Download Learning and Memory

Learning and Memory
Classical Conditioning





Ivan Pavlov
Russia
What is learning?
Classical Conditioning: A learning
process in which associations are
made between a natural stimulus
and a neutral stimulus.
Pavlov’s doggy . . .
Classical Conditioning


Pavlov began his experiments by
ringing a tuning fork and then
immediately placing some meat
powder on the dogs tongue. He
chose the tuning fork because it
was a neutral stimulus.
Neutral Stimulus: A stimulus that
does not initially elicit any part of
the unconditioned response.
Classical Conditioning



Well, after a few times the dog begins to
salivate by merely hearing the sound,
even if there was no food within it’s sight.
Pavlov demonstrated that a neutral
stimulus (here, the tuning fork) can cause
a formerly unrelated response.
This occurs if it is presented regularly just
before the stimulus (here, the food) that
normally brings about a response (here,
salivation.)
Classical Conditioning




According to Pavlov, every human or animal has
a set of unconditional or involuntary responses.
Such responses include blushing, shivering,
being startled, and salivating.
In this experiment, food was the unconditional
stimulus.
Unconditional Stimulus (UCS): An event that
elicits a certain predictable response typically
without previous training.
Classical Conditioning




A few other important things:
Unconditioned Response (UCR): An organism’s
automatic (or neutral) reaction to a stimulus.
(Example = salivation).
Under normal conditions, the sound of a tuning
fork would not cause salivation. The dog had to
be taught, or conditioned to associate this sound
with food.
An ordinarily neutral event that, after training,
leads to a response such as salivation is termed a
conditioned stimulus.
Classical Conditioning



Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A once-neutral
event that elicits a given response after a period
of training in which it has been paired with an
unconditioned stimulus.
The salivation that is caused by the tuning fork
is called a conditioned response.
Conditioned Response (CR): The learned
reaction to a conditioned stimulus.
Classical Conditioning in a nutshell
 UCS
UCR
 UCS + NS does the conditioning
 NS becomes CS
 CS
CR
Classical Conditioning
Watch these!



BGSU Vid
Groovy Song
The Office
Extinction and Spontaneous
Recovery



A classically conditioned response,
like any other behavior, is subject to
change.
Pavlov discovered that if he
stopped presenting food after the
sound of the tuning fork, the sound
gradually lost its effect on the dog.
After he repeatedly struck the
tuning fork without giving food, the
dog no longer associated the sound
with the arrival of food – the sound
of the tuning fork no longer caused
the salivation response.
Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery






Pavlov called this effect extinction!
Extinction: The gradual disappearance of a
conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is
repeatedly presented without the unconditioned
stimulus.
Yet, even though the conditioned response has been
extinguished, it does not mean that the CR has been
completely unlearned.
Whaaaaaaa?
Spontaneous Recovery!
Yup, you eventually see the object again and get a
response…Ask me if confused, I’ll explain!
Formative Quiz…

Can you identify how Classical Conditioning is
being used here:
Mountain Dew Ad
 Audi Ad

Operant Conditioning





Ok, so, suppose you have a dinosaur! Yes a
dinosaur!
Your dinosaur is wandering around the
neighborhood, sniffing trees, checking garbage
cans, and looking for a squirrel to chase.
A kind neighbor sees the dinosaur and tosses a
bone out of the kitchen door to it.
The next day the dinosaur is likely to stop at the
same door on it’s rounds. Once again your
neighbor produces another bone, so the dinosaur
becomes a regular visitor!
Why?
Operant Conditioning




Well I’ll tell ya why! Hold your horses!
Well, ummm, see, there’s this, well,
ummm, thing called, like, operant
conditioning.
Operant Conditioning: Learning in
which a certain action is reinforced or
punished, resulting in corresponding
increases and decreases in occurrence.
Operant = operates due to a change yo.

Big Bang Vid
There are different ways to do this









Positive Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement
Positive Punishment
Negative Punishment
Try to frame your thinking like this:
Reinforcement=Desirable
Punishment=NOT desirable
Positive=to add
Negative=to take away
Positive Reinforcement


Reinforcement: Stimulus or event follows a
response and increases the likelihood that the
response will be repeated.
Examples of reinforcers:
Social Approval
 Money
 Extra privilages
 Giving a dog a treat when it shakes your hand.

Negative Reinforcement


In the concept of negative reinforcement, a
painful or unpleasant stimulus is removed. The
removal of unpleasant consequences increases
the frequency of a behavior.
Negative Reinforcement: Increasing the
strength of a given response by removing or
preventing a painful stimulus when the response
occurs.
Which do you think is the most
effective?
Schedules of Reinforcement




Fixed-Ratio Schedule: A pattern of reinforcement in
which a specific number of correct responses is
required before reinforcement can be obtained.
Variable-Ratio Schedule: A pattern of reinforcement
in which an unpredictable number of responses are
required before reinforcement can be obtained.
Fixed-Interval Schedule: A pattern of reinforcement
in which a specific amount of time must elapse before
a response will elicit reinforcement.
Variable-Interval Schedule: A pattern of
reinforcement in which changing amounts of time
must elapse before a response will obtain
reinforcement.
Observational Learning


Bandura’s Bobo Doll…
Violence in the media?
Cognitive Learning


Examples:
1. Latent Learning. Latent learning is not
demonstrated by an immediately observable change
in behavior at the time of the learning. Although
the learning typically occurs in the absence of a
reinforcer, it may not be demonstrated until the
reinforcer appears.

Example: Have you ever had to locate a building or a street in
a section of Durham that you are unfamiliar with? You may
have been through that section of town before and remember
details such as an unusual sign or building. Remembering these
details may have helped you find the building or street you
were looking for. In other words, you learned some details you
were not intending to.
Cognitive Learning


Examples:
2. Learned Helplessness. Learned helplessness
is a condition in which repeated attempts to
control a situation fail, resulting in the belief that
the situation is uncontrollable.

Example: You do poorly on a math test the first
time you try and decide it was because you had not
studied enough. The next test, you do poorly again
and decide it was because you did not feel well. On
the third test, you once again score poorly…You
give up and decide that you “are just dumb,” giving
up on math.
Modeling and Behavior Modification




Modeling!
Wait….No…The other kind of
modeling!
Modeling: Learning by imitating
others; copying behavior!
This is how the majority of people
learn how to act in new situations
(sports, concerts, etc.)