1. Unit 5: Learning Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning
Cognitive Learning
Observational Learning

2. LEARNING IS DEFINED BY:
An experience in environment, which causes a…..
change in an organism that is
relatively permanent

3. Habituation
Decreased response to a stimulus judged to be of little or no importance
We engage in this type of learning so we can tune out unimportant stimuli and focus on what matters

4. Sensitization
Increased response to a stimulus when we are anticipating an important stimulus
We engage in this type of learning so we are prepared for dangerous situations

5. A Return to Behaviorism
Behaviorism states that:
learning and experience determine behavior.
Babies are tabula rasas
Psychology should focus purely on observable behaviors and not unobservable thoughts

6. Associative Learning Learning that two things go together
Conditioning: A simple form of learning in which a specific pattern of behaviors is learned in the presence of well-defined stimuli
Classical conditioning aka Pavlonian conditioning
An involuntary behavior is determined by what comes before it
i.e. Baby Albert and the loud bell
i.e. Seeing the dentist’s office and feeling anxiety
Operant conditioning aka instrumental aka Skinnerian
Involves rewards and punishment
A voluntary behavior is determined by the anticipation of something that follows it
i.e. studying on a test for obtaining good grades
i.e. fastening your seat belt to avoid the obnoxious beeping

7. Which is which?
1. A child is attacked by a dog. The child now fears all dogs.
2. You do your homework every night to get good grades and avoid punishment.
Classical – involuntary, stimulus precedes behavior
Operant – voluntary, stimulus follows behavior

8. Classical Conditioning - Definition and History
Learning in which a response naturally caused by one stimulus comes to be elicited by a different, formerly neutral stimulus
Ivan Pavlov
Accidentally discovered classical conditioning
His experiments on digestion in dogs turned into research on learning

9. Elements of Classical Conditioning
Unconditioned stimulus (US)
A stimulus that automatically causes a specific response in an organism
And example of a US would be food
Unconditioned response (UR)
The response caused by a US
The UR is automatic and unlearned
An example of a UR is salivation in response to food

10. Elements of Classical Conditioning
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
A formerly neutral stimulus (NS) that is paired with a US and eventually causes the desired response all by itself
An example of a CS is the bell in Pavlov’s studies
Conditioned response (CR)
The learned response to the CS
An example is salivation in response to the bell

11. Classical Conditioning
Involves a few central concepts:
Unconditioned = Unlearned
Unconditioned Stimulus
Unconditioned Response
Conditioned = learned
Conditioned Stimulus
Conditioned Response

12. Identifying Parts Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) Meat powder
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
Salivation
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
Bell
Conditioned Response (CR)
* Hint: replace “conditioned” with “learned” to make it more intuitive.

13. Little Albert: Remember!?
John Watson
Little Albert – 11 month old orphan
Showed him a white rat. No fear.
Made a loud noise. Albert cried.
Showed him a white rat and made a loud noise. Albert cried. Repeated several times.
Eventually Albert cried at white rat alone.
“ Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, merchant-chief, and yes, ever beggarman and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.” (1930)

14. Examples of Classical Conditioning In Humans
The “Little Albert” experiment demonstrated a classically
conditioned fear of white fluffy things
CS =
Rat
CR =
Fear of Rat
UCS =
Loud Noise
UCR =
Fear of Noise
NS =
Rat

15. Definitions
Acquisition – initial learning of the stimulus-response relationship (learning that bell means meat powder)
Extinction – diminished response to the conditioned stimulus when it is no longer coupled with UCS. (stop giving meat powder with bell and dog will stop salivating to bell)
Spontaneous recovery – reappearance of an extinguished CR after a rest.
Generalization – the tendency to respond to any stimuli similar to the CS (Dog salivates to other noises)
Discrimination – the ability to distinguish between the CS and similar stimuli (Dog only salivates to specific tone)

