1. 1 Learning Chapter 6

2. 2 Definition: Learning “Learning” is defined in psychology as ‘a relatively permanent behavior change as a result of experience.

3. 3 Learning How Do We Learn? Classical Conditioning  Pavlov’s Experiments  Pavlov’s Legacy

4. 4 Learning Operant Conditioning  Skinner’s Experiments  Skinner’s Legacy  Contrasting Classical & Operant Conditioning

5. 5 Learning Biology, Cognition, and Leering  Biological Constraints on Conditioning  Cognitive Processes and Classical Conditioning  Cognitive Processes and Operant Conditioning  Learning by Observation

6. 6 How Do We Learn? By linking events that occur close together, humans and other animals exhibit associative learning. –This process of learning associations is called conditioning. There is also cognitive learning, –the acquisition of mental information by observing events, watching others, or through language.

7. 7 Classical Conditioning A stimulus is an event or situation that evokes a response. In classical conditioning, we learn to associate two stimuli; the unconditioned response to one stimulus becomes the conditioned response to the other.

8. 8 Classical Conditioning: Pavlov’s Classic Experiment

9. 9 Classical Conditioning The neutral stimulus (NS) elicits no response before conditioning. The unconditioned stimulus (US) is a stimulus which triggers a reflex (automatic response, UR) without conditioning. The conditioned stimulus (CS) is an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with a US, comes to trigger a CR.

10. 10 Classical Conditioning The unconditioned response (UR) is an unlearned, natural response to a US The conditioned response (CR) is a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus (CS). It is the same action as the unconditioned response, except that it is now triggered by the formerly neutral stimulus (now CS).

11. 11 Conditioning Processes Pavlov and his associates identified five major conditioning processes: –Acquisition –Extinction –Spontaneous recovery –Generalization –Discrimination

12. 12 Acquisition Acquisition is the first stage in classical conditioning – where a NS is linked with a US that the NS begins triggering the CS Why are our bodies set up to be conditioned?  Classical conditioning helps us prepare for good and bad events.  This is why the neutral stimulus must happen first for conditioning to occur; it is the event we use as a warning for the bad, a clue that helps us find the good!

13. 13 Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery If, following acquisition, the CS occurs repeatedly without the US, it can lead to extinction, the weakening of the CR. After a delay (a few hours more), however, the CS may elicit a spontaneous recovery of a (weakened) CR

14. 14 Generalization Generalization: after conditioning, an organism may respond similarly to stimuli that resemble the CS

15. 15 Generalization Child abuse can lead to general hypersensitivity to the faces of any angry person, not just their abusers.

16. 16 Discrimination Organisms also learn to discriminate, or distinguish, between a CS and other stimuli. Consider your responses to a guard dog and a guide dog: would they both make your heart pound with fear?”

17. 17 Pavlov’s Legacy 1.Many responses can be classically conditioned in many other creatures –I remember the ‘worm runners’ journal—had articles about conditioning worms. 2.Learning can be studied objectively

18. 18 Can Pavlov’s work help us understand emotions? Little Albert –John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner (1920) worked with 11-month old boy –Little Albert feared loud noises but not white rats –Watson presented him with white rat just as he reached out to touch it, Watson made a very loud noise just behind Little Albert’s head After 7 repetitions, Little Albert burst into tears at sight of rat –5 days later, he had generalized this fear to a rabbit, a dog, and a sealskin coat

19. 19 Operant Conditioning Classical conditioning involves an automatic response to a stimulus Operant Conditioning involves associating a behavior with consequences. Consequences: –Reinforcers following a behavior make that behavior more likely to happen again, and –Punishments following a behavior make it less likely to recur.

20. 20 Operant Conditioning (a) Response: (b) Consequence: (c) Behavior strengthened Balancing a ball Receiving Food If a seal is an aquatic exhibition balances a a ball on its nose, it receives a food reward which increase the likelihood that he will balance the ball again.

21. 21 B. F. Skinner’s Experiments Skinner designed an operant chamber (a Skinner Box) – a box with a recording device to track how often an animal presses a bar to obtain reinforcement – any event or other consequence that strengthens the behavior it follows.

22. 22 Reinforcement for the Individual What is reinforcing to one individual? Can vary by situation – a cold drink is reinforcing if you are hot, but not if you are cold

23. 23 Shaping Behavior Shaping: gradually guiding actions closer and closer toward a desired behavior, using reinforcement. Using successive approximations, one rewards responses that are ever-closer to the desired behavior.

24. 24 Types of Reinforcers Positive reinforcement: anything that strengthens a response Negative reinforcement: anything that, when removed, strengthens response –Negative reinforcement is NOT a punishment If I say, you are not going out tonight because you didn’t clean your room—that is punishment If I say, you can go out when you clean your room—that is negative reinforcement

25. 25 Types of Reinforcers A primary reinforcer is innately reinforcing (e.g., giving food when hungry, or alleviating a headache). A conditioned (secondary) reinforcer gains its reinforcing power through links with a primary reinforcer—money is a secondary reinforcer. Most organisms require immediate reinforcement, but humans can also use delayed reinforcement

26. 26 Reinforcement Schedules Continuous reinforcement – reinforcing desired response every time it occurs –Learning occurs rapidly, but so does extinction Partial (intermittent) reinforcement – reinforcing a response only part of the time –Learning is slower but increased resistance to extinction

27. 27 Partial Reinforcement Schedules for Operant Conditioning Fixed-ratio schedule – reinforces response only after fixed number of responses Variable-ratio schedule – reinforces response after an unpredictable number of responses –Produces high rates of responding Fixed-interval schedule – reinforces response only after a specified time has elapsed –Produces choppy start-stop pattern Variable-interval schedule – reinforces response at variable time intervals –Produces slow, steady responding

28. 28 Punishment A punishment is an event that decreases the frequency of the behavior it follow

29. 29 Physical Punishment for Children: Why Not? 1.Punishment teaches discrimination rule learned: don’t swear at home but what you desired was that they not swear at all. 2.Punishment can teach fear 3.Physical punishment may increase aggressiveness

30. 30 Physical Punishment for Children A single swat or two may be effective for 2 to 6-year-olds if: –The swat is only used for backup when milder tactics fail –The swat is combined with reasoning and reinforcing Remember: –Punishment tells you what not to do, reinforcement tells you what to do

31. 31 Skinner’s Legacy: Controversy  Skinner argued that behaviors were shaped by external influences  instead of inner thoughts and feelings.  Critics argued that Skinner dehumanized people by neglecting their free will.

32. 32 Applications of Operant Conditioning In school: use individualized shaping to reinforce students starting with their current level of performance. At work: reinforce, even with a ‘good job’ for specific behaviors and achievements At home: be careful not to reward tantrums by giving in.

33. 33 Biological Constraints on Conditioning Each species is thought to come prepared to learn those things crucial to its survival.

34. 34 Limits on Classical Conditioning All conditioned stimuli are not equal Rats avoided a taste – but not sights or sounds – associated with being sick –Taste aversion: animals are biologically predisposed to learn by eating food, not by the appearance of food, which foods make us sick. Is that why dogs and cats will eat their own vomit?

35. 35 Limits on Operant Conditioning Animals can most easily learn behaviors that draw on their predispositions –YES: Train a pigeon to flap wings to avoid a shock, and peck to obtain food –NO: Train a pigeon to peck to avoid a shock, and to flap wings to obtain food

36. 36 Cognitive Processes and Classical Conditioning Behaviorism: The view that (1) psychology should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes –Founded by Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner –Most psychologists today agree with (1) but not (2)

37. 37 Cognitive Processes and Operant Conditioning B. F. Skinner tried to downplay the role of cognitive processes. However, they cannot be ignored –Rats exploring a maze develop a cognitive map, a mental representation of the maze. –Rats with experience in the maze exhibit latent learning of the maze’s layout

38. 38 Cognitive Processes and Operant Conditioning Excess rewards can destroy intrinsic motivation, the desire to perform a behavior for its own sake. This is in contrast to extrinsic motivation, in which behavior is performed to gain reward or avoid punishment.

39. 39 Learning By Observation Cognition is a factor in observational learning, –in which humans and some other animals learn by watching and imitating

40. 40 Observational Learning Bandura’s (1961) Bobo doll experiments showed the importance of modeling –the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

41. 41 Mirrors in the Brain Mirror neurons fire when we perform certain actions and when we observe others performing those actions

42. 42 Mirrors in the Brain If we see a loved one in pain, our face mirrors their expression, and so does our brain

43. 43 Applications of Observational Learning Models of prosocial behavior – can have prosocial effects. Unfortunately, antisocial behavior can also be learned by observation