Download Classical Conditioning

Chapter 5
Learning
Defining Learning
• Learning
– a relatively permanent change in behavior that
occurs through experience
• Fixed action patterns
– behaviors that are driven by genetic inheritance
and are species-specific
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Classical Conditioning
• Classical conditioning
– a form of learning in which a neutral stimulus
becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus
and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar
response
• Reflexes
– automatic stimulus-response connections that
are “hardwired” into the brain
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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How Classical Conditioning
Works
• Unconditioned stimulus (US)
– a stimulus that produces a response without
prior learning
• Unconditioned response (UR)
– an unlearned response that is automatically
associated with the unconditioned stimulus
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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How Classical Conditioning
Works
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
– elicits the conditioned response after being
paired with the unconditioned stimulus
• Conditioned Response (CR)
– the learned response to the conditioned stimulus
that occurs after CS-US association
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Classical Conditioning
Phenomena
• Generalization
– the tendency of a new stimulus that is similar to
the original conditioned stimulus to elicit a
response that is similar to the conditioned
response
• Discrimination
– the process of learning to respond to certain
stimuli and not to others
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Classical Conditioning
Phenomena
• Extinction
– the weakening of the conditioned response in
the absence of the unconditioned stimulus
• Spontaneous recovery
– the process by which a conditioned response
can appear again after a time delay without
further conditioning
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Applications in Human
Classical Conditioning
• Phobias
• Counterconditioning
– a classical conditioning procedure for
weakening a conditioned response of fear by
associating the fear-provoking stimulus with a
new response that is incompatible with the fear
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Evaluation of Classical
Conditioning
• Stimulus substitution
– CS substitutes for the US
• Information theory
– the key to understanding classical conditioning
is the information the organism obtains from
the situation
– latent learning
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Operant Conditioning
• Operant conditioning (instrumental
conditioning)
– a form of learning in which the consequences
of behavior produce changes in the probability
of the behavior’s occurrence
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Operant Conditioning
• Thorndike’s Law of Effect
– behaviors followed by positive outcomes are
strengthened, whereas behaviors followed by
negative outcomes are weakened
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Operant Conditioning
• Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
– Reinforcement
• increases the probability of behavior
– Positive reinforcement
• response is followed by a stimulus
– Negative reinforcement
• response either removes a stimulus or involves
avoiding the stimulus
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Operant Conditioning
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Operant Conditioning
• Punishment
– a consequence that decreases the probability
that a behavior will occur
• Shaping
– rewarding approximations
• Chaining
– technique used to teach a complex sequence of
behaviors
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Operant Conditioning
• Primary reinforcement
– reinforcers that are innately satisfying
• Secondary reinforcement
– acquires its positive value through experience
• Partial reinforcement
– intermittent reinforcement
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Schedules of Reinforcement
• Fixed-ratio schedule
– reinforcement of a behavior after a set number
• Variable-ratio schedule
– a timetable in which response are rewarded an
average number of times, but on an
unpredictable basis
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Schedules of Reinforcement
• Fixed-interval schedule
– reinforcement of the first appropriate response
after a fixed amount of time has elapsed
• Variable-interval schedule
– reinforcement of a response after a variable
amount of time has elapsed
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Observational Learning
• Observational learning
– learning that occurs when a person observes
and imitates someone else’s behavior
• Mentor
– a role model who acts as an advisor, coach, and
confidant
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Cognitive Factors in
Learning
• S-O-R model
– a model of learning that gives some importance
to cognitive factors
– S=Stimulus, O=Organism, R=Response
• Bandura’s cognitive model
– self-efficacy
• the expectation that one can master a situation and
produce positive outcomes
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Cognitive Factors in
Learning
• Cognitive maps
– an organism’s mental representation of the the
structure of physical space
• Insight learning
– a form of problem solving in which an
organism develops a sudden understanding of a
problem’s solution
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Biological Factors in Learning
• Preparedness
– the species-specific biological predisposition to
learn in certain ways but not in others
• Instinctive drift
– the tendency of animals to revert to instinctive
behavior that interferes with learning
• Taste aversion
– the conditioned avoidance of certain substances
Copyright © 1999 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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Cultural Factors in Learning
• How does culture affect learning?
– Degree to which these learning processes are
used
– Determines the content of learning
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