occurs
3. CS—conditioned stimulus—an originally neutral
stimulus which is paired with the UCS to
eventually produce the response in an organism
when presented alone
4. CR—conditioned response—the response an
organism learns to produce when a CS is
presented
D. Examples of Classical Conditioning
1. Little Albert
2. Consumerism
E. Other classical conditioning terms
 Extinction—decrease in the frequency of a
learned response due to failure to continue
pairing the UCS with the CS
Interstimulus interval is important
 Spontaneous recovery—the reappearance of an
extinguished response after the passage of time
without further training
IN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING:
the response is elicited, passive
IN OPERANT CONDITIONING:
the response is emitted, active
OPERANT CONDITIONING
A. Def: type of learning in which the
likelihood of a behavior is increased or
decreased by the use of reinforcement or
punishment
B. Terms: S (stimulus), R (response), Sr
(reinforcer), P (punishment
B. E.L. Thorndike
1. Puzzle box for cats
2. Law of Effect—Responses that are satisfying are
more likely to be repeated, and those that are
not satisfying are less likely to be repeated;
behavior that is rewarded is likely to recur
3. Anything that increases the frequency of a
response is a reinforcer
C. B. F. Skinner
1. Skinner box
2. Shaping to successive approximations
3. Skinner makes some assumptions about
behavior
a. All behavior is learned
b. Since it’s learned, it can be unlearned
c. Behavior is orderly and predictable
d. Learning occurs from birth until death
e. The cause/reason for behavior is always
outside the organism—in the environment
D. Reinforcer—Sr
A reinforcer is anything that increases the
frequency of a response
positive reinforcer—an event whose
presence increases the likelihood that
ongoing behavior will recur
negative reinforcer—an event whose
reduction or termination increases the
likelihood that ongoing behavior will recur
Another way to manipulate behavior is through
punishment
E. Punishment
Def: anything that results in a decrease in
the frequency of responding
There are problems with punishment, and
Skinner said he may have been wrong about
punishment
Problems with Punishment
1. It only works while the punishment is in
effect.
2. It can lead to deceitful behavior, lying.
3. It teaches what not to do rather than what
to do.
4. It may be positively reinforcing to the
punisher.
5. The receiver may learn to fear and avoid
the punisher.
F. Schedules of reinforcement—a program for
choosing which responses to reinforce
1. Continuous reinforcement (CRF)—a 1:1
relationship between the response and the
reinforcement
The best way may be partial schedules
2. Fixed ratio (FR)—reinforcement of the
corrected response after a fixed number of
correct responses
3. Variable ratio (VR)—reinforcement schedule in
which a varying number of correct responses
must occur before the reinforcer is presented
RATIO SCHEDULES—number of responses
INTERVAL SCHEDULES—passage of time
4. Fixed interval (FI)—reinforcement schedule
that calls for reinforcement after a fixed length of
time
5. Variable interval (VI)—reinforcement schedule
that calls for reinforcement of the first correct
response after a variable length of time has
passed