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Chapter 5: Learning
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Learning: Definition

A relatively permanent
change in behavior brought
about by experience
– Distinguishes between
changes due to maturation
and changes brought about
by experience
– Distinguishes between
short-term changes in
performance and actual
learning
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Classical Conditioning

Type of learning discovered
by Ivan Pavlov in which a
neutral stimulus comes to
bring about a response after
it is paired with a stimulus
that naturally brings about
that response
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Classical Conditioning
A stimulus that, before
conditioning,does not naturally bring
about the response of interest
A stimulus that brings about a
response without having been
learned
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Classical Conditioning
A natural, innate response that is
not associated with previous
learning
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Classical Conditioning
A NS that has been paired with a
UCS to bring about a response
formerly caused only by the UCS
A response that, after
conditioning, follows a
previously neutral stimulus
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Before Conditioning
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During Conditioning
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After Conditioning
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Classical Conditioning

Extinction
– Occurs when a previously
conditioned response
decreases in frequency and
eventually disappears

Spontaneous recovery
– The re-emergence of an
extinguished conditioned
response after a period of
rest
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Classical Conditioning

Stimulus generalization
Conditioned Stimulus
– Occurs when a conditioned
response follows a stimulus
that is similar to the original
conditioned stimulus
New Stimulus

Stimulus discrimination
– Ability to differentiate
between stimuli
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Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning
– Learning in which a
voluntary response is
strengthened or weakened,
depending on its favorable
or unfavorable
consequences

Law of effect
– Responses that lead to
satisfying consequences are
more likely to be repeated,
and responses followed by
negative outcomes are less
likely to be repeated
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Operant Conditioning

Reinforcement
– The process by which a
stimulus increases the
probability that a preceding
behavior will be repeated

Reinforcer
– Any stimulus that increases
the probability that a
preceding behavior will
occur again
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Operant Conditioning

Primary reinforcer
– Satisfies some biological
need and works naturally,
regardless of a person’s
prior experience

Secondary reinforcer
– A stimulus that becomes
reinforcing because of its
association with a primary
reinforcement
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Positive Reinforcers, Negative
Reinforcers, and Punishment

Positive Reinforcement
– A stimulus added to the
environment that brings about an
increase in a preceding response

Negative
reinforcement
– Unpleasant stimulus
whose removal
from the
environment leads
to an increase in the
probability that a
preceding response
will occur again in
the future
– Escape conditioning
– Avoidance
conditioning
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Punishment

Stimulus that decreases the
probability that a prior
behavior will occur again
– Positive punishment
weakens a response
through the application of an
unpleasant stimulus
– Negative punishment
consists of the removal of
something pleasant
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Schedules of Reinforcement

Continuous reinforcement
– Behavior that is reinforced
every time it occurs

Partial reinforcement
– Behavior that is reinforced
some but not all of the time
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Schedules of Reinforcement

Fixed-ratio schedule
– Reinforcement is given only
after a certain number of
responses

Variable-ratio schedule
– Reinforcement occurs after
a varying number of
responses rather than after
a fixed number
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Schedules of Reinforcement

Fixed-interval schedule
– Provides reinforcement for a
response only if a fixed time
period has elapsed, overall
rates of response are relatively
low

Variable-interval schedule
– Time between
reinforcements varies
around some average rather
than being fixed
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Operant Conditioning

Stimulus Control Training
– Behavior is reinforced in the
presence of a specific
stimulus, but not in its
absence

Discriminative stimulus
– Signals the likelihood that
reinforcement will follow the
response

Stimulus generalization
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Operant Conditioning


Superstitious behavior
Shaping
– Process of teaching a
complex behavior by
rewarding closer and closer
approximations of the
desired behavior

Biological constraints
– Built-in limitations in the
ability of animals to learn
particular behaviors
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Cognitive-Social Approaches to
Learning

Latent learning
– A new behavior is learned
but not demonstrated until
reinforcement is provided
for displaying it

Observational learning
– Learning through observing
the behavior of another
person called a model
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