Download Unit 5, Learning

Learning
CHAPTER 5
What is 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.
Any kind of change in the way an organism
behaves is learning.
 Associative Learning- learning that
certain events occur together
 Classical- two stimuli
 Operant- response and consequence
Pavlov and 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.
 Big Bang Theory Example
Classical Conditioning Concepts
 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.
UCS – air puff
UCR - blink
Classical Conditioning Concepts
 Conditioned stimulus (CS) – starts
as a neutral stimulus that becomes
able to produce a learned (reflex)
response by being paired with the
original unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned means “learned.”
CS – tone
 Conditioned response (CR) - learned
reflex response to a conditioned
stimulus.

Sometimes called a conditioned reflex.
CR – blink to
the tone
Pavlov’s classic experiment in conditioning AP Classical conditioning
phenomena
Acquisition - the repeated
pairing of the NS and the
UCS; the organism is in the
process of acquiring learning.
Classical Conditioning Concepts
 Stimulus generalization – a tendency to respond
to similar stimuli as the conditioned stimulus
 Stimulus discrimination – the ability to
distinguish between a conditioned stimulus
and other similar stimuli
Classical Conditioning Concepts
 Spontaneous recovery – the reappearance of a
learned response after extinction has occurred.

Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior.
 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).
Conditioned emotional response
AP Emotional learning…
John Watson and Little Albert
Taste Aversion
 Conditioned taste aversion - development of a
nausea or aversive response to a particular
taste because that taste was followed by a
nausea reaction, occurring after only one
association.

Biological preparedness – (John Garcia) the tendency of
animals to learn certain associations, such as taste and
nausea, with only one or few pairings due to the survival
value of the learning.
Operant Conditioning
 Operant conditioning – a type of
learning in which
behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer
or diminished if followed by a punisher
Difference between Classical and Operant
Conditioning
B. F. Skinner’s Contribution
 Behaviorist; wanted to study
only observable, measurable
behavior.
 Gave “operant conditioning”
its name.

Operant - any behavior that is
voluntary.
 Learning depends on what
happens after the response
— the consequence.
Skinner’s contribution to operant conditioning
AP Key contributors
Skinner’s Operant Chamber
Reinforcement
 Reinforcement - any event or stimulus, that
when following a response, increases the
probability that the response will occur again.
Primary reinforcer - any reinforcer that is naturally
reinforcing by meeting a basic biological need, such
as hunger, thirst, or touch.
 Secondary reinforcer - any reinforcer that becomes
reinforcing after being paired with a primary
reinforcer, such as praise, tokens, gold stars, or
money.


They are learned
 Immediate vs. Delayed Reinforcement
Positive and Negative Reinforcement
 Positive reinforcement – increases
behaviors by presenting positive
stimuli (food), a positive reinforcer is
anything that when presented after a
response strengthens that response
 Example: correct response= candy!
 Negative reinforcement –
increases behavior by the removal,
escape from, or avoidance of an
unpleasant stimulus.
 Homework pass, NOT a punishment!
Example: Taking aspirin
for a headache is
negatively reinforced –
removal of headache!
Shaping
 Shaping - the reinforcement of
simple steps in behavior that lead to
a desired, more complex behavior.


Successive approximations - small steps in
behavior, one after the other, that lead to a
particular goal behavior.
Training whales or other animals
Other Operant Conditioning Concepts
 Extinction – occurs if the behavior (response) is not
reinforced.
 Operantly conditioned responses also can be
generalized to stimuli that are only similar to the
original stimulus.
 Spotaneous recovery (reoccurrence of a once
extinguished response) also happens in classical
conditioning.
 Overjustification- excessive rewards may destroy
intrinsic motivation (desire to do well for own sake)

They already do it! “excessive rewards”
One way to deal with
a child’s temper
tantrum is to ignore it.
The lack of
reinforcement for the
tantrum behavior
will eventually result in
extinction.
Important concepts in operant conditioning
AP Differences between types of learning
Schedules of Reinforcement
 Continuous reinforcement - the reinforcement of
each and every correct response.
 Partial (intermittent) reinforcement effect - the
tendency for a response that is reinforced after
some, but not all, correct responses to be very
resistant to extinction.
Schedules of Reinforcement
 Fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement - schedule
of reinforcement in which the number of responses
required for reinforcement is always the same.
 FR-5 would indicate that every 5th response would be given
reinforcement. (after every 5th drink bought at the gas station
would get you a free drink) -high rate of response
 Variable ratio schedule of reinforcement schedule of reinforcement in which the number of
responses required for reinforcement is different
for each trial or event. An average number of
responses.
 VR-5 would indicate that a response would be given on average of
every 5th response 1st through 10th. (slot machines in Vegas)
produces high rates of fairly steady responses.
Schedules of Reinforcement
 Fixed interval schedule – schedule of
reinforcement in which the interval of time that
must pass before reinforcement becomes possible is
always the same.
 FI-5 would indicate that reinforcement would be given every five
minutes. (bells indicate class change- same time- students start
to pack up in anticipation) -not a steady rate of response
 Variable interval schedule of reinforcement - in which
the interval of time that must pass before
reinforcement becomes possible is different for each
trial or event.
 VI-5 would indicate that ON AVERAGE, every 5 minutes
reinforcement would be given -produces slow steady responses
because there is no idea when the reinforcement will be coming.
(points for participation for raising your hand- not sure when they
will be awarded, but keep trying to get the points.)
Punishment
 Punishment - any event or object that,
when following a response, makes that
response less likely to happen again.
 Positive Punishment or Punishment by
application- the punishment of a response
by the addition or experiencing of an
unpleasant stimulus.
 Negative Punishment or Omission
Training the punishment of a response by
the removal of a pleasurable stimulus.
How to Make Punishment More Effective
1.
2.
3.
Punishment should immediately follow the
behavior it is meant to punish.
Punishment should be consistent.
Punishment of the wrong behavior should be
paired, whenever possible, with
reinforcement of the right behavior.
How punishment affects behavior
AP Predict the effects of operant conditioning
How punishment affects behavior
AP Predict the effects of operant conditioning
Punishment tells you what not to do;
Reinforcement tells you what to do!!!
Motivation
Intrinsic motivation- the desire to perform a
behavior for its own sake- self fulfillment or self
enjoyment are the driving factors- practicing a
sport because you love the sport
Extrinsic motivation- the desire to perform a
behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid
threatened punishment- going to work,
practicing a sport to gain a starting position
Observational Learning
 Observational learning - learning new behavior by watching
others
 Don’t run across the highway
 Modeling- the processing observing and imitating behaviors
(monkey see, monkey do)
 #swag, clothing
 Mirror Neurons- fire when performing and observing others
doing the activity (imitation and empathy)

Harder to smile when seeing a frown
Bandura’s classic Bobo doll study
AP Essentials of insight, latent, & social
learning
Application of Observational Learning
 Prosocial Effects- positive, constructive, and helpful
behavior can be modeled to help people

Examples?
 Antisocial Effects- negative and hurtful behavior that
we tend to pick up

Examples?

Television?
Television and Observational
Learning
Gentile et al., (2004)
shows that children in
elementary school who
are exposed to violent
television, videos, and
video games express
increased aggression.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved.
Research shows that viewing media violence
leads to an increased expression of aggression.
Imitation and Desensitizing
Children modeling after pro wrestlers
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All
rights reserved.