Download Notes

Chapter 9: Learning
Section 1: Classical
Conditioning
• PDN: Read page 284-285
• What is the best way to
learn?
• Learning: A relatively permanent
change in behavior (or behavioral
potential) due to experience.
–Experience is the greatest teacher
• Affect how the person is likely to
act in the future
• Behaviorism: An approach to psychology that
emphasizes the study of observable behavior
and the role of the environment as a
determinant of behavior.
–Focus of conditioning- involves associations
between environmental stimuli & responses
• Two types
–Classical Conditioning
–Operant Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
• Ivan Pavlov was studying the salivation in
dogs
• Eventually the dogs would start salivating
just when brought to the laboratory &
saw an empty bowl
–Conditioned reflex because it depended
on environmental conditions
Pavlov’s Apparatus
• Harness and fistula (mouth tube) help keep
dog in a consistent position and gather
uncontaminated saliva samples
–They do not cause the dog discomfort
9-6
New Reflexes from Old
• Original salivary reflex- Unconditioned
response (UCR)
–Food- unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
• UCS- any event or thing that elicits a
response automatically or reflexively
• UCR- response that is automatically
produced
• Learning occurs when a neutral stimulus
becomes the conditioned stimulus (CS)
that is paired with a UCS
• A CS elicits a CR, which is usually similar
to the original unlearned one
• Classical Conditioning: The process by which a
previously neutral stimulus acquires the
capacity to elicit a response through
association with a stimulus that already elicits
a similar or related response.
9-9
Terms
• Conditioned Stimulus: An initially neutral
stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned
response after being associated with an
unconditioned stimulus.
• Conditioned Response: A response that is
elicited by a conditioned stimulus
–it occurs after the conditioned stimulus is
associated with an unconditioned stimulus.
Principles of Classical Conditioning
• Occurs in all species
• Acquisition
–A neutral stimulus
that is consistently
followed by an
unconditioned
stimulus will
become a
conditioned
stimulus.
Extinction
• The weakening &
eventual
disappearance of a
learned response
• It occurs when the
conditioned stimulus is
no longer paired with
the unconditioned
stimulus.
Wade and Tavris © 2005
Prentice Hall
9-12
• Spontaneous recovery- explains why
completely eliminating a CR usually
requires more than one extinction
session
Higher Order Conditioning
• A procedure in which a neutral stimulus
becomes a conditioned stimulus through
association with an already established
conditioned stimulus.
9-14
• May explain why some words trigger
emotional response in us
–Ex: Birthdays
• May contribute to the formation of
prejudices
–Dumb Pollacks
Generalization & Discrimination
• Stimulus Generalization:
–After conditioning, the tendency to
respond to a stimulus that resembles
one involved in the original
conditioning.
–Ex: sounds
Wade and Tavris © 2005
Prentice Hall
9-16
• Stimulus Discrimination:
–The tendency to respond
differently to two or more similar
stimuli.
–Ex: difference between sounds
What is actually learned in Classical
Conditioning?
• To be most effective, the stimulus to be
conditioned should precede the UCS
• The CS becomes a signal for the UCS
• To become a CS, the neutral stimulus,
must reliably signal or predict the UCS
• Examples Review