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Learning
How do we learn?
Why do we learn?
 Basic Survival
 Learning allows us to adapt to a changing environment
What is learning? Any relatively durable change in behavior or knowledge that is due to
experience
Two major types of learning:
 Associative Learning
o Classical Conditioning
o Operant Conditioning
 Observational Learning
Association - Our minds naturally connect events that occur in sequence
Over 2000 years ago, Aristotle suggested 4 laws of association
200 years ago Locke and Hume reiterated these laws
Law of Contiguity - 2 stimuli that occur to together in time will automatically become associated
Stimulus-Stimulus Learning - Learning to associate one stimulus with another
Response-Consequence Learning -Learning to associate a response with a consequence
Classical Conditioning
A type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was
originally evoked by another stimulus
Sometimes called “reflexive learning” or respondent conditioning
The Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov, and his dogs circa 1905
Discovered classical conditioning by serendipity
Received the Nobel Prize in science for discovery
Classical Conditioning: Definitions

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that has the ability to produce a specified
response before conditioning begins (Food)

Unconditioned Response (UCR): the response produced by the UCS (Salivation).

Conditioned Stimulus (CS): an initially neutral stimulus that comes to produce a new
conditioned response because it is associated with the UCS (Bell)

Conditioned Response (CR): the response produced by the CS. (Salivation from bell
alone)
Acquisition :The initial learning of the stimulus/response link
Key factors: Time interval between CS and UCS (Stimulus Contiguity)
Extinction: CR is weakened by presenting the CS without the UCS
Pavlov rang the bell but did not present food, and the dog stopped salivating
Spontaneous Recovery :CR recurs after a time delay and without additional learning
When Pavlov rang the bell the next day, the dog salivated again
Generalization: Tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS
Discrimination: Process of learning to respond to certain stimuli and not others
Applications
Fearful emotional reactions: Phobias
Watson and Rayner (1920) – Little Albert
Counterconditioning
Associate CS with new, incompatible CR
CS paired with new UCS
Applications
 Alcoholism - Alcoholics may be conditioned (aversively) by reversing their positiveassociations with alcohol

Advertising - Watson used classical conditioning procedures to develop advertising
campaigns for a number of organizations, including Maxwell House, making the “coffee
break” an American custom
Instrumental Learning or Operant Conditioning
A behavior that cannot be learned through classical conditioning
It is not instinctive or learned naturally
It has a low probability of occurring spontaneously
It is a voluntary behavior that is learned through many of the principles of operant conditioning
E.L. Thorndike considered to be the father of educational psychology and described many basic
learning principles around the turn of the 20th Cent.
Thorndike’s Laws
He formulated a theory of “connectionism” with 2 laws
Stimulus (S) and Response (R) connections or associations
Thorndike’s Law of Exercise - S-R bonds are strengthened by repetition
Thorndike’s Law of Effect
Learning = Behavior + Consequences
S-R bonds are stamped in or strengthened by rewards or satisfactions
B.F. Skinner and others advanced Thorndike’s ideas and developed the field of operant
conditioning
Operant Conditioning: is a form of learning in which voluntary responses come to be controlled
by their consequences
Skinner believed that learning is learning the consequences of behavior or responding
Reinforcement
Reinforcement: Any stimulus event that increases the probability of a behavior or response
Operant Chamber
Skinner developed the Operant chamber, or the Skinner box, to study operant conditioning
The operant chamber, or Skinner box, comes with a bar or key that an animal manipulates to
obtain a reinforcer like food or water.
The bar or key is connected to devices that record the animal’s response.
Shaping: the reinforcement of closer and closer approximations of a desired response
Types of Reinforcements
Positive and Negative Reinforcers
Primary & Secondary Reinforcers
Primary Reinforcers: events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy biological
needs.
Secondary Reinforcers: events that acquire reinforcing qualities by being associated with the
primary reinforcers
Punishment - A consequence that decreases the likelihood that a behavior will occur
Concerns with Punishment
 Doesn’t teach the correct behavior in a given situation
 Harsh punishment teaches aggressive behavior
 Harsh punishment is often ineffective at producing behavior change
 Harsh punishment leads to negative emotional reactions
Timing: Immediate & Delayed Reinforcers
Immediate Reinforcer: A reinforcer that occurs instantly after a behavior
Delayed Reinforcer: A reinforcer that is delayed in time for a certain behavior
Reinforcement Schedules
Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforces the desired response each time it occurs
Partial Reinforcement: Reinforces a response only part of the time
Though this results in slower acquisition in the beginning, it shows greater resistance to
extinction later
Generalization- Stimulus “sets the occasion” for the response
Responding occurs to similar stimuli
Discrimination - Stimuli signal when behavior will or will not be reinforced
Extinction and spontaneous recovery
Behavior decreases when reinforcement stops
Schedules of Reinforcements
Timetables that determine when a behavior will be reinforced
 Ratio – refers to the # of responses needed
 Interval – refers to the amount of time
 Fixed or variable
Fixed-ratio schedule (FR): Reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses
Leads to a high rate of performance, drop off after reinforcement
Variable-ratio schedule (VR): Reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of
responses
High rate of performance and most resistant to extinction
Fixed-interval schedule (FI): Reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed.
Lower rate of responding, scalloping effect
Variable-interval schedule (VI): Reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals
Moderately steady responses, more resistance to extinction
Applications
Behavior Modification (Management) Programs: Using operant conditioning principles to
change human behavior
 Many institutions (schools, mental hospitals, group homes, prisons) use token
economics (rewards and punishments)
 Training our pets
 Parents use rewards and time outs
 programmed instruction and computer assisted instruction all work based on operant
conditioning principles
 Used in industry to reinforce safety behavior
 Behavior therapy – phobia, addictions