Learning and Conditioning 1/2/2019 Learning and Conditioning Chapter 7 Prepared by Krista D. Forrest, Ph.D. These slides © 2006 Prentice Hall Psychology Publishing. Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Chapter Outline Classical conditioning Classical conditioning in real life Operant conditioning Operant conditioning in real life Learning and the mind Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Watson’s Extreme Environmentalism Learning 1/2/2019 Watson’s Extreme Environmentalism “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own special world to bring them up in, and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to be any type of specialist I might select — doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and yes, beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.” John Broadus Watson, 1928 Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning Learning 1/2/2019 Classical Conditioning Defining learning, behaviourism, and conditioning New reflexes from old Principles of classical conditioning What is actually learned in classical conditioning? Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Defining Learning, Behaviourism and Conditioning 1/2/2019 Defining Learning, Behaviourism and Conditioning Learning A relatively permanent change in behaviour (or behaviour potential) due to experience Behaviourism Research on learning has been influenced by this approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behaviour and the role of the environment as a determinant of behaviour Conditioning the association between environmental stimuli and the organism’s responses Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning Learning 1/2/2019 Classical Conditioning The process by which a previously neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a response through association with a stimulus that already elicits a similar or related response Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 New Reflexes from Old Unconditioned stimulus (US) Elicits a response in the absence of learning Unconditioned response (UR) The reflexive response to a stimulus in the absence of learning Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 New Reflexes from Old A neutral stimulus is then regularly paired with an unconditioned stimulus Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 New Reflexes from Old Conditioned stimulus (CS) An initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus Conditioned response (CR) A response that is elicited by the conditioned stimulus Occurs after the CS is associated with the US Is usually similar to US Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Principles of Classical Conditioning Learning 1/2/2019 Principles of Classical Conditioning Extinction Higher-order conditioning Stimulus generalization Stimulus discrimination Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Extinction The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response In classical conditioning, it occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Principles of Conditioning Learning 1/2/2019 Principles of Conditioning Higher-Order Conditioning A neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus (CS) by being paired with an existing conditioned stimulus (CS) Stimulus Generalization In classical conditioning, it occurs when a new stimulus that resembles the conditioned stimulus, elicits the conditioned response Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Stimulus Discrimination Learning 1/2/2019 Stimulus Discrimination The tendency to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli In classical conditioning, it occurs when a stimulus similar to the condition stimulus (CS) fails to evoke a conditioned response (CR) Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

What is learned in classical conditioning? Learning 1/2/2019 What is learned in classical conditioning? For classical conditioning to be most effective, the stimulus to be conditioned should precede the unconditioned stimulus We learn that the first event (stimulus) predicts the second Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning in Real Life Learning 1/2/2019 Classical Conditioning in Real Life Learning to like Learning to fear Accounting for taste Reacting to medical treatments Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Learning to Like Where do sentimental feelings come from? Objects have been associated in the past with positive feelings Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning Learning to Fear 1/2/2019 Research suggests we can learn fear through association Watson and Raynor conditioned “Little Albert” to be afraid of white rats by pairing the neutral stimulus (rats) with an unconditioned stimulus (loud noise) Within days, Albert was not only afraid of the rats, his fear had generalized to other furry objects Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Unlearning Fear Counter-conditioning The process of pairing a conditioned stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a response that is incompatible with an unwanted conditioned response Another child’s fear of rabbits was removed by pairing the stimulus which elicited fear with a stimulus that elicited happiness Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Accounting for Taste Classical conditioning can also explain how we learn to like and dislike many foods and odours Researchers have taught animals to dislike foods or odours by pairing them with drugs that cause nausea or other unpleasant symptoms Humans also quickly learn to associate illness with food even when the food is not the cause of becoming sick Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Medical Treatments Stimuli associated with drug treatments that produce nausea can become conditioned stimuli, creating problems for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy Non-drug treatments, such as placebos, are a beneficial application of classical conditioning, through association with real drugs Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Reacting to Medical Treatments Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Operant Conditioning Defining operant conditioning The consequences of behaviour Reinforcers and punishers Principles of operant conditioning Schedules of reinforcement Shaping Operant conditioning in real life Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Operant Conditioning The process by which a response becomes more or less likely to occur depending on its consequences Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Consequences of Behaviour Learning 1/2/2019 Consequences of Behaviour A neutral consequence neither increases or decreases the probability that the response will recur Reinforcement strengthens the response or makes it more likely to recur Punishment weakens a response or makes it less likely to recur Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Reinforcement A stimulus strengthens or increases he probability of the response that it follows Primary reinforcers are inherently reinforcing and typically satisfy a physiological need Secondary reinforcers are stimuli that have acquired reinforcing properties through associations with other reinforcers Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Types of Reinforcement Learning 1/2/2019 Types of Reinforcement Positive reinforcement when a pleasant consequence follows a response, making the response more likely to occur again Negative reinforcement when a response is followed by the removal of something unpleasant, making the response more likely to occur again Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Punishment The process by which a stimulus or event weakens or reduces the probability of the response that it follows Primary punisher Something that is inherently punishing such as electric shock Secondary punisher A stimulus that has acquired punishing properties through an association with other punishers Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Types of Punishers Positive punisher When something unpleasant occurs after a behaviour Negative punisher When something pleasant is removed after a behaviour Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 The Skinner Box Figure 6-9 from Davis, S.F., & Palladino, J.J. (1997). Psychology, 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Principles of Operant Conditioning Learning 1/2/2019 Principles of Operant Conditioning Extinction In operant conditioning, it occurs when a response is no longer followed by a reinforcer Stimulus generalization Stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus are more likely to trigger a response Stimulus discrimination The tendency of a response to occur in the presence of one stimulus but not another Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Schedules of Reinforcement Learning 1/2/2019 Schedules of Reinforcement Continuous A particular response is always reinforced Intermittent (Partial) A particular response is sometimes but not always reinforced Fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed interval, and variable-interval Best choice for response to continue Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Schedules of Reinforcement Learning 1/2/2019 Schedules of Reinforcement Simple reinforcement schedules produce characteristic response patterns Steeper lines mean higher response rates Ratio schedules produce higher response rates than interval schedules Figure 5.12 from: Kassin, S. (1998). Psychology, second edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Source: Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Partial Reinforcement Learning 1/2/2019 Partial Reinforcement Figure 6-14 from Davis, S.F., & Palladino, J.J. (1997). Psychology, 2nd edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Shaping To teach complex behaviours, one may need to reinforce successive approximations of a desired response For example: training animals; getting children to make their beds Successive approximations : in the operant-conditioning procedure of shaping behaviours that are ordered in terms of increasing similarity or closeness to the desired response Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Biological Limits on Learning 1/2/2019 Biological Limits on Learning All principles of operant conditioning are limited by an animal’s genetic dispositions and physical characteristics During operant learning, organisms tend to revert to instinctive behaviour, called instinctive drift Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Biological Limits Instinctive Drift During operant learning the tendency for an organism to revert to instinctive behaviour Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

