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Learning
AP Psych
Myers – Ch. 8
Behaviorism
 Psychology should be an objective science that studies
behavior without reference to mental processes
 Most current behavioral psychologists would argue that mental
processes should be studied
Learning
 A relatively permanent change in behavior
 Acquired from experience or observation
Learning
Associative
Learning
Observational
Learning
Classical
Conditioning
Operant
Conditioning
 Associative Learning – learning that certain events go
together
Classical Conditioning
PAVLOV
WATSON
Classical Conditioning
 Learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli
 also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning
 Conditioned = learned
Classical Conditioning
Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a
response
Unconditioned Response (UR)
the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the
unconditioned stimulus (US)
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with
an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a
conditioned response (CR)
Conditioned Response (CR)
the learned response to a previously neutral, but now
conditioned, stimulus (CS)
Ivan Pavlov
 Studied how dogs associate salivation with food by ringing a tuning
fork/bell with the presentation of food. The dog eventually
salivated at the sound of the tuning fork/bell.
Classical Conditioning
Pavlov’s Experiment
Unconditioned
Stimulus (US)
a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a
response
FOOD
Unconditioned
Response (UR)
the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the
unconditioned stimulus (US)
SALIVATION
Conditioned
Stimulus (CS)
an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association
with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a
conditioned response (CR)
BELL/SOUND
Conditioned
Response (CR)
the learned response to a previously neutral, but now
conditioned, stimulus (CS)
SALIVATION
Another Example…
 An experimenter sounds a tone just before delivering an air
puff to your eye.
 Unconditioned stimulus
 Air puff
 Unconditioned response
 Eye blink to air puff
 Conditioned stimulus
 Tone
 Conditioned Response
 Eye blink to tone
Another Example…
 The Office… Jim classically conditions Dwight
 Unconditioned stimulus
 Jim offers mint
 Unconditioned response
 Accepts mint
 Conditioned stimulus
 Computer sound
 Conditioned Response
 Expects mint
Learning Processes
Process
Description
Example
Acquisition
Initial stage of learning to
associate two things
when Pavlov paired the neutral stimulus (tuning
fork) with the unconditioned stimulus (food)
Extinction
the diminishing of a CR
Pavlov found that when he rang the fork
repeatedly without presenting the food, the dogs
salivated less and less
Spontaneous
Recovery
the random reappearance,
after a pause, of an
extinguished/extinct CR
Pavlov found that if he waited a few hours before
ringing the fork again, the dogs would salivate to
the ringing after the pause
Generalization
The tendency for stimuli
similar to the CS to elicit a
similar response.
Pavlov found that dogs would salivate to tones of
different pitches that they had not previously
associated with food
Discrimination
The learned ability to
distinguish between stimilar
stimuli
Pavlov’s dogs also learned to respond to certain
tones and not to others
John B. Watson
 Conditioned “Little Albert” to fear white rats, later all white, fluffy
animals
 Previously not afraid of white rats, Watson presented a loud banging
sound when Albert saw a white rat  conditioned fear of rats.
 US
 Loud noise
 UR
 Crying
 CS
 Rat
 CR
 Crying
Pavlov’s Legacy and Applications
 Classical conditioning is a learning technique that virtually all
organism’s use to adapt to their environments
 Pavlov showed that learning processes can be studied
objectively (by observing behaviors)
 Classical conditioning can be helpful in treatment programs
for substance abuse, phobias, etc
 Do 1-10 on the Classical and Operant Conditioning Sheet.
Operant Conditioning
SKINNER
Operant Conditioning
 Learning in which behaviors are strengthened/diminished by
consequence
 Operant behavior – behavior that operates on the
environment, producing consequences
Skinner’s Experiment
 Controlled rats’, and later pigeons’, behaviors with an
operant chamber (Skinner box)
 contained a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a
food or water reinforcer, with attached devices to record the
animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking
 Based on Thorndike’s Law of Effect – rewarded behavior is likely
to reoccur, punished behavior is likely to diminish
Shaping
 Skinner used shaping – an operant conditioning procedure
in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer
approximations of the desired behavior.
