“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” Albert Einstein Class 1

How does learning take place? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgJc0zmWHL8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=H8oQBYw6xxc&NR=1 Class 1. Animals learn differently than humans – many animals have innate behaviours, which they are born with. For instance, migratory animals, such as salmon, know where to migrate every year, octopi can make shelter out of coconut shells underwater. They do not need to be taught, they do not need to be shown, they just know how to do it. People, on the other hand, are different. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-LTWFnGmeg&feature=related - mimic octopus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2c4_l2oe22U - Frasier

What is learning? “A relatively permanent change in an organism’s behaviour due to experience”. Class 1. Have students brainstorm in groups as to what learning is. How do you know you have learned? ~5 minutes

How do you learn? Three different types: Classical conditioning Operant conditioning Social learning/Observational learning Class 1. Ask students how they learn before showing the different types of learning.

Classical conditioning Experiment  - Who would like to get wet…? Ivan Pavlov (1849 – 1936) Originally studied how much dogs salivated during digestion Noticed that dogs started salivating at the sight of food… …so he started varying the stimuli before feeding Class 1. Demo – spray bottle and deck of cards with two student volunteers. Bring a towel!! Discuss afterwards how learning took place.

Pavlov’s Dogs Class 1.

Little Albert John B. Watson (1878 – 1958) Little Albert experiment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt0ucxOrPQE Class 2. After video, get students to name the neutral stimulus, US, UR, CS, and CR. Compare answers with next slides.

Little Albert Before conditioning: UCS Class 2. UCR (Fear)

Little Albert Before conditioning: Neutral stimulus Class 2. No fear

Little Albert During conditioning: UCS Neutral stimulus UCR (Fear) Class 2. Neutral stimulus UCR (Fear)

Little Albert After conditioning: Class 2. CS CR (Fear)

Classical conditioning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfZfMIHwSkU Class 2. Ask students to name the US, UR, NS, CS, and CR in the Frasier video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDt4EPbGBvM&feature=related

Classical conditioning What is an example of classical conditioning? For each example, name the following: US – unconditioned stimulus UR – unconditioned response Neutral stimulus CS – conditioned stimulus CR – conditioned response Class 2. Have a spokesperson from each group give the examples.

Classical conditioning Initial learning of the stimulus-response relationship - Acquisition How much time should elapse between presenting the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus? Class 3. Ask students: How long do you think it takes for somebody to be un-conditioned? How long do the effects of conditioning stay? What factors do you think come into play?

Acquisition The CR grows stronger as the CS and US are repeatedly paired Strong CR Acquisition (CS + US) Class 3. Weak CR Time (CS + US)

Classical conditioning What happens if the CS occurs repeatedly without the US? Response diminishes when the CS no longer signals the US – Extinction Class 3. Response diminishes when the CS no longer signals the US. Called extinction.

Extinction Time Acquisition: (CS + US) Extinction (CS alone): Weak CR Strong CR (CS + US) Extinction (CS alone): CR weakens as the CS is presented alone Acquisition: (CS + US) Class 3. Time

Classical conditioning After a pause in time, the CS is sounded again with the US. What happens? -The CR reappears – Spontaneous recovery -Extinction suppressed the CR, but did not eliminate it Class 3.

Spontaneous Recovery Time 1. Acquisition: (CS + US) Weak CR Strong CR (CS + US) 2. Extinction (CS alone) Time Pause 1. Acquisition: (CS + US) 3. Spontaneous recovery of CR 4. Extinction (CS alone) Class 3.

Classical conditioning What do you think happened when Pavlov used a slightly different sounding tone than the original CS? (i.e., a metronome vs. a buzzer) Dogs still responded to the stimuli – Generalization Class 3.

Generalization Applications for generalization? Human health and well-being – former drug users Toddlers fearing vehicles Class 3. Journal - In a half-page journal entry, describe ways in which your emotions or behaviours have been classically conditioned, and explain whether these have been positive or negative learning experiences.   Alternatively, you may describe your thoughts and feelings on potential or past ethical issues of classical conditioning.