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Learning
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Learning
• A relatively permanent change in an
organism
– The result of experience
– Exhibited in behavior
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2006
Learning
I.
Classical Conditioning
II.
Operant Conditioning
III.
Cognitive Learning
IV.
Biological Basis for Learning
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Classical Conditioning
– Conditioning
• A systematic procedure through which
associations and responses to specific
stimuli are learned
• One of the simplest forms of learning
– Reflexes
• automatic behavior
• occur without prior learning
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Basics of Classical Conditioning
• Conditioning versus reflexes
– Conditioning does require learning
• Learned association between a neutral
stimulus and a stimulus that evokes a
reflex
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Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov (1849 – 1936)
– Studied digestion in dogs
– Discovered Classical (or Pavlovian)
Conditioning
– An originally neutral stimulus,
through repeated pairings with a stimulus
that naturally produces a response,
comes to elicit a similar or identical
response
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Classical Conditioning
Terms and Procedures
1. Unconditioned Stimulus
• The stimulus that automatically
produces a response
• Unlearned
• E.g., Food
2. Unconditioned Response
• Automatic, involuntary response to the
unconditioned stimulus
• E.g., Salivation
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Terms and Procedures
• Procedure
– Present a neutral stimulus immediately
before an unconditioned stimulus
Neutral
Stimulus:
BELL
Unconditioned
Stimulus:
FOOD
Unconditioned
Response:
SALIVATION
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Terms and Procedures
• Procedure
– Repeat many, many times
– Remove the unconditioned stimulus:
Stimulus:
BELL
Response:
SALIVATION
– Original stimulus no longer neutral!
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Terms and Procedures
Conditioned Stimulus
– A previously neutral stimulus that,
through repeated association with an
unconditioned stimulus,
becomes capable of eliciting a response
– E.g., Bell
Conditioned Response
– The response to the Conditioned Stimulus
– E.g., Salivating
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Classical Conditioning
• Conditioning does not occur immediately
– Occurs gradually over many repeated
pairings
– This process through which the conditioned
stimulus becomes associated with a
learned response is called an acquisition
process
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Classical Conditioning in
Humans
• Many types of responses can be conditioned
in humans
• Conditioning can occur
– Without our awareness
– For pleasant and unpleasant reactions
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Classical Conditioning in
Humans
•
Little Albert
– John Watson and Rosalie Raynor (1920)
White Rat
Frightening,
loud noise
Fear
– After many pairings:
White Rat
Fear
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Classical Conditioning in
Humans
• Little Albert
– This type of learning is probably the source for
most fear and anxiety in children
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Higher-Order Conditioning
• The process by which a neutral stimulus
takes on conditioned properties through
pairing with a conditioned stimulus
• Permits increasingly remote associations
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Key Variables in Classical
Conditioning
Strength, timing and frequency
a. Strength of the unconditioned stimulus
b. Timing of the unconditioned stimulus
c. Frequency of Pairings
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Key Variables in Classical
Conditioning
Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
a. Extinction
• Process by which the conditioned
stimulus no longer elicits the
unconditioned response
b. Spontaneous Recovery
• When an extinguished conditioned
response reappears
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Key Variables in Classical
Conditioning
Stimulus Generalization and Discrimination
a. Stimulus Generalization
• When a conditioned response occurs in
response to a stimulus similar to the
conditioned stimulus
• Probably explains how some phobias develop
b. Stimulus Discrimination
• An organism learns to respond only to the
specific conditioned stimulus
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Classical Conditioning in Daily
Life
The Garcia Effect
– John Garcia (Garcia & Koelling, 1971)
• Conditioned taste aversion
– Two startling findings
• Could occur even if nausea was induced
several hours after food or drink was
consumed
• Not all stimuli were equally easily
associated
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The Garcia Effect
•
Conditioned taste aversion can occur after only
one pairing
– Survival value of quickly learning to avoid
foods that make us sick
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The Garcia Effect
• Practical applications
