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Chapter 6 A.P. Psychology-Learning
Learning-a relatively permanent change in behavior based on prior experience.
Behaviorists believe learning is measured by ________________ behavior;
whereas cognitivists view learning as a _____________ process
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)-Russian physiologist who was the first person to
demonstrate the learning procedure called ________________ Conditioning. He
did this after studying the digestive systems of ______ in the early 1900’s.
Classical Conditioning-basic form of learning in which a __________ that produces
an ________ reflex becomes associated with a previously __________ stimulus,
which then acquires the power to elicit essentially that same response.
Reflex-an involuntary response elicited/produced from a stimulus
Example-salivation to food
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS/US)-a stimulus/event that elicits/produces a certain
predictable unlearned automatic ______________ without previous training.
Unconditioned Response (UCR/UR)-an automatic/unlearned (or natural)
_____________ that is preceded or elicited by an _______________.
Neutral stimulus (NS)-a stimulus that does not ______________elicit a response
prior to learning
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)-a once __________ stimulus that has been paired
repeatedly with the ____________________ to produce/elicit a
conditioned/learned response.
Conditioned Response (CR)-the learned reaction to a _______________ stimulus.
Acquisition-initial learning in CC when ____ comes to be elicited by the _____.
Identify the following in Ivan Pavlov’s Classical conditioning experiment:
NS- ___________________
UCS-___________________
UCR-___________________
CS-____________________
CR-____________________
Extinction-the gradual disappearance of a ____ when the CS is repeatedly
presented without the _____.
-simply put; extinction is the gradual loss of an association between the and the
over time
Extinction disrupts the CS-CR association, however this connection is inhibited not
lost forever.
If the UCS is once again presented with the CS, the previously acquired CS-CR
association will return. This is called reconditioning. (the quick relearning of a
previously extinct CS-CR association)
Spontaneous recovery-the reappearance of an extinguished ____ after a time
delay.
Stimulus Generalization-the tendency for a CR (behavior) to be elicited by a
______________ stimuli.
Discrimination-the ability to distinguish between the CS and similar stimuli that are
not associated with the __________________. (reverse of ______________)
Second or higher order conditioning-a new Neutral stimulus (NS) is repeatedly
paired with the conditioned stimulus (CS) in order to elicit the same conditioned
response (CR)
Pavlov paired the tone (CS) with a light (NS). After repeated trials, the light
became a ____________________ that elicited salivation (_____).
John Watson was a ______________ who believe that environment
(___________) alone dictated human behavior and development.
To prove this he and his assistant Rosalie Rayner set out to condition the emotion
of fear in a human infant (___________________)
Identify the following in John Watson’s experiment:
NS- ___________________
UCS-___________________
UCR-___________________
CS-____________________
CR-____________________
Treating phobias
1. Flooding (implosive therapy)-continuously exposing an individual to the fearevoking conditioned stimulus to eliminate the conditioned response.
Example-if a person had a phobia of balloons; surround them with balloons.
2. Systematic desensitization-exposing the patient to a series of approximations
to the anxiety-provoking stimulus under relaxed conditions until the anxiety
reaction is extinguished.
Example-if a person had a phobia of balloons; gradually expose them to a balloon
while learning to relax during each exposure.
3. Counterconditioning-paring the fear-evoking stimulus with a pleasant stimulus to
reverse the effects of the phobia.
Example-the person with the balloon phobia; pair the balloon with a pleasant
stimulus (person’s favorite food?) in hopes of countering the negative effects of
the balloon.
BUT could possible lead to making person afraid of pleasant stimulus. How?
Conditioned food aversions
Conditioned taste (food) aversion-exposure to a noxious substance causing nausea
and sickness; resulting in an individual associating the food with the sickness making
him/her avoid that ________ in the future.
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Psychologist John Garcia demonstrated that aversion to food can be
classically conditioned in a rat.
Rat was given a noxious substance that caused nausea, then exposed to
various stimuli.
Garcia noticed that when the rat was exposed to the stimuli that
accompanied the noxious substance that caused nausea; the rat avoided the
____________ all together
Exposure to the noxious substance and reaction (getting sick) can occur
after a long delay and still produce a strong association. (doesn’t have to be
contiguous)
Does not require multiple trials
Evolutionist say taste aversions are necessary to survive
Operant conditioning
Edward Thorndike-developed the theory “Law of effect” which says that behaviors
that resulted in rewards are “stamped in” (strengthened), while behaviors that did
not result in rewards are “stamped out” (_________________)
His theory would be further explained by behaviorist ___________________.
B.F. Skinner believed that while classical conditioning explained behaviors that
occur because of reflexes; operant conditioning required the subject to operate on,
or manipulate, its environment.
He said how you interact with your environment is based primarily on the
reinforcement or punishment you receive.
Punishment-a stimulus that, when made contingent on a behavior, decreases the
strength of the exhibited behavior, acts as a deterrent to behavior.
Reinforcer-a stimulus that, when made contingent on a behavior, ___________ the
strength of the exhibited behavior, is necessary for the continuation of a behavior.
