Download Chapter 5: Learning

CHAPTER 5: LEARNING
WHY AND HOW DO PEOPLE AND ANIMALS LEARN?
LEARNING (7-9%)
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Distinguish general differences between principles of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning (e.g.,
contingencies).
• Describe basic classical conditioning phenomena, such as acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, discrimination,
and higher-order learning.
• Predict the effects of operant conditioning (e.g., positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment).
• Predict how practice, schedules of reinforcement, and motivation will influence quality of learning.
• Interpret graphs that exhibit the results of learning experiments.
• Provide examples of how biological constraints create learning predispositions.
• Describe the essential characteristics of insight learning, latent learning, and social learning.
• Apply learning principles to explain emotional learning, taste aversion, superstitious behavior, and learned helplessness.
• Suggest how behavior modification, biofeedback, coping strategies, and self-control can be used to address behavioral problems.
• Identify key contributors in the psychology of learning (e.g., Albert Bandura, John Garcia, Ivan Pavlov, Robert Rescorla, B. F. Skinner,
Edward Thorndike, Edward Tolman, John B. Watson).
CHAPTER 5.1: DEFINITION OF LEARNING
WHAT DOES THE TERM LEARNING REALLY MEAN?
LEARNING: A DEFINITION
 Learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about
by experience or practice:
 What does “Relatively Permanent” mean?
 When you learn, your brain changes physically….but the memory
process makes this more complex (hold on until chapter 6)
2 Important Parts make up learning process:
1) Learning is a LASTING CHANGE. Reflexes are not learning
2) Learning as a mental process is much harder to observe and study
 Learning > Instincts
IS ANY KIND OF CHANGE LEARNING?
 Any change in an organisms BEHAVIOR is
learning
 Maturation: changes like, increase in
height or brain size are which genetic
(NOT Learning)
 Example: A baby cannot learn to walk
before maturation despite practice or
experience. It must wait until brain and
body have matured or developed
5.2: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: “IT MAKES
YOUR MOUTH WATER”
HOW WAS CLASSICAL CONDITIONING FIRST STUDIED, AND WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANT ELEMENTS AND
CHARACTERISTICS OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING?
IVAN PAVLOV AND CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
 One of most famous people in the study of
learning is Ivan Pavlov.
 Originally studying salivation and digestion,
Pavlov stumbled upon classical conditioning
while he was experimenting on his dog.
 Classical Conditioning: A form of learning in
which a previously neutral stimulus (stimuli
w/o reflex provoking power) acquires the
power to elicit the same innate reflex produced
by another stimulus.
PAVLOV’S EXPERIMENT
ELEMENTS OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
 (UCS) Unconditioned Stimulus: A naturally
occurring stimulus that leads to an involuntary
(reflex) response.
 “unlearned” or “naturally occurring”.
 Example: The food in Pavlov’s experiment
 (UCR)Unconditioned Response: An
involuntary (reflex) response to a naturally
occurring or unconditioned stimulus.
 Unlearned Response. Part of the “genetic
wiring”
 Example: The salivating in Pavlov’s experiment
ELEMENTS OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING (CONTINUED)
 (NS) Neutral Stimulus: Stimulus that has no effect on the
desired response
 Example: The food bowl (before) or the Bell (before)
 (CS) Conditioned Stimulus: Stimulus that becomes able to
produce a learned reflex response by being paired with the
original unconditioned stimulus.
 Example: The Bell (after)
 (CR)Conditioned Responses: Learned reflex response to a
conditioned stimulus
 Example: The dog salivating in response to the bell
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
 1) The CS must come before the UCS
 2) The CS and UCS must come very close together in
time-ideally, no more than 5 seconds apart
 3) The neutral stimulus must be paired with the
UCS several times, often many times before the
conditioning can take place
 4) The CS is usually some stimulus that is distinctive
or stands out from other competing stimuli
MR WRAY’S CLASSICAL CONDITIONING VIDEO
1. Describe how Mr Wray’s video explains each essential
piece of Classical Conditioning.
1. UCS:
2. UCR:
3. NS:
4. CR:
5. CS:
GENERALIZATION AND DISCRIMINATION
 Stimulus Generalization:The tendency to respond to a
stimulus that is only similar to the original conditioned
stimulus with the conditioned response
 Example: Feeling of anxiety at the sound of a dentist
drill = anxiety at the sound of a similar sounding
machine
 Stimulus Discrimination:The tendency to stop making a
generalized response to a timulus that is similar to the
original CS becaue the similar stimulus is never paired with
the UCS
 Example: Coffee grinder causes anxiety because it
sounds like dentist drill, but stops causing anxiety after a
few uses.
EXTINCTION AND SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY
 Extinction: The disappearance or weakening of a learned
response following the removal or absence of the UCS or
Reinforcer (operant conditioning)
 To acquire a CR, we repeatedly pair a neutral stimulus
with the UCS. But, if we want to reverse this learning,
we must weaken the strength of the connection
between the two stimuli.
