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Classical
Operant
Conditioning
Conditioning
Cognitive
Learning
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A
relatively permanent change in
behavior, knowledge, capability, or
attitude
• acquired through experience
• cannot be attributed to illness, injury, or maturation
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A
type of learning through which an
organism learns to associate one stimulus
with another
• stimulus
 any event or object in the environment to which an
organism responds
 Classical
conditioning was an accidental
discovery by Russian physiologist Ivan
Pavlov (1849–1936).
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


Neutral stimulus ( tone) is presented shortly before an unconditioned
stimulus (food).
Naturally elicits an unconditioned response (salivation)
After repeated pairings, the conditioned stimulus alone (the tone) comes
to elicit the conditioned response (salivation).
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
Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
• elicits unconditioned response
without learning
 e.g., food, loud noise, light in eye,
puff of air in eye

Unconditioned Response
(UR)
• response elicited by an
unconditioned stimulus without
learning
 e.g., salivation, startle, contraction
of pupil, eyeblink
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
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
• neutral stimulus
• After repeated pairing with US,
the stimulus becomes
associated with it.
• elicits a conditioned response
• example: a tone

Conditioned Response
(CR)
• learned response
• elicited by CS in response to,
e.g., a tone

Higher-Order Conditioning
• Conditioned stimuli are linked to
form a series of signals.
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
Extinction
• weakening and disappearance of CR as a result of repeated
presentation of CS without US

Spontaneous Recovery
• reappearance of extinguished CR when organism is exposed to CS
following rest period
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 Generalization
• tendency to make a CR to a stimulus that is similar to
the original CS
 Discrimination
• learned ability to distinguish between similar stimuli
• CR occurs only in response to the original CS, not to
similar stimuli.
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Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Watson and Rayner (1920) “Little Albert” Study
• A child was classically conditioned to fear a rat.


Conditioned fears persist and modify personality throughout life.
Mary Cover Jones (1924) later used classical conditioning to
remove fears in another child.
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 Pavlov and Watson
• A critical element of classical conditioning is the
repeated pairing of CS and US.
 Robert Rescorla
• A critical element is whether the CS provides
information that enables the organism to reliably
predict the occurrence of the US.
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
Genetically programmed tendencies to acquire
classically conditioned fear responses to potentially
life-threatening stimuli

Martin Seligman (1972): most common fears “are
related to the survival of the human species through
the long course of evolution”

Taste Aversion
• the intense dislike and/or avoidance of particular foods that
have been associated with nausea or discomfort
• biologically adaptive for survival
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
Exposed rats to 3-way conditioned stimulus:
• bright light, clicking noise, flavored water



One group was exposed to US producing nausea
and vomiting several hours after exposure.
Another group’s US was immediate electric shocks
to the feet.
Rats formed an association between nausea and
flavored water ingested several hours earlier.
• contradicted the principle that CS must be presented
shortly before the US
• Animals are biologically predisposed to make associations.
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 Why
can diet soda make people hungry?
• The sweet taste of soda becomes a CS.
 elicits insulin increase (UR)
 leads to feelings of hunger
• The pancreas pumps out insulin (lowers blood sugar)
in response to any sweet taste such as diet soda.
• Without real sugar, insulin causes blood sugar to drop
below normal.
• Insulin drop causes the body to signal to the brain to
eat.
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 Law
of Effect (Edward Thorndike)
• Consequence response determines the tendency
to respond in the same way in the future.
 strengthened or weakened
 Organisms tend to repeat behaviors that bring about
pleasant consequences.
• Law of effect formed the basis for B. F. Skinner’s work
on operant conditioning.
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 Operant
Conditioning
• The consequences of behavior are manipulated to
increase or decrease the frequency of an existing
response or shape a new one.
 Operant
• voluntary behavior that accidentally brings about a
consequence
 Reinforcer
• follows a response
• strengthens it or increases the probability that it will
occur
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 Shaping
• learning in small steps rather than all at once
• rewarding successive approximations of desired
response
• used to condition complex behaviors in people
and other animals
 Extinction
• weakening and eventual disappearance of a
response as a result of withholding reinforcement
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 Generalization
• tendency to make a learned response to a
stimulus similar to that for which the response
was originally reinforced
 Discriminative
Stimulus
• stimulus that signals whether a response or
behavior is likely to be rewarded, ignored, or
punished
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 Positive
Reinforcement
• a pleasant or desirable consequence after response
• increases the probability that the response will be
repeated
 Negative
Reinforcement
• termination of an unpleasant condition after a
response
• increases the probability that the response will be
repeated
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 Primary
Reinforcer
• a reinforcer that fulfills a basic physical need and
does not depend on learning
 Secondary
Reinforcer
• a reinforcer that is acquired or learned through
association with other reinforcers
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
Fixed-Ratio (FR)
• The reinforcer is given after a fixed number of correct,
nonreinforced responses.

Variable-Ratio (VR)
• The reinforcer is given after a varying number of nonreinforced
responses.

Fixed-Interval (FI)
• The reinforcer is given in response to the first correct response
after a specific period of time has elapsed.

