Chapter 5: Learning and Behavior Presented by: Heather Hays

Learning & Behavior Learning: adaptive process in which the tendency to perform a certain behavior is changed through experience

Learning & Behavior 3 kinds of learning 1) Habituation 2) Classical Conditioning 3) Operant Conditioning All involve cause & effect relations between behavior and environment.

Habituation  Learning not to respond to an unimportant event that occurs repeatedly  Simplest form of learning

Forms of Habituation  Short-term  Long-term Habituation permits us to remain relatively free from distraction by petty events, so we are able to concentrate on more important events

Classical Conditioning  A response normally elicited by one stimulus (the UCS) comes to be controlled by another stimulus (the CS) as well  Sequence and timing important

Classical Conditioning  Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that naturally elicits a reflexive response  ex: food  Unconditioned Response (UR): the response given to the UCS  ex: salivating

Classical Conditioning  Conditioned Stimulus (CS): stimulus which because of its repeated association with the UCS also eventually will elicit a conditioned response (CR)  ex: bell  Conditioned Response (CR): the response given once the CS is given  ex: salivation

Classical Conditioning  Accomplishes 2 functions: 1) Ability to learn to recognize stimuli that predict the occurrence of an important event allows the learner to make the appropriate response faster & more effectively 2) stimuli which were previously unimportant acquire some of the qualities of the important stimuli with which they become associated with, thus become able to modify behavior

Classical Conditioning Basic Principles: (5) 1) Acquisition: time during which a CR first appears and increases in frequency 2) Extinction: elimination of a response that occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without being followed by the UCS 3) Spontaneous recovery: after an interval of time, the reappearance of a response that had previously been extinguished

Classical Conditioning 4) Generalization: CRs elicited by stimuli that resemble the CS used in training 5) Discrimination: appearance of a CR when one stimulus is presented but not another

Summary of Classical Conditioning  For classical conditioning to occur, the CS must not only occur immediately before the UCS, but it must also reliably predict the occurrence of the UCS

Operant Conditioning  Behavior is affected by its consequences whether the consequence is good or bad Good consequences: actions get repeated Bad consequences: actions do not get repeated

Operant Conditioning  Thorndike: Law of Effect: idea that the consequences of a behavior determine whether that behavior is likely to be repeated

Operant Conditioning  Skinner: Three-Term Contingency: relation among discriminative stimulus, behavior, & the consequences of that behavior

Operant Conditioning  Three-Term Contingency 1) Discriminative stimulus: stimulus that sets the occasion for responding because in the past a behavior ahs produced certain consequences in the presence of that stimulus 2) Operant behavior: response we make to the stimulus 3) Following event is the consequence of the operant behavior

Operant Conditioning  2 types of reinforcement: 1) Positive: increase in frequency of a response that is regularly and reliably followed by an appetitive stimulus 2) Negative: increase in frequency of a response that is regularly and reliably followed by the termination of an aversive stimulus

Operant Conditioning Both positive and negative reinforcement INCREASE the likelihood that a given response will occur again!

Operant Conditioning  Punishment: a decrease in the frequency of a response followed by an aversive stimulus Punishment does NOT equal negative reinforcement!

Operant Conditioning  Extinction: a decrease in frequency of a previously reinforced response because it is no longer followed by a reinforcer

Operant Procedures & Phenomena  Shaping  Intermittent reinforcement 4 kinds of schedules: 1) fixed-ratio 2) variable-ratio 3) fixed-interval 4) variable-interval

Operant Procedures & Phenomena  Generalization  Discrimination

Major Difference Between Classical & Operant The Nature of their Contingencies!

Conditioning of Complex Behaviors  Aversive Control of Behavior How it works: A stimulus is present when the punishment occurs & then through the process of classical conditioning the stimulus becomes linked to the response

Types of Aversive Control  Escape Response: Negative reinforcement teaches organisms to make responses that terminate aversive stimuli thus making the stimulus cease  Conditioned Flavor-Aversion learning: a substance is avoided because its flavor has been associated with illness

Observation & Imitation How it Works: organisms learn by watching and listening to other organisms in their environment and then they mimic what they see and hear and then their behavior is reinforced Classically conditioned and operantly conditioned behaviors can be learned through observation and imitation

Learning & Behavior THE END