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Psychology in Modules
by Saul Kassin
Section 5:
Learning
Learning
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Observational Learning
©2006 Prentice Hall
Learning
Ethology

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The study of the behavior of animals in
their natural habitat.
Fixed Action Pattern

A species-specific behavior that is built
into an animal’s nervous system and
triggered by a specific stimulus.
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Learning
Ethology
Herring-Gull Models

In herring gull chicks, pecking is elicited
(released) by the movement of any red dot,
even on objects that do not resemble an
adult herring gull. This is an example of a
fixed action pattern.
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Learning
Defining Learning

A relatively permanent change in
knowledge or behavior that results
from experience.



Adaptation by learning is flexible.
Humans adapt to life’s demands by
learning and not by instinct.
The key to learning is association.
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Learning

Habituation
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Habituation of
Fear
The tendency of an
organism to become
familiar with a
stimulus as a result of
repeated exposure
It is the simplest form of
learning.
Note here that rats
repeatedly exposed to a
cat’s odor, and no cat,
hid less over time.
©2006 Prentice Hall
Learning
Classical Conditioning

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A type of learning in which an
organism comes to associate one
stimulus with another (also called
Pavlovian conditioning).
Classical Conditioning involves learning
that one event predicts another.
This type of learning involves
An unconditioned stimulus
 An unconditioned response
 A conditioned stimulus
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 A conditioned
response

Classical Conditioning

An unconditioned stimulus (US)

A stimulus (an event) that triggers an
unconditioned (involuntary)
response.
Examples: food, loud noises, painful stimuli
 In Pavlov’s experiments, the US was the food.
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An unconditioned response (UR)

An unlearned response to an
unconditioned stimulus.
Examples: salivation to food, jumping when
hearing a loud noise, moving away from
something painful
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 In Pavlov’s experiments, salivation to the food

Classical Conditioning

A conditioned stimulus (CS)

A neutral stimulus (an event) that
comes to evoke a classically
conditioned (learned) response due to
being presented shortly before the
US.
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In Pavlov’s experiments, the CS was the bell.
A conditioned response (CR)

A learned response to a classically
conditioned stimulus.

In Pavlov’s experiments, salivation to the bell
was the CR. ©2006 Prentice Hall
Classical Conditioning
Pavlov’s Apparatus

Pavlov classically conditioned dogs to salivate.
Salivation was measured by a pen attached to
a slowly rotating cylinder of paper.
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Classical Conditioning
Pavlov’s Discovery

Before
Conditioning
Before Stimuli
Are
Paired
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Unconditioned Stimulus (US) elicits
Unconditioned Response (UR)
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Meat powder leads to salivation
Neutral stimulus elicits no particular
response

Bell leads to orienting response only, no
salivation
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Classical Conditioning
Pavlov’s Discovery
During and After Conditioning
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Conditioning: Neutral Stimulus is Paired with
the Unconditioned Stimulus
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Bell rings, then meat powder is delivered
This procedure is repeated several times
After Several Trials of pairing the bell with the
food
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When Bell rings, dog salivates
The Bell is now a Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
Salivation is a Conditioned Response (CR)
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Classical Conditioning
©2006 Prentice Hall
Classical Conditioning
Basic Principles
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Acquisition
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Extinction
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Formation of a learned response to a stimulus
through presentation of an unconditioned
stimulus
Elimination of a learned response by removal of
the unconditioned stimulus
Spontaneous Recovery

Re-emergence of an extinguished conditioned
response after a rest period
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Classical Conditioning
The Rise and Fall of a Conditioned
Response
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Classical Conditioning
Temporal Relations in Classical
Conditioning

In forward pairing,
the CS precedes the
US.
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Easiest conditioning
In simultaneous
pairing, the CS and
US occur together.
In backward pairing,
the CS follows the
US.

