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Text Reading Outline: Learning and Conditioning
I. INTRODUCTION TO LEARNING CONCEPTS
A. Learning--any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs due to experience
B. Behaviorism--school of psychology that accounts for behavior in terms of observable
events
C. Conditioning--involves forming associations between environmental stimuli and
responses
1. Classical conditioning
2. Operant conditioning
D. Other theories reject the idea of omitting mental processes from explanations of human
behavior
1. Social learning theories
2. Cognitive theories
II. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
A. New reflexes from old
1. Pavlov was the first to describe and document the form of learning we now call
classical conditioning
2. Terminology
a. Unconditioned stimulus (US)--stimulus eliciting an automatic or reflexive
response
b. Unconditioned response (UR)--response that is automatically produced
c. Conditioned stimulus (CS)--an originally neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a
conditioned response after being paired with a US
d. Conditioned response (CR)--response that is elicited by a CS
3. Learning occurs when a neutral stimulus is regularly paired with a US and the neutral
stimulus becomes a CS that elicits a CR that is similar to the original, unlearned
one
4. Classical conditioning is also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning
B. Principles of classical conditioning
1. Extinction--when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the
unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned response eventually disappears
2. Spontaneous recovery--after a response has been extinguished, it may spontaneously
reappear after the passage of time, with exposure to the conditioned stimulus
3. Higher-order conditioning--a neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus by
being paired with an already established conditioned stimulus
4. Stimulus generalization--after a stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus for some
response, similar stimuli may produce the same reaction
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Psych 121/OutlineLearning.doc
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
5. Stimulus discrimination--different responses are triggered by stimuli that resemble
the conditioned stimulus in some way
C. What is really learned in classical conditioning?
1. For effective conditioning to occur, it is not enough to pair the stimuli; the neutral
stimulus must reliably signal the unconditioned one
2. Conditioning is less certain in everyday life
III. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING IN REAL LIFE
A. Learning to like
B. Learning to fear
1. Some things may be more easily learned because of a biological
predisposition
based on evolutionary considerations
2. Little Albert example
3. Therapy techniques that have developed to reverse classically conditioned fears
include counterconditioning and systematic desensitization
C. Accounting for taste--food and odor likes and dislikes
D. Reacting to medical treatments
IV. OPERANT CONDITIONING
A. The birth of radical behaviorism
1. Introduced at the turn of the twentieth century
2. Thorndike observed that behavior is controlled by its consequences
3. B.F. Skinner--behavior is explainable by looking outside of the individual
B. The consequences of behavior
1. A response can lead to three types of consequences: neutral consequences,
reinforcers, (increase the probability that the response they follow will recur), and
punishers (make the response they follow less likely to recur)
2. Consequences are most effective when there is no delay between response and
consequence
C. Primary and secondary reinforcers and punishers
1. Primary reinforcers satisfy biological needs
2. Primary punishers are inherently unpleasant
3. Secondary reinforcers are reinforcing through association with other (possibly
primary) reinforcers
4. Secondary punishers are punishing through association with other punishers
D. Positive and negative reinforcers and punishers
1. Reinforcers--always increase the likelihood of a response
a. Positive reinforcement--something pleasant is presented
b. Negative reinforcement--something unpleasant is removed
2. Punishers--decrease the likelihood of a response
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a. Positive punishment--something unpleasant occurs
b. Negative punishment--something pleasant is removed
E. Principles of operant conditioning
1. Skinner boxes and cumulative recorders are often used when conditioning animals
2. Extinction--a previously learned response stops occurring because it is no longer
reinforced
3. Spontaneous recovery is the return of a response that has been extinguished
4. Stimulus generalization--a response occurs to stimuli that resemble the stimuli
present during the original learning
5. Stimulus discrimination--the ability to distinguish between similar stimuli and to
respond only to the one that results in the reinforcer
6. Discriminative stimulus is a signal whether a response will pay off; it is said to exert
stimulus control over the response because it signals whether the conditions in which
the response will be reinforced are present
7. Schedule of reinforcement--the pattern of delivery of reinforcements; can have
powerful effects on rate, form, and timing of behavior
a. Continuous reinforcement--reinforcing a response each time it occurs; most
effective for initial learning
b. Partial or intermittent schedules--reinforcement occurs only after a certain
amount of time has passed or only after a certain number of responses have been
made
c. Superstitious behavior can be learned when behavior is coincidentally reinforced
d. Reinforcement on an intermittent schedule makes a response more resistant to
extinction when reinforcement is discontinued
8. Shaping--method of getting a response to occur in the first place by reinforcing
successive approximations to the desired response
9. Principles of conditioning are limited by genetic dispositions and physical
characteristics
10. Skinner:The man and the myth
V. OPERANT CONDITIONING IN REAL LIFE
A. Operant principles may explain why people do not always behave as we or they would
like
B. Behavior modification--the use of classical and operant conditioning techniques in realworld settings
C. Pros and cons of punishment
1. Punishment is widely used as a means of controlling behavior; punishment is
appropriate in situations where the individual's behavior is dangerous
2. Punishment is often administered inappropriately or in a state of rage
3. The recipient often responds with anxiety, fear, or rage
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4. Effects can be temporary and may depend on the presence of the punisher
5. Most behavior is hard to punish immediately
6. Punishment conveys little information about how to behave differently
7. An action intended to punish may be reinforcing because it brings attention
D. Guidelines
1. No physical abuse
2. Describe appropriate behavior
3. Reinforce desirable behavior as soon as possible
4. Alternative to punishment--combine extinction of undesirable behavior with the
reinforcement of desirable behavior
E. The problems with reward
1. Rewards must be tied to the activity being reinforced
2. Intrinsic reinforcers involve enjoyment of the task itself, feelings of accomplishment
3. Extrinsic reinforcement may undermine intrinsic reinforcement because the behavior
is now viewed as “work,” so they should be used sparingly
VI. LEARNING AND THE MIND
A. Latent learning
1. Tolman’s experiment with rats demonstrated latent learning
2. Latent learning is learning that is not immediately revealed through a change in
behavior
3. Latent learning occurs without obvious reinforcement
4. Perceptions of the model and of themselves influence individuals’ learning
B. Social-cognitive learning theory
1. The importance of observational learning was demonstrated by Bandura
Taking Psychology with You: Shape Up!
The difficulties of applying operant conditioning in real life are considered and suggestions for
using it effectively are provided.
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