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Learning
Learning: defined as any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about through experience that
is through interactions with the environment. Accordingly, not all changes in behavior are the result of
learning, and biological factors play an important role. change of behavior may not be intentional or even
desirable.
Principles of learning include;
A-Classical Conditioning: --- Learning by Association
It is a form of learning in which a previously neutral stimulus ( CS-conditioned stimulus ) is followed by a
stimulus (UCS-unconditioned stimulus) that elicits an unlearned response( UCR-unconditioned response).
As a result of these pairing of the CS and UCS, the CS comes to elicit a response (CR-conditioned response)
that, in most cases, is identical or very similar to the UCR . Classical conditioning -- derived from the work
of Ivan Pavlov, and his experiment on dogs. Pavlov considered classical conditioning to be a form of
learning through association--- the association in time of a neutral stimulus ( one that originally does not
elicit the response ) and a stimulus that does elicit the response.—Pavlov presented ( as the neutral
stimulus ) a clicking metronome – a bell- that the dog can easily hear. After a precisely measured interval
of time, he would blow a small quantity of meat powder into the dog's mouth to elicit salivation. Every 15
minutes, the same procedure was repeated, and soon the dog began salivation to the metronome when it
was presented alone. By a continuously measuring the amount of saliva drained through the tube in the
dog's cheek, the strength of the new learning was accurately monitored throughout the process of
classical conditioning. The more frequently the metronome and the food are associated, the more often
the metronome will come to elicit salivation. The timing of the association of two stimuli is also highly
important. Pavlov obtained the best results when the metronome preceded the food powder by about half
a second.
Terminology of classical conditioning:
1-Unconditioned stimulus—The meat powder was the UCS in Pavlov's experiment. This is a stimulus that
can elicit the response without any learning i.e. the response to an unconditioned stimulus is inborn.
2-Unconditioned response—Salivation was the UCR. It's an unlearned, inborn reaction to the
unconditioned stimulus.
3-Conditioned stimulus---The metronome was originally unable to elicit the response of salivation, but it
acquired the ability to elicit the response because it was paired with the UCS. It was the CS in Pavlov's
studies.
4-Conditioned response--- When the dog began salivating to the conditioned stimulus, salivation became
the conditioned response- CR. When a response is elicited by the CS, It's referred to as the conditioned
response.
To summarize, the meat powder was the UCS, the metronome was the neutral stimulus that became the
CS; salivation was the UCR; and, when the salivation was elicited by the CS, it became the CR.
Classical conditioning is helpful in understanding a number of important and puzzling issues concerning
human behavior including the development of fears, as in – Little Albert- experiment by the behaviorist
John B Watson.1920.
Counter-conditioning--- The process of eliminating a classically conditioned response by pairing the
conditioned stimulus- CS with an unconditioned stimulus- UCS for a response that is stronger than the
conditioned response –CR and that cannot occur at the same time as the CR
Classical conditioning is important in the treatment of phobias.
B-Operant Conditioning –Learning from the Consequences of Behavior
Also termed Instrumental conditioning,--- defined as a form of learning in which the consequences of
behavior lead to changes in the probability of its occurrence. The term is derived from the word—operate,
i.e. when our behavior- operates – on the outside world, it produces consequences for us, and those
consequences determine whether we will continue to engage in that behaviour. It was first described by
the American psychologist Edward Thorndike – 1911, he was interested in the question of animal
intelligence, which he investigated using – a puzzle box- in experiment on learning using a cat. Based on
these experiments, he formulated the – law of effect – which states that the consequences of a response
determine whether the response will be performed in the future. This –law of effect- formed the basis for
the operant conditioning. There are three known ways in which desirable and undesirable consequences
influence behaviour;
1- Positive Reinforcement:
Obtaining wanted behaviour by presenting rewards. In positive reinforcement, the consequences of
behaviour are positive. It occurred whenever a consequence of behavior leads to an increase in the
probability of its occurrence, so that the wanted behaviour occurs more frequently. This positive change in
behavior occur through presenting Rewards.—The behavior that becomes more frequent is termed the
operant response, and the positive sequence of that response is called the positive reinforcer.
Three important issues in the use of positive reinforcement should be noted:
1-Timing: The positive reinforcer must be given within a short amount of time. Individual providing positive
reinforcement must consistently give it after every ( or nearly every ) response. It is essential in the
beginning of the learning process, but not necessary or desirable later.
