 Behavior › You learn by observing  Change › Connections between neurons are formed  Relatively enduring › Change is usually permanent  Practice and experience › Reinforces

 Stimulus – produces activity in an organism › Anything perceived by the senses – smell, touch, taste, sight, hearing  Response – reaction of an organism to a stimulus › Stimulus: Bright light › Response: Close/cover your eyes

 Greek philosopher  4 th Century B. C.  Laws of Association › Associations are mental connections between two stimuli

 Russian psychologist  Won the Nobel Peace Prize  Classical Conditioning  Conducted his research on dogs

 Unconditioned Response (UCR) › unlearned, occurs naturally, no conditioning or training are needed in order to produce this response  Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) › the stimulus that causes the UCR

 Conditioned response (CR) › Learned response  Conditioned stimulus (CS) › A stimulus presented that wouldn’t normally cause a certain response

 What happens when a dog is given food ? › Gets excited, jumps around, salivates  What happens when you ring a bell? › Gets excited jumps around, NO salivating  What happens if every time you give a dog food you rang a bell? › The dog will eventually salivate  What happens now if you ring the bell? › The dog will salivate

 UCS › Food  UCR › Salivation  CS › Bell  CR › Salivation  Why does the dog now salivate to the sound of the bell? › The dog has learned to associate the bell with food – he learned something!

 The following 4 areas play a role in classical conditioning › Time between CS and UCS › Repetition › Extinction › Generalization and discrimination

 1. Counterconditioning › Changing a negative response to a positive one  2. Flooding › Having a person face their fear continuously  3. Desensitization › Gradually exposing a person to something they fear

 A behavior is learned in connection with a reward or punishment

 Operant conditioning  Placed a cat in a “puzzle box” › One lever in the box would open the door › The cat would claw around and eventually find the lever › Once the door opened the cat was able to get out and received a reward (food) › The cat was put back in the box, it would claw around again and find the lever, get out of the box and receive the reward › After a number of trials the cat new exactly where to go to get his reward

 Behavior psychologist  Respondent behavior › The response that is involuntary, it doesn’t have to be learned, it happens automatically  Operant behavior › Voluntary behavior, choosing to do something  Reinforcement › Encourages or discourages a behavior

 Any response followed by a reinforcing stimulus tends to be repeated  A stimulus is considered reinforcing when it increases the rate of an operant behavior

 Primary › A stimulus that is tied to some aspect of survival (food, water)  Secondary › A stimulus that is not necessary for survival, (money, praise)

 Generalization › when stimuli are similar but not identical, and the CR still occurs  Discrimination › learning the difference between two similar stimuli  Extinction › getting rid of a response

 A method of refining a behavior by reinforcing behaviors that are close to the desired behavior  Eventually the reinforcements will lead to the actual desired behavior

 Teaching steps to a desired behavior separately  Once each behavior is linked together you get the actual desired behavior

 How often must a person receive reinforcement for a behavior to continue?  Fixed Schedule › Given consistently  Variable Schedule › Given at different rates or times

 Ratio Schedule › Based on the number of times a behavior occurs and the rate at which it’s reinforced  Interval Schedule › Reinforcement is given after a specific amount of time

 Taste Aversion › Develop a dislike for a particular food if it resulted in an illness (biological preparedness) › Adaptive behavior  Instinctual Drift › Instincts › We drift towards certain things because of inborn tendencies

 Edward Tolman › Individuals interact with the environment › Form associations between two different stimuli › Cognitive maps – associations made previously that can be used at a later time › Latent learning – using a previously learned behavior at a later time, but when you learned it, it wasn’t obvious that you could use it for something else

 Wolfgang Kohler  Figuring out a method or behavior › Placed chimpanzees in cages with bananas hanging from the ceiling › In the cages were several boxes › Chimps tried jumping and climbing to get to the bananas › After a while they studied the boxes › They then stacked the boxes, climbed on top and got the bananas

 Cognition › Thinking › Memory formation › Learning › Problem solving

 French psychologist  Mental abilities develop as a function of biological development & experience  Schemas contain info. About › Objects › Actions › Events › Relationships  Example: Morning routine

 Children are already born with certain schema › Suck › Reach › Look › Grasp

 1. Sensorimotor (birth-2 years) › Differentiates self from objects › Object permanence – things continue to exist even when they are no longer present to the senses  2. Preoperational (2-7 years) › Use language, represent objects with words

 3. Concrete operational (7-12) › Think logically › Classifies objects by several features (size, color, shape)  4. Formal operational (12 & up) › Become concerned with the hypothetical, the present, and the future

 Meaningfulness › Words or ideas that have personal meaning  Transfer › Learning new information, but being able to use it in real world situations  Chemical Influence › Stimulants – caffeine, soda, coffee – inc. brain chemicals and may allow for more rapid learning › Depressants – alcohol – reduce nerve firing and the potential for learning

 Albert Bandura › Direct experience › Vicarious experience - observing

 Divided preschool children into 2 groups › One watched a film of an adult playing quietly with a doll › The other watched a film of an adult playing aggressively with the doll  Punching, kicking, throwing it around the room  Later, when the children were allowed to play with toys, those who had seen the more aggressive film were more than twice as likely to act aggressively

Acquisition or modification of a behavior after at least one exposure to the behavior  Attention  Retention  Motor Reproduction Processes  Motivation

 Observational Learning › Media violence can encourage violent behavior › Children brought up in a home where there is no aggressive behavior or punishment are usually less likely to exhibit violent behaviors seen in the media.

 Individual differences in cognitive processes › The big picture › Minor details › Hands-on › Think or reasoning

 Emotions › Advantageous to learning › If emotions are overwhelming, little learning takes place  Evolutionary › Processes are inborn and are turned on by situations we face each day

 Culture › Values – learning depends on your family values › Perceptual Processes – how do you perceive what you come into contact with › Intelligence – varies among people