Download Learning – Chapter 5 Learning: process by which experience or

Learning – Chapter 5
Learning: process by which experience or practice results in a relatively permanent change in
behavior or potential behavior
 But what does that mean in your own words?
o Examples: learning to tie your shoes, learning to spell your name, writing, etc...
 Learning has to do with conditioning: the acquisition of specific patterns of behavior in the
presences of well-defined stimuli
o Example: When your elementary school teacher turned the lights on and off, you
were conditioned to get quiet.
 Cognitive Learning: reasoning and thinking processes (insight, observational or vicarious
learning)
o Insight – solving a math problem you see the solution in complete form in your
mind
o Observational Learning – imitating the dance steps you’ve seen on a music video
o Vicarious Learning – When a classmate is punished for speaking out in class, you
learn not to speak out in class (negative)
Classical Conditioning
 Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), Russian psychologist, he originally studies digestive processes—he
discovered classical conditioning by accident!
o He measured the amount of saliva produced by dogs when they were given food –
he noticed dogs salivated before the food was in their mouths—why?
 The dogs even began to salivate at the sound of the experimenter’s
footsteps!
 He created an experiment which made the dogs salivate at the sound of a
bell
 Classical Conditioning: involves pairing an involuntary response (salivation) that is usually
evoked by one stimulus with a different neutral stimulus
Unconditioned Stimulus
(Example: food)
Prompts a certain reaction – Natural
Conditioned Stimulus
Neutral Stimulus (bell) becomes the conditioned
stimulus, which will evoke a conditioned
response.
Unconditioned Response
(Example: Mouth waters)
Second element & results from the
unconditioned stimulus
Conditioned Response
Occurs when a conditioned stimulus is paired
with an unconditioned response – Learning
Occurs!
“Little Albert” – Classically conditioned to fear an ordinary lab rat
 Introduced a loud noise to startle the child when the rat was introduced into the room—he came
to associate the noise with seeing the mouse. Even when the noise was not sounded, Albert
feared the lab rat.
Can phobias be conquered? Or learning be undone?
Mary Cover Jones, a psychologist, took Peter, a 3 year old boy, who had a learned fear of white rats.
She reversed the learned fear by introducing the white rat with a pleasant experience, candy. Until
Peter was not afraid of the rat, the experiment was repeated. Thus, he unlearned the fear of the rat.
Taste Aversion – Survival method—you don’t eat something that has made you sick or is poisonous
**DO NOW: On your own sheet of paper:
Review Activity:
Create a scenario that involves classical conditioned. Explain how it fits into the idea of
classical conditioning.
Operant Conditioning
Most of our behavior is voluntary, not involuntary (as in classical conditioning).
Operant Behavior: learned behaviors that are designed to operate on the environment to gain a
reward or avoid punishment; not automatic, biological responses/reflexes.
Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning:
 Consequences – are not always bad; it is simply what follows a choice or behavior
o Reinforcers: consequences that increase he likelihood of the behavior to be
repeated
 Positive Reinforcement – increases the likelihood of the behavior to recur
 Example: Saying, “Good job!” after you have answered a question
correctly.
 Negative Reinforcement – any event whose reduction/termination
increases the likelihood of the behavior to recur
 Example: Moving a student away from someone he or she talks to
reinforces the behavior to not talk while the teacher is talking.
o Punishers: consequences that decrease the likelihood of the behavior occurring
 What are some forms of punishment that you can think of?
*You did this as a bellringer on Friday, March 6th: If you did not do it then, do it now:
Many school systems still use some form of corporal punishment, such as paddling, for
students who misbehave. The justification is that it is an effective method ochanging undesirable
behavior, it develops a sense of personal responsibility, it teaches self-discipline, and it helps develop
moral character.
Based on what you now know about operant conditioning,
1. Under what circumstances (if any) should corporal punishment be used in schools?
2. What factors, besides the student’s immediate actions, should adults consider before
using corporal punishment?
3. What unintended consequences might arise from the use of corporal punishment?
Avoidance Training: learning desirable behavior to avoid undesirable consequences
Key Idea: Operant Conditioning is selective, how? It is based on voluntary behaviors – the
human/animal responses to the outside stimuli & behave accordingly.
**Now compare and contrast operant conditioning and classical conditioning. Create a chart (Venn
diagram, t-chart, etc) to compare and contrast the two theories of learning. Make your charts colorful,
creative, but most importantly informative!**
Culminating Activity: Complete on your sheet of paper.
Respond to the following questions:
1. Give some personal examples of classical conditioning in your life.
2. Give some personal examples of operant conditioning in your life.