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Fundamentals of Psychology:
The Brain, The Person, The World
Stephen M. Kosslyn
Robin S. Rosenberg
Allyn & Bacon
Learning
Chapter 4
Thoughts on Learning
“Learning is not compulsory. Neither is survival.” -- W. Edwards Demming
“Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.” -- B.F. Skinner
“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” -- Pablo Picasso
What Is Learning?
A relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience
Types of Learning
■ Classical conditioning
■ Operant conditioning
■ Cognitive and social learning
Classical Conditioning: Examples
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Sound of a dentist’s drill: sweaty palms
Smell of mom’s perfume: smiling
Sight of certain restaurant: nausea
Noise of a can opener: cat comes running
Smell of a hospital: weakened immunity
Classical Conditioning
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Discovered (accidentally) by Ivan Pavlov
Pavlov’s Observation
■ Studied digestion in dogs
Pavlov’s Experiment: Phase 1
■ Food (US): salivation (UR)
• Reflexive response
■ Tone (CS): nothing (CR)
Pavlov’s Experiment: Phase 2
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CS is repeatedly paired with the US
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A tone is sounded before the food is presented
Pavlov’s Experiment: Phase 3
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Eventually, the CS elicits a new CR
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Hearing the tone by itself causes salivation
Classical Conditioning:
Conditioned Emotional Response
■ Avoidance learning
■ Conditioned phobias
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Little Albert
Classical Conditioning
■ Extinction
■ Spontaneous recovery
Classical Conditioning
■ Stimulus generalization
■ Stimulus discrimination
Classical Conditioning Applied
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Drug overdoses
Smoking: environmental cues
Systematic desensitization
Advertising: sex appeal
Taste aversion
Conditioning and the immune system
Types of Learning
■ Classical conditioning
■ Operant conditioning
■ Cognitive and social learning
Operant Conditioning: Examples
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Tantrums are punished: fewer tantrums
Tantrums bring attention: more tantrums
Slot machine pays out: gamble more
Reward dog for sitting: dog is likely to sit
Operant Conditioning
■ Thorndike’s puzzle box
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Law of Effect: actions that have positive outcomes are likely repeated
■ Skinner box
Operant Conditioning: Principles
■ Stimulus-Response
■ Reinforcement
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Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Effective Punishment
■ Should be
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Swift
Consistent
Appropriately aversive
Inescapable
Accompanied by an alternative behavior
■ Challenges
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Physical punishment may be imitated
May fear the person who punishes
■ Most effective when paired with reinforcers
■ The punisher should expect retaliation
Reinforcement
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Primary reinforcers
Secondary reinforcers
Behavior modification
Immediate versus delayed reinforcement
Beyond Basic Reinforcement
■ Generalization
■ Discrimination
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Discriminative stimulus
■ Extinction
■ Spontaneous recovery
Building Complex Behaviors
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Shaping
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Gradual reinforcement of successive approximations of target behavior
Used to train animals to do complex tricks
Reinforcement Schedules
■ Continuous reinforcement
■ Partial reinforcement
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Fixed interval
Variable interval
Fixed ratio
Variable ratio
Classical versus Operant Conditioning
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Classical conditioning
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Learned association between US and CS
Organism is passive
Responses elicited
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Operant conditioning
• Associate response and reinforcement
• Organism is active
• Responses emitted
Types of Learning
■ Classical conditioning
■ Operant conditioning
■ Cognitive and social learning
Cognitive Learning
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Latent learning
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Tolman’s rats: cognitive maps
Insight Learning
■“Aha” experience
Observational Learning
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Bandura’s Bobo doll study