Knowledge acquired in this way. Learning The acquisition of knowledge or skills through experience, practice, or study, or by being taught. Knowledge acquired in this way.

Conditioning Train or accustom (someone or something) to behave in a certain way or to accept certain circumstances.

PRINCIPLES OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING In classical conditioning, an organism learns to associate one stimulus with another. The organism learns that the first stimulus is a cue for the second stimulus.

Pavlov Classical conditioning was accidentally discovered around the beginning of the 20th century by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov was studying digestive process in dogs when he discovered that the dogs salivated before they received their food. In fact, after repeated pairing of the lab attendant and the food, the dogs started to salivate at the sight of the lab assistants. He noted that dogs were not only responding to a biological need (hunger), but also a need developed by learning. Pavlov spent the rest of life researching why this associate learning occurred, which is now called classical conditioning.

To experiment on classical conditioning, Pavlov utilized a tuning fork and meat powder. He hit the tuning fork and followed the sound with the meat powder. Pavlov presented the sound (tuning fork) with the meat powder at the exact same time increments. In the beginning, the dog salivated only to the meat powder, but after this was repeated, salivated at the sound of the tuning fork. Even when Pavlov took away the meat powder, the dog continued to salivate at the sound of the tuning fork.

In Pavlov’s experiment, the tuning fork cued the dogs that food might be coming. Following is an example of classical conditioning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhqumfpxuzI

WATSON’S BABY ALBERT John B. Watson was interested in how classical conditioning could be applied to humans. In 1921, Watson and his research assistant Rosalie Rayner experimented on a 11-month-old infant named Albert.

Goal: to condition Albert to fear a white rat by paring the white rat with a loud bang. First: Albert showed no fear of rats, but once the rat was repeatedly paired with the loud noise, Albert developed a fear of rats. The noise induced fear. After pairings between the loud noise and the rat, Albert started to fear the rat. Watson’s experiment suggested that classical conditioning could cause some phobias.

KEY CONCEPTS OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Unconditioned Stimulus A stimulus that produces a response without conditioning Unconditioned Response Automatic response produced by the unconditioned stimulus Conditioned Stimulus A neutral stimulus that when paired with an unconditioned stimulus produces a similar response Conditioned Response A response that is learned by pairing the originally neutral conditioned stimulus with the unconditioned stimulus

Acquisition The acquisition phase is the consistent parings of the bell and the food that produces salivation. In the example above, this phase occurs when the dog begins to salivate at the sound of the bell. Conditioning occurs more rapidly when the food follows the bell by a half a second. Extinction The extinction phase is when the conditioned response no longer occurs after repeated pairings without the unconditioned stimulus. The dog’s response to the bell can be extinguished by repeatedly presenting the bell without the food. The dog has not completely forgotten the association between the bell and the food. If the experimenter waits a day, the dog may have a spontaneous recovery of the conditioned response and salivate again to the bell.

Generalization Occurs when there is a small difference in the presented stimulus and the original conditioned stimulus. If Pavlov’s dog heard a bell of a similar tone, the dog would still salivate. Discrimination The opposite of generalization, discrimination happens when a conditioned response does not occur when there is a difference between the presented stimulus and the original conditioned stimulus. If Pavlov’s dog heard a bell with a different tone and was not awarded the unconditioned stimulus (food), the dog would learn not to salivate to the second tone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt0ucxOrPQE

Operant Conditioning PRINCIPLES OF OPERANT CONDITIONING The main principles of operant conditioning, are reinforcement, punishment, shaping, extinction, discrimination, and generalization.

SKINNER’S OPERANT CONDITIONING Beginning in the 1930’s, Skinner started his experimentation on the behavior of animals. Skinner's quest was to observe the relationship between observable stimuli and response. Essentially, he wanted to know why these animals behaved the way that they do. Skinner controlled his experiments by using “Skinner boxes.” The Skinner box was a contraption that would automatically dispense food pellets and electric shocks. Skinner believed that the learning he observed in his Skinner boxes could apply to human behavior. He called this learning operant conditioning. Operant conditioning can be described as behavior adjustments as a result of greater or lesser negative or positive reinforcement and punishment. Skinner hypothesized that human behaviors were controlled by rewards and punishment and that their behaviors can be explained by principles of operant conditioning

KEY CONCEPTS OF OPERANT CONDITIONING Reinforcement The process in which a behavior is strengthened, and thus, more likely to happen again. Positive Reinforcement Making a behavior stronger by following the behavior with a pleasant stimulus. For example, a rat presses a lever and receives food. Negative Reinforcement Making a behavior stronger by taking away a negative stimulus. For example, a rat presses a lever and turns off the electric shock

Punishment The process in which a behavior is weakened, and thus, less likely to happen again. Negative Punishment Reducing a behavior by removing a pleasant stimulus when the behavior occurs. If the rat was previously given food for each lever press, but now receives food consistently when not pressing the lever (and not when it presses the lever), the rat will learn to stop pressing the lever.

Positive Punishment Reducing a behavior by presenting an unpleasant stimulus when the behavior occurs. If the rat previously pressed the lever and received food and now receives a shock, the rat will learn not to press the lever. Shaping Technique of reinforcement used to teach new behaviors. At the beginning, people/animals are reinforced for easy tasks, and then increasingly need to perform more difficult tasks in order to receive reinforcement. For example, originally the rat is given a food pellet for one lever press, but we gradually increase the number of times it needs to press to receive food, the rat will increase the number of presses.

Extinction The elimination of the behavior by stopping reinforcement of the behavior. For example, a rat who received food when pressing a bar, receives food no longer, will gradually decrease the amount of lever presses until the rat eventually stops lever pressing. Generalization In generalization, a behavior may be performed in more than one situation. For example, the rat who receives food by pressing one lever, may press a second lever in the cage in hopes that it will receive food. Discrimination Learning that a behavior will be rewarded in one situation, but not another. For example, the rat does not receive food from the second lever and realizes that by pressing the first lever only, he will receive food.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ctJqjlrHA

Phobia A phobia is an unreasonable, uncontrollable fear of a given object or situation and can develop in a variety of ways, including conditioning.

PHOBIAS & CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Phobias can be acquired through classical conditioning by pairing a neutral stimulus with something that really causes pain. Phobia responses can be permanent unless the organism is subjected to the extinction process. In the extinction process, one must confront the fear without the presence of the unconditioned stimulus.

For example, in Watson’s experiment, Little Albert developed a phobia of white rats (and other furry objects) as a result of pairing the white rat with a loud bang. The phobia could have been extinguished by repeatedly exposing Little Albert to the white rat without the loud bang. Another way to extinguish a phobia is through counter conditioning. In counter conditioning, the conditioned stimulus is paired with a pleasant stimulus. Little Albert could have extinguished his phobia of the white rat by pairing it with something pleasant (e.g., food, praise).

PHOBIAS & OPERANT CONDITIONING Phobias can be acquired through operant conditioning by reinforcement. Phobias can be learned through operant conditioning by repeatedly reinforcing avoidance of a mildly fearful situation. For example, if a person has a mild fear of flying and his/her spouse agrees to drive instead of fly, the person's fear of flying has been reinforced and may develop into a phobia.

Phobias can be maintained by operant conditioning through negative reinforcement. When a person is confronted with the object or situation of his/her phobia, the person tends to get anxious and avoid the object or situation. The anxiety is reduced, but by avoiding the object or situation, the avoidance behavior is negatively reinforced and the phobia is maintained. For example, a person who has a phobia of flying, will maintain that phobia until he/she flies.

EXAMPLES OF PHOBIAS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rl7Lr6eDLc