Behavioral Psychology Learning

A definition for learning in the area of psychology can be complicated and usually is different for each psychologist. Most of the definitions should include the following: a. Learning is a change in mental state. It goes on inside the learner. b. Learning can’t be seen directly. You can tell that it has taken place only by observing the behavior of the learner. c. Learning involves a change in behavior d. Learning results from experience. e. Learning is relatively permanent. f. Learning can be applied from one situation to another. Because of this, learners can adapt to new conditions. g. Learning need not involve direct experience. It can come from watching and listening to others or from reading about the ideas and concepts. Short definition for a psychologist would be - Learning - is a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience.

Stimulus-Response Relationships The theories of learning usually are concerned with the association between stimuli and response. Stimuli - anything in the environment that brings about a reaction in an animal or human. Response - the activity of the animal or human that occurs because of the stimulus There are two basic stimulus-response relationship patterns. 1. Stimulus precedes response - this is when a stimulus elicits or evokes a response. It can be symbolized by [S>R]. 2. Response anticipates a stimulus - response evokes a following stimulus It can be expressed this way [R>S].

Ivan Pavlov was a Russian biologist In his experiment he began to see an association with dogs and food. He noticed that the dogs began to salivate when their food was brought to them. After a while he noticed that the salivation began before the food arrived. The dogs had associated the stimuli of the food dish and the assistants footsteps to food. Pavlov then changed the patterns to see how the dogs would respond. He first allowed the same stimuli (dish and footsteps) to occur but with out the following food supply. The dogs still drooled. Next, he started to give the dogs meat after sounding a bell. Soon ringing a bell produced the salivation response. The dogs had been conditioned. Classical conditioning is learning by association. It involves associating different kinds of stimuli: unconditioned and conditioned. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) - causes an unconditioned response without learning Unconditioned Response (UCR) - a natural response Neutral Stimulus (NS) – something that normal does not elicit a response Conditioned Stimulus (CS) - this elicits a response that has been learned Conditioned Response (CR) - a learned or associated response

What are the elements of Pavlov’s experiment? UCSFood UCRSalivation NS Footsteps CS Footsteps CR Salivation

Humans make learned associations constantly, some are natural and some are man-made. They have two things in common: 1. The stimulus and the response have been experienced close enough together in space and time that we see them as related. 2. They occur together frequently enough to provide a consistent and reliable pattern Four additions to Pavlov’s work are: Generalization – when two or more stimuli are similar and evoke the same response. Discrimination – making distinctions or recognizing the differences between two similar stimuli. Extinction – A weakening or fading of a response to a removed stimuli over time Spontaneous Recovery – the revival of an extinguished response after an extended period of non- responding.

John B. Watson, an American psychologist desired to see if more complex human behaviors could be affected by conditioning. Watson and Behaviorism He believed that people were molded by their environment. Behavior is a product of outside forces. Learning to be afraid Watson used a young boy named Albert to try and show his theory. The child had no fear of animals at an early age. Watson allowed the child to play with a rat, one day he made a loud noise that frightened the child while he was playing with the rat. He did this each day for a week. The next week the child was afraid of the rat even without the sound. Albert was also now afraid of small furry animals(generalization). His point was that adult fears must have been learned.

What are the elements of Watson’s experiment? UCS Sound UCRStartled/Fear NSRat CSRat CR Fear GS Furry Things

Learning not to be afraid Mary Cover Jones continued Watson’s experiment wit another child named Peter. He was afraid of rabbits. She decided to try and neutralize his fear. What she did was associate the rabbit with something Peter liked - food. The rabbit was brought closer and closer to him as he ate his food and eventually he was not afraid of the rabbit. Desensitization - associating things that cause anxiety with an experience that is pleasant - reduces the feelings of anxiety.

B. F. Skinner was an American psychologist who developed the theory of operant conditioning(learning by consequences). He believed that control or modification of behavior through conditioning could be made a precise science. “Laws” of Conditioned Learning a. The basis of conditioning is the law of association. Things that happen together are associated with each other. b. Repetition is part of conditioning. You will form a stronger association if stimuli are paired several times. c. Animals tend to do what feels good and to avoid what feels bad.

