Download Unit 6- Learning

Learning
Chapter 5
Define Learning
Learning is a relatively
permanent change in
behavior as a result of
experience.
Conditioning
Conditioning is the
process of learning
associations.
-that two events or stimuli
occur together
Learning to Associate 2 events
Classical Conditioning

In classical conditioning, we
learn to associate two stimuli
and anticipate events.
For example, we learn that a flash
of lightening signals an impending
crack of thunder, as so we start to
brace ourselves when lightening
flashes nearby.
2 stimuli…
First Stimulus - Yelling
Word “Flush”…
Second Stimulus - Hot
Water!
I RESPOND by jumping out of the way!
After this happens a few times….
I have been CONDITIONED to jump out
of the way when I hear the word
“Flush”!
Two related events:
Stimulus 1
Lightning
Stimulus 2
Thunder
Result after repetition:
Stimulus
We see
lightning
Response
We wince
anticipating
thunder
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov Russian; Medical
doctor who spent two
decades studying the
digestive system.
Nobel Prize in 1904.
Studied learning for
the next three
decades, by
“accident”.
Classical Conditioning
After studying salivary
secretion in dogs, he knew
that when he put food in a
dog’s mouth the animal
would invariably salivate.


He also began to notice that when he
worked with the same dog repeatedly,
the dog began salivating to stimuli
associated with the food
Classical Conditioning
Pavlov’s Experiment:
Through experimentation, Pavlov
asked: If a neutral stimulus
(something the dog could see or hear
that would not normally cause
salivation) regularly signaled the arrival
of food, would the dog associate the
two stimuli (the food and the neutral
stimuli)?
What if we
Classical Conditioning involves:
Unconditioned Stimulus
(UCS)
 A stimulus that naturally and
automatically triggers a
response (usually a reflex)
 Food in Pavlov’s case
Classical Conditioning
Unconditioned Response
(UCR)
 The unlearned, naturally
occurring response to the
unconditioned stimulus
 Salivation in Pavlov’s case
Pavlov’s Experiment
(continued):
Just before placing food in the
dog’s mouth to produce salivation,
Pavlov sounded a bell (Neutral
Stimulus). After several pairings of
bell and food, the dog began to
salivate to the sound of the bell
alone, in anticipation of the food.
Classical Conditioning
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
An originally irrelevant (neutral)
stimulus that, after association
with an unconditioned stimulus,
comes to trigger a conditioned
response
 The Bell in Pavlov’s case

Classical Conditioning
Conditioned Response
(CR)
The learned response to
a previously neutral
conditioned stimulus
 Salivation (to the bell)

Classical Conditioning
For example:

For Pavlov, the previously neutral stimulus
was the tone. During conditioning, the tone
was paired with the food (UCS). After
conditioning, the tone, when presented
alone, produced salivation in the dog. The
tone is now considered the CS, and the
dog’s salivation to the tone alone is now
considered the CR.
UCS
(passionate
kiss)
CS
(onion
breath)
CS
(onion
breath)
UCR
(sexual
arousal)
UCS
(passionate
Kiss)
CR
(sexual
arousal)
UCR
(sexual
arousal)
OH BABY !!!!
UCS
(drug)
UCR
(nausea)
CS
(waiting
room)
CS
(waiting
room)
UCS
(drug)
UCR
(nausea)
CR
(nausea)
Classical Conditioning – Extra
Baby Albert Experiment – Fear Conditioning
An 11-month infant named Albert feared loud
noises, but not white rats.
In the experiment,
when Albert was
presented with a
white rat and
reached out to touch
it, a hammer was
struck on a steel
beam behind his
head.

Can you UCS,
identify the:
UCR, NS,
CS, CR
The last few times you went
to the dentist, you had a
painful experience with the
dentist’s drill…..
….now, your mouth aches
just sitting in the dentist’s
waiting room…
Lets Review:
What is the neutral stimulus that
has now become a “conditioned
stimulus?
What is the “conditioned
response” to that stimulus?
Five Major Conditioning
Processes
Acquisition
Generalization
Discrimination
Extinction
Spontaneous Recovery
Acquisition
The process of developing a
learned response
The subject learns a new
response (CR) to a
previously neutral stimulus
(CS)
Acquisition
Findings:
 The time between presenting the
neutral stimulus and the unconditioned
stimulus needs to be short. For most
species and procedures, about ½
second works best.
 Conditioning is not likely to occur if the
conditioned stimulus is presented
before the unconditioned stimulus
Give an Example
From what you know of
classical conditioning, give an
example of acquisition
Generalization
The tendency, once a response has
been conditioned, for stimuli similar to
the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar
responses



IE. A child bitten by a dog may fear all
dogs.
After 9/11, many people responded
anxiously when planes flew near by.
Baby Albert
Classical Conditioning - Extra
Five days after the testing,
Albert showed generalization of
his conditioned response by
reacting with fear to a rabbit, a
dog, and a sealskin coat.
Discrimination

The learned ability to
distinguish between a
conditioned stimulus and
other stimuli that do not signal
an unconditioned stimulus
Extinction and Spontaneous
Recovery
After conditioning, what happens if the
conditioned stimulus occurs repeatedly
without the unconditioned
stimulus…..will it continue to elicit the
conditioned response?

Extinction – the diminishing of a
conditioned response when an
unconditioned stimulus no longer follows
a conditioned stimulus
Extinction
 diminishing of a CR
The conditioned response
continues to get weaker after
less pairings of the CS and the
UCS, and after more and more
rest periods
Spontaneous Recovery
 reappearance, after a rest
period, of an extinguished
CR
Review by watching this
clip…
OPERANT
CONDITIONING
Operant Conditioning
Type of learning in which
behavior is strengthened
if followed by a reward, or
diminished if followed by
a punisher
Operant Conditioning
We repeat behavior that is followed
by a reward
Operant Conditioning

In operant conditioning, we learn to
associate a response and its
consequence, and we repeat acts
followed by rewards, and avoid
acts followed by punishment.
we learn that pushing a vending
machine button relates to the
delivery of a candy bar.
Response: Pushing
vending machine
button
Consequence:
Receiving a candy bar
Operant Conditioning
B.F. Skinner’s Experiments:


Based on Edward Thorndike’s LAW OF
EFFECT – states that rewarded behavior is
likely to recur
Click on my
Experiments conducted with
animals in an operant
conditioning chamber
(Skinner Box) – a soundproof
box, with a bar or key that an
animal presses or pecks to
release a reward of food or
water
picture to
learn about
me!
Oh, not bad.
The light comes on, I press the bar,
they write me a check.
about you?
How
OH!
THAT WAS A
WONDERFUL,
WONDERFUL
REPORT
The Vice-President in Charge
of Sincerity
“Bathroom? Sure, it’s just down the hall to the left,
jog right , left, another left, straight past two more
lefts, then right, and it’s at the end of the third corridor
on your right.”
Operant Conditioning
Shaping – while conditioning an
animal to perform certain behaviors,
re-inforcers are successively given
as the subject gets closer to the
ultimate behavior goal


IE. If the purpose of putting a rat in a maze
is to teach it to get from Point A to Point B
while following a certain path
Every time the rat makes a turn towards the
right path, a reward is given. If it makes a
turn towards the wrong path, NO reward is
given.
Operant
Conditioning
If we can shape animals to respond to
one stimulus and not to another, then
obviously they can perceive the
differences. (discrimination)


IE. Some pigeons have been trained to be able
to distinguish between Bach and Stravinsky.
IE. If the goal of a teacher is to get all students
to strive for 100% accuracy on their spelling
tests, then every time a student improves on
successive spelling tests they should be
rewarded. NOT just reward those that get a
100%.
Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement – any event that
increases the frequency of a
preceding response, or
strengthens the behavior that it
follows

IE. Being able to borrow the car
after the dishes are done. A
snack break after one-hour of
study time.
Operant Conditioning
Positive Reinforcement –
Strengthens (or ensures the
continuation of) a response
by presenting a typically
pleasurable stimulus after a
response.

IE. Food for a hungry animal.
Attention, approval, money for
people.
“I wrote another five hundred
words. Can I have another
Cookie?”
Operant Conditioning
Negative Reinforcement –
strengthens (or ensures the
continuation of) a response by
reducing or removing an aversive
stimulus

IE. Taking aspirin to relieve a headache
will increase the behavior of taking aspirin
because it reduces or eliminates the pain.
Smoking a cigarette to relieve stress will
increase the behavior of smoking
because it reduces or eliminates anxiety
and pressure.
Positive Reinforcement
Positive ADDS a desirable
stimulus, like getting a hug or
watching TV.
Negative Reinforcement
Negative REMOVES an
aversive stimulus, For example,
cleaning the room allows a child to escape a
parent's nagging or like fastening a seatbelt to
stop the annoying beeping
Operant Conditioning
Continuous Reinforcement –
Reinforcing the desired response
immediately, every time it occurs.
Learning occurs quickly, but as soon as
reinforcement ends, extinction occurs
very quickly also.
•Training a dog to sit – make
him sit, give him a treat;
make him sit, give him a
treat; so on… He learns to
sit quickly but the behavior
will become extinct quickly
after several times of saying
“sit” with no treat.
Operant Conditioning
Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement –
Reinforcing a response only part of the
time.

This results in slower acquisition of a
response, but much greater resistance to
extinction also.
IE. Slot machines.
You may win only
once in long while,
but you’ll keep
playing because the
reinforcement is
worth it, and the
habit may last a
long time.
Operant Conditioning
Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement
Schedules:

Fixed-Ratio = a schedule of
reinforcement that reinforces
only after a specified number of
responses.
IE. Every 10th sale gets a
prize.
Operant Conditioning
Partial (Intermittent)
Reinforcement Schedules:

Variable-Ratio Schedule = a
schedule of reinforcement that
reinforces a response after an
unpredictable number of
responses
IE. Slot machines, fishing.
Operant Conditioning
Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement
Schedules:

Fixed-interval schedules = a
schedule of reinforcement that
reinforces a response only after a
specified time has elapsed
IE. At the end of every 30
minutes a new batch of cookies
will be baked.
VariableInterval
Schedule


= a schedule of reinforcement that
reinforces a response at unpredictable
time intervals
IE. “You’ve Got Mail”…you don’t know
when you will get an email, but you are
always checking for it.
Operant Conditioning
Punishment – An event that
decreases or eliminates the
behavior that it follows

May be done by administering an
undesirable consequence, or by
withdrawing a desirable
consequence
IE. Shock treatment and spanking are
added, undesirable consequences,
while taking away phone or car
privileges withdraws desirable
consequences.
Punishment
Issues:
Physical
punishments are
not forgotten, just
suppressed
They may increase
aggressiveness by
demonstrating that
aggression is a
way to cope with
problems
Punishments may
create fear
New Castle County Courthouse around 1900
If punishment isn’t
delivered swiftly,
or proportionally
with regards to the
crime, those
punished may be
confused,
depressed, or
helpless
Punishments still
do not teach the
proper behavior –
it only suppresses
unwanted
behaviors
Observational Learning
Observational
Learning is learning
by watching and
imitating others
Observational Learning
For example, a child
sees his big sister burn
her fingers on the stove
has thereby learned not
to touch it.
Observational Learning
Modeling is the
process of
observing and
imitating a specific
behavior
Observational
Learning
Pro-Social
Models
exemplify
positive,
constructive,
helpful
behavior.
Anti-Social
Models
exemplify
negative
and hurtful
behavior.
Observational Learning
Mirror Neurons in the
frontal lobe are partially
responsible for allowing
humans to imitate simple
language and emotions
Observational Learning
Albert Bandura’s Experiment –
The Bobo Doll

Children exposed to an
adult taking out their
frustrations on a Bobo
doll would imitate their
punches and kicks
when presented with a
Bobo doll when they
were frustrated.
Observational
Learning is learning
by watching and
imitating others
The process of
observing and
imitating a specific
behavior is called
Modeling
Behavorism
John Watson (Little Albert)
Ivan Pavlov (Pavlov’s Dogs)
B.F. Skinner (pigeons, shaping,
etc)
Bandura (bobo doll)
All are considered “Behavoral
Psychologists” They study
only observable behaviors…
Acquisition,
Punishment,
Classical Conditioning, Spontaneous Recovery
CR (conditioned
UCS (unconditioned
stimulus),
response),
UCR (unconditioned
CS (conditioned
response)
stimulus),
Modeling
Conditioning,
Observational learning
Pavlov
Discrimination,
Watson
Extinction,
Skinner
Generalization,
Bobo Doll
Law of Effect,
Shaping
Partial Reinforcement
Learning,
Negative