16. Application to Little Albert
If Little Albert generalized, what would we expect to happen?
He might cry at the sight of similar objects (he did – rabbit, dog, sealskin coat, some rumors – Santa’s beard)
How could we teach Little Albert to discriminate?
Continually expose him to stimuli similar to the rat, but only make the loud noise when exposing him to the rat
How could Little Albert’s conditioning be extinguished?
Continually expose him to a white rat without making the loud noise (unfortunately, this was never done because Little Albert was adopted soon after the original experiments (he would be 83 now if he is still alive – probably scared of rats!)
If Little Albert is still alive, his fear of white rats is likely to have been extinguished (no loud noise when he sees a rat). However, occasionally, when he sees a rat, he may find that his heart races for a second or two. What is this called?
Spontaneous recovery

17. UCS? Pain from the drill UCR? Fear CS? Sound of the drill CR? Fear
A friend has learned to associate the sound of a dentist’s drill to a fearful reaction because of a painful experience she had getting a root canal. In this example, what is the:
UCS? Pain from the drill
UCR? Fear
CS? Sound of the drill
CR? Fear

18. Generalization: the child becomes fearful of the sound of any motor
Using the example in question 4, give an example of how each of the following may occur:
Extinction: if the pain does not result when the drill is used, the CS (fear) will diminish.
Spontaneous recovery: the child returns for a visit the next day and the sound of the drill elicits fear again.
Generalization: the child becomes fearful of the sound of any motor
Discrimination: the child learns that only the high pitched dentist drill is associated with pain and not a low pitch hum of the vacuum cleaner.

19. UCS? Pretty people UCR? Feeling good CS? Sight of BMW CR? Feeling good
A BMW commercial has lots of pretty people in it. People who watch the commercial find the people pleasing to look at. With repeated viewing, they begin to associate the car with the pleasant feeling.
UCS? Pretty people
UCR? Feeling good
CS? Sight of BMW
CR? Feeling good

20. You get in a car accident and find you are afraid to get in a car.
UCS? Pain of the accident
UCR? Fear
CS? Presence of car
CR? Fear

21. UCS? Stomach virus UCR? Feeling sick CS? Sight of snails
You go to a fancy restaurant and decide to try an appetizer you’ve never tried before – escargot. After dinner, you go to a concert and get violently ill (from a stomach virus that’s been going around). From then on, you can’t even look at snails without feeling sick.
UCS? Stomach virus
UCR? Feeling sick
CS? Sight of snails
CR? Feeling sick

22. UCS? Getting in trouble from parents UCR? Increased heart rate
You are cruising on 440 at 75 mph when you see flashing police lights behind you. You pull over and the policeman gives you a ticket. You get in insane amounts of trouble from your parents. The next time you see flashing police lights, your heart rate speeds up.
UCS? Getting in trouble from parents
UCR? Increased heart rate
CS? Flashing lights
CR? Increased heart rate

23. Classical Conditioning in Humans: Class Demonstration
Lick your finger and dip it into your cup of lemonade powder, but DO NOT EAT IT.
When you hear the tone, immediately eat the powder on your finger, and then dip your finger back into the cup to prepare for the next trial.
You must eat some of the powder immediately after each tone, but not any other time.
After several “learning” trials, you will be instructed to simply listen to the tone without eating the powder.
What happens? Label the UCS, UCR, NS, CS and CR in your notes based on the demo.

24. New Learning Based on Old: Higher Order Conditioning
Once a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus, it may function as an unconditioned stimulus to elicit new learning.
For instance, in Pavlov’s experiment, once the bell produced the salivation response in the dogs, it could be paired with a new neutral stimulus, such as a red light, until the dogs learned to salivate to the red light.

25. Classical Conditioning: Key Variables
In order for Classical Conditioning to work the following variables must exist:
STRENGTH - Stimuli (UCS, NS) must be noticeable enough to provoke a response.
TIMING - UCS and NS must be paired close together so that an association is made between the two.
FREQUENCY - UCS and NS must be paired together many times so that an association is made between the two and the NS can come to elicit the same response as the UCS.