 It is important to realize that extinction does not mean
complete elimination of a response.
 Spontaneous Recovery: The reappearance of a learned
response after extinction has occurred.
HOMEWORK
 Notes Chapter 5-3: Conditioned Emotional Responses
(Short Quiz next class)
 Finish notes for 5-2 if not completed in class
 Practice Quiz: pg 186 in notebook
CHAPTER 5.3: CONDITIONED EMOTIONAL
RESPONSES (RATS!!!!)
WHAT IS A CONDITIONED EMOTIONAL RESPONSE AND HOW DO COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGISTS
EXPLAIN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING?
WATSON AND THE LITTLE ALBERT EXPERIMENT
 John B Watson: Founder of
behaviorism-believed that any behavior
could be explained in terms of learning
 “Little Albert” experiment paired a baby
with a white rat. While the baby was not
initially scared of the rat, Watson paired
the rat with a loud, scary noise (UCS)
 The UCS caused the baby to fear the rat.
Fear of the noise (UCR) caused fear or
phobia of the rat (CR)
CONDITIONED EMOTIONAL RESPONSES
 Conditioned Emotional Response
(CER): Emotional response that has
become classically conditioned to occur
to learned stimuli such as fear of dogs or
the emotional reaction that occurs when
seeing an attractive person.
 Emotional responses and stimuli vary:
 Example: A cute baby or puppy makes
you feel happy
 Example: Scary music or a growling dog
makes you feel fear
VICARIOUS CONDITIONING
 It is possible to become classically
conditioned just by watching other
people
 Vicarious Conditioning: Classical
Conditioning of a reflex response or
emotion by watching the reaction of
another person.
 Example: A baby starts crying after
watching another baby cry
 Example: You start to feel nautiouos
after watching someone else throw up
OTHER CONDITIONED RESPONSES IN HUMANS
 Conditioned Taste Aversion: Development of a nausea
aversive response to a particular taste because taste was
followed by a nausea reaction occurring after only one
association
 Example: Why food you eat when you’re sick makes you
nautious even after you’re no longer sick
 Biological Preparedness: Referring to the tendency of
animals to learn certain associations , such as taste and nausea,
with only one or few pairings due to the survival value of the
learning
 Example: Birds are averse to eating foods that look
like others that make them sick
WHY DOES CLASSICAL CONDITIONING WORK?
Stimulus Substitution: (Pavlov’s
original theory)
 Classical Conditioning occurs because the
conditioned stimulus became a substitute for the
unconditioned stimulus by being paired closely
together.
 Problem: If association in time is all that is needed, then
why would conditioning fail to happen when the CS is
presented immediately after the UCS?
Cognitive Perspective: (Modern
Theory)
 Classical Conditioning occurs because the
conditioned stimulus provides information or an
expectancy about the coming of the unconditioned
stimulus
DO NOW
CHAPTER 5.4: OPERANT CONDITIONING
(WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?)
HOW DOES OPERANT CONDITIONING OCCUR, AND WHAT WERE THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF
THORNDIKE AND SKINNER?
CLASSICAL VS OPERANT CONDITIONING
 With classical conditioning you can
teach a dog to salivate, but you cannot
teach it to sit up or roll over. Why?
 Salivation is an involuntary reflex,
while sitting up and rolling over are far
more complex responses that we
think of as voluntary.
OPERANT CONDITIONING
 An operant is an observable behavior
that an organism uses to “operate” in the
environment.
 Operant Conditioning: A form of
learning in which the probability of a
response is changed by its
consequences…that is, by the stimuli that
follows the response.
B.F. SKINKER AND THE SKINKER BOX
• The “Mac Daddy” of Operant
Conditioning.
• Nurture guy through and
through.
• Used a Skinner Box (Operant
Conditioning Chamber) to prove
his concepts.
• Law of Effect: The idea that
responses that produced
desirable results would be
learned, or “stamped” into the
organism.
SKINNER BOX: WHAT IS IT?
QUICK ACTIVITY: CLASSICAL OR OPERANT
CONDITIONING?
 We will watch a series of quick movie/TV clips that will show examples of classical or
operant conditioning. While watching each clip, indicate in your notebook if the clip is
an example of Classical Conditioning (CC) or Operant Conditioning (OC) and give a
short explanation as to why.
 Big Bang Theory:
 The Office:
 Simpsons:
 Ed, Edd and Eddy:
CHAPTER 5.5:THE CONCEPT OF
REINFORCEMENT
WHAT ARE THE IMPORTANT CONCEPTS IN OPERANT CONDITIONING?
REINFORCEMENT
 A reinforcer is a condition in
which the presentation or
removal of a stimulus, that occurs
after a response (behavior),
strengthens that response or
makes it more likely to happen
again in the future.
PRIMARY VS SECONDARY REINFORCEMENT
Primary Reinforcer
 Any reinforcer that is naturally
reinforcing by meeting a basic biological
need, such as hunger, thirst or touch.
 Similar to the UCR in classical
conditioning
 Example: Food=Hunger Drive, Liquid=
Thirst Drive, Touch=Pleasure Drive
Secondary Reinforcer
 Any reinforcer that becomes
reinforcing after being paired with a
primary reinforcer.
 Similar to the CS in classical
conditioning
 Example: Praise, tokens, gold stars,
money
POSITIVE VS NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT
Positive Reinforcement
 A stimulus presented after a response
that increases the probability of that
response happening again.
 Examples:
 Getting paid money for good grades
 Getting a “Gold Star” for good
behavior at school
 Receiving an award for a top
performance
Negative Reinforcement

The removal of an unpleasant or averse
stimulus that increases the probability of that
response happening again

Examples:

When a child pouts and screams
(behavior) and the parents take the
vegetables off of their plate so they don’t
have to eat them. (removal of averse
stimulus)

Leaving the house early (behavior) to
avoid traffic (removal of averse stimulus)
IDENTIFY THE REINFORCEMENT TECHNIQUE
 1) Arnie’s father nags him to wash the family car. Arnie hates being nagged , so he
washes the car so his father will stop nagging him
 2) Trey learns that if he talks in a funny voice he gets lots of attention from
classmates, so now he talks in a funny voice often
 3) Allen is a server at a restaurant and always tries to smile and be pleasant because
that seems to lead to bigger tips
 4)An Li turns her report in to her teacher on the day it is due because papers get
marked down a letter grade for every day they are late
WHAT IS PUNISHMENT?
 Many people confuse punishment and
negative reinforcement.
 Punishment- any event or object
that, when following a response,
makes that response less likely to
happen again
 Punishment weakens responses
whereas Reinforcement strengthens
responses
PUNISHMENT BY APPLICATION VS PUNISHMENT BY
REMOVAL
Punishment by application (Positive
Punishment)
 The punishment of a response by the addition or
experiencing of an unpleasant stimulus
 Examples:
Punishment by Removal (Negative
Punishment)
 The punishment of a response by the removal of a
pleasurable stimulus
 Examples:

