Download Learning - Altoona School District

LEARNING
I.
Learning
A. Relatively permanent change in a
behavior that occurs as a result of
experience
– Changes can’t be explained by
•Native response tendencies
•Maturation, or
•Temporary states (e.g. fatigue, drugs, etc)
B. How do we learn?
1. Associative learning – learning certain
events occur together
•
Ex: Seeing salt will trigger the thought of pepper
2. Habituation- an organism’s decreasing
response to a stimulus with repeated
exposure to it
•
Ex: Tuning out traffic sounds if you live on a busy
street
3. Observational Learning
a. New behaviors are acquired by watching the
behaviors of others
b. Use of prosocial models – positive, helpful
c. Albert Bandura Bobo doll experiment
d. Implications:
–
–
Violence on TV
Providing kids w/appropriate role models
II. Classical Conditioning
A. Learning that takes place when an
originally neutral stimulus comes to
produce a conditioned response
because of its association with an
unconditioned response
B. Studied by Ivan Pavlov
C. Unconditioned stimulus (US) - naturally and
automatically triggers an unconditioned
response
–
Meat
D. Unconditioned response (UR) - unlearned,
naturally occurring response to the US
–
–
Salivation (in response to meat)
To test if a behavior is a UR, ask yourself if
every member of the species would exhibit that
reflexive behavior from birth
E. Conditioned stimulus (CS) - originally
irrelevant; comes to trigger a conditioned
response
–
Tone
F. Conditioned response (CR) - learned
response to a previously neutral stimulus
–
–
Salivation (in response to tone)
The UR and CR are typically the same but occur
in response to different stimuli
Identify the US, UR, CS and CR
1. People undergoing chemotherapy often
vomit during or shortly after the
procedure. After several chemo sessions,
people begin to feel sick at the sight of the
treatment.
2. In the spring, the pollen from the flowers
cause you to sneeze. Soon you are
sneezing every time you see a flower.
G. Acquisition - initial stage when one links a
neutral stimulus and a UR so the neutral stimulus
begins triggering the CR
–
Moment when the tone began to cause salivation
H. Higher-order conditioning – the conditioned
stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired
with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second
(often weaker) conditioned stimulus
–
Dog may learn a light predicts a tone and being to
respond to the light alone
I.
Extinction – gradual weakening and
eventual disappearance of a conditioned
response
–
–
J.
Occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented
without the US
Ex: A dog normally salivates at the sound of a
can opener. If the sound of the can opener is
repeatedly presented w/out food, eventually
the dog would stop salivating to the sound of
the can opener
Spontaneous recovery - reappearance of a
weakened CR after a rest period
–
Can only occur after extinction
K. Generalization - tendency for stimuli similar
to the CS to elicit similar responses
–
Dog salivates to doorbell
L. Discrimination - learned ability to
distinguish between a CS and stimuli that
don’t signal a UR
–
–
Dog salivates to doorbell but not to alarm clock
Becomes more difficult the more similar the
stimuli are to the CS
•
Discriminating a circle from a square is easier than
discriminating a circle from an ellipse
M. Applications of classical conditioning
1. Advertising
2. Taste aversions
• Little Albert
Dwight and Jim
• What is the US, UR, CS and CR?
• How will the behavior become extinct?
• What is spontaneous recovery as it relates
to this example?
• What else might result in the same
conditioned response from Dwight? What
is the term for this?
III. Instrumental Learning
A. An organism’s behavior is instrumental in
producing an environmental change that in
turn affects the organism’s behavior
A. Primarily based on the type of consequences
that occur after the behavior
B. Based on the work of Edward Thorndike
–
Law of Effect – behaviors are encouraged when
followed by satisfying consequences and
discouraged when followed by annoying
consequences
IV. Operant Conditioning
A. Type of learning in which behavior is
strengthened if followed by a reinforcer
or weakened if followed by a punisher
B. Studied by B.F. Skinner
C. Shaping – technique in which
successive approximations of a
behavior are reinforced
–
–
–
Behaviors that come closer and closer to
the final target are reinforced during
training
Makes it possible to condition behaviors
that aren’t likely to happen otherwise
Reinforcing a child for writing a letter of
the alphabet and then only when they
can write it neatly
• Rats playing basketball
• Sheldon Conditions Penny
D. Discriminative stimulus – stimulus that
elicits a response after association with
reinforcement
E. Reinforcer – any event that strengthens
a preceding response
F.
