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Learning and
Behavior
Conditioning
• Conditioning- the way in which
events (stimuli) and behavior
become associated with one another
• 2 Types of Conditioning: Classical
and Operant
Learning
• Learning- process that results in a
change in behavior (or behavioral
potential) and is based on
experience
• The group of psychologists that
study this subject are behaviorists
Behaviorists
1. John Watson (founder of
behaviorism) argues that
introspection is not good
because it is subjective
• So how can scientists verify
accuracy of private experiences?
• Through observable behavior
Behaviorists
• Watson’s chief goal of psychology
was the prediction and control of
behavior
Behaviorists
2. BF Skinner argued that all
behavior could be understood
as the product of simple forms
of learning
• Thinking and imagining do not
cause behavior, rather, they are
caused by environmental stimuli
Behaviorists
• Example- Pigeon deprived of food
– animal’s behavior is explained by the
deprivation of food (environmental
stimuli)
– hunger cannot be directly observed or
measured
– hunger is not the cause of the
behavior, instead it’s a result of the
deprivation
Behaviorists
Behavior Analysis- area of psych
focusing on environmental
determinants of learning and
behavior
- task of analysis is to discover
regularities in learning that are
universal in different species in
comparable situations
Classical Conditioning
• Classical Conditioning- where one
stimulus/event predicts the
occurrence of another
stimulus/event
• Allows us to learn a new
association between the 2 stimuli
Classical Conditioning
• Ex- baby learns when it
cries/makes noise it gets
attention (picked up/food)
Classical Conditioning
• Ivan Pavlov’s Experimentresearch of digestion in dogs
• He discovered the dogs began to
salivate at the mere sight of food,
and his research assistants
• Classical Conditioning aka
Pavlovian Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
• As he discovered the conditions
necessary for a dog to salivate, he
began to present a stimulus to
the dogs (a tone) and dogs were
given food after the stimulus.
• The dogs began to salivate after
only hearing the tone
Classical Conditioning
• Reflex- unlearned response, elicited
by specific stimuli that is relevant
• Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)- any
stimulus that elicits reflexive behavior
(food)
• Unconditioned Response (UCR)- the
response to an UCS w/o prior
training/learning (salivating)
Classical Conditioning
• When a neutral stimulus is paired
with a UCS (tone + food) =
conditioned stimulus (CS)
• After many trials, the CS will
produce a response called a
conditioned response (CR)
• CS+ UCS = CR
Classical Conditioning
• CR and UCR are the same in this
case (salivating), BUT stemming
from different causes
• Acquisition- the process by which
CR is first elicited and gradually
increases in frequency over
repeated trials
Classical Conditioning
• The timing is key in acquisition
• CS and UCS must be presented
closely enough (1/2 second) to be
received as related
• Delayed conditioning is most
common (CS prior to and stays
until UCS is presented)
Classical Conditioning
• When the CR no longer appears
in the presence of the CS 
extinction, thus it’s not
necessarily permanent
• Spontaneous Recovery- CR
appears again when CS + UCS are
presented after a rest period
Acquisition, Extinction,
Spontaneous Recovery
Stimulus Generalization
• Stimulus Generalization- automatic
extension of responding to stimuli
that have never been paired with
the original UCS
• Ex.- child bitten by a large dog will
respond with fear to very small dogs
or other small animals
Stimulus Generalization
• The more similar the new
stimulus is to the original CS the
stronger the response will be
Stimulus Discrimination
• Stimulus Discrimination- organism
learns to respond differently to
stimuli that are distinct from the
CS on some dimension
• Ex.- Cell phone tone, dismissal bell
Blocking
• Blocking- a phenomenon in which
an organism will not learn a new
stimulus that signals an UCS,
because the new stimulus is
presented simultaneously with a
stimulus that is already effective
as a signal
Classical Conditioning Applied
• Is this a product of classical conditioning?
1. Are you willing to eat a piece of fudge that
was formed into the shape of dog feces?
2. Would you drink a sugar-water solution
that came from a bottle labeled
“POISON”?