Spanking a child for an undesirable behavior

Grounding a child for breaking a rule

Scolding a child for an undesirable behavior

Fining someone for disobeying the law
REINFORCEMENT VS PUNISHMENT
OPERANT CONDITIONING LAB: PARTNER PROJECT
HOMEWORK
 Finish Operant Conditioning Lab
 Notes: Chapter 5-6: Problems with Punishment
(Short Quiz next class)
 Practice Quiz: pg 195
CHAPTER 5.6 PUNISHMENT AND PROBLEMS
WITH PUNISHMENT
WHAT IS PUNISHMENT? WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PROBLEMS WITH USING PUNISHMENT?
HOW TO MAKE PUNISHMENT MORE EFFECTIVE
 1. Punishment should
immediately follow the behavior
it is meant to punish.
 2. Punishment should be
consistent.
 3. Punishment of the wrong
behavior should be paired,
whenever possible, with
reinforcement of the right
behavior
MORE CONCEPTS IN OPERANT CONDITIONING
 Shaping: The reinforcement of simple steps in
behavior that lead to a desired, more complex
behavior
 Example: training a dog to jump through a
hoop using smaller steps (Training dog to
run through hoop on ground, then using bait
to jump through hoop using bait, then
associating behavior with command instead
of treat)
 Successive Approximation: Small steps in
behavior, one after the other, that lead to a
particular goal behavior
EXTINCTION, GENERALIZATION AND SPONTANEOUS
RECOVERY IN OPERANT CONDITIONING
 Extinction – occurs if the behavior (response) is
not reinforced.
 Operantly conditioned responses also can be
generalized to stimuli that are only similar to the
original stimulus.
 Spontaneous recovery (reoccurrence of a once
extinguished response) also happens in classical
conditioning Extinction in Operant Conditioning
involves the removal of the reinforcer
One way to deal
with a child’s
temper
tantrum is to
ignore it. The
lack of
reinforcement
for the tantrum
behavior
will eventually
result in
extinction.
CHAPTER 5.7:THE SCHEDULES OF
REINFORCEMENT
WHAT ARE THE SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT?
THE PARTIAL REINFORCEMENT EFFECT
 Partial reinforcement effect - the tendency
for a response that is reinforced after some, but
not all, correct responses to be very resistant to
extinction.
 Continuous reinforcement - the
reinforcement of each and every correct
response.
 Example: Alicia’s mom gives her 1 quarter
each time she puts her clothes in the hamper.
Bianca’s mom gives her a dollar at the end of
the week if she puts her clothes in the hamper
every night. Alicia learns quicker than Bianca
SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT
 Fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement - schedule of reinforcement
in which the number of responses required for reinforcement is always
the same.
 Example: Getting a punch card from your favorite restaurant (after
10 punches you get a free sandwich)
 Variable interval schedule of reinforcement - schedule of
reinforcement in which the interval of time that must pass before
reinforcement becomes possible is different for each trial or event.
 Example: A teacher gives a pop-quiz so students learn to prepare
for the class, unsure as to when they might be faced with a quiz
 Example: Going fishing where the results vary and often long wait
and short waits can garner different responses or people may fear
taking the pole out of the water in fear that they’ll “miss” a bigger,
better fish.
SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT (CONTINUED)
 Fixed interval schedule - of reinforcement schedule of
reinforcement in which the interval of time that must pass
before reinforcement becomes possible is always the same.
 Example(s): Receiving a paycheck every 2 weeks
(provided that you have shown up and performed your
job for those 2 weeks) or studying harder the closer you
get to an exam.
 Variable ratio schedule of reinforcement - schedule of
reinforcement in which the number of responses required
for reinforcement is different for each trial or event.
 Example: Using a slot machine. Putting the coins in
(response) but have no idea how many times they will
need to do this until they receive the reward or
“jackpot”.
SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT: EFFECTIVENESS
IN CLASS: PRACTICING SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT
 In class we will work on practice problems to help with identifying different schedules of reinforcement
HOMEWORK
 Notes: Chapters 5.8 and 5.9 (It’s like 4 slides so no complaining): Stimulus Control and Behavior Modification
(Short Quiz Next Class)
 ACE Vocab 5.7 – 5.9
CHAPTER 5.8: STIMULUS CONTROL “SLOW
DOWN IT’S THE COPS”
HOW DO OPERANT STIMULI CONTROL BEHAVIOR, AND WHAT KIND OF BEHAVIOR IS RESISTANT TO
OPERANT CONDITIONING?
OPERANT STIMULI AND STIMULUS CONTROL
 How do we know certain automatic responses?
(Slowing down when we see a cop, stopping for
a red traffic light, pushing or pulling on a door
handle)
 Our brain uses stimuli or cues to help us
determine what behavior(s) will get us what we
want
 Discriminative stimulus - any stimulus, such
as a stop sign or a doorknob, that provides the
organism with a cue for making a certain
response in order to obtain reinforcement
BEHAVIOR RESISTANT TO CONDITIONING
 Instinctive drift - tendency for an animal’s
behavior to revert to genetically controlled
patterns.
 Each animal comes into the world (and the
laboratory) with certain genetically
determined instinctive patterns of behavior
already in place.
 These instincts differ from species to species.
 There are some responses that simply cannot
be trained into an animal regardless of
conditioning.
CHAPTER 5.9: APPLYING OPERANT
CONDITIONING: BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION
WHAT IS BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION, AND HOW CAN BEHAVIORAL TECHNIQUES BE USED TO MODIFY
INVOLUNTARY BIOLOGICAL RESPONSES?
BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION
 Behavior modification - the use of operant conditioning
techniques to bring about desired changes in behavior.
 Token economy - type of behavior modification in which
desired behavior is rewarded with tokens.
 Time-out - a form of mild punishment by removal in which a
misbehaving animal, child, or adult is placed in a special area away
from the attention of others.
 Essentially, the organism is being “removed” from any possibility of positive
reinforcement in the form of attention.
 Applied behavior analysis (ABA) – modern term for a form
of behavior modification that uses shaping to mold a desired
behavior or response.
BIOFEEDBACK VS NEUROFEEDBACK
Biofeedback
 Using feedback about biological
conditions to bring involuntary
responses, such as blood pressure and
relaxation, under voluntary control
Neurofeedback
 Using EEG feedback and other brain
scanning devices to provide feedback
about brain activity in an attempt to
monitor behavior
DO NOW
CHAPTER 5.10: COGNITIVE LEARNING
THEORY
HOW DO LATENT LEARNING, LEARNED HELPLESSNESS, AND INSIGHT RELATE TO COGNITIVE LEARNING
THEORY?
COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY
 In the early days of studying learning – the main focus
was on behavior.
 If it could not be measured or seen, it could not be
accurately studied
 By the 1950s and more intensely in the 1960s, many
psychologists were becoming aware that cognition,
the mental events that take place inside a person’s
mind while behaving, could no longer be ignored.
 Three important figures in cognitive learning theory
include:
 Edward Tohlman
 Wolfgang Kohler
 Martin Seligman
LATENT LEARNING
 Edward Tolman’s best-known experiments in
learning involved teaching three groups of rats the
same maze, one at a time (Tolman & Honzik, 1930).
 Group 1 – rewarded each time at end of maze.
 Learned maze quickly.
 Group 2 – in maze every day; only rewarded on 10th day.
 Demonstrated learning of maze almost immediately after receiving
reward.
 Group 3 – never rewarded.
 Did not learn maze well.
 Latent learning - learning that remains hidden
until its application becomes useful.
TOLMAN’S MAZE: AN EXAMPLE
TOLMAN’S MAZE:THE RESULTS
INSIGHT: KOHLER’S EXPERIMENT
 Kohler (1925): Placed a chimpanzee in a cage with a
banana just out of his reach. Chimpanzee would use “trial
and error” techniques to get the banana.
 Problem was made increasingly more difficult which
caused the Chimpanzee to need more than just “trial
and error” to solve
 Insight - the sudden perception of relationships among
various parts of a problem, allowing the solution to the
problem to come quickly.
 Cannot be gained through trial-and-error learning
alone.
 “Aha” moment.
SELIGMAN AND LEARNED HELPLESSNESS
 Seligman’s study of dogs was originally designed to study escape and
avoidance learning but instead discovered a theory called learned
helplessness.
 In this study presented the dogs with a tone followed by a harmless, but painful electric
shock
 One group of dog was harnessed so they could not escape the shock. The others were free
to escape the shock
 When unharnessed, the previously harnessed dogs still did not attempt to escape the shock
 Learned helplessness - the tendency to fail to act to escape from a situation
because of a history of repeated failures in the past.
 This theory is often attributed to human behaviors/diagnoses such as depression, learning
difficulties (I’m bad at math, I CAN’T do it), and cyclical destructive behaviors such as
abusive relationships
IN CLASS ASSIGNMENT: DEAN FOR A DAY ASSIGNMENT
APPLYING LEARNING CONCEPTS
HOMEWORK
 Practice Quiz: Page 203
 Article: Read and Review in Notebook “The Psychology of Spanking” (Link to Article
on website)
 Article Review should include 3 parts:
 Summary: What is the article about?
 Analysis: What is the POINT of the article? Why is it relavent
 Synthesis: How is this information related to concepts we are learning in class?
Explain
DO NOW
CHAPTER 5.11: OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
WHAT OCCURS IN OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING, INCLUDING FINDINGS FROM BANDURA’S CLASSIC
BOBO DOLL STUDY AND THE FOUR ELEMENTS OF OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING?
BANDURA AND THE BOBO DOLL
 Bandura’s famous study involved having a preschool
aged child in a room in which the experimenter and
a model interacted with toys in the room in front
of the child. (Bandura et al 1961)
 In one condition the model interacted with the
toy in a non-aggressive manner. In the other, the
model became very aggressive toward the doll
 When child was left alone to play with the doll,
children who witnessed aggressive behaviors
imitated the same aggressive behaviors towards
the doll
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
 Observational learning - learning new
behavior by watching a model perform that
behavior.
 Learning/performance distinction -
referring to the observation that learning can
take place without actual performance of the
learned behavior.
FOUR ELEMENTS OF OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
1. ATTENTION
To learn anything through observation, the learner must first pay attention to
the model.
2. MEMORY
The learner must also be able to retain the memory of what was done, such as
remembering the steps in preparing a dish that was first seen on a cooking
show.
3. IMITATION
The learner must be capable of reproducing, or imitating, the actions of the
model.
4. MOTIVATION
Finally, the learner must have the desire to perform the action.
(An easy way to remember the four elements of modeling is to remember the
letters AMIM, which stands for the first letters of each of the four elements).
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING LAB ACTIVITY
 We will be watching a series of videos that
HOMEWORK
 Learning project due next class: January 19th (B) and January 20th (A)
 Notes chapter 5.12 (from book, not included on powerpoint)
 ACE Vocab 5.10-5.12