Download Modules 18-20 - CCRI Faculty Web

Learning
Associative and Cognitive Learning
 Associative
Classical Learning 
conditioning:
learning to link
two stimuli in a
way that helps us
anticipate an
event to which we
have a reaction
Operant
conditioning:
changing
behavior
choices in
response to
consequences
Cognitive learning:
acquiring new behaviors
and information through
observation and
information, rather than by
direct experience
Associative Learning:
Operant Conditioning
Child associates his “response” (behavior) with consequences.
 Child learns to repeat behaviors (saying “please”) which were
followed by desirable results (cookie).
 Child learns to avoid behaviors (yelling “gimme!”) which were
followed by undesirable results (scolding or loss of dessert).

Cognitive Learning
Cognitive learning refers to acquiring new
behaviors and information mentally, rather than
by direct experience.
Cognitive learning occurs:
1. by observing events and the behavior of
others.
2. by using language to acquire information
about events experienced by others.
Adaptation to the Environment
 Learning—any
process through
which experience at one time can
alter an individual’s behavior at a
future time
Behaviorism
 The
attempt to understand
observable activity in terms
of observable stimuli and
observable responses
 John B. Watson (1913)
 B. F. Skinner (1938)
Pavlov’s Dogs
Digestive
reflexes and
salivation
 Psychic
secretion

Neutral Stimulus—Bell
Does not normally elicit a
response or reflex action by itself



a bell ringing
a color
a furry object
Unconditioned Stimulus—
Food
Always elicits a reflex action: an
unconditioned response



food
blast of air
noise
Unconditioned Response —
Salivation
A response to an unconditioned
stimulus—naturally occurring



Salivation at smell of food
Eye blinks at blast of air
Startle reaction in babies
Conditioned Stimulus—Bell
 The
stimulus that was originally
neutral becomes conditioned after
it has been paired with the
unconditioned stimulus
 Will eventually elicit the
unconditioned response by itself
Conditioned Response
The original unconditioned response
becomes conditioned after it has been
elicited by the neutral stimulus
Classical Conditioning
Phenomenon
 Extinction
 Spontaneous
recovery
 Generalization
 Discrimination training
Acquisition
Acquisition refers to the initial
stage of learning/conditioning.
What gets “acquired”?
 The association between a neutral
stimulus (NS) and an unconditioned
stimulus (US).
How can we tell that acquisition has
occurred?
 The UR now gets triggered by a CS
(drooling now gets triggered by a bell).
Timing
For the association to be acquired,
the neutral stimulus (NS) needs to
repeatedly appear before the
unconditioned stimulus (US)…about a
half-second before, in most cases. The
bell must come right before the food.
15
John B. Watson and Little
Albert
Conditioned
emotional
responses
 Generalization
 Extinction

Classical Conditioning and Drug Use

Regular use may produce “placebo
response” where user associates sight,
smell, taste with drug effect
Cognitive Aspects of
Classical Conditioning



Reliable and unreliable signals
Actively process information
Robert Rescorla
Taste Aversions
Early Operant Conditioning
E. L. Thorndike (1898)
 Puzzle boxes and cats

First Trial
in Box
Situation:
stimuli
inside of
puzzle box
Scratch at bars
Push at ceiling
Dig at floor
Howl
Etc.
After Many
Trials in Box
Situation:
stimuli
inside of
puzzle box
Scratch at bars
Push at ceiling
Dig at floor
Howl
Etc.
Etc.
Etc.
Press lever
Press lever
Thorndikes Puzzle Box
B. F. Skinner’s
Operant Conditioning
 Did
not like Thorndike’s term
“satisfying state of affairs”
 Interested in emitted behaviors
 Operant—voluntary response that
acts on the environment to
produce consequences
Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement—the occurrence
of a stimulus following a
response that increases the
likelihood of the response being
repeated
Reinforcers

Primary—a stimulus that is inherently
reinforcing for a species (biological
necessities)

Conditioned—a stimulus that has acquired
reinforcing value by being associated with
a primary reinforcer
Reinforcement

Reinforcement:
feedback from the
environment that
makes a behavior
more likely to be
done again.