 Reinforcement – anything that STRENGTHENS behaviors
 Punishment – anything that DIMINISHES behavior
Positive
Negative
Reinforcement
Adding a desired
stimulus
Removing an undesired
stimulus
Punishment
Adding an undesired
stimulus
Removing a desired
stimulus
 Positive… Adding/+
 Negative… Removing/ Big Bang Theory – Sheldon trains Penny
 Big Bang Theory – Sheldon trains Penny II – SPOT THE MISTAKE!
Primary vs Secondary Reinforcers
Primary
Secondary
 Linked to biology
 Culturally created to be
 Food
desirable
 Drink
 Money
 Sex
 Grades in school
 Tokens
 Praise
Operant Conditioning Examples
 Receiving praise for A+ in AP Psych.
 Positive reinforcement – addition of something good
 Lunch detention for being late to class.
 Positive punishment – addition of something bad
 No homework in class because everyone’s behavior was on
point!
 Negative reinforcement – removal of something bad
 You get your phone taken away for Snapchatting in class…
 Negative punishment – removal of something good
Reinforcement Schedules
 Continuous reinforcement
 Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs; typically
used at the beginning of an operant conditioning process
 EX: Parent gives child praise or gives a piece of candy every
time they use the bathroom during the potty-training process
Reinforcement Schedules
 Partial or Intermittent Reinforcement
 reinforcing a response only part of the time
 Ratio = responses
 Interval = time
Fixed-ratio
Reinforces a response only after a
set/certain number of responses
People paid on
piecework (every 30
pieces),
Variable-ratio
Reinforces a response after
varying/unpredictable numbers of
responses
Slot-machines
Fixed-interval
Reinforces behavior only after a
certain amount of time has passed
Weekly paychecks,
waiting for
pudding/Jell-O to set
Variable-interval
Reinforces behavior after
varying/unpredictable time intervals
Pop quizzes, your boss
checking your work
randomly
Skinner’s Legacy and Applications
 Skinner adamantly refused to
acknowledge that influence of
cognitive processes (thoughts
and feelings) held any power in
shaping behaviors.
 Operant conditioning is used at
school, at work, and at home.
Motivation
 The type of motivation can affect the effectiveness of
reinforcements and punishments
 Intrinsic motivation – the desire to perform a behavior for
its own sake.
 Extrinsic motivation – the desire to perform a behavior due
to promised rewards or threats of punishment.
 Children who were normally avid readers (intrinsically
motivated) were paid for reading and their reading amount
decreased  positive reinforcement backfired
 Overjustification effect – when external incentives diminish intrinsic
motivation
Latent Learning
 Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an
incentive to demonstrate it.
 Sarah observes her brother set the table every night for dinner.
One night, he is away at a friend’s house and Sarah must set the
table. She knows how to do it because she’s observed her brother
but had never had to demonstrate the knowledge before.
 A rat completes a maze several times, without an incentive. The
rat learns the maze very slowly. When food is placed at the end of
the maze, the rat completes the maze very quickly, demonstrating
that latent learning had occurred and a cognitive map of the maze
was formed.
 Finish the Operant Conditioning Worksheet.
Observational Learning
BANDURA
Observational Learning
 Learning by observing others
 Learning does not always happen as a byproduct of experience
 Modeling – the process of observing and imitating a
specific behavior
 Mirror neurons - frontal lobe neurons that fire when
performing certain actions or when observing another doing
so
Albert Bandura's Experiment
 Experimental group of preschoolers was
exposed to an adult beating a blow-up
(Bobo) doll for 10 minutes and then left to
see if they would do the same
 children exposed to aggressive adult models
were more likely to be aggressive towards
the doll when alone with the toys
Applications of Observational Learning
 Antisocial models may have antisocial effects (family, TV,
movies, friends)
 Prosocial behavior (positive, constructive, helpful) can
have prosocial effects
 Violent viewing correlates with violent play/actions
 Violent TV/movies can desensitize children and adults to pain,
death, and punishment.