2-What is used as a positive reinforcer must, in fact, be reinforcing
following the response, or learning will progress slowly. If at all.—delay of reinforcement is also applicable.
3-Consistency in the delivery of reinforcement. For learning to take place, the
Primary and Secondary Reinforcement:
Primary reinforcers---are ones that are innately reinforcing and do not have to be acquired through
learning e.g. food, water, warmth, novel stimulation, physical activity, and sexual gratification.
Secondary reinforcers —are learning through classical conditioning, in which a neutral stimulus can be
turned into a secondary reinforcer by pairing it repeatedly with a primary reinforcer. As in teaching dogs to
perform complex acts, by using dog Reinforcement:
Methods of Enhancing Positive Reinforcement:
a- Schedules of Positive Reinforcement:
In addition to continuous reinforcement. Which is used at the beginning, psychologists have describe four
types of schedules of reinforcement as follow;
biscuits repeatedly paired with praise. The praise becomes the secondary reinforcer.
a-Fixed ratio schedule: the reinforcer is given only after a specified number of responses .it produces a
fairly high rate of response because many responses need to be made to get the reinforcer, but there is
typically a pause after each reinforcer is obtained.
B-Variable ratio: the reinforcer is obtained only after a varying number of responses have been made.
These schedules produce very high rates of responding, and learning is rather permanent. e.g. gambling as
in slot machine players,
c-Fixed interval: based on passage of time. The reinforcer is given following the first response occurring
after a predetermined period of time. This produces a pattern of behavior in which very few responses are
made until the fixed interval of time approaches and then the rate of responding increases rapidly, e.g.
visiting voters in elections.
d-Variable interval: the reinforcer is given following the first responses occurring after a variable amount
of time. It produces high rates of steady response. e.g. in fishing using hand poles, catching a fish now and
then is strong enough to continue.
b- Shaping:
The method of successive approximations –we shape the target response out of behaviors that
successively approximate it. So, it is a strategy of positively reinforcing behaviors that are successively
more similar to desired behaviors. e.g. the experiment on rat using Skinner box—which is a cage for
animals, equipped with a response lever and a food tray dispenser, to teach the rat to press the lever to
obtain food.---The principle of shaping has great importance in changing human behavior positively, as in
programs for children with developmental handicaps to teach basic skills, such as brushing teeth,
performing useful jobs, and using public transportation. and also in normal children and in adults., as in
teaching children how to take care of themselves, to clean the rooms, and so on.
2- Negative Reinforcement:
It refers to removal of unwanted behavior by using or removal of rewards., i.e. the reinforcing
consequence is the removal or avoidance of a negative event. a behavior is reinforced and therefore
becomes more likely to occur , because something negative or unpleasant or aversive is removed.
Two types of learning are based on negative reinforcement:
1-Escape Conditioning:-- Here the behavior causes the negative event to stop. and the individual escapes
from something negative. e.g. confinement of a young boy in his room for conducting unwanted behavior
Avoidance Conditioning: The behaviour has the consequence of causing something negative not to
happen when it otherwise would have happened. i.e. the behavior is reinforced because it prevents
something negative from happening—a form of negative reinforcement. e.g. when you avoid a vicious dog
by changing the route you usually take bypassing the possible danger.
3- Punishment:
It is a negative consequence that leads to a reduction in frequency of the behavior that produced it. When
appropriately used, punishment can be an ethical and valuable tool for discouraging inappropriate
behavior. In our society, however, physical punishment is commonly used with children by parents,
teachers, and others in authority. Spanking, for example, are a common features of child rearing in the
United states and many other countries. In addition to the obvious ethical issues in using physical
punishment, there are serious dangers inherent in the use of any form of punishment that must be
weighed against its potential benefits.
Dangers of Punishment:
1-The use of punishment is often reinforcing to the punisher. which may lead to increase in the frequency
of physical punishment in children for example, and the possible physical pain and child abuse.
2-Punishment often has a generalized inhibiting effect on the individual.
3-Physical punishment commonly lead to dislike the person inflicting the pain and perhaps to aggressive
reaction to that person.
4-What we think is punishment is not always effective in punishing behavior.
