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Chapter 5: Learning
Learning: Definition

A relatively permanent
change in behaviour
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 behaviour will
be repeated

Reinforcer
– Any stimulus that
increases the probability
that a preceding
behaviour 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
behaviour 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
– Behaviour that is
reinforced every time it
occurs

Partial reinforcement
– Behaviour 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
– Behaviour 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 behaviour
Shaping
– Process of teaching a
complex behaviour by
rewarding closer and
closer approximations of
the desired behaviour

Biological constraints
– Built-in limitations in the
ability of animals to learn
particular behaviours
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Cognitive-Social Approaches to
Learning

Latent learning
– A new behaviour is learned but not demonstrated until
reinforcement is provided for displaying it
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Cognitive-Social Approaches to
Learning

Observational learning
– Learning through
observing the behaviour
of another person called
a model
– Studies indicate that
watching violence makes
one more likely to act
aggressively.
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