Download Learning

Geri Lavrov / Photographer's Choice / Getty Images
!   Learning
!   How do we learn?
!   Classical conditioning
!   Operant conditioning
!   Biology, cognition, and learning
!   Learning by Observation
How Do We Learn?
!   Learning
!   The process of acquiring, through experience, new and
relatively enduring information or behaviors
!   Associative learning
!   Learning that certain events occur together—the events
may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a
response and its consequences (as in operant
conditioning)
!   Cognitive learning
!   Acquisition of mental information, whether by observing
events, by watching others, or through language
How Do We Learn?
Association is one
way of learning.
Conditioning is the
process of learning
associations.
Learning also occurs
through cognitive and
observational
learning.
There are two main
forms of conditioning.
•  Classical
•  Operant
Learning
!   Classical conditioning
!   Type of learning in which we learn to link two or more
stimuli and anticipate events
!   Operant conditioning
!   Type of learning in which we learn to associate a
response and its consequence
!   Thus, we learn to repeat acts followed by good results
and to avoid acts followed by bad results
Let’s take a closer look.
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Conditioning is not the only form of learning
!   Through cognitive learning we acquire mental
information that guides our behavior
!   Observational learning, another form of cognitive
learning, facilitates learning from others’
experiences
Why are habits, such as having something sweet
with that cup of coffee, so hard to break?
Classical Conditioning
!   Pavlov’s experiments
!   Pavlov’s legacy
Classical
Conditioning
Pavlov’s experiments
!   He and his
IVAN PAVLOV “Experimental investigation
should lay a solid foundation for a future true
science of psychology” (1927).
associates explored
five processes:
acquisition,
extinction,
spontaneous
recovery,
generalization, and
discrimination.
PAVLOV’S CLASSIC EXPERIMENT
After studying this experiment, let’s make sure all the
definitions are clear.
Can you define each of these more
completely?
!   Neutral stimulus (NS)
!   In classical conditioning, a stimulus that evokes no
response before conditioning
!   Unconditioned stimulus (US)
!   In classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—
naturally and automatically—triggers a response (UR)
!   Unconditioned response (UR)
!   In classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring
response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus
(US) (such as food in the mouth)
!   Conditioned stimulus (CS)
!   In classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant
stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned
stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned
response (CR)
!   Conditioned response (CR)
!   In classical conditioning, a learned response to a
previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)
An experimenter sounds a tone just before
delivering an air puff to your blinking eye.
After several repetitions, you blink to the tone
alone. What is the NS? The US? The UR? The
CS? The CR?
Classical Conditioning
!   Acquisition
!   First stage in classical conditioning
!   Place where link between the NS and US is learned
!   A quail tale
!   Recent research on Japanese quail shows how their
capacity for classical conditioning gives them a
reproductive edge
!   How did the researchers develop the quail’s
preference for their cage’s red-light district?
AN UNEXPECTED CS
Psychologist Michael Tirrell (1990) recalled: “My first girlfriend loved
onions, so I came to associate onion breath with kissing. Before long,
onion breath sent tingles up and down my spine. Oh what a feeling!”
In horror movies, sexually arousing images of
women are sometimes paired with violence against
women. Based on classical conditioning principles,
what might be an effect of this pairing?
Classical Conditioning
!   Extinction and spontaneous recovery
!   Extinction
!  In classical conditioning, the weakening of a conditioned
response when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a
conditioned stimulus
!  In operant conditioning, the weakening of a response when it
is no longer reinforced
!   Spontaneous recovery
!  Reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned
response
ACQUISITION, EXTINCTION, AND
SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY
The rising curve (simplified here) shows that the CR rapidly grows
stronger as the NS becomes a CS as it is repeatedly paired with the
US (acquisition). The CS weakens when it is presented alone
(extinction). After a pause, the CR reappears (spontaneous recovery).
The first step of classical conditioning, when an NS
becomes a CS, is called________. When a US no
longer follows the CS, and the CR becomes
weakened, this is called ________ .
Classical Conditioning
!   Generalization
!   The tendency, after conditioning, to respond similarly
to stimuli that resemble the conditioned stimulus
!   Can be adaptive
!   Discrimination
!   Learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned
stimulus and other irrelevant stimuli
!   Is also adaptive
Pavlov’s Legacy
!   Pavlov showed how a scientific model can be
used to objectively study the learning.
!   Many responses to many stimuli can be classical
conditioned. This is true for every species tested.
If the aroma of cake baking makes your mouth
water, what is the US? The CS? The CR?
Classical Conditioning in Everyday Life
!   Pavlov’s principles influence human health
and well- being in a variety of ways
!   Examples
!   Patients can develop classically conditioned sideeffects to drugs given as cancer treatments
!   Former drug users often feel a craving when they are
again in the drug-using context
Archives of the History of American Psychology, The University of Akron
In Watson and Rayner’s experiments, “Little Albert”
learned to fear a white rat after repeatedly
experiencing a loud noise as the rat was
presented. In this experiment, what was the US?
The UR? The NS? The CS? The CR?
Operant Conditioning
!   Skinner’s experiments
!   Skinner’s legacy
!   Close-up: Using operant conditioning to build
your own strengths
!   Contrasting classical and operant conditioning
Differences: Classical and Operant
Conditioning
Classical
Operant
•  Involves learning
•  Involves learning
associations between
events that are not
controlled by learner
associations between
behavior and resulting
events
•  Respondent behavior:
•  Association with one’s
Automatic responses
to stimuli
own actions with
consequences
With ________ conditioning, we learn associations
between events we do not control. With ________
conditioning, we learn associations between our
behavior and resulting events.
Operant Conditioning
!   Skinner’s experiments
!   Built on Thorndike’s law of effect: Rewarded behavior
is likely to be repeated
!   Developed to reveal principles of behavior control
!   Shaping behavior (successive approximation)
!   Operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers
guide actions closer and closer toward a desired
behavior
!   Used as we continually reinforce others’ behavior
CAT IN A PUZZLE BOX
Thorndike used a fish reward to entice
cats to find their way out of a puzzle box
(right) through a series of maneuvers.
The cats’ performance tended to improve
with successive trials (left), illustrating
Thorndike’s law of effect. (Adapted from
Thorndike, 1898.)
Types of Reinforcers
!   Positive reinforcement
!   Increases behaviors by presenting positive stimuli
!   Is anything that, when presented after a response,
strengthens the response
!   Negative reinforcement
!   Increases behaviors by stopping or reducing negative
stimuli
!   Is anything that, when removed after a response,
strengthens the response
!   Is not punishment
A SKINNER BOX Inside the
box, the rat presses a bar or button
for a food reward. Outside, a
measuring device (not shown
here) keeps records of the animal’s
responses.
WAYS TO INCREASE BEHAVIOR
Operant Conditioning; Types of Reinforcers
!   Primary reinforcers
!   Unlearned; innate
!   Conditioned reinforcers (secondary reinforcers)
!   Learned associaitions with primary reinforcers
!   Immediate reinforcers
!   Immediate rewards
!   Delayed reinforcers
!   Delayed
Can you think of examples for each of these?
Operant Conditioning
!   Reinforcement schedule
!   Is a pattern that defines how often a desired response
will be reinforced
!   Reinforcement schedules vary and influence our
learning
!   Continuous reinforcement
!   Is good for behavior mastery; extinction can occur
!   Partial (intermittent) reinforcement
!   Is slower but extinction is less
6-7 How do continuous and partial reinforcement schedules affect behavior?
Operant Conditioning
!   Fixed-ratio schedules
!   Reinforce behavior after a set number of responses
!   Variable-ratio schedules
!   Reinforce after an unpredictable number of responses
!   Fixed-interval schedules
!   Variable-interval schedules
!   Reinforcement after an unpredictable number of
responses
Vitaly Titov & Maria Sidelnikova / Shu@erstock
!   Reinforce the first response after a fixed time period
Telemarketers are reinforced by which schedule?
People checking the oven to see if the cookies are
done are on which schedule? Airline frequent-flyer
programs that offer a free flight after every 25,000
miles of travel are using which reinforcement
schedule?
Punishment
!   Ways to decrease behavior
!   Punished behavior suppressed; punishing behavior
reinforced
!   Discrimination among situations taught
!   Generalization occurs; fear taught
!   Aggression may be increased by modeling
David Strickler / The Image Works
!   Major drawbacks of physical punishment
Sam Falk / Science Source
Skinner’s Legacy
•  Urged people to use operant
principles to influence the
behavior of others
•  Criticized for neglecting people’s
personal freedom and advocating
for external control of others
B. F. Skinner “I am sometimes
asked, ‘Do you think of yourself
as you think of the organisms
you study?’ The answer is yes.
So far as I know, my behavior at
any given moment has been
nothing more than the product
of my genetic endowment, my
personal history, and the current
setting” (1983).
Applications of Operant Conditioning
!   At school
!   Many of the ideas for education are used today
!   Electronic adaptive devices are often Skinnerian
!   At work
!   Many organizations used reinforcers to influence
productivity
!   At home
!   Reinforcement is used and abused in many parenting
situations
!   Reinforcement can be used effectively to help children
change and manage their behavior
Ethan constantly misbehaves at preschool even
though his teacher scolds him repeatedly. Why
does Ethan’s misbehavior continue, and what can
his teacher do to stop it?
Contrasting Classical and Operant
Conditioning
Classical
Operant
•  Form of associative
•  Form of associative
learning
learning
•  Associate different events
•  Links behaviors to act on
that one cannot control
the environment to
produce rewarding or
punishing events
•  Respond automatically
Using Operant Conditioning to Build Your
Own Strengths
!   State your goal in measurable terms and
announce it
!   Decide how, when, and where you will work
toward your goal
!   Monitor how often you engage in your desired
behavior
!   Reinforce the desired behavior
!   Reduce the rewards gradually
Salivating in response to a tone paired with food is
a(n) behavior; pressing a bar to obtain food is a(n)
behavior.
Biology, Cognition, and Learning
!   Biological limits on conditioning
!   Cognitive influences on conditioning
Biology, Cognition,
and Learning
!   Biological limits on
conditioning
Garcia and Koelling’s taste aversion
research ended the belief that
environments rule out behavior.
Findings help disprove the belief
that almost any stimulus could serve
equally well as a conditioned
stimulus.
!   Humans are
biologically prepared
to learn some things
rather than others
!   Humans are naturally
disposed to learn
associations favored
by natural selection
How did Garcia and Koelling’s taste aversion
studies help disprove the belief that almost any
stimulus (tastes, sights, sounds) could serve
equally well as a conditioned stimulus? Explain.
Courtesy of Kathryn Brownson, Hope College
Biology, Cognition,
and Learning
Limits on operant
conditioning
!   Each species has a limit
ROMANTIC RED In a series of
experiments that controlled for other
factors (such as the brightness of
the image), men found women more
attractive and sexually desirable
when framed in red (Elliot & Niesta,
2008).
on their capacity for
operant conditioning
!   Our biology predisposes
us to learn associations
that are naturally
adaptive
Cognitive Influences
on Conditioning
!   Watson
!   Rejected mentalistic
concepts
!   Maintained that the basic
laws of learning are the
same for all animals
!   Contended that
psychology should be
objective science based
on observable behaviors
Watson’s view of learning
underestimated two sets of
influences:
•  Way biological predispositions
limits learning
•  Effect of cognitive processes
on learning
Will & Deni McIntyre / Science Source
Cognitive Influences
on Conditioning
LATENT LEARNING Animals, like
people, can learn from experience,
with or without reinforcement.
!   Cognition and
operant conditioning
!   Skinner rejected the
premise that cognitive
processes are
integral to learning
!   Cognitive maps
!   Latent learning
!   Cognitive map
!   Mental image of the layout of one’s environment
!   Latent learning
!   Learning that is not apparent until there is an incentive to
demonstrate it
!   Intrinsic motivation
!   Desire to perform a behavior for its own sake
!   Extrinsic motivation
!   Desire to perform a behavior to gain a reward or avoid a
punishment
Learning by Observation
!   Thinking critically about: Does viewing media
violence trigger violent behavior?
Learning by
Observation
Observational learning
!   Learning by observing
others
Modeling
!   The process of observing
and imitating a specific
behavior
Vicarious reinforcement or
punishment
!   Learning to anticipate a
behavior’s consequences in
situations like those being
observed
ALBERT BANDURA “The Bobo doll
follows me wherever I go.”
Learning by Observation
!   Mirrors and imitation in the brain
!   Mirror neuron
!   Fires when we perform certain actions and when we
observe others performing those actions
!   Provides a neural basis for imitation and
observational learning
Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience / Science Source
EXPERIENCED AND IMAGINED PAIN IN THE BRAIN
Brain activity related to actual pain (left) is mirrored in
the brain of an observing loved one (right). Empathy
in the brain shows up in areas that process emotions,
but not in the areas that register physical pain.
Applications of Observational Learning
! Prosocial effects
! Prosocial behavior models can have a prosocial effect
!   Effectiveness is related to consistency in actions and
words
!   Antisocial effects
!   Observational learning can have adverse effects
!   Early childhood environments with high levels of
aggression, TV, and videos are powerful sources of
observational learning
DOES VIEWING MEDIA VIOLENCE TRIGGER
VIOLENT BEHAVIOR?
!   Correlational studies
!   In U.S. and Canada, homicide rates doubled as TV
was introduced and spreading
!   Elementary schoolchildren exposed to media violence
fought more and had a greater risk for violent
behavior as teens.
!   Experimental studies
!   Violence-viewing effect stems from two factors
!  Media models prompt imitation
!  Prolonged exposure to violence desensitizes viewers