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Factors
Influencing
Respondent &
Operant Learning
Lesson 8
Associative Learning & Language
Language acquisition
 Interaction of nature & nurture
 Respondent & operant
 Respondent
 Association of sounds & symbols
 English: “deh” = d;
“err” = r
 Russian: “deh” = д; “err” = р ~

Respondent Learning & Language
Associatе sounds/symbols with
objects/actions
 English:
dog;
woman;
speak
 Spanish: perro;
mujer;
hablar
 Russian: собака; женщина, говорить
 Words/ideas
 Conditional stimuli
 Conditional responses ~

Operant Learning & Language
Babies start off babbling sounds
 Inherited behavior
 Certain sounds are reinforced
 Directly by parents, etc.
 Also by consequences



words are understood  consequences
Mother ~
Respondent & Operant Together
SD :
B
CS :
SR
US
CR
UR
Respondent vs Operant
Both associative
 Involuntary vs voluntary
 Biologically important events
R
 US vs S
 Signals/cues
D
 CS vs S
 Contingency
R
~
 CS : US vs B  S

Factors Influencing Acquisition
Frequency
 # learning trials
 Predictivity
 contingency & probability
 Contiguity
 timing
 Salience
 Intensity / novelty ~

Acquisition: Frequency
Gradual
 usually requires many pairings
 Respondent:
CS : US  UR
 Operant:
SD : B  SR
 Measuring the learned response
 magnitude
 latency / probability / frequency
 Asymptote
 limit to how much can be learned ~

Respondent
Acquisition
CS : US  UR
CR
Hi
Asymptote
CR
Strength
Lo
CS : US pairings
Operant
Acquisition
SD : B  SR
Hi
Asymptote
Bar
Press
Rate
(B)
Lo
B  SR Trials
Detour
Learning Task
Acquisition: Detour Learning
Chicks performance on detour learning task
FIGURE 1
Males
Mean Latency to Social Contact
350
300
Strangers
Cagemates
250
200
150
100
50
0
1
2
3
Detour Learning Trial
4
Acquisition: Predictivity
Contingency
 CS+ / CSD
∆
 S / S
 Probability
 Usefulness of cues
 Hi  faster learning
 Low  slower learning ~

Contiguity: Respondent Learning

Order & Timing
 Anticipate important event
  strongest to weakest CR
CS
Delayed
US
CS
Trace
US
Contiguity: Respondent Learning
Simultaneous
Backward
CS
US
CS
US
Contiguity: Respondent Learning
CS-US interval
 In general...
 shorter interval  more effective
 longer interval  less effective
 Depends on response system
 Fast: .5 - 2 seconds)

e.g.,

Slow: 2-3 min
e.g.,

eye blink, skeletal muscle reflexes
CERs, physiological responses
Nausea (CTA): hours ~
Contiguity: Operant Learning
Delay of Reinforcement
 Immediate consequences most effective
 temporal contiguity
 reinforcement & punishment
 longer delays:
 probability of other behaviors being
reinforced
 instead of intended behavior ~

Delay of Reinforcement
20
Bar presses
per minute
15
10
5
0
0
20
40
60
Delay between B and SR (sec)
Salience: Operant Learning
SD / S∆ intensity
 More noticeable  faster learning
 SR intensity
 Magnitude of reinforcement
  magnitude  faster learning
 SR value
  value  faster learning
 Can be modified by experience ~

Operant: Delay vs Magnitude
Delay most important factor
 Small, immediate reinforcer more
powerful…
 Than large, delayed reward
 Immediate consequences
 More closely connected to situation
 e.g., hangovers as punishment ~

Salience: CS Intensity

CS intensity
 intensity 
Faster conditioning ~
Hi
stronger CS
Asymptote
CR
weaker CS
Lo
# of CS - US pairings
Salience: CS Intensity
Stimulus millieu
 Always multiple potential CSs
 Overshadowing
 Concurrent cues
 TONE/light – shock  pain/fear
 TONE  stronger fear
 light  weaker fear ~

Salience: US Intensity

Increased intensity
 Faster conditioning and…
 Stronger CR possible
Raise
Asymptote
Salience: US Intensity
Hi
stronger US
Asymptote
CR
weaker US
Lo
# of CS - US pairings
Salience & Previous Experience
Surprisingness of US important
 Affects rapidity & strength of
learning
 Novel stimuli best cues
D / S∆
 CS+ / CS- and S
 Not cues for other
R ~
 only occur with US/S

Salience & Previous Experience
Latent Inhibition
 Slower acquisition if CS is familiar
 Cues associated w/ other events
R
 Inhibits association w/ new US/S
 Blocking effect
 Tone—shock pain/fear
 Tone  fear
 Tone/Light – shock  pain/fear
 Light  no fear (or weak)
 Redundancy ~

Sensory Preconditioning
Conditional Stimuli paired first
 no US
 many times
 Acquisition
 one CS is paired with a US
 other is not
 Extinction of CS paired with US ~

Conditioned Taste Aversion (CTA)
Exception to usual rules of conditioning
 Delay can be hours
 Requires only single CS-US pairing
 Rats: novel food makes them sick
 Will avoid that food, even if starving
 Adaptive ?
 Stewed tomatoes & beef jerky ~

Conditioned Taste Aversions
Learn to avoid foods that make you sick
 Eat a novel food
 Taste = CS
 Become sick
 Avoid food
 Resistant to extinction
 Species specific tendencies
 Mammals: Taste cues (CS)
 Birds: Visual cues ~

Biological Preparedness
Animals differentially prepared
 to associate certain CSs & USs
 Highly prepared
 learn very quickly
 Unprepared
 according to general learning laws
 Contraprepared
 great difficulty, if at all
 even w/ appropriate contingencies ~

Stimulus Relevance
Cues relevant for biologically important
event
 both taste & illness for food
 visual cues & painful stimuli
 highly-prepared associations
 Contra-prepared or unprepared for others
 Taste – foot shock
 Sound/light -- illness ~
