Learning is achieved through experience

 Learning is a relatively permanently change in behavior as a result of experience Principles; 1. Learning is a change in mental state 2. Seen only through observation 3. Involves a change in behavior 4. Results from experience reinforced from repetition 5. Relatively permanent 6. Can be applied to different situations

 A Stimulus elicits a response  ex. Bell rings Students leave class  Ivan Pavlov Russian Biologist  Dogs salivate a t the sight of food….  Can we get dogs to salivate in anticipation of food?  Can we get dogs to respond to a neutral stimulus?

Classical Conditioning Neutral stimulus- (bell) Unconditioned stimulus- stimulus that causes automatic response (salivation to food) Unconditioned response -response to a condition that was previously neutral meaningless (Salivating when hear bell) After conditioning -Learned Conditioned stimulus- learned stimulus (bell means food) Conditional response- learned response (salivation to bell)

 UCS UCR  NS UCS UCR  CS CR  An unconditioned stimulus elicits an unconditioned response  A neutral stimulus paired with an unconditioned stimulus elicits an unconditioned response  A conditioned stimulus elicits a conditioned response

 Screams, loud sounds gunshots, a learned condition (conditioned stimulus) means a conditioned response (fight or flight)  Animals learn to avoid danger or deal with it  Your turn  Learning  My Hand up- unconditioned stimulus  Condition response- taught to quiet down and can leave class  Learned  Conditioned stimulus- hand up  New conditional response= Why did you respond the way you did?  Extinction= Conditioned stimulus is disconnected from the conditioned response.  Conditioned stimulus no longer causes a conditioned response (problem with teachers)  Spontaneous Recovery- Conditioned Behavior returns when Conditions are reintroduced

 Overcome fears  Flooding (extinction) – exposure to a harmless stimulus until fear is gone  Ex: Heights, snakes  Systematic Desensitization- taught relaxing techniques in presence of stimulus  Counter conditioning- pleasant stimulus is paired with fearful stimulus

 Learn from the consequences of their actions  Major researcher B.F. Skinner  Behavior Reinforcement- Stimulus (reward) increases chances that a specific behavior will occur  Do things with desirable outcomes and avoid behaviors that have negative consequences.  Human Goal- Maximize pleasure, minimize pain

 The term reinforce means to strengthen, or increase the probability of a specific response.  ex, if you want your dog to sit on command, you may give him a treat every time he sits for you. The dog will eventually come to understand that sitting when told to will result in a treat.  The treat, which increases the response, sitting.  We all apply reinforcers everyday, most of the time without even realizing we are doing it. You may tell your child "good job" after he or she cleans their room; you tell your partner how good he or she look when they dress up; or maybe you got a raise at work after doing a great job on a project. All of these things increase the probability that the same response will be repeated.  Types of reinforcement:

 Received something he or she wants following the behavior  For example, adding a treat will increase the response of sitting;  adding praise will increase the chances of your child cleaning his or her room.  The most common types of positive reinforcement is praise and rewards.

 Uncomfortable stimulus – we act to make discomfort disappear  Imagine a teenager who is nagged by his mother to take out the garbage week after week. After complaining to his friends about the nagging, he finally one day performs the task and to his amazement, the nagging stops. The elimination of this negative stimulus is reinforcing and will likely increase the chances that he will take out the garbage next week.

 Punishment refers to adding something aversive in order to decrease a behavior.  Unwanted events  The most common example of this is disciplining (e.g. spanking) a child for misbehaving. The reason we do this is because the child begins to associate being punished with the negative behavior. (detentions)  The punishment is not liked and therefore to avoid it, he or she will stop behaving in that manner  Problems  Doesn’t teach acceptable behavior  Only work if guaranteed  May leave situation  Created anger or hostility  People learn to imitate ways to solve problems

BehaviorResultBehavior Change Positive Reinforcement Studying Enjoyment of Material (positive reinforcer) Student studies more (increase) Negative Reinforcement Studying Fear of doing poorly on test (negative reinforcer) Student studies more (increase) Won’t do it again PunishmentStudying Parent forces you to study Student studies more Won’t do it again

 Tend to only work if reinforced  Schedules of Reinforcement- how often reinforcement occurs  Law of Diminishing Returns- rewards are not worth the effort  Extinction – when repeated performance is not rewarded

 Research has found positive reinforcement is the most powerful of any of these. Adding a positive to increase a response not only works better, but allows both parties to focus on the positive aspects of the situation.  Punishment, when applied immediately following the negative behavior can be effective, but results in extinction when it is not applied consistently.

 Punishment does not teach acceptable behavior  It only works if it is guaranteed  People would rather leave the situation rather than change the behavior  Punishment leads to anger and hostility  Some people may not know what they are being punished for  Punishment Imitated as a way to solve problems  Benefits of punishment, the only way to get attention

 Latent learning- Learning Remains hidden until it is needed or reinforced  Observation learning- acquire knowledge and skills by observing and imitating others  Children are more likely to imitate what their parents do than what they say.  Ex: violence on the TV, child imitating parents