Most difficult
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Time
Classical Conditioning
Generalization & Discrimination
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Stimulus Generalization
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The tendency to respond to a stimulus
that is similar to the conditioned
stimulus
Discrimination

In classical and operant conditioning,
the ability to distinguish between
different stimuli
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Classical Conditioning
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Higher-Order
Conditioning
With repeated pairing, a
neutral stimulus can be
linked with a CS.
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This neutral stimulus
becomes a CS.
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The bell (CS) is
paired with a black
square.
In the example, the
black square elicits
salivation.
One CS was used to
create another CS.
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Classical Conditioning

When the CS Predicts the
US
Top graph: The US
does not happen
without the CS
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Good learning here,
the CS predicts the US
Bottom graph: The US
happens with or
without CS

Poor learning here, the
CS does not predict the
US
©2006 Prentice Hall
Classical Conditioning
The Conditioning of Little Albert
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An 11-month old boy –
named “Albert” – was
conditioned to fear a white
laboratory rat.
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Each time he reached for the
rat, Watson made a loud
clanging noise right behind
Albert.
Albert’s fear generalized to
anything white and furry.

Including rabbits and a Santa
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Claus mask
Learning
Operant Conditioning

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Cats were put into
puzzle boxes and the
time to escape
decreased over the
number of attempts.
Law of Effect

Thorndike’s Law of
Effect
Responses followed
by positive outcomes
are repeated,
whereas those
followed by negative
outcomes are not.©2006 Prentice Hall
Operant Conditioning
The Principles of Reinforcement
Operant
Conditioning
 The process by which organisms
learn to behave in ways that
produce reinforcement.
Reinforcement
 Any stimulus that increases the
likelihood of a prior response.
Operant Conditioning
The Principles of Reinforcement
Punishment
Any stimulus that decreases the
likelihood of a prior response.
Shaping
 Using reinforcements to guide an
animal or person gradually toward a
specific behavior.

Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement & Punishment
Increases
Behavior
Decreases
Behavior
Present
Stimulus
Positive
Positive
Reinforcement Punishment
(give money)
(give chores)
Remove
Stimulus
Negative
Reinforcement
(take away
chores)
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Negative
Punishment
(take away
money)
Operant Conditioning
Schedules of
Reinforcement
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Simple reinforcement
schedules produce
characteristic response
patterns.
Steeper lines mean
higher response rates.
Ratio schedules
produce more
responses than do
interval schedules.
©2006 Prentice Hall
Operant Conditioning
Using Reinforcement to Boost Job
Performance
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All salesclerks were
observed for a 20day baseline period.
Then, half were
given cash bonuses
for good
performance, half
were not.
The ones given cash
bonuses improved
job performance. ©2006 Prentice Hall
Operant Conditioning
Condition Oneself to Break a Bad
Habit
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Identify specific target behavior to change
Record baseline
Formulate a plan
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To increase a behavior, use reinforcement
To extinguish behavior, avoid situations where
it occurs or remove reinforcements
Implement the plan, revise as needed
Maintain the change
©2006 Prentice Hall
Operant Conditioning
New Developments
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Rats in a Maze: Evidence for a Cognitive
Tolman trained rats in this Map
maze, with all alleys open.
If “Block A” in place, rats
chose green (shorter)
path.
If “Block B” in place, rats
chose blue path.
 Green path is also
blocked.
Rats take the shortest
detours, navigating as if
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they have an internal ©2006
map.
Operant Conditioning
New Developments
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Latent Learning:
Learning that occurs
Learning
but is not exhibited
in performance until
there is an incentive
to do so.
Some rats found food
every time (red line)
Some rats never
found food (blue line)
Some rats found food
on Day 11 (green ©2006 Prentice Hall
Latent
Operant Conditioning
New Developments
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Hidden Cost of Rewards
Preschoolers played with felt-tipped
markers and were observed.
Divided into 3 groups:
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Given markers again and asked to draw
Promised a reward for playing with markers
Played with markers, then rewarded
Children who drew with the markers to get
the reward were now less interested in
©2006 Prentice Hall
them.
Observational Learning
Learning that takes place
when one observes and
models the behavior of others.
Studies of Modeling

Children and others model both
antisocial and prosocial behavior.

Observational Learning
The Process of Modeling Involves:
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Attention
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Retention
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One must recall what was observed.
Reproduction
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One must pay attention to a behavior and its
consequences.
Observers must have the motor ability to
reproduce the modeled behavior.
Motivation

Observer must expect reinforcement for modeled
act.
©2006 Prentice Hall