Download Learning chapter 6

Learning
chapter 6
How do we
learn?
 classical conditioning
(Pavlovian conditioning)
 operant conditioning
(instrumental conditioning)
 observational learning
(modeling)
• Learning is a
relatively
permanent change
in an organism's
behavior due to
experience
• By conditioning and
by observation we
adapt to our
environments.
Conditioning
• the process of learning associations -certain events occur together
• The events may be stimuli (as in classical
conditioning)
• or a response and its consequences (as in
operant conditioning
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Classical Conditioning
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A type of learning in which an organism comes
to associate stimuli. (Animals can learn simple
associations)
A neutral stimulus signals an unconditional
stimulus – and begins to produce a response
that anticipates and prepares for the
unconditional stimulus.
Also know as Pavlovian or respondent
conditioning.
Operant Conditioning
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We learn to associate a response (our
behavior) and its consequences and repeat
acts followed by good results.
Pressing a lever on a slot machine pays us
money and so we keep doing it (even if we are
losing money)
Ivan Pavlov – Classical conditioning
• By creating a visual or auditory
stimulus just before feeding his
dogs, Pavlov discovered that they
began salivating after observing
the stimulus, even when no food
was visible.
• He determined that animals
developed "conditional reflexes"
based on prior experiences.
• Pavlov's psychology studies also
focused on the reflexes that
occur in response to stress and
pain.
His laboratory in St. Petersburg has been turned into a museum.
Figure 6.1 Classical conditioning apparatus
Terminology
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
Conditioned Stimulus
(CS)
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
Conditioned Response
(CR)
• UCS is a stimulus that elicits an unconditioned
response without previous conditioning…
Pavlov’s meat powder
• UCR is an unlearned reaction to a UCS that occurs
without previous conditioning…
salivating
• CS is a previously neutral stimulus that has
acquired the capacity to elicit a conditioned
response...
the sound of a tone
• CR is a learned reaction to a conditioned
stimulus…
salivating to the tone
Classical conditioning
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• US – unconditioned
stimulus. Naturally
and automatically
triggers a response
FOOD
• CS - conditioned
stimulus- the neutral
stimulus
• UR- unconditioned
response - the
unlearned, naturally
occurring response to
the unconditioned
stimulus.
SALIVATION
• CR- conditioned
response - the
learned response to a
previously neutral
stimulus.
BELL
SALIVATION
More Terminology
• Trial = pairing of UCS and CS
• Acquisition = initial stage in learning
• Stimulus contiguity = occurring together in
time and space
Some behaviors are learned after
only one trial, or pairing, while
others take many trials.
3 types of Classical Conditioning
• Simultaneous conditioning: CS and
UCS begin and end together
• Short-delayed conditioning: CS
begins just before the UCS, end
together
• Trace conditioning: CS begins and
ends before UCS is presented
Processes in Classical Conditioning
• Extinction: CS and UCS are no longer
paired and the response to the CS is
weakened
• Spontaneous Recovery: the response is
still there, just not active, because of
spontaneous recovery – when an
extinguished response reappears after a
period of non-pairing
Processes in Classical Conditioning
• Stimulus Generalization: conditioning
generalizes to additional stimuli that are
similar to the CS (Little Albert)
• Discrimination: the opposite of
generalization; that is, the response is to a
specific stimulus… similar stimuli don’t work
• Higher-order conditioning: CS functions as
if it were a UCS to establish new
conditioning (tone produces saliva, tone
paired with light, light produces saliva)
Applications of classical
conditioning
• John Watson used classical
conditioning procedures to develop
advertising campaigns for a number
of organizations, including Maxwell
House, making the “coffee break” an
American custom
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Applications of classical
conditioning
• Alcoholics may be conditioned
(aversively) to alcohol by reversing
their positive-associations with alcohol.
• Through classical conditioning, can a
drug (with a specific taste) that affects
the immune response cause the taste of
the drug to invoke the immune
response?
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