26. Classical Conditioning: Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
After a period of time passes when CS is not paired with UCS, CS returns to being an NS
e.g. Baby Albert would eventually cease to be afraid of white fluffy things after they were not paired with a horrible and frightening noise.
Spontaneous Recovery –
Just because extinction occurs, does it mean that the learning is gone completely? No!
After extinction, it is not unusual to see the recurrence of the conditioned response
This proves the learning never disappeared; it was just obscured by new learning - like interference

27. Classical Conditioning: Generalization and Discrimination
An organism may learn to respond not only to the CS, but also to other stimuli that are similar to the CS.
e.g. Baby Albert was conditioned to fear a white rat, but also feared cotton balls, rabbits, white sweaters, etc.
Discrimination –
Organisms can also learn to decipher between similar stimuli when only particular stimuli are paired with a UCS.

28. Classical Conditioning in the Real World Taste Aversion and the Garcia Effect
Some learning mechanisms are so powerful they do not require frequency of pairings.
Taste Aversion –
Occurs when organism becomes ill following consumption of a particular food.
Organism may never be able to eat the food again.
WHY?
Garcia Effect –
Using principles of taste aversion, John Garcia put this phenomenon to good use
Sprinkled carcass of sheep with a chemical that caused illness in coyotes
Coyotes did not attack the livestock following this experience

29. Biological Predispositions
It was once believed that conditioning occurred the same in all animals (and therefore you could study human behavior by studying any animal) and that you could associate any neutral stimulus with a response. Not so. Animals have biological predispositions to associating certain stimuli over others
Example – You eat a novel food and later get sick. You will be conditioned to associate the taste of the FOOD with getting sick (and thus avoid that food in the future), but NOT the music playing in the restaurant, the plate it was served on, or the perfume your neighbor was wearing.
It is much easier to condition someone to have a fear of snake than of flowers.
Birds hunt by sight and will more quickly become conditioned to the SIGHT of tainted food

30. Classical Conditioning in the Real World: Preparedness and Contrapreparedness
Some conditioned responses come naturally, others do not.
Preparedness
Conditioned behaviors that work well with organism’s instinctive behaviors and are easy to train
e.g. phobia of snakes or spiders
Contrapreparedness
Other conditioned behaviors go against the organism’s instinctive behaviors and are difficult or impossible to train.
e.g. phobia of chairs or tables?

31. Classical Conditioning in the Real World: Treating Phobias
Many phobias are learned responses and can be unlearned
This can be done gradually or all at once
Systematic Desensitization
Therapist and client generate “fear hierarchy” of situations that are increasingly threatening
Client then learns relaxation techniques
Client experiences “en vivo” therapy to directly experience each item on fear hierarchy to gradually unlearn his/her fear
Flooding
Client faces worst-case-scenario involving fear
If they can survive this, they have no reason so be fearful every day

32. Name one practical application of classical conditioning.
Stop drug or alcohol addiction by pairing a nausea-producing drug with the drug of addiction.
Extinguish a drug addiction by administering a drug that blocks the pleasant feeling normally elicited by the drug.
If a child is afraid of rabbits because one bit him when he was young, you can expose the child to rabbits in safe environments repeatedly until the behavior is extinguished

33. Cognitive Processes
It was once thought that cognitive processes weren’t involved in classical conditioning. Now we know better. For example, therapists give alcoholics drink containing a nausea-producing drug to condition them to avoid alcohol. Because clients KNOW that the drug is what is actually causing the nausea, it doesn’t work so well.

34. Operant Conditioning

35. Operant Conditioning
Learning in which an organism engages in a spontaneous behavior which is followed by a consequence - a reward or punishment
Organism learns to perform behavior in order to gain a reward or avoid a punishment

36. Law of Effect If a behavior is reinforced, it is MORE likely to occur
If a behavior is punished, it is LESS likely to occur

37. History of Operant Conditioning
E.L. Thorndike
Researched cats in a puzzle box
Cats learned to escape from box to attain a reinforcement of food
B.F. Skinner
Created a device called a Skinner Box to train organisms using operant conditioning
Also did research on superstition (pigeons) and connected it to the principles of operant conditioning

38. Elements of Operant Conditioning
Reinforcer
A stimulus or event that follows a behavior and makes that behavior more likely to occur again
Punisher
A stimulus or event that follows a behavior and makes that behavior less likely to occur again