Positive reinforcement - increasing
behaviors by presenting positive
stimulus
–
–
Makes the behavior more likely to occur
Ex: Getting money for good grades
G. Negative reinforcement – a behavior
prevents or removes an aversive
(undesired) stimulus
–
–
Ex: changing a baby’s diaper (behavior) to
stop it from crying (aversive stimulus)
Ex: Buckling seat belt to remove dinging
Identify the aversive stimulus and the behavior
being strengthened by its removal
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Taking aspirin to relieve a headache.
Hurrying home in the winter to get out of the cold.
Giving in to an argument or to a dog’s begging.
Fanning oneself to escape the heat.
Leaving a movie theater if the movie is bad.
Smoking in order to relieve anxiety.
Following prison rules in order to be released from
confinement.
8. Feigning a stomachache in order to avoid school.
9. Turning down the volume of a very loud radio.
10. Putting up an umbrella to escape the rain.
H. Reinforcement Schedules
1. Continuous reinforcement - reinforcement
every time a behavior occurs
– Quickest way to train new behavior
– Ex: When training a dog to sit, reinforce the
behavior w/a treat every time the dog sits
2. Partial (intermittent) reinforcement reinforcement only part of the time
– Most effective in maintaining behaviors that
have already been learned
– Examples follow
3. Fixed-ratio schedule – there must be a
fixed (unchanging) number of target
responses before a reinforcement is
given
– Produces a high rate or responding
following brief pauses by the organism
after obtaining reinforcement
– Ex: Every 100 coins in Super Mario World
results in an extra life
4. Variable-ratio schedules – the number
of target responses required for
reinforcement varies, and the organism
never knows exactly how many
responses are required for the next
reinforcement
– Produces a consistent, high rate of
response very resistant to extinction
– Ex: Slot machines, lottery tickets
5. Fixed-interval schedules - reinforces a
response after a specified amount of time
has passed
– Responses increase toward the end of the
interval
– Ex: Monthly paycheck
6. Variable-interval schedules - reinforces a
response at unpredictable time intervals
– Responses tend to be steady and at a
moderate rate
– Ex: Checking e-mail
G. Punishment
1. An event that decreases the behavior
that it follows
– Makes a behavior less likely to occur
2. Positive Punishment - application of an
aversive stimulus after a behavior
– Ex: Touching a hot stove (behavior= touching
stove, stimulus = heat) will make you less
likely to touch the stove next time
3. Negative Punishment - removal of a
reinforcer after a behavior
– Ex: Parents taking away car keys after coming
home late from curfew
4. Punishment vs. Negative Reinforcement:
– Punishment decreases behavior
– Negative reinforcement increases behavior
6. Problems of Punishment
a. Power disappears when threat of
punishment is removed
– Following the speed limit
b. Punishment may trigger aggression
and/or fear
c. Often applied unequally and
inconsistently
7. Proper Punishment
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Swift and certain
Limited in time and intensity
Target behavior, not character
No mixed messages
Most effective = negative punishment
H. Operant Conditioning and
Cognition
1. Latent learning – learning that occurs
but isn’t apparent until there is an
incentive to demonstrate it
– Child learns how to make a sandwich from
observing his parents, but doesn’t
demonstrate this until later
2. Motivation
a. Intrinsic motivation - desire to perform a
behavior effectively for its own sake
b. Extrinsic motivation - desire to perform a
behavior to receive a reward or avoid
punishment
― Can lead to overjustification effect – external
rewards undermine the intrinsic satisfaction of
performing a behavior
I. Applications of operant
conditioning
1. Use of pop quizzes to increase student
preparation
2. Behavior modification techniques
–
Combining punishment and reinforcement to
prevent bad habits
–
–
Ex: Painting fingernails with a bitter-tasting chemical
paired with a free manicure
Use of behavior therapy for psychological
disorders
–
Reinforcing weigh gain for patients with eating
disorders