Operant Conditioning in Real Life Behaviour Modification The application of operant conditioning techniques to teach new responses reduce or eliminate maladaptive or problematic behaviour Also called applied behaviour analysis Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 When Punishment Works Immediately punishing a self-destructive behaviour eliminates it Milder punishments appear to work as well as harsh ones Consistency is important Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 When Punishment Fails People often administer punishment inappropriately The recipient responds with anxiety, fear, or rage The effectiveness is often temporary Most misbehaviour is hard to punish immediately Punishment conveys little information An action intended to punish may instead be reinforcing Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

External and Internal Reinforcers Learning 1/2/2019 External and Internal Reinforcers External reinforcers Reinforcers that are not inherently related to the activity being reinforced Internal reinforcers Reinforcers that are inherently related to the activity being reinforced External reinforcers may undermine internal reinforcers Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Why Rewards Can Backfire Learning 1/2/2019 Why Rewards Can Backfire Preschoolers played with felt-tipped markers and observed Divided into 3 groups: Given markers again and asked to draw Promised a reward for playing with markers Played with markers, then rewarded Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Learning and the Mind Latent learning Social-Cognitive learning theories Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning Latent Learning 1/2/2019 Rats: one maze trial/day One group found food every time (red line) Second group never found food (blue line) Third group found food on Day 11 (green line). Sudden change, Day 12 Learning isn’t the same as performance Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Social-Cognitive Learning Theories 1/2/2019 Social-Cognitive Learning Theories Do not omit mental processes from explanations of human learning Learning is not so much a change in observable behaviour as a change in knowledge that has the potential for affecting behaviour Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Social Cognitive Learning 1/2/2019 Social Cognitive Learning Social cognitive theories emphasize how behaviour is learned and maintained: through observation and imitation of others positive consequences cognitive processes such as plans expectations, and beliefs Observational learning involves learning new responses by observing the behaviour of another rather than through direct experience Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

Pearson Education Canada Learning 1/2/2019 Bandura, Ross and Ross, 1963. Nursery school children watched a film of 2 men (Johnny and Rocky) playing with toys Johnny refuses to share and Rocky hits him, ending up with all the toys. Children who watched the video were significantly more violent than children in a control group Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada ©1999 Prentice Hall

The Bobo Doll Experiment Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

The Case of Media Violence Since Bandura, hundreds of other experimental studies have corroborated the findings Meta-analysis shows that greater exposure to violence is related to more aggressive behaviour when controlling for social class, intelligence, and other factors Other researchers are less concerned because they believe that media violence does not cause most viewers to become aggressive Aggressive individuals may be drawn to violent programming Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada

Social-Cognitive View and Aggression The following variables intervene in the relationship between what we see, what we learn, and how we respond: Perceptions Interpretations Personality dispositions (aggressiveness, sociability) Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada