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Learning
A. Introduction to learning
• 1. Why do psychologists care about learning?
• 2. What is and isn’t learning?
IS: A relatively permanent change in an
organism’s behavior due to experience.
ISN’T: reflex or effects of drug (temporary)
natural maturation (not experience)
• 3. How do we know we’ve learned?
B. Association in Learning
• Everyday examples...
• Association: linking two events or stimuli that
occur together in space or time. Early theories
of learning were based on principles of
association.
– Classical Conditioning
– Operant Conditioning
C. Classical Conditioning
• 1. Example…
– Learning that results from pairing two events in the
environment.
– Learn to associate a neutral event with another event or
stimulus from the environment.
• 2. Ivan Pavlov
– Review from video
C. Classical Conditioning
• 2. Pavlov:
– Paired neutral stimulus (tone/bell) with coming of
food.
– What occurred when bell alone was sounded?
– What is the difference between when the dog
salivated to food versus the bell?
– Food – naturally causes salivation
– Tone/bell – learned to associate with food –
causes salivation.
C. Classical Conditioning
• 3. Classical Conditioning Terms:
• Two parts: response (action that takes place)
stimulus (cause of action)
• Response:
salivation
• Stimulus:
food, bell/tone
• How do we differentiate between
food/salivation and bell/salivation?
C. Classical Conditioning
• 3. Classical Conditioning Terms
• Food and salivation:
• a. Unconditioned Stimuli and Response
– UCS (food) & UCR (salivation)
– occurs naturally, automatically, unconditionally.
– NOT learned, like reflex
C. Classical Conditioning
• 3. Classical Conditioning Terms
• Bell and Salivation:
• b. Conditioned Stimuli and Response
– CS (tone/bell) & CR (salivation)
– originally NEUTRAL stimulus, that, after
being paired with UCS, triggers CR.
– learned, NOT automatic.
– not naturally occurring.
C. Classical Conditioning
• 4. Conditioning Processes and Principles
• a. Acquisition: initial stage of learning.
• b. Extinction: diminishing of a CR.
– When CS is no longer paired with UCS, eventually,
the CS ALONE will not elicit the CR.
• c. Spontaneous Recovery:
– The reappearance, after a rest period, of an
extinguished CR.
(What does this suggest?)
C. Classical Conditioning
• Example of Little Albert (Watson).
• d. Generalization: when a CS is paired
with a UCS, stimuli similar to CS can evoke
similar responses (like CR).
• e. Discrimination: learned ability to
distinguish between two stimuli.
– How could an animal be trained to discriminate
between stimuli?
C. Classical Conditioning
5. Limits and concerns with original theory.
From CC – early psychologists concluded:
• Any organism can be conditioned to any stimulus.
a. Influence of biological predispositions (Garcia & Koelling, 1966).
•
Only study observable responses/behavior.
b.
No mention of mental processes
(dogs were passive, mechanical, mindless)
– Behaviorism: only study observable behavior, no thoughts,
cognition, etc.
– Couldn’t use terms: expectation, prediction
D. Operant Conditioning
• Do we always learn by associating neutral
stimuli with other stimuli in environment?
– Importance of controlling learning, particularly
complex, voluntary, goal-directed behavior.
• 1. Examples...
D. Operant Conditioning
• 2. Law of Effect: Thorndike
Cats in puzzle box
D. Operant Conditioning
• 3. B.F. Skinner:
Operant Conditioning:
Learning that relies on associating behavior
with its results or consequences.
Defined as “operant” – animal is operating on
environment – not passive like CC.
Highlights importance of reinforcement &
punishment in learning.
D. Operant Conditioning
• To study this type of learning – needed to design
controlled environment.
– Skinner Box
• 4. Procedure
• a. Shaping:
Conditioning procedure that uses reinforcers to guide
behavior closer to desired behavior.
– successive approximations
• b. Reinforcer:
Anything that increases the frequency of the
preceding response or strengthens behavior.
D. Operant Conditiong
• b. Reinforcers
i. Positive reinforcers: strengthens response by
presenting stimulus after response.
ii. Negative reinforcers: strengthens response by
removing an aversive stimulus after a response.
- NOT PUNISHMENT
What happens if you remove reinforcement?
– Extinction of response.
D. Operant Conditioning
• iii. Important characteristics of reinforcement.
• aa. Immediate vs. Delayed Reinforcement:
– in animals?
• “Superstitious pigeons”
– in humans?
• bb. Continuous vs. Partial Reinforcement:
– Continuous more effective:
• initially learning response (during shaping).
– Partial more effective:
• to resist extinction, create persistence, continue
behavior.
• Too much reinforcement?
Overjustification effect:
• An already enjoyable activity becomes
“overjustified” by providing reward for
activity. Become extrinsically motivated.
D. Operant Conditioning
• c. Punishment:
An aversive consequence that decreases the frequency of
the preceding behavior.
– Positive and negative punishment.
– Effective?
• Maybe – if strong, immediate, consistent, inescapable
– Why not effective?
•
•
•
•
Only suppresses behavior.
Only tells you what NOT to do, not what TO do.
May cause anger, resentment, fear.
Demonstrates aggression is way to deal with conflict.
D. Operant Conditioning
• 5. Concerns with original theory.
– No room for mental operations again.
But evidence for “thinking” (even in animals.)
Latent Learning
Learning that becomes apparent only when
there is some incentive to demonstrate it.
**Difference between learning and
performance.
F. Observational Learning
• Also called: Social Learning Theory
• Different take on learning:
We not only learn through direct
experience, but also by observing and
imitating others (through modeling).
– Not simple, automatic, requires attention &
sometimes motivation
F. Observational Learning
• 1. Bandura - Bobo Doll Studies.
– Learned how to aggress (modeled behavior).
– Inhibitions were lowered (thought of new ways
to aggress).
• 2. Vicarious Learning: learning by
watching others with NO reinforcement.
F. Observational Learning
3. Influence of TV and media on behavior:
APA’s Conclusion: There is a causal link between
watching aggressive acts on TV and being aggressive
IN SOME CHILDREN.
TV/Media – not the ONLY cause of aggressive
behavior.
F. Observational Learning
• 4. How does social learning theory differ
from classical conditioning and operant
conditioning?