Positive +
reinforcement: the
reward is adding
something desirable
Negative reinforcement: the
reward is ending
something unpleasant
This meerkat has just
completed a task out
in the cold
For the meerkat,
this warm light is
desirable.
Behavior shaped by accidental reinforcement
Punishment
Presentation of a stimulus following a
behavior that acts to decrease the likelihood
that the behavior will be repeated
Don’t think about the beach
Don’t think about the waves,
the sand, the towels and
sunscreen, the sailboats and
surfboards. Don’t think about
the beach.
Are you obeying the
instruction? Would you obey
this instruction more if you
were punished for thinking
about the beach?
Problem:
Punishing focuses on what NOT to do, which does
not guide people to a desired behavior.
 Even if undesirable behaviors do stop, another
problem behavior may emerge that serves the
same purpose, especially if no replacement
behaviors are taught and reinforced.
Lesson:
In order to teach desired
behavior, reinforce what’s
right more often than
punishing what’s wrong.
Problems with Punishment




Does not teach or promote alternative,
acceptable behavior
May produce undesirable results such as
hostility, passivity, fear
Likely to be temporary
May model aggression
Operant Conditioning Terms
 Shaping
 Extinction
 Spontaneous
Recovery
 Discriminative Stimuli
 Schedules of Reinforcement
Applications of Operant Conditioning
School: long before
tablet computers,
B.F. Skinner
proposed machines
that would reinforce
students for correct
responses, allowing
students to improve
at different rates and
work on different
learning goals.
Sports: athletes
improve most in the
shaping approach
in which they are
reinforced for
performance that
comes closer and
closer to the target
skill (e.g., hitting
pitches that are
progressively
faster).
Work: some
companies make
pay a function of
performance or
company profit
rather than
seniority; they
target more
specific
behaviors to
reinforce.
Discrimination

Discrimination: the ability to become
more and more specific in what
situations trigger a response.

Shaping can increase discrimination, if
reinforcement only comes for certain
discriminative stimuli.

For examples, dogs, rats, and even
spiders can be trained to search for
very specific smells, from drugs to
explosives.

Pigeons, seals, and manatees have
been trained to respond to specific
shapes, colors, and categories.
Bomb-finding rat
Manatee that
selects shapes
Reinforcement Schedules

Continuous—every correct response is
reinforced; good way to get a low frequency
behavior to occur

Partial—only some correct responses are
reinforced; good way to make a behavior
resistant to extinction
Partial Schedules—Ratio



Ratio schedules are based on number of
responses emitted
Fixed ratio (FR)—a reinforcer is delivered
after a certain (fixed) number of correct
responses
Variable ratio (VR)—a reinforcer is
delivered after an average number of
responses, but varies from trial to trial
Partial Schedules—Interval



Interval schedules are based on time.
Fixed interval (FI)—reinforcer is delivered for
the first response after a fixed period of time
has elapsed
Variable interval (VI)—reinforcer is delivered
for the first response after an average time
has elapsed, differs between trials
Why we might
work for
money

If we repeatedly introduce a neutral
stimulus before a reinforcer, this
stimulus acquires the power to be
used as a reinforcer.
 A primary reinforcer is a stimulus
that meets a basic need or
otherwise is intrinsically desirable,
such as food, sex, fun, attention,
or power.
 A secondary/conditioned
reinforcer is a stimulus, such as a
rectangle of paper with numbers
on it (money) which has become
associated with a primary
reinforcer (money buys food,
builds power).
How often should we
reinforce?




Do we need to give a reward every single time?
Or is that even best?
B.F. Skinner experimented with the effects of
giving reinforcements in different patterns or
“schedules” to determine what worked best to
establish and maintain a target behavior.
In continuous reinforcement (giving a reward
after the target every single time), the subject
acquires the desired behavior quickly.
In partial/intermittent reinforcement (giving
rewards part of the time), the target behavior
takes longer to be acquired/established but
persists longer without reward.
Cognitive Aspects of Operant
Conditioning



Cognitive map—term for a mental
representation of the layout of a familiar
environment
Latent learning—learning that occurs in
the absence of reinforcement, but is not
demonstrated until a reinforcer is available
Learned helplessness—phenomenon
where exposure to inescapable and
uncontrollable aversive events produces
passive behavior
Learned Helplessness can be produced when negative
events are perceived as uncontrollable
Biological Predispositions

Animal training issues

Instinctive drift—naturally occurring behaviors
that interfere with operant responses raccoons rubbed coins
Classical Conditioning vs.
Operant Conditioning
Observation Learning




Observation
Modeling
Imitation
Albert Bandura and the Bobo doll study
Antisocial Effects of Observational
Learning



What happens when we learn
from models who demonstrate
antisocial behavior, actions
that are harmful to individuals
and society?
Children who witness violence
wonderful
in their homes, Have
but aare
not day. Love you. :) 😃
physically harmed themselves,
may hate violence but still may
become violent more often than
the average child.
Perhaps this is a result of “the
Bobo doll effect”? Under stress,
we do what has been modeled
for us.
Media Models of Violence
Do we learn
antisocial
behavior
such as
violence from
indirect
observations
of others in
the media?
Research shows that viewing media violence leads to
increased aggression (fights) and reduced prosocial behavior
(such as helping an injured person).
This violence-viewing effect might be explained by imitation,
and also by desensitization toward pain in others.
Famous last words???
Do what I say, not what I do—
This will teach you to hit your
brother—
Why do you do that, you know you
get in trouble for it—