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CHAPTER 6 LEARNING
3 types of learning: classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Observational learning
learning: a relatively permanent change in behavior, capability, or
attitude that is acquired thru experience and cannot be attributed to
illness, injury, or maturation
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Classical conditioning: learn that there is an association b/t one
stimulus and another
a stimulus is any object or event from the environment that an
organism responds to
one of the simplest forms of learning
key figure in classical conditioning was a Russian physiologist named
won the Nobel Prize in 1904 for his research on digestion
his contribution to psych was by accident
was studying the salivary response, how saliva plays a role in
digestion
used dogs, made a small incision in each side of the dog’s
mouth
put a tube in the thru the hole so he could catch the dog’s saliva
in a container
before beginning his work for the day, the dogs were always fed
first, with food powder
Pavlov noticed that the dogs began to salivate before the food
was presented
the dogs would salivate when he walked in or when they heard
his footsteps
Pavlov thought this was strange because he thought salivating was a
reflex: an involuntary response to a certain stimulus
*Ex:
2 kinds of reflexes:
1. conditioned: learned
2. unconditioned: unlearned, born doing it, it’s built into
your nervous system
unconditioned stimulus: something that would naturally produce a
reflexive response without having to learn it
unconditioned response, which is an unlearned, reflexive response
to a natural stimulus
in Pavlov’s experiment, the UR was
the US was
the unconditioned stimulus elicits an unconditioned response
US ---------------------------------------------UR
neutral stimulus: something that you don’t normally give a reflexive
response to & is paired with an unconditioned stimulus
conditioned stimulus: the original neutral stimulus, but now elicits a
reflexive response
conditioned response: the reflexive response to a conditioned
stimulus that is learned
Steps for Classical Conditioning
1. US elicits UR
2. Pair NS with US
3. Repeat NS & US pairing
4. NS turns into CS
5. CS elicits CR
extinction: when the learned response is weakened & seems to
disappear when the conditioned stimulus is presented
w/o the unconditioned stimulus
Ex:
spontaneous recovery: the reappearance of an extinguished
conditioned response, usually after a long period of time, or a break
in training
generalization: anything similar to the original conditioned stimulus
elicits the conditioned response
discrimination: give the conditioned response only to the original
stimulus
Ex:
JOHN WATSON
Thought that most fears in humans are classically conditioned
you can create a new fear in someone thru classical
conditioning
Ex
To reverse the fear:
Classical Conditioning in Everyday Life
many of our emotions, positive and negative, are a result of classical
conditioning
most fears and phobias are also a result of classical conditioning
Ex:
taste aversion:when you become classically conditioned to dislike
&/or avoid certain food b/c you became sick after eating it
OPERANT CONDITIONING
key figure was a behaviorist named
agreed with classical conditioning but felt that should also study
voluntary responses
operant conditioning: where you learn that there is an association b/t
a behavior and its consequences
Every behavior you do has a consequence
Classical conditioning concentrated on involuntary responses
Operant conditioning concentrates on voluntary responses
Under operant conditioning, you see the response first, and then you
see the consequence
the consequence modifies, or changes the response
the consequence is used to either increase or decrease how often a
response or behavior occurs
reinforce: to increase the likelihood of a behavior occurring
a reinforcer is anything that will increase the likelihood of a behavior
occurring
Ex:
shaping: you reinforce any movement toward the desired behavior
useful for complex behavior
Ex:
superstitious behavior: you believe there is a connection b/t an act
and its consequences
EX:
Extinction: when reinforcers are withheld
Ex:
extinction can cause frustration and anger
Ex:
Generalization: accept anything similar to the reinforcer
Ex:
Discrimination: accept only the reinforce
Ex:
discriminative stimulus: a stimulus that signals whether a behavior will
be reinforced or punished
Ex:
discriminative stimulus—
behavior—
consequence—
REINFORCEMENT
Reinforcement
2 types of reinforcement:
1) positive reinforcement: add something good to increase the
frequency of a behavior
Ex:
2) negative reinforcement- remove or take away something bad to
increase the frequency of a behavior
Ex:
primary reinforcers: fulfill basic physical needs for survival
not based upon learning
Ex:
secondary reinforcers: also called conditioned reinforcers; acquired
or learned by association with other reinforcers
Ex:
PUNISHMENT
Punishment
punishment type 1 (by application): add something bad or aversive to
decrease the frequency of a behavior
EX:
punishment type 2 (by removal): remove or take away something
good to decrease the frequency of a behavior
EX:
DON’T GET NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT AND PUNISHMENT
CONFUSED!!!
Ex:
negative reinforcementpunishment-
Disadvantages of punishment
1) punishment doesn’t get rid of the behavior, just suppresses it
Ex:
2) punishment points out unacceptable behavior
doesn’t provide an acceptable behavior as a substitute
3) punishment causes anger or hostility towards the one who
delivers the punishment
Ex:
4) punishment can lead to aggression
if parents use physical punishment, children may use
aggressive behaviors to solve their problems
Not all punishment is bad
EX:
Suggestions for using punishment
to increase effectiveness of punishment
1) apply punishment during the behavior or as soon as possible after
behavior
the longer the delay b/t the behavior and the punishment, the
less effective the punishment will be
2) the intensity of the punishment should match the seriousness of
the behavior
ideally, should be as minimal as possible to suppress the
behavior
should be more punishing than behavior is rewarding
Ex:
3) should be consistent
cannot punish one day and ignore the behavior the next day
4) should not be administered in anger
need to understand the purpose of the punishment is to
decrease the behavior
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
Key figure:
felt that you learn through observing others
observational learning: observe and learn from others behavior
you also observe the consequences of their behavior
is also called modeling
a model is the person who is doing the behavior
EX:
how effective a model is is related to his/her
1) status
2) competence
3) power
4) age
5) sex
6) attractiveness
observational learning is useful if you are in an unfamiliar setting or
situation
Ex:
peer pressure is an example of observational learning
Ex:
can learn fears thru observational learning
Ex:
even bad habits are learned thru observational learning
Ex:
Learning aggression
Bobo doll experiment
he showed four year old children a video of an adult beating up
the Bobo doll
there were three different endings to the video, but not all the
children saw the endings
one ending showed the adult being reinforced for beating up
the doll; was given sodas, snacks, and candy
another ending showed the adult being punished for beating up
the doll
the last ending showed nothing happening to the adult
after the children saw the video they were allowed to play with
the Bobo doll in a room by themselves, one child at a time
from observing the children after they were alone, Bandura
found that those children who watched the video with the adult being
punished were less likely to beat up the doll like the adults did, they
did not imitate the adults
they imitated the behavior when the adult was rewarded or
received no consequences
Bandura proved that