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THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING:
A STUDENT WORKBOOK
Armando Machado
Francisco J. Silva
University of Minho
University of Redlands
Foreword by William Timberlake (Indiana University)
To Orlando, my friend.
AM
To Joe Pear, Bob Tait, and Steve Holborn for showing me the light, and
Bill Timberlake for making it brighter.
FJS
CONTENTS
Foreword vi
Preface x
1
Learning and Variables
1
The goal of studying learning 1
Behavior is lawful 1
Independent, dependent, and confounding variables
Operational definitions 2
Exercises 3
2
Graphs and Functions
7
Functional relations 7
Drawing graphs 7
Common functional relations (shapes of curves)
Linear relations 10
Positively accelerating relations 11
Negatively accelerating relations 12
Exercises 13
3
1
10
Habituation and Its Properties
23
What is habituation? 23
Illustrating habituation in a graph 23
Properties of habituation 23
Spontaneous recovery from habituation 24
Relearning effect 24
Interstimulus interval (ISI) effect 24
Stimulus intensity effect 24
Stimulus generalization and stimulus specificity of habituation
Exercises 24
4
24
Basic Principles of Pavlovian Conditioning
Pavlovian conditioning 31
Pavlovian extinction 32
Spontaneous recovery of a conditional response
(Conditional) stimulus generalization 32
(Conditional) stimulus discrimination 32
Exercises 32
32
31
CONTENTS
5
Complexities of Pavlovian Conditioning
41
Contingency in Pavlovian conditioning 41
Conditioned suppression and suppression ratios 41
How are excitors, inhibitors, and neutral stimuli related to conditioned suppression?
Exercises 43
6
The Rescorla-Wagner Model: The Basics
51
The Rescorla-Wagner model 51
Unconditional stimulus 51
Conditional stimulus 51
The learning process 52
Exercises 54
7
The Rescorla-Wagner Model: Advanced Issues
Introduction 61
Exercises 61
8
Reinforcement
71
Amount and quality of reinforcement 71
Motivation 71
Delay of reinforcement 71
Premack’s principle 71
Response deprivation hypothesis 72
Behavioral bliss points 72
Exercises 73
9
“Creating” Behavior: Shaping
Shaping 81
Successive approximations 81
Interplay between reinforcement and extinction
Exercises 82
10
Schedules of Reinforcement
81
82
91
What are schedules of reinforcement? 91
The importance of schedules of reinforcement 91
Types of schedules of reinforcement 92
Distinguishing ratio schedules from interval schedules 92
Fixed schedules differ from variable schedules of reinforcement
Feedback functions 92
Cumulative records 95
Exercises 95
11
Punishment, Escape, and Avoidance
Two-process theory and negative reinforcement
103
92
103
61
42
v
CONTENTS
vi
Punishment 103
Exercises 104
12
“Simple” Stimulus Control
113
Stimulus control 113
Pavlovian stimulus discrimination 113
Operant stimulus discrimination 114
Stimulus generalization 114
Peak shift 115
Excitatory and inhibitory generalization gradients
Exercises 116
13
“Complex” Stimulus Control
115
127
“Complex” stimulus control 127
Memory 127
Delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) 127
Radial-arm maze 128
Concepts 129
Temporal discrimination (“timing”) 129
Numerical discrimination 130
Exercises 130
14 Choice and Preference: The Basics of the Matching Law 143
What is the matching law?
Exercises 144
15
143
Extensions of the Matching Law
Deviations from matching
Exercises 155
References 166
Index 167
Blank Pages for Extra Work
155
171
155
CONTENTS
vii