LEARNING

LEARNING - KEY POINTS What is learning? How do we learn? classical conditioning operant conditioning observational learning insight learning What are some “real world” examples of each type of learning?

What is learning? A relatively permanent change in behavior or behavioral potential as a result of practice or experience

Pavlov’s Experiment Ivan Pavlov - Russian physiologist, late 1800’s Experiment with saliva and digestion of dogs Incidence of salivation hard to control - what was happening?

Elements of Pavlov’s Experiment The reflexive, unlearned relationship existed between the food (UCS) and salivation (UCR) Dog associated other stimuli with food- sight of food, food dish, person feeding dog. Neutral stimulus became conditioned stimulus (CS)

Pavlov (cont.) After many pairings of the CS with the UCS, the reflexive response (UCR) occurred only in the presence of the CS When the UCR occurs only in the presence of the CS, it becomes a conditioned response (CR)

Examples of UCS-UCR Loud sound (UCS) triggers startle response (UCR) Puff of air (UCS) triggers eye blink Presence of food (UCS) triggers salivation

Classical Conditioning Built on the relationship between and unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response Classical conditioning occurs when an association is made between a previously neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus

Important Terms Unconditioned stimulus - any stimulus that causes a reflex or emotional response without any learning or conditioning required Unconditioned response - the reflex response triggered by a stimulus w/o any learning required

More Terms! Conditioned Stimulus (CS) - a previously neutral stimulus that, through conditioning now causes a classically conditioned response Conditioned Response (CR) - a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus that has been associated with the stimulus through repeated pairings

Classical Conditioning of Emotional Responses John Watson and Rosalie Raynor demonstrated how fear could be conditioned (1920) “Little Albert” - baby was taught to fear white rat UCS (noise)- UCR (startle response) UCS (noise) was paired with neutral stimulus (rat) CR (startle response) occurred in the presence of rat (CS)

Principles of Classical Conditioning Stimulus generalization - the occurrence of a learned response not only to the original stimuli, but also to other similar stimuli Stimulus discrimination - the occurrence of a learned response to a specific stimulus but not to other similar stimuli

Principles (cont.) Extinction - a behavior is extinct when the response rate decreases or the person or animal no longer responds to the stimuli Spontaneous recovery - the reappearance of a previously extinguished behavior after a period of time w/o exposure to the CS

Real World Examples of Classical Conditioning Use of sex or other stimuli in advertising (Doritos commercial) CR is an emotional reaction to previously neutral stimuli (Dr. Burr and the sad story of Aramis cologne) Phobias Medical Treatments Prejudice

OPERANT CONDITIONING Learning is based on the consequences following behavior Association is made between a behavior and its consequences Behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer and weakened if followed by a punisher Behavior is active and voluntary

Major Behaviorists Thorndike: The Law of Effect: The frequency of the behavior is modified by its consequences B.F. Skinner: “to understand behavior, we must look at environmental stimuli and responses”.

Reinforcement Any action or event that increases the probability that a response will be repeated Defined only by its effect on the behavior Possible reinforcers include money, food, attention, praise, stickers

Punishment Any action or event that decreases the likelihood that a response will be repeated Like reinforcement, defined only by its measurable effect on the behavior Possible punishers include physical punishment, reprimands, loss of privilege

Side Effects of Punishment Passive aggressiveness Increased aggression Avoidance behavior Modeling Only temporary suppression of behavior Learned helplessness

OPERANT CONDITIONING IN REAL LIFE Prejudice - can be learned through classical and operant conditioning (demeaning others can be reinforced by approval or attention), generalize one experience to a group of people Biofeedback - learn to control involuntary bodily processes with information about consequences Superstition - random behaviors are reinforced and thus strengthened

Cognitive and Social Learning Insight learning - Kohler and the chimps - the “AHA” experience. Latent learning - Tolman study of the rats in the maze: latent learning occurs in the absence of a reward and remains hidden until there is some incentive to demonstrate it

Observational Learning Albert Bandura and the BoBo doll study (1963) Four processes needed for observational learning to take place Attention Retention Reproduction Reinforcement