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Chapter 6: Learning (Behaviorism)

Classical Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

Observational Learning
Behaviorism


Dominated Psychology in the first half
of the 20th Century.
Dealt with behavior only, not mental
processes.
What is Learning?
LO 5.1 Learning

Learning: any relatively permanent
change in behavior brought about by
experience or practice

When people learn anything, some part of
their brain is physically changed to record
what they have learned.
Pavlov and Classical Conditioning
LO 5.2 Classical Conditioning


Ivan Pavlov: Russian physiologist
(person who studies the workings of
the body) who discovered classical
conditioning through his work on
digestion in dogs
Classical conditioning: learning to
make a reflex response to a
stimulus other than the original,
natural stimulus that normally
produces the reflex
Classical or Pavlovian
Conditioning
 Ivan
Pavlov
1849-1936
 Russian physician/
neurophysiologist
 Nobel Prize, 1904
 studied digestive
secretions

Classical or Pavlovian
Conditioning
 Pavlov’s
device
for recording
salivation
Pavlov’s Apparatus for Studying
Classical Conditioning in Dogs
Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 5.2 Classical Conditioning

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): a
naturally occurring stimulus that
leads to an involuntary response


Unconditioned means “unlearned” or
“naturally occurring.”
Unconditioned response (UCR): an
involuntary response to a naturally
occurring or unconditioned stimulus
Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 5.2 Classical Conditioning

Conditioned stimulus (CS): stimulus
that becomes able to produce a
learned reflex response by being
paired with the original
unconditioned stimulus


Conditioned means “learned.”
A neutral stimulus can become a
conditioned stimulus when paired with
an unconditioned stimulus.
Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 5.2 Classical Conditioning

Conditioned response (CR): learned
reflex response to a conditioned
stimulus



sometimes called a conditioned reflex
CS: ice cream truck
CR: salivation when hear ice cream
truck bell
Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning:
Respondent Behavior

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)


stimulus that unconditionally- naturally and
automatically - triggers a response
Unconditioned Response (UCR)

unlearned, naturally occurring response to
the unconditioned stimulus

salivation when food is in the mouth
Classical Conditioning: Respondent
Behavior

learning in which a neutral stimulus acquires the
capacity to elicit a response after being paired
with another stimulus that naturally elicits that
response




Unconditioned response (UCR): automatic response to a
stimulus
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): naturally and automatically
elicits a response
Conditioned response (CR): learned response to a previously
neutral stimulus
Conditioned stimulus (CS): after repeated pairings with UCS,
elicits the same response
Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning:
Respondent Behavior

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)


originally neutral stimulus that, after
association with an unconditioned stimulus,
comes to trigger a conditioned response
Conditioned Response (CR)

learned response to a previously neutral
conditioned stimulus
Pavlov’s Classic Experiment
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)
Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning
UCS
(passionate
kiss)
CS
(onion
breath)
CS
(onion
breath)
UCR
(sexual
arousal)
UCS
(passionate
Kiss)
CR
(sexual
arousal)
UCR
(sexual
arousal)
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
UCS
Dog Bite
CS
Sight of Dog
CS
Sight of Dog
UCS
Dog Bite
UCR
Frightened
UCR
Frightened
CR
Frightened
Classical Conditioning
UCS
Car Crash
CS
Squealing
Brakes
CS
Squealing
Brakes
UCS
Car Crash
UCR
Racing Heart
UCR
Racing Heart
CR
Racing Heart
Classical Conditioning
UCS
Kiss
CS
Sight of
Significant
Other
CS
Sight of
Significant
Other
UCS
Kiss
UCR
Racing
Heart
UCR
Racing
Heart
CR
Racing
Heart
Classic Conditioning Allows Animals to
Learn to Predict Events


Learning theorists once believed that the
learning in classical conditioning is
unintentional and automatic (classic
behaviorism).
Most contemporary learning theorists now
believe classical conditioning involves quite a
bit of “mindfulness” because, (through the
conditioning process) humans and other
animals are learning to reliably predict
upcoming events.
Classic Conditioning Allows Animals to
Learn to Predict Events


