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Learning
Any relatively
permanent change in
behavior (or behavior
potential) produced by
experience
Association

We learn by association
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Our minds naturally connect events that occur in
sequence
Aristotle 2000 years ago
John Locke and David Hume 200 years ago
Associative Learning

learning that two events occur together

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two stimuli
a response and its consequences
Classical or Pavlovian
Conditioning

We learn to
associate two
stimuli
Classical Conditioning
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Ivan Pavlov studies digestion in dogs (1904)
Conditions dogs to salivate to a sound (bell or
buzzer)
Determines formula for the conditioning process
 UCS
= UCR
 NS + UCS = UCR
 CS = CR

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Best case: NS precedes UCS
Worst case: NS follows UCS
Classical Conditioning
UCS
(passionate
kiss)
CS
(onion
breath)
CS
(onion
breath)
UCR
(sexual
arousal)
UCS
(passionate
Kiss)
CR
(sexual
arousal)
UCR
(sexual
arousal)
Characteristics of Conditioning
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Generalization: the tendency of stimuli similar to
the original conditioned stimulus to evoke a similar
conditioned response
Discrimination: to be able to differentiate between
stimuli
Extinction: a process by which the effects of
conditioning are reduced and finally disappear
Spontaneous recovery: the reappearance of a
learned response after its apparent extinction
Characteristics of Conditioning (cont.)

Higher-order conditioning: a neutral stimulus
becomes a conditioned stimulus through association
with an already established conditioned stimulus
Operant Conditioning

We learn to
associate a
response and its
consequence
Operant Conditioning


Definition: behavior is shaped by the consequences
it produces
We “learn” by doing things that produce positive
outcomes and/or allow us to avoid negative
outcomes (sometimes negative is better than none at
all)
Operant Conditioning

Reinforcer


any event that strengthens the behavior it
follows
Shaping

operant conditioning procedure in which
reinforcers guide behavior toward closer
approximations of a desired goal
Operant Conditioning (cont.)
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Primary reinforcers: they satisfy a biological need –
food, water, sex (we need to feel a deficit of it for it to
be a reinforcer)
Secondary reinforcers: they take on the ability to
reinforce – e.g. money, status, praise
Positive reinforcers: the behavior is strengthened to get
the reward
Negative reinforcers: the behavior is strengthened to
avoid the reinforcer
Punishment: the behavior is weakened to avoid the
reinforcer
Operant Conditioning
Punishment
Schedules of Reinforcement

Continuous Reinforcement


reinforcing the desired response each time it occurs
Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement

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reinforcing a response only part of the time
results in slower acquisition
greater resistance to extinction
Schedules of Reinforcement
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Fixed Ratio (FR) Schedule
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reinforces a response only after a specified
number of responses
faster you respond the more rewards you get
different ratios
very high rate of responding
like piecework pay
Schedules of Reinforcement
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Variable Ratio (VR)
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reinforces a response after an
unpredictable number of responses
average ratios
like gambling, fishing
very hard to extinguish because of
unpredictability
Schedules of Reinforcement

Fixed Interval (FI)


reinforces a response only after a
specified time has elapsed
response occurs more frequently as the
anticipated time for reward draws near
Schedules of Reinforcement

Variable Interval (VI)
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reinforces a response at unpredictable time
intervals
produces slow steady responding
like pop quiz
Schedules of Reinforcement
Number of
responses
1000
Fixed Ratio
Variable Ratio
Fixed Interval
750
Rapid responding
near time for
reinforcement
500
Variable Interval
250
Steady responding
0
10
20
30
40
50
Time (minutes)
60
70
80
Operant vs Classical
Conditioning
Cognition and Operant
Conditioning

Cognitive Map

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mental representation of the layout of one’s
environment
Example: after exploring a maze, rats act as if they
have learned a cognitive map of it
Latent Learning

learning that occurs, but is not apparent until there is
an incentive to demonstrate it
Cognition and Operant
Conditioning

Intrinsic Motivation

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desire to perform a behavior for its own
sake and to be effective
Extrinsic Motivation

desire to perform a behavior due to
promised rewards or threats of
punishments
Observational Learning
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Observational Learning

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learning by observing others
Modeling

process of observing and imitating a
specific behavior
Observational Learning
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Alfred Bandura’s Experiments
Bobo doll
 we look and we learn
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Observational Learning
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Prosocial Behavior
positive, constructive, helpful
behavior
 opposite of antisocial behavior

Television and Observational
Learning