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PSYCHOLOGY:
Perspectives & Connections
2nd Edition
GREGORY J. FEIST
ERIKA L. ROSENBERG
Copyright 2012 The McGraw-Hill Companies,
Inc.
Learning
Chapter Eight
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Inc.
Chapter Preview
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Basic Processes of Learning
Conditioning Models of Learning
Social Learning Theory
The Interaction of Nature and Nurture in
Learning
Bringing It All Together: Making
Connections in Learning
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1
Basic Processes of
Learning
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Learning



Enduring changes in behavior that
occur with experience
Includes many different forms of
learning
Learning and memory work
together – without one, the other
cannot function
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Habituation and the
Orienting Response

Orienting response
– Automatic shift of attention toward a new
stimulus

Habituation
– Sensory process by which organisms
adapt to constant stimulation
– Results in a decrease in responding to
this now familiar stimulus
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Association


Occurs when one piece of information
from the environment is linked
repeatedly
p
y with another,, and the
organism begins to connect the two
sources of information
Associations are the key to the two
major conditioning models of learning
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Conditioning Models of
Learning
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Classical Conditioning


Learning occurs when a
neutral stimulus becomes
associated with a stimulus
to which the learner has an
automatic,, inborn response
p
Ivan Pavlov and his famous
dogs
– Involuntary behavior
– Associations formed between
the presentation of meat
powder and the preparation
of the saliva-collection
apparatus
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How Classical
Conditioning Works

Unconditioned response (UCR) – Salivation

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) – Food
– Natural, automatic, inborn reaction to a stimulus
– Environmental input that produces the same
response

Conditioned stimulus (CS) – Ringing bell
– Previously neutral input that an organism learns
to associate with the UCS

Conditioned response (CR) - Salivation
– Behavior that an organism learns to perform
when presented with the CS
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Classical Conditioning
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Classical Conditioning

Forward conditioning
– Neutral stimulus is presented just before
the UCS

Backward conditioning
– Neutral stimulus follows the UCS
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Classical Conditioning

Two fundamental criteria for
conditioning to occur:
1.
2.
Multiple
p pairings
p
g of UCS and neutral
stimulus (CS) are necessary for an
association to occur and for the CS to
produce the conditioned response
The UCS and CS must be paired or
presented very close together in time in
order for an association to form
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Classical Conditioning

Stimulus generalization
– Extension of the association between UCS and
CS to include a broad array of similar stimuli

Stimulus discrimination
– Restriction of a CR to only the exact CS to which
it was conditioned

Extinction
– Weakening and eventual disappearance of a
conditioned response, which occurs when the
UCS is no longer paired with the CS
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Classical Conditioning

Spontaneous recovery
– Sudden reappearance of an extinguished
p
response
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The Conditioning of Little
Albert

John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner
conditioned a baby to fear white rats
byy pairing
p
g it with a veryy frightening
g
g
noise
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The Conditioning of Little
Albert

Little Albert generalized his fear to other
things like white beards
– Generalization


Little Albert did not undergo deconditioning
Raised ethical issues that are still used as
the basis for certain considerations of
research ethics
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Operant Conditioning

Edward L.
Thorndike (1905)
– Law of effect

Consequences of
a behavior
increase (or
decrease) the
likelihood that the
behavior will be
repeated
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Operant Conditioning

B.F. Skinner (1938)
– Coined the term “operant” to refer to
behaviors that act – or operate – on the
environment to produce a specific outcome
– Process of changing behavior by
manipulating the consequences of that
behavior
– Voluntary behavior
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Operant Conditioning
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Operant Conditioning

Reinforcer
– Any internal or external event that
increases the frequency of a behavior
– Primary reinforcers



Not learned
Innate and satisfy biological needs
Food, water, or sex
– Secondary (or conditioned) reinforcers


Learned by association (classical conditioning)
Money, grades, or approval
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Operant Conditioning

Reinforcement – Increases frequency of an act
– Positive reinforcement (adding a reward)
– Negative reinforcement (removing an
unpleasant
l
t stimulus)
ti l )

Punishment – Decreases frequency of an act
– Positive punishment (adding an unpleasant
stimulus)
– Negative punishment (removing a desirable
stimulus)
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Positive and Negative
Reinforcement and
Punishment
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How Operant Conditioning
Works

Organisms learn
from the
consequences of
th i behaviors
their
b h i
– Skinner box
– Shaping
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Schedules of
Reinforcement

Continuous reinforcement

Intermittent reinforcement
– Rewarding a behavior every time it occurs
– Reinforcement of a behavior – but not
after every response

Produces a stronger behavioral response
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Schedules of
Reinforcement

Fixed ratio (FR)
– Pattern of intermittent reinforcement in
which reinforcement follows a set number
of responses

Variable ratio (VR)
– Pattern of intermittent reinforcement in
which the number of responses needed
for reinforcement changes
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Schedules of
Reinforcement

Fixed interval (FI)
– Pattern of intermittent reinforcement in
p
are always
y reinforced
which responses
after a set period of time has passed

Variable interval (VI)
– Pattern of intermittent reinforcement in
which responses are reinforced after time
periods of different duration have passed
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Different Schedules of
Reinforcement on Learning
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Conditioned Taste
Aversion

John Garcia
– Research with rats
– Food and saccharin
water
t paired
i d with
ith
radiation
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Challenges to Conditioning
Models of Learning

Instinctive drift
– Learned behavior that shifts toward
instinctive,, unlearned behavior tendencies
– Keller and Marian Breland (1961)

Biological constraint model
– Some behaviors are inherently more likely
to be learned than others
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Latent Learning



Learning that occurs in the absence of
reinforcement and is not demonstrated
until later,, when reinforcement occurs
Demonstrated by running rats through
mazes
Edward Tolman
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Social Learning Theory
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Observational Learning

Observational learning
– Learning by watching the behavior of
others

Enactive learning
– Learning by doing
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Social Learning Theory

Albert Bandura (1986)
– Kind of learning that occurs
when we model or imitate
the behavior of others

Modeling
– Imitation of behaviors
performed by others
– Bobo doll study (1960s)
– The effects of video games
on children and teens
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Social Learning Theory
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Interaction of Nature
and Nurture in Learning
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Imprinting

Rapid and innate learning of the
characteristics of a caregiver very soon
after birth
– Ethology
– Sensitivity period
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Imitation, Mirror Neurons,
and Learning

For some neurons in the
frontal lobe of the
cerebral cortex, the
experience of watching
someone else do
something is like doing it
yourself
– Children with autism may
have deficits in mirror
neuron systems
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Synaptic Change During
Learning



Learning causes physical changes to
the neural network in the brain
“Practice
Practice makes perfect?”
perfect?
Synaptic connections can weaken if
they are not regularly used
– May be a biological explanation of some
forms of forgetting
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Bringing It All Together
Making Connections in
Learning:
g Why
y Do
People Smoke?
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Why Do People Smoke?

Social learning theory

Operant conditioning
– A form of peer acceptance
– Helps maintain smoking behavior
– Negative reinforcers

Some use behavior modification to end
the habit
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Why Do People Smoke?
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14