– Preventing appetite loss with
chemotherapy patients
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Classical Conditioning in Daily
Life
Learning and chemotherapy
– Nausea can be conditioned to occur
Conditioned
stimulus:
Unconditioned
Stimulus:
FOOD
CHEMOTHERAPY
Conditioned stimulus:
FOOD
Unconditioned
Response:
NAUSEA
Conditioned
Response:
NAUSEA
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Pavlov’s Understanding
Reinterpreted
• Pavlov thought in terms of simple associations
between paired stimuli
• Today’s researchers are considering how
imagined stimuli (such as thoughts) can evoke a
response
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Operant Conditioning
• Differences from classical conditioning
– Conditioned behavior is voluntary, not
reflexive
– Consequence follows, rather than coexists
with or precedes a behavior
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Operant Conditioning
The Pioneers
1. E. L. Thorndike (1874 – 1949)
• Instrumental conditioning
2. B. F. Skinner (1904 – 1990)
– Three types of consequences
• Behavior is ignored
• Behavior is rewarded (reinforced)
• Behavior is punished
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Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement
Reinforcers
• A reinforcer is any event that increases
the likelihood of a behavior
Reinforcement Strategies
a. Positive Reinforcement
– The presentation of a stimulus after a
behavior that increases the likelihood that
response will recur
– Example: Receiving a dollar for
cleaning your room
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Reinforcement Strategies
Negative Reinforcement
– The removal of a stimulus after a
particular response to increase the
likelihood the response will recur
– The stimulus removed is usually
unpleasant
– Example: Taking an aspirin to get rid of
a headache
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Negative Reinforcement
• Another example:
– Apologizing after being sent to time-out
• Apologizing removes being confined to
your room
• This is also an example of escape
conditioning
• May lead to avoidance conditioning
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Reinforcement
The Nature of Reinforcers
– Two types of reinforcers
a. Primary Reinforcer
– Examples: Food, water, pain avoidance
b. Secondary Reinforcer
– Examples: Money, good grades
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Operant Conditioning
The Skinner Box and Shaping
– Skinner box
• Animal randomly emits behaviors
• Target behaviors are reinforced
– Shaping
• The selective reinforcement of behaviors
that gradually approach (approximate) a
desired response
• Sometimes called the method of
successive approximations
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Operant Conditioning
Punishment
– Types of Punishment
a. Positive punishment
– A stimulus is presented in order to
decrease the likelihood that the
behavior will be repeated
– Example: Getting yelled at for hitting
your sister
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Types of Punishment
Negative Punishment
– A stimulus is removed in order to
decrease the likelihood that the behavior
will be repeated
– Example: Losing your car after getting into
a wreck
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Punishment
The Nature of Punishers
– Two types of punishers:
a. Primary punisher
– Example: Pain
b. Secondary punisher
– Example: Losing your driver’s license
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Punishment
Limitations of Punishment
– Only suppresses behavior
– Has social consequences
– May not control behavior in the long run
– Physical punishments can lead to
aggression
– Inconsistent punishment can lead to learned
helplessness
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Key variables in Operant
Conditioning
Stimulus Generalization
Stimulus Discrimination
Extinction
Spontaneous Recovery
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Operant Conditioning in Daily
Life
1. Superstitious Behaviors
2. Intrinsically Motivated Behavior
– May actually decrease if they are
externally reinforced
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Cognitive Learning
Observational Learning
The Power of Modeling
• Albert Bandura
– Social learning theory
– Showed that children played more
aggressively after observing films with
aggressive content
• Observational learning can occur without
being reinforced
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Observational Learning
Observational Learning in Daily Life
a. Gender role development
b. Cultural values
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Cognitive Learning
Other Types of Cognitive Learning
Insight – the “aha” experience
Latent Learning
– Shows us a distinction between
learning and performance
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Biological Basis for Learning
Electrical Brain Stimulation and Reinforcement
– James Olds (1955, 1960)
• Found that rats find electrical stimulation
of specific brain areas in the hypothalamus
to be rewarding
– This brain region involves the
neurotransmitter dopamine
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