Learning

What is Learning? The process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information Any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience or practice. – When people learn anything, some part of their brain is physically changed to record what they have learned. – Any kind of change in the way an organism behaves is learning.

How do we learn? Learn by association – Our minds connect events that occur in a sequence

How do we learn? Two types of associative learning: – Classical Conditioning – Operant Conditioning Other types of learning: – Cognitive learning – Observational learning

Major People: – Ivan Pavlov – John Watson Pioneers of behaviorism – The view that psychology Should be an objective science Studies behavior without reference to mental processes Classical Conditioning

A condition where one learns to links two or more stimuli to anticipate events Learning to make a reflex response to a stimulus other than the original, natural stimulus that normally produces the reflex.

Pavlov’s Experiments

Classical Conditioning Conditioning can occur without an Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

Classical Conditioning Conditioning can occur without an Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

Classical Conditioning Conditioning can occur without an Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

Although classical conditioning happens quite easily, there are a few basic principles that researchers have discovered: – The UR (unconditioned response) and CR (conditioned response) are essentially the same – salivation. – The CS (conditioned stimulus) must precede the US (unconditioned stimulus) in order for conditioning to occur – bell can’t follow food. Classical Conditioning

Check for understanding: An experimenter sounds a tone just before delivering an air puff to your blinking eye. After several repetitions, you blink to the tone alone. NS = US = UR = CS = CR = Classical Conditioning tone before procedure air puff blink to air puff tone after procedure blink to tone

A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforce or diminished if followed by a punisher. The learning of voluntary behavior through the effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to responses. Operant Conditioning

Major persons: – Edward Thorndike – B. F. Skinner Law of effect Behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely. Operant Conditioning

Skinner Box

Operant Conditioning Reinforcement: in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows Shaping: an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

Operant Conditioning Touch & spin the globe

Types of Reinforcers Positive Reinforcement: the reinforcement of a response by the addition or experiencing of a pleasurable stimulus (a reward following a response). Negative Reinforcement: the reinforcement of a response by the removal, escape from, or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus.

Types of Reinforcers

The child earns good grades and receives a pleasurable consequence: a hug. The noise outside a child's window is preventing the child from sleeping. The child removes the unpleasant stimulus (the loud noise) by wearing headphones.

Types of Reinforcers Primary Reinforcer: any reinforcer that is naturally reinforcing by meeting a basic biological need, such as hunger, thirst, or touch. Secondary Reinforcer: any reinforcer that becomes reinforcing after being paired with a primary reinforcer, such as praise, tokens, or gold stars.

Reinforcement Schedules It matters when, and how often the reinforcement is given. Animals must receive immediate reinforcement for the learning to occur. Humans have the ability to respond to delayed reinforcers.

Reinforcement Schedules Reinforcement schedules vary Reinforcing a response every time it occurs is called Continuous Reinforcement – Learning is rapid, but so is extinction Partial (intermittemt) Reinforcement is when the response is reinforced part of the time – Learning is slower, but resistant to extinction

Reinforcement Schedules

Reinforcement increases behavior, punishment does the opposite. A punisher is any consequence that decreases the frequency of the behavior that precedes it. Just as there is positive and negative reinforcement, there is also positive and negative punishment. Punishment

Negatives of using punishment – Punished behavior is suppressed not forgotten – Punishment teaches discrimination – Punishment can teach fear – Physical punishment may increase aggression

1. A—This situation uses positive reinforcement instead of the punishment used in situation B. 2. B—Getting a reward in this situation is likely to decrease TV watching. 3. B—Grounding that is not contingent on a behavior to remove it is less effective than indefinite grounding. Indefinite grounding is punishment whereas grounding with contingencies is negative reinforcement. 4. B—Time out or omission training is a form of punishment, and it is not as effective as positive reinforcement in decreasing such behaviors as whining. Situation B offers the child an alternative to whining rather than simply discouraging whining. 5. A—This situation describes negative reinforcement in which the negative stimulus(shocking) is removed when the desired behavior is performed. Situation B is less likely to develop the desired behavior since there is no real connection established between the head bobbing and the consequence. 6. B—The positive reinforcement of lowered insurance premiums (especially if the teen is paying for these himself!) is more likely to encourage careful driving than receiving a speeding ticket. Although speeding may decrease in the time immediately after getting the ticket, it won’t last as long as it would if it were tied to the reward of lowered premiums in the long run. 7. B—The child is more likely to behave in public if he or she is rewarded for being nice rather than being negatively reinforced for throwing tantrums. In essence, the child is being rewarded for misbehaving and the parent is being negatively reinforced to stop the misbehavior. If the parent wants the child to stop misbehaving, they should reward proper behavior.