5-Even when punishment is effective in suppressing an inappropriate behavior, it does not teach the
individual how to react more appropriately instead. It may replace that behavior by another inappropriate
one.
Guidelines for the use of punishment:
1-Do not use physical punishment. It usually causes children to behave worse rather than better. Taking
away TV time from a 10-year old or placing a 4-year-old in a chair in the corner for 3 minutes is more
effective than spankings, and certainly more humane.
2-Make sure that you positively reinforce appropriate behavior to take place of the inappropriate behavior
you are trying to eliminate. Punishment will not be effective in the long run unless you are also reinforcing
appropriate behavior.
3-Do not punish people; punish specific behaviors and stop punishing when the inappropriate behavior
ceases. Make it clear to the individual what behavior you are punishing and remove any threat of
punishment as soon as that behavior stops.
4-Do not mix punishment with rewards for the same behavior. e.g. do not punish a child for fighting and
then apologetically hug and kiss the child you have just punished. Mixtures of such sort are confusing and
lead to inefficient learning.
5-Once you have to punish, do not back down. In other words, do not reinforce begging, pleading or other
inappropriate behavior by letting the individual out of the punishment. It both nullifies the punishment and
reinforces the begging and pleading through negative reinforcement.
Contrasting Classical and Operant Conditioning
They differ from each other in 3 primary ways:
1-Classical conditioning involve an association between two stimuli, such as a tone and food. Operant
conditioning involves an association between a response and the resulting consequence, such as studying
hard and getting a high degree.
2-Classical conditioning usually involves reflexive, involuntary behaviors, which are controlled by the spinal
cord or the autonomic nervous system. These include fear responses, salivation, and other involuntary
behaviors. Operant conditioning usually involves more complicated voluntary behaviors, which are
mediated by the somatic nervous system.
3--The most important difference, however, concerns the way in which the stimulus that makes
conditioning 'happen' is presented ( the UCS in classical conditioning and the reinforcing stimulus In
operant conditioning ).In classical conditioning, the UCS is paired with the CS independent of the
individual's behavior. The individual does not have to do anything for either the CS or UCS to be presented.
In operant conditioning, however, the reinforcing consequence occurs only if the response being
conditioned has just emitted; that is, the reinforcing consequence is contingent on the occurrence of the
response.
Stimulus Discrimination
It is the tendency for responses to occur more often in the presence of one stimulus than others. Meaning
that we discriminate between appropriate and inappropriate occasions for a response. e.g. school children
are more likely to behave well when the teacher is in the room than when the teacher is not. Stimulus
discrimination was proved in experiments on rats in the B.F. box.
Stimulus Generalization
It is the opposite of stimulus discrimination. I is the tendency for similar stimuli to elicit the same response.
the more similar stimuli are, the more likely they will be responded to as if they were the same. The term
indicates that people ( as well as rats and other creatures ) do not always discriminate between stimuli
that are similar to one another. i.e. the more similar two stimuli are, the more likely the individual is to
respond to them as if they were the same stimulus. E.g. a person who is afraid of one type of cats is usually
also afraid of the other types of cats.
It was also demonstrated in animal experimentation on pigeon.
C- Extinction: Learning when to quit;
It is the process of unlearning a learned response because of the removal of the original source of learning.
If a learned response stops occurring because the aspect of the environment that originally caused the
learning changes, extinction has occurred. The process of extinction is similar in many respects for both
classical and operant conditioning. In classical conditioning , learning takes place because two stimuli are
repeatedly paired together. If Pavlov's dog were to stop receiving meat powder with the sound of the
metronome, the dog would eventually stop salivating to the metronome. a CR will be extinguished if the CS
for that response is presented repeatedly but the UCS for that stimulus is no longer paired with it. In case
of operant conditioning, extinction results from a change in the consequences of behavior. If a response is
no longer reinforced, then that response will eventually decline in frequency. If Skinner's rat were no longer
given food pellets for a bar presses, the bar pressing would eventually stop. similarly, when there are no
longer any oranges in the tree, the response of shaking it will no longer be reinforced and shaking will
eventually stop. The schedule of reinforcement and type of reinforcement greatly influence the speed
which the extinction of operant conditioning take place. This phenomenon is known as the partial
reinforcement effect. i.e. responses that have been reinforced on variable ratio or variable interval
schedules are more difficult to extinguish than responses that have been continuously reinforced.