Skinner said there are two reinforcers that allow learning to take place:
1. Primary reiforcers-any reinforcing stimuli that satisfy a biological need (food,
water, sex (although it is not a need!) etc…) these are not learned
2. Secondary (conditioned) reinforcers-any previous neutral stimuli that have
gained reinforcement value after being associated with another reinforce (Money,
praise, grades, etc…)
Skinner believed that all behavior can be explained in one of four ways. Positive
reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, negative punishment
(omission)
But first some terminology:
Positive-the ____________ of a stimulus
Negative-the _____________ of a stimulus
Appetitive-a desired/liked stimulus
Aversive-an undesirable/disliked stimulus
Increase in behavior-exhibited behavior continues
Decrease in behavior-exhibited behavior decrease
“Skinner squares”
The following are examples of the above “skinner Squares”, what are they?
1. Every time Mr. Harrison gets a headache (like at the start of second block) he
takes an aspirin: ________________________. When his headache goes away, he
is more likely to take aspirin in the future.
2. Every time students have phone out being rude and disruptive Mr. Harrison calls
their parents and hopefully they get in trouble: _______________________.
Therefor students no longer have phones out in class.
3. Every time Amy gets an A in psychology class, her parents give her praise:
___________________. Therefore she earns more A’s.
4. Every time Elissa stays out past her curfew, her parents take away her car:
___________________. Therefore she no longer stays out past her curfew.
Within negative reinforcement there are two types of learning, escape and
avoidance.
1. Escape learning-when you remove yourself from the aversive stimulus.
Example-a loud commercial comes on TV, you leave the room.
2. Avoidance learning-you remove yourself from the upcoming aversive stimulus.
Example-each time you know there is a commercial coming on, you leave the room.
Shaping/chaining (via successive approximations)-creating a new behavior based on
a sequence of rewarding behaviors that come closer and closer to the ultimate
behavioral goal.
Continuous reinforcement-reinforcement that occurs after every desired behavior
is exhibited.
 Necessary during initial acquisition stage of learning
 But one problem with continuous reinforcement is that the subject may
expect the reinforcement each time and if it is not provided, stimulusresponse connection can be quickly lost.
Example-reward a dog every time he sits when you tell him to.
To make sure the stimulus-response connection is made (and strengthened) a
schedule of reinforcement should be implemented.
Partial reinforcement (intermittent reinforcement schedule)-when reinforcement
for the desired behavior is given occasionally.
 Elicits a greater number of responses because it is unknown when the
reinforcement will take place.
 Less prone to extinction
 Four basic types of intermittent reinforcement schedules
 Ratio-based on number of behaviors performed
 Interval-based on __________.
1. Fixed-ratio (FR)-reinforcement provided after a set number of correct
responses are performed
Example-a rat receives a food pellet after every five times it presses a lever
2. Variable-ratio (VR) - reinforcement provided after a varying number of correct
behaviors
Example-a slot machine at a casino reward the player after a varying number of
pulls
3. Fixed-ratio (FI) - reinforcement provided for the first desired response after a
set amount of _________ has elapsed
Example-your favorite TV show comes on every Monday at 8:00
4. Variable interval (VI) - reinforcement provided after the first desired response
after a varying amount of time has elapsed
Example-your favorite TV show comes on after the baseball game ends
Extinction can occur for operant conditioning also, extinction occurs when
reinforcement is absent from the desired behavior
Applications of Operant conditioning
Behavior modification-a change in a previous behavior to a newly desired behavior
Token economies-an environment that reinforces desired behavior by rewarding
the behavior with secondary reinforcers that can be exchanged for other
reinforcers.
Cognitive learning
Learned helplessness-failure to continue exerting effort for an outcome because
all previous attempts have _____________
Example-Mr. Harrison keeps trying to make the Chicago Cubs baseball team. He
never does, so he ________ trying. His mental interpretation or thinking that he
lacks control over the outcome leads him to have feelings of hopelessness, so he
stops trying to make the team
Edward Tolman said learning take place cognitively and thus may not necessary be
immediately observable. Mice?
Cognitive maps-mental representations people rely on to understand complex
patterns
Latent learning-learning that may not be displayed until a later time, it is not
always immediately observable and may lie hidden until a circumstance arises that
requires this prior learning to be displayed.
 It is important to note, this behavior was learned without any direct
reinforcement
Observational learning-acquiring knowledge by _________ others perform a task.
Albert Bandura-the “Bobo doll experiment”
 Wanted to study effects of violence displayed in the media on children’s
behavior
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Concluded that children who watched an adult behave violently with BOBO,
modeled (imitated/copied) the same aggressive behavior that was directly
observed.
Children who watched an adult play nice with BOBO modeled the same nice
behavioral when they played with BOBO.
Demonstrated the impact of watching violence and aggression on TV
Criticism of the “Bobo experiment”- possible _____________ variables?
Habituation-learning ______ to respond to the repeated presentation of a
stimulus.
Mere exposure effect-learned preference for stimuli to which we have been
____________ exposed
Does punishment work? Must be swift, must be certain, target the behavior (not
the person),
Premack Principle (David Premack)-more preferred activity can be used to
reinforce a ________ preferred activity
Wolfgang Kohler? Insight learning?
“Skinner” box
Counterconditioning therapy
Experimental neurosis
Long-term potentiation