3. Drink apple juice that a sterilized cockroach had been dipped into?
Classical Conditioning Applied
• Phobias & Advertising
• Pairing a popular song together with the products in advertisements to
generate positive feelings and liking towards the products
• Christmas music played in store may trigger the sweet memories and
the habits of giving and sharing in a consumer's mind and thus will
persuade he or she to enter the store
• Political candidates try to appear in TV with patriotic background music
to elicit the patriotic feelings of the voters
• Consistently advertising a product on exciting game shows may result in
the product itself generating an excitement response.
• Whenever you see a scary movie, you will always eat a box of thin mints.
Now you will find that just seeing thin mints makes you feel scared.
• If you met a new person who is an excellent cook, after a few superb
meals you will find yourself liking that person very much.
Classical Conditioning
• Fear Conditioning- John Watson
- fear responses could be
understood as the pairing of a
neutral stimulus with something
that naturally produced fear
- highly resistant to extiction
Applied Conditioning:
Fear and Aggression
• Bobo Doll Experiment- Aggression
• Little Albert Experiment- Fear
Operant Conditioning
• Edward Thorndike
• Learning in which the probability of
a response is modified by a change
in consequences from that response
• Learning is an association between
stimuli in the situation and a
response that an organism learned
to make
Operant Conditioning
• Operant- any behavior emitted by
an organism, characterized in
terms of observable effects it has
on the environment
• Example: Baby cries- prompts
desirable behavior by parents 
baby will cry more in the future
Operant Conditioning
• Operant conditioning modifies
the probability of different types
of operant behavior as a function
of the environmental
consequences they produce
Operant Conditioning
• Cats- learned to produce a response
that in the stimulus circumstance led
to desired outcome
• Thorndike Puzzle Box Experiment
Operant Conditioning
• The stimulus-response (S-R)
connection occurs gradually as
the animal experiences
consequences through trial and
error
Operant Conditioning
• Law of Effect- a response
followed by a satisfying
consequence becomes more
probable; a response followed by
a dissatisfying consequence
becomes less probable
Operant Conditioning
• Skinner’s Operant Chamber
- allowed Skinner to manipulate
consequences of behavior
Operant Conditioning
• Skinner’s ABC’s of Behavior:
• A- Antecedents or Stimuli presented
before a behavior occurs
• B- Behavior the organism emits
• C- Consequences that follow the
behavior
Reinforcement
• Reinforcement contingency- a
consistent relationship between a
response and the changes in the
environment that it produces
• Ex- Pigeon pecking a disk
(response) followed by grain
presented (change in environment)
Reinforcement
• Reinforcer- any stimulus that
increases the probability of that
behavior over time
• Three classes of stimuli:
1. Neutral
2. Those you have an “appetite” for
3. Those you find aversive (avoid)
Reinforcement
• Positive Reinforcement- when
behavior is followed by a
positive/appetitive stimulus
• Negative Reinforcement- when
behavior is followed by the removal of
a negative/aversive stimulus
• BOTH increase the probability of the
behavior in the future
Punishment
• Punishment is the
delivery of a punisher
(stimulus that
decreases probability
of the behavior)
following a behavior
Punishment
• Positive Punishment- when behavior
is followed by delivery of an aversive
stimulus
(something is added to the situation)
• Negative Punishment- when
behavior is followed by removal of
an appetitive stimulus (something is
subtracted from the situation)
Operant Conditioning
• Punishment REDUCES probability of
behavior occurring again
• Reinforcement INCREASES
probability of behavior occurring
again
**Recommendation: Use positive
reinforcement to change a behavior
Conditioned Reinforcers
• Conditioned Reinforcers are
formally neutral stimuli that
become reinforcers for operant
behaviors.
• Ex- $, grades, smiles, gold stars 
influence behavior in school setting
Schedule of Reinforcement
• Schedules of Reinforcement are
the schedules of delivering or
withholding reinforcement
1. Fixed-Ratio: reinforcer is
delivered for the first response
made after a fixed # of
responses (sales people)
Schedule of Reinforcement
2. Variable-Ratio: reinforcer is
delivered for the first response
made after a variable # of
responses (gambling)
*generate the highest rate of
responding and greatest
resistance to extinction
Schedules of Reinforcement
3. Fixed-Interval: reinforcer is
delivered for the first response
made after a fixed period of
time (monthly paycheck)
4. Variable-Interval: reinforcer is
delivered for the first response
made after a variable period of
time (pop quizzes)