Respondent Learning Lesson 4

What’s going to happen next? n If we know…we can be prepared l Increases our chances for success n Predicting important events critical for survival l food & water l sex l danger ~

Associative Learning n Events become associated l linked n Association via l Respondent Learning –(AKA: Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning) u involuntary behavior l Operant Learning –(AKA: Instrumental) u motivated behavior ~

Associative Learning n Respondent learning l Elicited (involuntary) behavior l Triggered by external events l Learned “reflexes” n Operant learning l Emitted (motivated) behavior l Attempt to change environment l Controlled by consequences ~

Motivation n Will expend energy to achieve goal l Approach satisfiers /Avoid annoyers n What “motivates” operant behavior? l Physiological responses l Emotional responses l Cognitive response n Involuntary responses l Both innate & learned ~

Respondent Learning n A.K.A. Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning l Ivan Pavlov l dog learned to salivate when bell rings n Throughout animal kingdom l cockroaches, sea slugs, dogs, humans ~

Learning Associations n Signal--Important event n Based on reflexes l stimulus  response l automatic (involuntary) n After association learned… l signal triggers response ~

Eye-blink Reflex n Puff of air  eye blinks l prevents injury to eye l “click” precedes puff of air n Reflex l inherited l stimulus  response l automatic ~

Air puffEye blink stimulus response “Click” signal Respondent Learning: Eye-blink

“Click” Eye blink After Learning Occurs Learned response signal Anticipatory response

What is learned? n Relationship between events l Predicts biologically important events n What kind of responses can be learned (conditioned)? l Physiological Responses l Emotional Responses l Expectancies ~

Unconditional Stimulus (US) n Part of reflex l automatically elicits a response n Biologically important l motivational significance l food, sex partner, drugs l physical trauma, toxins ~

Unconditional Response (UR) n Response to US l Automatic response l Reflexive n Physiological & emotional responses l  HR/temp. - sexual arousal/pleasure l Pain/nausea – fear/anxiety ~

US URs Good food in mouth salivation, chewing, swallowing, pleasure Bad food in mouth gagging, spitting, disgust Loud noise  HR, flinch, orient, fear Dust in nose/throat sneeze/cough, anxiety Animal bite pain, withdrawal, fear Examples: US  URs

BitePain/fear Unconditional stimulus Unconditional response Reflexive Behavior

Conditional Stimulus (CS) n Initially neutral stimulus (NS) l does not trigger UR of interest n Reliably precedes US l Cue or signal ~

Conditional Response n Learned response l in response to CS only l usually similar to unconditional response l homogeneous n After many pairings of CS & US l learning is usually gradual l frequency important ~

Conditional Stimulus Respondent Learning USUR bitePain/fear See dog :

After Respondent Learning Conditional Stimulus only Conditional Response See dog Fear Anticipatory response

Milk Let-down Response n Potential CSs l crying, time of day, holding baby, etc l precede suckling predictably l act as CS  trigger milk release (CR) n Generalization? l another baby crying ~ n Feeding reflex l baby suckling  milk released USUR

Extinction: Respondent Learning n CS no longer followed by US l Loses predictive value l Behavior becomes weaker :  Fear

Conditioned Emotional Responses n Affect l positive & negative n Depends on experiences l subjective interpretation of physiological responses n Expectations l Conditioned emotional response u CER ~

n Classes of stimuli l appetitive l aversive n CS predicts important event (US) l CS+  US will occur u Positive contingency l CS-  US won’t occur u negative contingency ~ Conditioned Emotional Responses

CER (affect) CS+ CS- Appetitive Aversive (satisfier) (annoyer) US Positive Negative

Likes & Dislikes n Like l Cues associated w/ satisfying events n Dislike l Cues associated w/ annoying events n Expectation + Contingency + US l CS+/CS- and appetitive/aversive ~

CER (Likes/Dislikes) CS+ CS- Appetitive Aversive (satisfier) (annoyer) US Like Dislike

Food Preferences n Genetic component l Taste receptors l Salty, sweet, bitter, sour, *savory l Or blend of these tastes n Learned component l Taste as CS l Nutrients as US n Preference for sweet/salty innate l Can be altered by experience ~

Thiamine & Open Eating Systems n Thiamine (vitamin B 1 ) l Tasteless & odorless l Beri beri  heart, neural disorder n Rats with B 1 deficiency l Prefer tastes of foods w/B 1 l Avoid tastes of foods w/o B 1 n Taste preferences learned l Associated w/ vital nutrients ~