Principles of Learning Chapter 9

Classical Conditioning Ivan Pavlov Is considered the most primitive form of learning (Stimulus and Response) Essentially, a person/animal can be trained to have a reaction to any stimulus

Classical Conditioning Stimulus: Anything that causes a reaction Response: The reaction after a stimulus

Classical Conditioning Step 1: The unconditioned stimulus and reaction are observed Step 2: A neutral stimulus is introduced, separately

Classical Conditioning Step 3: The unconditioned and neutral stimulus are introduced together Step 4: The reaction sought can now be observed by either of the two stimuli The reaction is now conditioned

Classical Conditioning Associations (John Watson) Wanted to transfer fear from one object to another Stimulus Generalization: a response can move from one object to another

Classical Conditioning - Associations Little Albert A child played with a white mouse/rat After awhile, Watson made a loud noise WHILE Albert played with the white rat Soon, anything that was white frightened Albert In this way, the fear (response) to the noise (stimulus and white rat) was transferred to anything that was generally the same as the original stimulus

Little Albert Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxKfpKQzow8

Operant Conditioning Based on a system of consequences and reinforcement A learner will “operate” the environment to achieve some type of reward or response Do well on a test, and you get good grades

Operant Conditioning B. F. Skinner worked with this type of learning Primary Reinforcement Most needed type of incentive Food, water, etc. Secondary Reinforcement Represents a Primary Reinforcement Good grades = praise from a caregiver (Goes back to nurturing nature of caregiver, which is a primary reinforcement)

Operant Conditioning Positive Reinforcement: Reinforces an action by strengthening the tendency to repeat that action ex: Money for good grades Negative Reinforcement: Reinforcement that tries to stop/alter a habit ex: A wife nagging to a husband to quit smoking

Principles of Operant Conditioning Outcome of Conditioning   Increase Behavior Decrease Behavior Positive Stimulus Positive Reinforcement (add stimulus) Response Cost (remove stimulus) Negative Stimulus Negative Reinforcement (remove stimulus) Punishment (add stimulus)

Operant Conditioning Punishment: attempt to weaken a tendency by following it with something unpleasant ex: Suspension for fighting in school

Operant Conditioning Generalization: believing that an action is universal Dog in text:

Operant Conditioning Discrimination: understanding the differences between the various types of stimuli and responses Extinction: A behavior that is stopped completely

Operant Conditioning Shaping: successive responses are sought. Ex: Training a dog to jump through a hoop Reward the dog for approaching the hoop Keep working the dog to a specific goal

Operant Conditioning Chaining: Learning a sequence in order ****All methods of Operant Conditioning rely on Continuous Reinforcement****

Schedules of Reinforcement Types of techniques that do not always fall into a specific time-frame = partial reinforcement A reinforcement is granted, but at various times

Schedules of Reinforcement 1. Variable Ratio The number of times an action is done for a response varies Slot Machines work on this principle

Schedules of Reinforcement 2. Fixed Ratio An action is reached, but there is a time limit in place A mouse may push a lever 5 times for cheese If this is the case, the mouse will push the lever as quickly as possible In the production/manufacturing world, this can lead to quality control problems

Schedules of Reinforcement 3. Variable Interval An action will occur, but only after a set amount of time Fishing is a good example 4. Fixed Interval An action occurs after a certain amount of time

Social Learning Albert Bandura Believed that there is more to learning than just pushing a button and getting a reward (Learning is very complex and requires an “inner person” to analyze what is happening as one event leads to another) He believed that we imitate those around us to learn what to do and how to do it

Social Learning Most of our learning comes from Observational Learning We imitate those around us (parents) to learn how to act, what is appropriate, etc. What is the reward for acting a certain way?

Cognitive Psychology and Learning Focuses on how knowledge is obtained, processed, and organized Believes that learning is very complex It is not just stimuli, responses, and consequences

Cognitive Psychology and Learning People are aware of their surroundings, so conditioning them takes a long time and is very complex Learning itself can have various traits associated with it

Cognitive Psychology and Learning Latent Learning: Occurs when people/animals are exposed to situations multiple times Expectancies (Self-fulfilling Prophecy) This is a belief in our own abilities (If you think you can not do something, you probably can not This can limit or help your learning curve)

Cognitive Psychology and Learning Reinforcement Value This dictates how important a certain type of reinforcement really is to us Is getting an ‘A’ in Ms. VanWoerkom’s class that important? Is pleasing your parents more or less important that pleasing your friends?

Cognitive Psychology and Learning Cognitive Maps Humans have the ability to “picture” where they are and what they have learned Therefore, if something is changed, people can adapt to that change

Experiment Topic #1___ #2____ #3___ #4___ Time #1___ #2____ #3___ #4___ What percent of the subjects spent three or more minutes discussing the #4 topic?

Experiment Questions Question to be answered by Experimenter ONLY Do you feel that you had control over what the subject talked about? Why or why not?

Experiment Questions Questions to be answered by the Subjects ONLY Did you notice that the experimenter was doing anything unusual? Did you tend to talk about the topic in which the subject seemed interested?

Experiment Questions To be answered by BOTH Do you feel that the percentage of subjects that spent three or more minutes on the #4 topic was significant enough to prove the hypothesis? Why or why not? Do you feel that other people influence what you talk about with them through the use of reinforcement? Why or why not?