Variable-Interval (VI)
• The reinforcer is given after first correct response following a
varying period of time.
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


Ratio schedules yield higher response rates than interval
schedules.
Fixed-ratio schedule: has the highest response rate
Variable schedule: the most resistant to extinction
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 Removal
of a pleasant stimulus or the
application of an unpleasant stimulus
 Lowers the probability of a response
 Positive Punishment
• decrease in behavior that results from an added consequence
• consequence is usually negative
 Negative Punishment
• decrease in behavior that results from a removed consequence
• loss of something desirable
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 Does not extinguish undesirable behavior
• suppresses the behavior when the punishing agent is
present
 Indicates
that behavior is unacceptable but
does not help to develop more appropriate
behavior
 The
punished often become fearful and feel
angry toward the punisher.
 Frequently
leads to aggression
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 Removing
the rewarding consequences of
undesirable behavior may be the best way to
extinguish it.
• not giving in to a child’s demands during a tantrum
• ignoring misbehavior that is performed merely to get
attention and giving attention to more appropriate
behaviors
 Using
positive reinforcement can make good
behavior more rewarding.
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1.
Most effective when applied during the
misbehavior or as soon afterward as possible
2.
Should be of the minimum severity necessary
to suppress the problem behavior
3.
To be effective, must be applied consistently
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
Escape Learning
• performing a behavior because it prevents or terminates an
aversive event

Avoidance Learning
• avoid events or conditions associated with aversive
consequence
• can be adaptive
 avoiding riding in a car with a driver who has been drinking
• Much avoidance learning is maladaptive.
 avoiding situations because of phobias

Learned Helplessness
• exception to learning escape or avoidance behaviors
• passive resignation to aversive situation due to repeated exposure
to inescapable or unavoidable events
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 Biofeedback
• information about internal biological states
• Sensors monitor slight changes in internal responses.
• amplify and convert into visual or auditory signals
• gives precise feedback about internal physiological
processes so that people can learn to exercise control
over them
 used to control migraine headaches, gastrointestinal
disorders, asthma, anxiety, epilepsy, sexual dysfunctions,
neuromuscular disorders, etc.
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 Behavior
Modification
• changing behavior based on the learning principles of
classical conditioning, operant conditioning, or
observational learning
• used to change self-injurious behavior in children and
adults with autism
 Token
Economy
• motivates socially desirable behavior by reinforcing it
with tokens
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 Cognitive Processes
• mental processes such as thinking, knowing, problem
solving, remembering, and forming mental representations
 Watson and Skinner
• believed that learning could be explained without reference to
internal mental processes
 Today,
psychologists stress the role of mental
processes.
 Important Researchers:
• Kohler, Tolman, Bandura
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 Insight
• sudden realization of the relationship between
elements in a problem
• makes solution apparent
 Köhler
studies with chimpanzees
• Chimpanzees appeared to give up in attempts to
get bananas.
• suddenly realized relationship
• Behavior seemed to be based on insight, not trialand-error learning.
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
Tolman
• Learning can take place without reinforcement.
• differentiated between learning and performance

Latent Learning
• learning that occurs without apparent reinforcement
• not demonstrated until the organism is motivated to do so

Cognitive Map
• mental representation of a spatial arrangement such as a
maze

Tolman’s mice formed a cognitive map, but did not
demonstrate knowledge until rewarded.
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


Group 1: rats rewarded every day
Group 2: never rewarded
Group 3: rewarded on day 11; outperformed Group 1
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 Albert
Bandura (1963, 1969, 1977,1986)
 Learning
by observing the behavior of others and the
consequences of that behavior; learning by imitation
 The model is the individual who demonstrates a behavior or
whose behavior is imitated.
 effectiveness of model related to status, competence, and power
 Four
processes determine whether observational
learning is occurring.
 Attention
 Retention
 Reproduction
 Reinforcement
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
Modeling Effect
• learning a new behavior from a model through the acquisition of
new responses

Facilitation Effect
• exhibiting a behavior similar to that shown by a model in an
unfamiliar situation

Inhibitory Effect
• suppressing a behavior because a model is punished for
displaying the behavior

Disinhibitory Effect
• displaying a previously suppressed behavior because a model
does so without receiving punishment
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
Many college students work on assignments in a splitscreen format.
• one part of the screen devoted to work and another to a game

The research is too preliminary to support definitive
conclusions.

More time spent multitasking may leave a subject less
capable of managing thought processes when not
multitasking.

May reduce ability to differentiate between relevant and
irrelevant information
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 “Bobo
Doll” Studies (Bandura, 1961)
• Children imitate aggressive behavior of an adult model
seen on film.

Recent Research
• Individuals who watch the most violence as children are
more likely to engage in acts of violence as adults.
• brain imaging: patterns of neural activation develop by
watching violent media

Children also imitate prosocial behavior.
• Media may teach children not to engage in aggressive acts.
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
Recent research suggests that playing violent video
games increases feelings of hostility and decreases
sensitivity to violent images.

Games can also teach positive messages and skills.
• Games often played in male peer groups may be essential
for social development.
• can teach safe driving skills
• can enhance women’s spatial cognitive skills
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
Educators should not assume that Internet-based
instruction is more effective than conventional
approaches (Mayer, 2010).

Physical manipulations of the computer distracts online
readers.
• hinders ability to comprehend and remember what they are reading

Younger children using Web-based materials are more
likely to be distracted by ads than older children.

Conventional classroom lectures and textbooks are just
as useful for learning complex material as multimedia
presentations.
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