Download Rat Maze

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Rat Maze Activity
• complete the maze starting at the ear and
ending at the tail
• you must work on your own to complete it
• receive a small piece of candy when maze
completed
• Try again—you can complete as many mazes
as possible in the time allotted
RAT MAZES
A Demonstration in Instrumental Learning
and Operant Conditioning
• This is an example of
– trial and error learning
– instrumental learning/conditioning
• Thorndike = response to a stimulus is
strengthened when they are instrumental in
producing rewards
– operant conditioning
• B. F. Skinner = positive reinforces strengthen a
response if experienced after the response
occurs
– Each time a completed maze was handed in,
candy was received as positive
reinforcement
Lemonade Experiment
What is Learning?
• Learning refers to the
• relatively permanent change
in subject’s behavior to a
given situation
• brought about by repeated
experience in that situation
• provided that the behavior
change cannot be explained
on the basis of native
response tendencies,
maturation or temporary
states of the subject (fatigue,
drugs, etc.)
Associative Learning:
 We learn by association
 Our minds naturally connect events
that occur in sequence
 learning that two events occur together
 two stimuli
 a response and its consequences
Classical Conditioning VS Operant
Conditioning
• Classical
• Neutral stimulus is
paired with a stimulus
that elicits response
• Eventually the neutral
stimulus causes the
response
• Pavlov (dog saliva)
• Watson (little Albert)
• Operant
• Process of learning
based on producing
positive consequences
and avoiding negative
ones
• Measured by rate of
response
• Skinner (pigeons)
Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning
 We learn to associate two stimuli
Classical Conditioning Terms
 Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
 stimulus that unconditionally--automatically and naturally--triggers a
response
 Unconditioned Response (UCR)
 unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus
 Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
 originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an
unconditioned stimulus, triggers a conditioned response
 Conditioned Response (CR)
 learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus
 Acquisition
 the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned
stimulus so that the neutral stimulus (CS) comes to elicit a conditioned
response
Pavlov’s Classic
Experiment
http://educationportal.com/academy/lesson/
classicalconditioning.html#lesson
Before Conditioning
UCS (food
in mouth)
UCR
(salivation)
During Conditioning
Neutral
stimulus
(tone)
No
salivation
After Conditioning
UCS (food
in mouth)
Neutral
stimulus
(tone)
UCR
(salivation)
CS
(tone)
CR (salivation)
A Classic Study
• John B. Watson
• Conditioned “emotion”
• Fear response in
humans (1920)
• Little Albert
http://educationportal.com/academy/lesson/watson-andlittle-albert.html#lesson
UCS==== UCR
N
+
UCS======
UCR
Repeated pairings. . .
CS=== CR
SO. . . Who gives the shots? WHY?
Extinction
• The gradual
weakening and
eventual
disappearance of
the CR
• Involves repeatedly
presenting the CS
without pairing it with
the UCS
Acquisition
• Involves repeated pairings of the CS and UCS
Spontaneous Recovery
• Occurs when a previously extinguished CR
suddenly reappears after a period of no training
Generalization
• Tendency to respond to
stimuli similar to the CS.
• Ex. A child who has been bit by
a dog may fear all dogs.
• After 9/11, people responded
anxiously to the sight or sound
of planes.
• Generalization can be
adaptive
• toddlers are taught to fear
moving cars in the street and
would respond similarly to
trucks and motorcycles.
Discrimination
• Occurs when stimuli similar to the CS do not produce a
CR
• The more similar the stimuli are to the CS, the greater the
difficulty of discrimination
• Being able to recognize these differences is adaptive.
• Ex. Confronted by a pit bull, your heart may race; confronted by a
golden retriever, it likely will not.
The Big Bang Theory: The
Gothowitz Deviation