Download Chapter Five Learning

Chapter Five
Learning
Did You Know That…
• Déjà-vu may be a learned response?
• In an early study, a young boy learned to
fear a white rat after experimenters
repeatedly made loud noises by banging
steel bars behind his head while the rat
was present?
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Did You Know That… (Cont’d)
• Phobias may be acquired through the
same learning principles that Pavlov
discovered, based on his studies of
digestion in dogs?
• Salivating to the sound of a tone may not
be harmful, but salivating at the sight of a
Scotch bottle may well be dangerous to
people battling alcoholism?
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Did You Know That… (Cont’d)
• Scheduling tests on specific days may
inadvertently reinforce students to cram
just before exams and to slack off
afterwards?
• Many people develop fears of various
creatures even though they have had no
direct negative experiences with them?
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What is Learning?
• A relatively permanent change in behavior
that results from experience
• Learning is adaptive
• Three major types of learning:
• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
• Cognitive learning
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Module 5.1
Classical Conditioning: Learning
Through Association
Module 5.1 Preview Questions
• What is learning?
• What is classical conditioning?
• What roles do extinction, spontaneous
recovery, stimulus generalization, and
discrimination play in classical
conditioning?
• What stimulus characteristics strengthen
conditioned responses?
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Module 5.1 Preview Questions (Cont’d)
• What is the cognitive perspective on
classical conditioning?
• What are some examples of classical
conditioning in daily life?
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Classical Conditioning
• Discovered by a Russian physiologist,
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
• Learning by association
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Figure 5.1: Apparatus Similar to One Used
in Pavlov’s Experiments
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Figure 5.2: Diagramming Classical
Conditioning
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Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
• Extinction: The gradual weakening and
eventual disappearance of a CR
• Spontaneous Recovery: The spontaneous
return of a CR following extinction
• Reconditioning: The process of relearning
a CR after extinction
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Generalization and Discrimination
• Stimulus Generalization: Tendency of
stimuli similar to the CS to elicit the CR
• One explanation for feelings of déjà-vu
• Stimulus Discrimination: The ability to
differentiate among related stimuli
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Figure 5.3: Stimulus Generalization and
Discrimination
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Stimulus Characteristics that Strengthen
Conditioned Responses
• Frequency of pairings
• Timing
• Intensity of US
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Cognitive Perspective
• Robert Rescorla: Conditioning depends on
the informational value of the CS
• CS must reliably predict the occurrence of the
US.
• Cognitive perspective on classical
conditioning
• Has important survival implications
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Examples of Classical Conditioning
• Conditioned emotional reactions (CER)
• Watson and Rayner’s Little Albert experiment
•
•
•
•
•
Phobias
Positive emotions
Drug cravings
Conditioned taste aversions
Immune system changes
Continue
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Figure 5.4: The Conditioning of “Little Albert”
Return
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Module 5.2
Operant Conditioning:
Learning Through Consequences
Module 5.2 Preview Questions
• What is Thorndike’s Law of Effect?
• What is operant conditioning?
• What are the different types of reinforcers?
• What are schedules of reinforcement, and
how do they differ?
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5-20
Module 5.2 Preview Questions (Cont’d)
• How are schedules of reinforcement
related to learning?
• Why are psychologists concerned about
the use of punishment?
• What are some applications of operant
conditioning?
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Classical vs. Operant Conditioning
• Classical Conditioning: Learning results
from the association between stimuli
before a response occurs
• Operant Conditioning: Learning results
from the association of a response with its
consequences
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Figure 5.5: Thorndike’s Puzzle Box
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Thorndike’s Law of Effect
• The tendency of a response to occur depends
on the effects it has on the environment.
• Responses that have satisfying effects are
strengthened and more likely to occur again.
• Reinforcement
• Responses that lead to discomfort are
weakened and less likely to occur again.
• Punishment
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B. F. Skinner and Operant Conditioning
• Skinner believed in radical behaviorism.
• Behavior is completely determined by
environment and genetics.
• Free will is an illusion or a myth.
• Organisms learn responses that operate
on the environment to produce
consequences.
• “Operant conditioning” or “instrumental
learning”
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Operant Conditioning
• Consequences of a response determines the
likelihood that the response will occur again.
• The response is called an operant response.
• A reinforcer is the stimulus or event that
increases the likelihood that the behavior it
follows will be repeated.
• The longer the reinforcement is delayed, the weaker
its effects will be.
• Operant conditioning can be used to explain
some forms of superstitious behavior.