39. Types of Reinforcement
Positive reinforcer (+)
Adds something rewarding following a behavior, making that behavior more likely to occur again
Giving a dog a treat for fetching a ball is an example
Negative reinforcer (-)
Removes something unpleasant from the environment following a behavior, making that behavior more likely to occur again
Taking an aspirin to relieve a headache is an example

40. Types of Reinforcement
Primary reinforcer
Adds something intrinsically valuable to the organism
Giving a dog a food for shaking hands
Secondary reinforcer
Adds something with assigned value to the organism
Giving a person $100 for each A on their report card

41. Types of Punishment Negative Punishment (-) Positive Punishment (+)
Removes something desirable to decrease a behavior
Taking a child’s toy away for swearing
Also called omission training
Positive Punishment (+)
Adds something undesirable to decrease a behavior
Spanking a child for swearing

42. Types of Punishment Secondary Punishment Primary Punishment
Method of decreasing behavior is undesirable, but not life-threatening
Taking away a prisoner’s recreational privileges for trying to escape
Primary Punishment
Method of decreasing behavior is directly threatening to organism’s survival
Beating a prisoner for trying to escape

43. Complex Behaviors and Shaping
Some behaviors are too complex to occur spontaneously
For these behaviors, shaping must be used
Shaping reinforces successive approximations to the desired behavior
Organism eventually learns what the desired behavior is in small steps
Similar to playing “hot and cold”
Our class demonstration?

44. Preparedness and Contrapreparedness in Operant Conditioning
Some changes in behavior are easily trained
Preparedness
Conditioned behaviors that work well with organism’s instinctive behaviors and are easy to train
e.g. Brelands’ “Dancing Chicken”
Contrapreparedness
Other conditioned behaviors go against the organism’s instinctive behaviors and are difficult or impossible to train.
e.g. Brelands’ raccoon

45. Reinforcement vs. Punishment?
Punishment not as effective as reinforcement
Does not teach proper behavior, only suppresses undesirable behavior
Causes upset feelings that can impede learning
May give impression that inflicting pain is acceptable

46. Effective Punishment? Effective punishment must be SWIFT
Should occur as soon as possible after the behavior
CERTAIN
Should occur every time the behavior does
SUFFICIENT
Should be strong enough to be a deterrent
CONSISTENT
Should apply to all individuals the same way

47. Impact of Punishment
When punishment is given haphazardly, learned helplessness can result.
Learned Helplessness occurs when NO MATTER WHAT THE ORGANISM DOES, it cannot change the consequences of behavior.
Martin Seligman’s experiment with dogs showed that dogs given a series of inescapable shocks stopped trying to escape the shocks even when given the opportunity to escape later.
Another example would be finding that whether or not you study for your calculus tests, you fail, so you stop trying altogether.

48. Alternatives to Punishment
An alternative to punishment if known as AVOIDANCE TRAINING
the organism is given a “warning” before punishment occurs so it may change its behavior in order to avoid an unpleasant consequence like a punishment.
ex/”Counting to three” before punishment is delivered to provoke a child to stop misbehaving.

49. Behavioral Change Using Biofeedback
Biofeedback is an operant technique that teaches people to gain voluntary control over bodily processes like heart rate and blood pressure
When used to control brain activity it is called neurofeedback

50. Schedules of Reinforcement
Interval schedules
Reinforcement depends on the passing of time
Fixed-interval schedule
Reinforcement follows the first behavior after a fixed amount of time has passed
An example would be receiving a paycheck every two weeks
Variable-interval schedule
Reinforcement follows the first behavior after a variable amount of time has passed
An example would be pop quizzes

51. Schedules of Reinforcement
Ratio schedules
Reinforcement depends on the number of responses made
Fixed-ratio schedule
Reinforcement follows a fixed number of behaviors
For example, being paid on a piecework basis
Variable-ratio schedule
Reinforcement follows a variable number of behaviors
An example would be playing slot machines

52. Response Patterns to Schedules of Reinforcement
Which schedule yields the fastest response rate?
What happened in our class demonstration?