The Theory of Operant Conditioning This theory is based on the fundamental principle that we tend to repeat behaviors that are associated with reward and to avoid those that are associated with punishment. This is Operant Conditioning or learning by consequences. The results of what you do will generally determine if you will do this again. Operant conditioning differs from classical conditioning in two ways. 1. How the learners are viewed - Pavlov saw them as passive reacting only to stimulus. Skinner viewed them as active. What is learned is the association between behavior and its consequences. 2. The concept of reinforcement – a stimulus that makes the response paired with it more likely to occur again is called a reinforcing stimulus Big Bang example

Positive and negative reinforcement: Positive reinforcements - reinforcing stimuli that seems to give pleasure to the subject. Negative Reinforcement - the stopping of a painful or unpleasant stimulus How Operant Conditioning works Skinner used his box with pigeons in it to advance his theories. The pigeons learned that they could acquire food by pecking at a certain section of the box. He then reinforced the pecking with a green light. The birds were furnished with food only when they pecked with the green light on. They soon learned to peck only when the light was on. The green light was a discriminative stimulus that set the stage for the pecking response to be followed by the reinforcement of food. Primary reinforcer - something that has a primary value of importance to a subject Secondary reinforcer - a stimulus that has no real value in itself but is associated with a primary reinforcer Primary reinforcers do not have to be learned. Secondary reinforcers are utilized to achieve some perception of a primary reinforcer.

Schedules of Reinforcement Once a response is learned it can be maintained without being reinforced every time. Two types of reinforcement schedules: 1. Ratio Schedules - these involve the number of responses that must be made to be given a reward. a. Fixed Ratio - a reward can be offered for a given number of responses. These rates tend to be steady and high. b. Variable Ratio - the number of responses required before a subject is rewarded can be varied, or changed. This is powerful because the subject does not know when the larger reward will come so they continue the response. 2. Interval Schedules - this deals with the time that elapses between reinforcements a. Fixed Interval - a pattern that follows the clock. Responses during the periods in between rewards are not reinforced, so responses occur only at a given time. b. Variable Interval - The time between the rewards is varied so the subject does not know when the reward will occur. Responses tend to low, but persistent

Shaping and Chaining Shaping is a process of rewarding behaviors that come close to a desired response, then rewarding only progressively closer and closer responses until the true desired response is obtained. Chaining is the process of making sequences of shaped actions. These two items are used to help learn more complex methods of behavior.

The issue of punishment is important to operant conditioning. It is used to a stop a given behavior and needs to be given immediately and every time to be affective. It needs to be severe enough to avoid but not so prolonged or severe that it will cause an undesirable behavior. Effects of Punishment: 1.In learning for a new response it may actually slow down the process, because it may create anxiety. 2.In removing “bad” behavior it is possible to also remove “good” behaviors 3.The punished behavior may disappear, only to surface when the punisher is not around. 4.When humans are punished they may come to think that they are -bad, stupid, clumsy, rather then identifying that it is the behavior that is the problem. The punishment has become self-defeating. 5.If punishment is used to enforce good behavior, children learn no other training method. They identify punishment as the appropriate way for those in power to behave. This can lead to a continuation of child abuse through generations. 6.Punishment can have an affect on the punisher. It can start a cycle that can result in stronger amounts of punishment and resentment or defiance by the subject.

Behavior modification This is methods that are used to increase the frequency of desirable behavior and/or to decrease behavioral problems. These are used in education to obtain answers or behaviors from students. It is also used in health care, prisons and business. They include elements like a Token Economy

Social Learning Theory Created by Albert Bandura It is the process of altering behavior by observing or imitating the behaviors of others. It is also called vicarious conditioning or learning Learning can also be through other sources – such as songs, books, media. Types 1. Cognitive learning – involves the mental processes that change from observing others 2. Modeling - simplest – copying behavior that we might actually do - observational learning – imitation – watching someone do something that you did not do before and then doing it. - Disinhibition – watching someone engage in a threatening activity and not being punished. Pros – we learn a lot of positive behaviors this way Can be used to help with behavior modification Cons – easily learn negative behaviors Disinhibition can be bad Learned helplessness can result

Bobo Doll Experiment