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Principles of Operant Conditioning
• Discriminative Stimulus: A cue that signals
reinforcement is available if a particular
response is made
• Types of Reinforcement:
• Positive: Reinforce by adding something
pleasant
• Negative: Reinforce by removing something
unpleasant
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Figure 5.6: Types of Reinforcers
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Primary vs. Secondary Reinforcers
• Primary Reinforcers: Reinforcers that are
intrinsically rewarding because they satisfy
basic biological needs or drives
• Secondary Reinforcers: Reinforcers that
develop their reinforcing properties
because of their association with primary
reinforcers
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Shaping
• Application of the method of successive
approximations
• Reinforce responses that are closer and
closer to correct response
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Extinction
• Process by which responses are
weakened and eventually eliminated
• Occurs when the response is repeatedly
performed but is no longer reinforced
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Schedules of Reinforcement
• When is reinforcement delivered?
• Continuous Reinforcement: Every
response is reinforced.
• Partial Reinforcement: Only a portion of
the responses is reinforced.
• Ratio schedules: fixed or variable
• Interval schedules: fixed or variable
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Figure 5.7: Rates of Response Under
Different Schedules of Partial Reinforcement
Source: Adapted from
Skinner, B. F. (1961).
Cumulative Record (3rd ed.)
Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
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Escape and Avoidance Learning
• Escape Learning: Escape an aversive
stimulus by performing an operant
response
• Avoidance Learning: Avoid an aversive
stimulus by performing an operant
response
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Punishment
• Consequence that weakens or suppresses
a response
• Removal of a reinforcing stimulus
• Introduction of an aversive stimulus
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Figure 5.8: Types of Punishment
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Punishment vs. Negative Reinforcement
• Punishment
• Introduces an aversive stimulus
• Weakens a behavior
• Negative reinforcement
• Removes an aversive stimulus
• Strengthens a behavior
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Drawbacks of Punishment
• May suppress undesirable behavior, but
does not eliminate it
• Does not teach new behaviors
• Can have undesirable consequences
• May become abusive
• May represent a form of inappropriate
modeling
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Table 5.1: Comparing Reinforcement and
Punishment
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Applications of Operant Conditioning
• Biofeedback training
• Behavior modification
• Token economy program
• Programmed instruction
• Computer-assisted instruction
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Module 5.3
Cognitive Learning
Module 5.3 Preview Questions
• What is cognitive learning?
• What is insight learning?
• What is latent learning?
• What is observational learning?
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Cognitive Learning
• Involves mental processes that cannot be
directly observed
• Premise is that we are capable of new
behaviors without actually having had the
chance to perform them or being
reinforced for them
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Insight Learning
• Wolfgang Köhler’s (1927) experiment with
Sultan the chimp
• Insight Learning: Process of mentally
working through a problem until the
sudden realization of a solution occurs
• The “Aha!” phenomenon
• Requires restructuring or reorganizing the
problem on one’s mind to form a solution
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Figure 5.9: Tolman and Honzik’s Study of
Latent Learning
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Latent Learning
• “Hidden” learning occurs without
reinforcement.
• Learned behavior displayed only when
reinforced
• Tolman: The rats had developed a
cognitive map of the maze.
• Mental representation of maze
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Observational Learning
• Acquire new behaviors by imitating
behaviors observed in others
• Also called vicarious learning or modeling
• Allows us to become capable of behaviors
even before have chance to do the
behaviors ourselves
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Observational Learning (Cont’d)
• Albert Bandura: Children learn to imitate
aggressive behavior.
• “Bobo doll” studies
• Influence of modeling generally stronger
when:
• Model is similar to the learner
• Positive reinforcement for performing the
behavior is evident
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Application: Module 5.4
Putting Reinforcement into Practice
Module 5.4 Preview Question
• What steps are involved in applying
reinforcement principles?
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Modifying Behavior
• Important to establish a clear contingency
between the desired behavior and the
reinforcement
• Contingency contracting involves an
exchange of desirable reinforcers.
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Applying Reinforcement
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Be specific.
Use specific language.
Select a reinforcer.
Explain the contingency.
Apply the reinforcer.
Track frequency of the desired behavior.
Wean the child from the reinforcer.
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Giving Praise
• Make eye contact with the child and smile
while giving praise.
• Use hugs.
• Be specific.
• Avoid empty flattery.
• Reward the effort, not the outcome.
• Avoid repeating yourself.
• Don’t end on a sour note.
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