53. Cognitive Learning

54. Cognitive Learning
Sometimes learning involves more than simply reacting to stimuli – it involves THINKING!
Cognitive Learning
Learning that depends on mental activity that is not directly observable
Involves such processes as attention, expectation, thinking, and memory
While behaviorists typically focus on learning that is based on reactions, cognitive psychologists explain learning in terms of additional mental processes.

55. Generative Learning and Insight
Using what you know to figure out something you don’t
E.g. realizing a new song is by a favorite group of yours
Insight
After thinking about a problem for a bit, you suddenly figure it out
E.g. Kohler’s chimps

56. Latent Learning and Cognitive Maps
learning that takes place before the subject realizes it and is not immediately reflected in behavior
Taking a test on material learned over the course of a few weeks
Cognitive mapping
latent learning stored as a mental image
Slideshow experiment

57. Insight and Learning Sets
Learning sets/Learning to Learn
refers to increasing effectiveness at problem solving through experience
organisms “learn how to learn”
Figuring out how to study best
Trial and Error Learning
Learn by your mistakes
Class demonstration - “Blind Maze” - what happened?

58. Learning by Observing
Social learning theory or Observational Learning theory focuses on what we learn from observing other people
Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment
Children imitated adult role model - adult models behavior and child imitates
Vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment affects the willingness of people to perform behaviors they learned by watching others

59. Cognitive Learning in Nonhumans
Nonhumans are capable of classical and operant conditioning
Nonhumans are also capable of latent learning
Research has also demonstrated that animals are capable of observational learning

60. Do Now:
1. Stand stayed out past his curfew. His parents demanded that he surrender his car keys for two weeks. Stand has not broken curfew since.
2. Jane decided to draw a picture on her bedroom wall with crayons. Her mom beat her with a wooden spoon. She no longer draws on the walls.
3. Alex got all As on his report card, so his mother relieves him of having to go Christmas shopping with her.
4. When the kindergarteners in Ms. Trager’s class behave well, she takes them outside to play on the playground.
5. Rachel found out that her boyfriend Bert lied to all their friends about how they met, claiming that she wanted him first. Now Rachel refuses to hold Bert’s hand. Bert doesn’t lie about their relationship anymore.

61. How to ... Motivate Youth
By VICTORIA GOLDMAN
OW do you get that 16-year-old to hunker down? Ethell Geller, a behavioral psychologist, has worked with adolescents for 30 years in her Manhattan practice. Borrowing from B.F. Skinner and Pavlov, she explains motivation as a connection between expectations and consequences.
Q. Where does motivation come from?
A. Ideally, one goes from a very primitive type of motivation, satisfying basic drives, to an externalized form, or bribery, to the most sophisticated form, which is inherent -- working for its own sake. Human beings must develop all three types of motivation to be fully functioning, satisfied, motivated adults.
Q. Why are some children stuck at Phase 2?
A. Volumes have been written on the topic of motivation and social learning theory. But simply put, the extent to which children feel that their efforts lead to meaningful rewards will determine how motivated they feel. If rewards come with little effort, the child becomes spoiled. On the other extreme, if effort meets with continuous failure, the child will experience helplessness and give up.
Q. What strategy do you recommend?
A. First, find out why a child isn't motivated. Ask, does she really not care? Or is she afraid of something else? Or is she involved in an immediate reward system, like TV or friends, that she considers more meaningful? Or is it a self-esteem issue or another type of disability?
Once the source of the problem has been identified, either therapy or behavioral management of the current reward system, or a combination of both, must be put in place.
Q. Like, fewer bribes? A. Research shows that one of the best ways to motivate a child is to avoid punishment and exhibit parental approval as a reward.
But what I often do when faced with children who have low self-esteem or are unmotivated is ask them to make a list of the people and their qualities that they most admire. After they come up with their lists, show them that if they work toward the salient features on that list, they can come to respect themselves and be more motivated. Reassure them that normal people who work hard can accomplish what their heroes have.