LEARNING (CONDITIONING)

Another word for learning is conditioning Def: the process of learning associations between environmental events and behavioral responses Two kinds of Learning: Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING A. Ivan Pavlov B. Def: Classical conditioning—learning to transfer a natural response from one stimulus to another, previously neutral stimulus C. Elements of Classical conditioning

1. UCS/US—unconditioned stimulus—the stimulus that invariably causes an organism to respond in a certain way 2.UCR/UR—unconditioned response—the response that takes place in an organism whenever the UCS occurs 3.CS—conditioned stimulus—an originally neutral stimulus which is paired with the UCS to eventually produce the response in an organism when presented alone 4.CR—conditioned response—the response an organism learns to produce when a CS is presented

D.Examples of Classical Conditioning 1. Little Albert

2. Consumerism E.Other classical conditioning terms  Extinction—decrease in the frequency of a learned response due to failure to continue pairing the UCS with the CS Interstimulus interval is important  Spontaneous recovery—the reappearance of an extinguished response after the passage of time without further training

IN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: the response is elicited, passive IN OPERANT CONDITIONING: the response is emitted, active

OPERANT CONDITIONING A. Def: type of learning in which the likelihood of a behavior is increased or decreased by the use of reinforcement or punishment B. Terms: S (stimulus), R (response), S r (reinforcer), P (punishment

B.E.L. Thorndike 1. Puzzle box for cats 2.Law of Effect—Responses that are satisfying are more likely to be repeated, and those that are not satisfying are less likely to be repeated; behavior that is rewarded is likely to recur 3.Anything that increases the frequency of a response is a reinforcer

C.B. F. Skinner 1. Skinner box 2. Shaping to successive approximations 3. Skinner makes some assumptions about behavior a. All behavior is learned b. Since it’s learned, it can be unlearned c. Behavior is orderly and predictable d. Learning occurs from birth until death e. The cause/reason for behavior is always outside the organism—in the environment

D.Reinforcer—S r A reinforcer is anything that increases the frequency of a response positive reinforcer—an event whose presence increases the likelihood that ongoing behavior will recur negative reinforcer—an event whose reduction or termination increases the likelihood that ongoing behavior will recur

Another way to manipulate behavior is through punishment E.Punishment Def: anything that results in a decrease in the frequency of responding There are problems with punishment, and Skinner said he may have been wrong about punishment

Problems with Punishment 1. It only works while the punishment is in effect. 2. It can lead to deceitful behavior, lying. 3. It teaches what not to do rather than what to do. 4. It may be positively reinforcing to the punisher. 5. The receiver may learn to fear and avoid the punisher.

F.Schedules of reinforcement—a program for choosing which responses to reinforce 1. Continuous reinforcement (CRF)—a 1:1 relationship between the response and the reinforcement The best way may be partial schedules 2. Fixed ratio (FR)—reinforcement of the corrected response after a fixed number of correct responses

3. Variable ratio (VR)—reinforcement schedule in which a varying number of correct responses must occur before the reinforcer is presented RATIO SCHEDULES—number of responses INTERVAL SCHEDULES—passage of time 4. Fixed interval (FI)—reinforcement schedule that calls for reinforcement after a fixed length of time 5. Variable interval (VI)—reinforcement schedule that calls for reinforcement of the first correct response after a variable length of time has passed