The most difficult responses of all to extinguish are responses learned through avoidance learning.
extinction of an avoidance response should result when the negative event ceases to occur. Avoidance
responses can be extinguished rapidly, however, using a technique called response prevention. which was
the prevention of avoidance responses to ensure that the individual sees that the negative consequences
will not occur to speed up the extinction of avoidance responses. Response prevention is especially useful
in treating disorders such as obsessive- compulsive disorder, when compulsive behaviors such as frequent
hand washing, are physically prevented, the individual has an opportunity to discover that the feared
consequences, such as terrible illness, are not really going to happen. If an intense but unrelated stimulus
event occurs, it may cause the strength of extinguished response to return temporarily This phenomenon is
called disinhibition.
Theoretical Interpretations of Learning:
How learning occur? There are two views;
1-Biological explanation- the connection theory Indicates that neural connections between brain regions
associated with specific stimuli and specific responses are acquired during the learning process. This
approach, ignored the internal mental processes in learning.
2-Psychological explanation- the cognition theory.- the term cognition refers to the intellectual processes
of thinking, expecting, believing, perceiving, and so on. Cognition theory stressed that mental processes
play a central role in the learning process. Learning involves changes in cognitions rather than specific
neural connections. Cognitive theory covers explanation of the following termsa-cognitive
map related to the place of learning, which an inferred mental awareness of the structure of a physical
space or related elements.
b-latent learning here learning becomes obvious with certain ways of reinforcements. c-insight learning in
which learning enhanced through insight- a sudden cognitive change that involves recognition of
previously unseen relationships that solved the problem. d-learning set in which improvement in the rate
of learning to solve new problems through practice solving similar problems.
D- Modelling:
Learning by watching others. It is Vicarious Learning i.e. learning based on
observation of the behavior of others. Learning to eat certain food, patterns of speech, styles of dress,
patterns of energy consumption, methods of rearing children, and myriad of other patterns of behavior all
taught to us through modeling also types of model are important in learning, and there is an evidence that
aggression in children can be learned by watching violence on T.V. or video movies. Bandura considers
modeling to be an important demonstration of the role of cognition in learning, in his view, a great deal of
cognitive learning takes place through watching, before there is any chance for the behavior to occur and
be reinforced. People are not equally likely to imitate all behavior of all models.
They are more likely to imitate a model whose behavior is seen reinforced i.e. Vicarious reinforcement than
behavior seen punished Vicarious punishment
Biological factors in learning is important and the ability to lean from experience is influenced
in a number of ways by biological factors. Biological nature influences what people can learn. It appears
that people are prepared to learn some kinds of fears more readily than others e.g. fear from snakes than
non naturally fearful objects. Process of evolution, apparently prepare people to learn potentially useful
fears, through classical conditioning, more readily than useless ones
Personality assessment
Methods of assessment of the personality include: Interviews, Structured observation of behavior,
Psychoanalytically inspired projective tests, and Personality tests.
A-Interviews and Observational Methods:
Interview- is a subjective method of personality assessment that involves questioning techniques
designed to reveal the personality of the individual. It is an essential part of getting to know the person.
Interviews can range from highly structured and formal to very unstructured. They have serious limitations
as- being subjective, stressful situations can be misleading and validity may be questionable.—one
alternative to the interview is observing the person's behavior in a natural or simulated situation these
observational methods- are particularly useful in business. A variety of rating scales developed to make
these methods more objective.
B-Projective Personality Tests:
They are based on the psychoanalytic view of the role of the unconscious mind in personality development.
Projective tests ask the individual to interpret ambiguous stimuli so that the contents of the unconscious
mind can be- projected – into the interpretation, much as a slide projector projects an image on a blank
screen. They include,
1-Thematic Appreciation Test- TAT; The person is asked to make up a story about ambiguous pictures so
that the content of the unconscious mind can be interpreted.
2-Rorschach- inkblot- test; Consists of 10 symmetrical inkblots and the individual is asked to explain the
resulted ambiguous stimuli of these pictures.
B-Objective Personality Tests;
The test consists of a number of written questions about the person. e.g. The Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality inventory – (MMPI): Now available in a revised form called MMPI-2.consists of 566 true / false
questions- the items on this test are divided into 10 scales- each designed to measure a different aspect of
personality