Classical, Instrumental and Operant Conditioning (PS) 192-195, 200-211

We learn reactions from associations between events in the world.

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) Russian physiologist Awarded the Nobel Prize of Physiology or Medicine in 1904 Originally working to unveil the secrets of digestive system. Became interested in studying how salivation could occur in the absence of an obvious physical cause.

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) What’s Classical Conditioning?

Classical Conditioning Extinction Reconditioning Spontaneous recovery Stimulus generalization Stimulus discrimination Timing Predictability Signal Strength Reflex Stimulus Response UCS UCR CS CR Classical Conditioning

What’s Classical Conditioning? Classical conditioning (also Pavlovian conditioning, respondent conditioning or alpha-conditioning) is a type of associative learning. Elements in Classical conditioning: Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): The stimulus that elicits a response without conditioning. Unconditioned response (UCR): The automatic, unlearned reaction to a stimulus. Conditioned stimulus (CS): The new stimulus after being paired with the unconditioned stimulus. Conditioned response (CR): The response that is elicited after a conditioned stimulus.

Classical Conditioning (Pavlovian Conditioning)

Conditioned Responses Over Time: Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery Stimulus Generalization and Discrimination STIMULUS GENERALIZATION: stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus also elicit the conditioned response. EXTINCTION: when the conditioned response gradually dissapears if the UCS is no longer paired with the CS STIMULUS DISCRIMINATION: organisms learn to differentiate among similar stimuli. RECONDITIONING: it’s the quick re-learning of a conditioned response after extinction. SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY: It’s the reappearance of the conditioned response after extinction without the CS-UCS pairings

The Signaling of Significant Events Timing: Forward Conditioning: The conditioned stimulus goes before the unconditioned stimulus. Backward Conditioning: The CS goes after the UCS. It takes place very slowly, if at all. Simultaneous Conditioning: The CS and UCS arrive at the same time, but it is more difficult than forward conditioning. The best is having a delay of one-half to one second between the CS and the UCS. Predictability: Signal Strength:

Which elements of Classical conditioning can you identify? “I’m a twenty eight-year old mom with three children. Sometimes, at night, my husband and I like to sit in the living room and talk. However, these past few months we’ve been arguing instead of talking, and our children (7,5 and 3) have noticed that. At the beginning, they didn’t pay much attion, but then everytime they heard us argue they started crying and hid in their closet. We’ve been going to therapy for some months now and we’ve overcome our problems. Now we don’t know what to do because every time we sit down to talk or they see us together, even though we don’t fight, our children keep on crying and hiding in their closet.

How could you use Classical Conditioning to help your students remember that the third person singular, in present, takes an “s” in the affirmative?

Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) Instrumental conditioning: responses are strenghtened when they are instrumental in producing rewards. Studied animals’ ability to think and reason. Law effect: responses that produce satisfying effects become stronger. Thorndike’s Puzzle box B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990) Operant conditioning: organisms learn a response by operating on the environment. Analyzed how behavior is changed by its consequences. - Skinner box

Operant conditioning: Basic components: Operant response Positive reinforcers Negative reinforcers Escape conditioning Avoidance conditioning Discriminative stimulus Or stimulus control Stimulus generalization Forming and Strenghtening it: Shaping Secondary reinforcement Delay and Ssize Reinforcement Schedules of reinforcement: fixed ratio, Variable-ratio, fixed interval, viable-interval Schedules and Extinction Punishments

Basic Components of Operant Conditioning: Operant or Operant Response: response that has some effect on the world; it is a response that operates on the environment. Reinforcer: increases the probability that an operant behavior will occur again. Positive reinforcers: events that strenghten a response if they are given after that response occurs. Negative reinforcers: stimuli that strenghten a response if they are removed after the response occurs. Escape conditioning: when an organism learns to make a response in order to end an aversive stimulus, or negative reinforcer. Avoidance conditioning: when an animal or person responds to a signal in a way that avoids exposure to an aversive stimulus. Discriminative Stimuli or Stimulus Control: stimuli that signal whether reinforcement is available if a certain response is made. It allows people to demonstrate what is appropriate or inappropriate in particular situations. Stimulus generalization: when organisms perform a response in the presence of a stimulus that is similar, but not identical to the one that previously signaled the availabitilty of reinforcement.

Forming and Strengthening Operant Behavior: Shaping: it’s the reinforcement of successive approximations. Secondary reinforcement: it’s a previously neutral stimulus that, if paired with a stimulus that is already reinforcing, will itself take on reinforcing prperties. Also called conditioned reinforcers. Delay and Size of Reinforcement: operant conditioning is stronger when there is little delay in receiving a reinforcer. However, in some situations, delaying a positive reinforcer for even a few seconds can decrease the effectiveness of positive reinforcement. Conditioning proceeds faster when the reinforcer is large than when it is small.

Continuous reinforcement schedule: when reinforcement delivers a particular response everytime it occurs. Fixed-ration schedules: they provide reinforcement following a fixed number of responses. After every tenth response. Variable-ratio schedules: it happens after a given number of responses, but that number varies from one reinforcement to the next. Average. Fixed-interval schedules: they provide reinforcement for the first response that occurs after some fixed time has passed since last reward. No matter how many responses have been made during that interval. Variable-interval schedules: they reinforce the first response after some period of time, but the amount of time varies. Average.

Partial reinforcement extinction effect: behaviors learned on a continuous reinforcement schedule.

Problems with punishment: Punishment involves the presentation of an a versive stimulus or the removal of a pleasant stimulus in order to decrease the frequency of the immediately preceding response. Problems with punishment: It doesn’t “erase” an undesirable habit: it merely supresses it. It produces unwanted side effects. For example; fear. If it isn’t given immediately after the response, it won’t be effective with animals or young children. Physical punishment can become agression, even abuse, especially when administered to a child in anger. What to do so PUNISHMENT is effective: You should specify why punishment is being given and that the behavior, not the person, is being punished. This is so that you prevent developing a general fear of fear of the punisher. Without being abusive, punishment should be immediate and salient enough to eliminate the undesirable response More appropriate responses should be identified and positively reinforced

With your team, think of an activity in which you could condition your students to generate learning. What’s the type of conditioning you’re going to apply? Is there any specific learning you’d like to condition? How would you do it? Which elements would you consider?