Download Learning Theories

Learning
Theories
Learning
To gain knowledge,
understanding, or skill, by
study, instruction, or
experience.
Part 1
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
• Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
• Classical conditioning is a type of learning
in which associations are made between a
natural stimulus and a learned, neutral
stimulus.
Step 1
• We begin with a natural stimulus/response pair.
– No conditions are needed for this to occur.
– Example: Food creates Saliva
• Stimulus=Response
• Classical Conditioning Terminology:
– Unconditioned Stimulus: any stimulus that
automatically elicits a response
– Unconditioned response: a natural response to a
natural stimulus
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)= Unconditioned Response (UCR)
– Food (UCS) = Salivation (UCR)
Step 2
• In order for learning to occur a neutral stimulus is
paired with the natural stimulus/response.
• This is repeated multiple times, by doing this the
subject begins to associate the two.
NS+UCS=UCR
• Classical Conditioning Terminology:
– Neutral Stimulus (NS): a stimulus that has no effect
on the response.
experimenter (NS) + Food (UCS) = Salivation (UCR)
Step 3
• After being paired together multiple times
the subject begins to anticipate the NS=the
UCS.
• And what was once neutral becomes learned
or conditioned.
Experimenter (CS)+ Food (UCS) = Salivation (UCR)
•
Terminology:
– Conditioned Stimulus (CS): a stimulus that was once
neutral but has become learned by associating two
things together.
Step 4
• Eventually there is a response to the
conditioned stimulus alone.
– This makes the response a conditioned
(learned) response (CR)
Conditioned Stimulus (CS) = Conditioned Response (CR)
experimenter (CS) = Salivation (CR)
• Terminology:
– Conditioned Response: a response to the learned
stimulus.
Helpful Hints…
• The Neutral Stimulus always becomes the
Conditioned Stimulus.
– NS turns into the CS
• The Unconditioned response always becomes the
conditioned response.
– UCR turns into the CR
Key Words/People…
•
Acquisition:
• The initial stage of learning during which a response
is established and gradually strengthened.
•
John B. Watson
• Discovered emotional conditioning. Example:
Little Albert
•
Stimulus Generalization:
• Tendency for stimuli similar to the CS to evoke a
similar response
•
Extinction:
• The diminishing of a response when, in CC an
UCS does not follow a CS.
•
Spontaneous Recovery:
• The reappearance, after a rest, of an extinguished
conditioned response.
•
Mary Cover Jones:
• Discovered that Classical conditioning could be used to rid
fears and phobias.
Part Two
Operant Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
• B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
• Operant Conditioning: a type of
learning in which behavior is
strengthened if followed by reinforcement
or diminished if followed by punishment.
Or actions and consequences.
Skinner Box
Key Words…
• Shaping:
– A procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior
toward closer and closer approximations of a
desired goal.
• Chaining:
– Reinforcing the connection between the parts of
a sequence
• Punishment:
– An aversive event that decreases the behavior it
follows.
• Discrimination:
– Learning to tell the difference between two
stimuli.
Reinforcement
• Reinforcement:
– Any event that strengthens the behavior it
follows.
– Primary
– Secondary
– Positive
– Negative
– Immediate
– Delayed
– Reinforcement Schedules
– Continuous
– Partial
» Fixed-ratio
» Variable-ratio
» Fixed-interval
» Variable-interval
Schedules of Reinforcement
Number of
responses
1000
Fixed Ratio
Variable Ratio
Fixed Interval
750
Rapid responding
near time for
reinforcement
500
Variable Interval
250
Steady responding
0
10
20
30
40
50
Time (minutes)
60
70
80
Conditioning Comparisons:
Both are learning by
Association
Classical Conditioning:
Learning through a
stimulus and response
Operant Conditioning:
Learning through rewards
or punishments and our
behavior
Part 3
Social Learning
Social Learning…
• Albert Bandura
Social Learning: learning from the behavior
of others or all learning in social situations.
Observational Learning: learning by
observing and imitating the behavior
of others.
Bo-Bo
Dolls
Bandura’s experiments
Key Words…
• Modeling:
– The process by which a behavior is
observed and imitated.
-more affected by same sex models.
-more affected by those we admire.
• Pro-social Behavior:
– Positive, constructive, helpful behavior.
– The opposite of anti-social.
Part 4
Cognitive Approach
Cognitive Approach…
An approach to the study of learning
that emphasizes abstract mental
processes and previous knowledge.
– Helps explain more complex examples of
learning.
– Focus on how knowledge is…
• Obtained
• Processed
• Organized
What makes it different?
• Believes in cognition.
– Classical conditioning and operant
conditioning ignore this.
• States that learning isn’t obvious
– There is a big difference between
learning how to do something and
actually doing it.
Demonstrations of Cognition in
learning…
• Latent Learning:
– Learning that goes on under the
surface, but not obvious.
• Expectancies:
– Beliefs about our ability to perform
an action and to get the reward.
• Reinforcement Value:
– Individualized preference for a
certain type of reward.
• Cognitive Map:
– Mental image of where one is located
in space.
• Strategies
– Methods for solving problems
Wrap-Up…
• Classical Conditioning:
– Learning by associating two events, a
stimulus and response.
• Operant Conditioning:
– Learning to associate rewards and punishments
with our behaviors
• Social Learning:
– Learning in any social situation.
– Learning by watching and imitating others.
• Cognitive Approach:
– Learning through abstract reasoning and previous
knowledge.
The
End!!