Psychologists once believed that the key to
acquiring a conditioned response was the
sheer number of CS-UCS pairings.
However, the order and timing of CS-UCS
pairings is also very important because it
provides valuable information about the
upcoming occurrence of the unconditioned
stimulus.
Utility: Avoiding a Predator’s Attack through
Classical Conditioning—Step 1
Avoiding a Predator’s Attack through
Classical Conditioning—Step 2
Avoiding a Predator’s Attack through
Classical Conditioning—Step 3
Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 5.2 Classical Conditioning

Acquisition: the repeated pairing of the
NS and the UCS; the organism is in the
process of acquiring learning

Although classical conditioning happens quite
easily, there are a few basic principles that
researchers have discovered:



The CS must come before the UCS.
The CS and UCS must come very close together in
time—ideally, only several seconds apart.
The neutral stimulus must be paired with the UCS
several times, often many times, before conditioning
can take place.
Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 5.2 Classical Conditioning

Stimulus generalization: the
tendency to respond to a stimulus
that is only similar to the original
conditioned stimulus with the
conditioned response
Generalization
Drops of saliva
in 30 seconds
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Pelvis
Hind
paw
Thigh
Shoulder
Trunk
Front
paw
Foreleg
Part of body stimulated
Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 5.2 Classical conditioning

Extinction: the disappearance or
weakening of a learned response
following the removal or absence of
the unconditioned stimulus (in
classical conditioning) or the
removal of a reinforcer (in operant
conditioning)
Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 5.2 Classical Conditioning

Spontaneous recovery: the reappearance
of a learned response after extinction
has occurred

Learning is a relatively permanent change in
behavior.
Animals Differ in What Responses Can Be
Classically Conditioned

Early learning theorists assumed that the
principles of conditioning were similar across
all species, but subsequent research indicates
that this assumption is incorrect.
 Animals often differ in what responses can
be conditioned.
 In some animals, some responses can be
conditioned much more readily to certain
stimuli than to others.
 An animal’s biology steers it toward
certain kinds of conditioning.
Taste aversion study by Garcia and Koelling
Rats learned to avoid a light-noise combination
when it was paired with electric shock, but not
when it was followed by X rays that made them
nauseous.
In contrast, rats quickly learned to avoid flavored
water when it was followed by X rays, but they
did not readily acquire an aversion to this same
water when it was followed by shock.
It is also adaptive that in taste aversion, strong
conditioning develops despite the long delay
between the CS (the taste) and the UCS (the
nausea).
Biological Constraints on Taste
Aversion in Rats
Classically Conditioned Phobias
Phobias: exaggerated and irrational fears of
objects or situations
Such intense fear reactions often develop through
classical conditioning.
We can develop a phobia toward anything, but
some objects (snakes) or situations elicit phobic
reactions more easily than others.
Conditioned Emotional Response
LO 5.3 Conditioned Emotional Response

Conditioned emotional response
(CER): emotional response that has
become classically conditioned to
occur to learned stimuli, such as a
fear of dogs or the emotional
reaction that occurs when seeing an
attractive person

CERs may lead to phobias—irrational
fear responses.
Conditioning of “Little Albert”
Little Albert’s Fear Conditioning
UCS
(loud noise)
CS
(rat)
CS
(rat)
Stimulus similar
to rat (such as
rabbit)
UCR
(fear)
UCS
(loud noise)
CR
(fear)
Conditioned fear
(generalization)
UCR
(fear)
Classical Conditioning
UCS
Loud Noise
CS
Bunny Rabbit
CS
Bunny Rabbit
UCS
Loud Noise
UCR
Startle
UCR
Startle
CR
Startle
John B. Watson: Famous Behaviorist
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Conditioned Emotional Responding
Extreme Nurture (learning) position
Fear learned through stimulus
generalization?
Emotion-evoking Advertising
Nausea Conditioning among
Cancer Patients
UCS
(drug)
UCR
(nausea)
CS
(waiting
room)
UCS
(drug)
UCR
(nausea)
CS
(waiting
room)
CR
(nausea)
Why Classical Conditioning Works
LO 5.3 Conditioned Emotional Response

Cognitive perspective: modern
theory in which classical
conditioning is seen to occur
because the conditioned stimulus
provides information or an
expectancy about the coming of the
unconditioned stimulus (cue, signal,
warning)