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INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
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Copyright © McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

CHAPTER FIVE:
LEARNING
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Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior
that is brought about by experience
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Classical Conditioning

What is learning?

How do we learn to form associations
between stimuli and responses?
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What is Classical
Conditioning?

A type of learning in which a neutral
stimulus comes to elicit a response after
being paired with a stimulus that naturally
brings about that response

Ivan Pavlov
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What is Classical
Conditioning?
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Neutral stimulus
Unconditioned stimulus
(UCS)
Unconditioned
response (UCR)
Conditioned stimulus
(CS)
Conditioned response
(CR)
Figure 1 of Chapter 5
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How Do Conditioning
Principles Apply to Human
Behavior?

“Little Albert”

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John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner (1920)
Phobias
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Extinction of a
Conditioned Response

Occurs when a previously conditioned
response decreases in frequency and
eventually disappears

Spontaneous Recovery

Reemergence of an extinguished conditioned
response after a period of rest and with no further
conditioning
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Extinction of a Conditioned
Response
Acquisition, Extinction, & Spontaneous
Recovery in Classical Conditioning
Figure 2 of Chapter 5
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Generalization and
Discrimination

Stimulus Generalization


Occurs when a conditioned response follows
a stimulus that is similar to the original
conditioned stimulus
Stimulus Discrimination

Occurs if two stimuli are sufficiently distinct
from one another such that one evokes a
conditioned response but the other does not
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Operant Conditioning

What is the role of reward and punishment
in learning?

What are some practical methods for
bringing about behavior change—both in
ourselves and in others?
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Operant Conditioning

Learning in which a voluntary response is
strengthened or weakened, depending on
its favorable or unfavorable consequences
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How Operant Conditioning
Works

Reinforcement

A process by which a stimulus increases the
probability that a preceding behavior will be
repeated

Reinforcer


Primary
Secondary
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How Operant Conditioning
Works
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Positive Reinforcers
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Stimulus added to the environment that brings
about an increase in a preceding response
Negative Reinforcers

Unpleasant stimulus whose removal leads to
an increase in the probability that a preceding
response will be repeated
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How Operant Conditioning
Works

Punishment

Stimulus that decreases the probability that a
prior behavior will occur again

Positive punishment
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
Adding something
Negative punishment

Removing something
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How Operant Conditioning
Works
Reinforcement and Punishment
Figure 3 of Chapter 5
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Schedules of Reinforcement

Continuous reinforcement schedule
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Reinforced every time it occurs
Partial (intermittent) reinforcement
schedule
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Reinforced some but not all of the time
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Schedules of Reinforcement
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Fixed-Ratio Schedule
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Reinforcement is given
only after a specific
number of responses.
Variable-Ratio
Schedule
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Occurs after a varying
number of responses
Figure 4 of Chapter 5
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Schedules of Reinforcement

Fixed-Interval Schedule
Provides reinforcement for a response only if
a fixed time period has elapsed
 Overall rates of response are relatively low.
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
Variable-Interval Schedule
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The time between reinforcements varies
based on an average rather than being fixed.
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Discrimination and
Generalization in Operant
Conditioning
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Stimulus control training
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Behavior is reinforced in the presence of a
specific stimulus, but not in its absence.
Discriminative stimulus
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Signals the likelihood that reinforcement will
follow a response
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Shaping: Reinforcing What
Doesn’t Come Naturally
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Process of teaching a complex behavior
by rewarding closer and closer
approximations of the desired behavior
Animal training
 Complex human skills

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Comparing Classical and
Operant Conditioning
Figure 5 of Chapter 5
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Behavior Analysis and
Behavior Modification
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Techniques
Identify goals and target behaviors
 Design a data-recording system and record
preliminary data
 Select a behavior-change strategy
 Implement the program
 Keep careful records after the program is
implemented
 Evaluate and alter the ongoing program
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Cognitive Approaches
to Learning

Can all learning be explained by operant
and classical conditioning processes?

What is the role of cognition and thought in
learning?
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Cognitive Learning Theory
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An approach that states that learning is
best understood in terms of thought
processes, or cognitions

People develop an expectation that they
will receive a reinforcer after making a
response.
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Latent Learning

New behavior is learned but not
demonstrated until some incentive is
provided for displaying it.

Learning occurs without reinforcement.
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Observational Learning:
Learning Through Imitation
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Learning by watching the behavior of
another person, or model
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The social cognitive approach to learning
Albert Bandura
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Violence in Television
and Video Games:
Does the Media’s Message
Matter?

Recent research supports the claim that
watching high levels of media violence
makes viewers more susceptible to acting
aggressively.
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Does Culture Influence
How We Learn?
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Relational learning style
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People master material best through
exposure to a full unit or phenomenon.
Analytical learning style

People master material best when they can
carry out an initial analysis of the principles
and components underlying a phenomenon or
situation.
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Does Culture Influence
How We Learn?
Analytical versus Relational Approaches to
Learning
Figure 7 of Chapter 5
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