Chapter 9 Principles of Learning

You walk into a kitchen and smell your favorite food. - What physically happens to you? - What happens mentally?

What is learning? Learning - lasting changes in behavior that occur as a result of practice or past experiences - acquiring the ability to do something that you haven’t done before - use an ability in a different way

Not all behavior is learned - reflex blinking when a puff of air hits your eye crawling changes in voice (adolescent boys)

Classical Conditioning - learning situation in which a certain stimulus brings forth a response that it did not previously evoke - Ivan Pavlov studies the salivating of dogs How did the experiment work?

Classical Conditioning The Experiment - a dog was placed in an apparatus that would measure the flow of saliva when being presented with food - a tube was attached to the mouth to measure saliva - powdered meat was placed in the dogs mouth

Classical Conditioning Pavlov’s Dogs - Unconditioned Response (UCR): Flow of saliva occurs normally with no learning necessary - Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): the meat normal, unlearned agent for causing salivation

Classical Conditioning What is the natural response to each stimulus listed below? (What happens) Stimulus Response - a dog sees food > - a baby hears a loud unfamiliar noise > - you put your hand on a lit candle > - your teacher yells at you > Are the responses you wrote conditioned or unconditioned? Why? Design your own example of an unconditioned stimulus followed by an unconditional response (something you do automatically). Stimulus: ____________________Response: _____________________

Classical Conditioning Pavlov’s Dogs - Next, Pavlov rang a bell just and gave the dog the meat immediately after - Then he sounded the bell without giving the dog the meat he found that the dog still salivated even though the dog was not given the meat - Conditioned Stimulus (CS): sound of the bell a new stimulus that originally did not cause a response - Conditioned Response (CR): salivating at the sound of the bell a similar response to a new stimuli

Classical Conditioning (Pavlov’s Dogs) (The Office)

Classical Conditioning In the following examples, the unconditioned stimulus is paired repeatedly with a neutral stimulus. What is the response to the pair stimuli? Unconditioned Stimulus + Neutral Stimulus = Response 1. a dog sees food a bell rings = 2. a baby hears a loud a toy appears= unfamiliar noise 3. a hand is raised to slap a light flashes = your face 4. you put your hand on a door slams= a lit candle 5. You teacher yells atthe teacher you taps a pencil =

Classical Conditioning Are the responses you wrote conditioned or unconditioned? Why? Design your own example of an unconditioned stimulus that is paired with a neutral stimulus and generate a response. USC _________________ + NS __________________= R ________________

Classical Conditioning Conditioned Response - What is the Conditioned Response (CR) to each of the conditioned stimulus (CS)? Conditioned StimulusConditioned Response 1. the dog hears a bell > 2. a baby gets a toy > 3. a light flashes > 4. a door slams > 5. your teacher taps a pencil > Are the responses you wrote conditioned or unconditioned? Why? Design your own using your previous example.

HOMEWORK and QUIZ WS: Learning to Learn WS: Classical Conditioning Examples QUIZ TOMORROW!

Classical Conditioning Counter-Conditioning - conditioning the stimulus to a different response - used to get rid of certain, unwanted behaviors - EX: alcohol - can be given a drug that makes a person nauseous - criticized for NOT treating the cause, just the symptoms EX: weight loss Avoidance Conditioning - when an organism is taught to to avoid a stimulus

Classical Conditioning Baby Albert Experiment

Classical Conditioning Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery - extinction: when the learner stops responding to a stimuli is not always permanent o EX: War veterans - spontaneous recovery: reappearance of the conditioned response without reinforcement after a period of extinction

Classical Conditioning Reinforcement - presenting the UCS immediately after the CS - faster learning - Intermittent Reinforcement: occasional rather than continuous reinforcement EX: Gambler

Classical Conditioning Intermittent Reinforcement Schedules - ratio schedule: depends on the number of correct responses 2 types o fixed ratio: reinforced after a set number of correct responses (every 5th correct response) o variable ratio: number of responses between reinforcement varies - interval schedule: reinforcement is determined between responses (TIME) 2 types o fixed interval: response is reinforced after a set number of times o variable interval: time varies throughout the conditioning process

Classical Conditioning Generalizations - a conditioned response to stimuli similar to the original stimuli EX: different tones to Pavlov’s dogs Discrimination - tendency to respond to a particular stimulus one way and respond to a similar one another way EX: the term “Daddy” being applied to a particular person

Operant Conditioning Suppose you want to train your dog. How would you train your dog to sit? or fetch? Operant conditioning - strengthening a stimulus-response relationship by following the response with reinforcement

Operant Conditioning Classical Conditioning vs. Operant Conditioning stimulus -> reinforcement -> response stimulus -> response -> reinforcement Reinforcement is given before the Reinforcement followed a correct response response and helps cause the response Subject is passive and reacts only when aSubject is active and operates on the stimulus is introduced environment The specific unconditioned stimulus is The specific unconditioned stimulus is unknown unknown

Operant Conditioning Programmed Learning - an instruction method that uses the operant conditioning techniques of presenting an organism with a stimulus organism responds and receives reinforcement for a correct response Video: Big Bang Theory

Operant Conditioning WS: Operant Conditioning WS: How do we learn? Video:

Operant Conditioning Shaping Experiment - I need a volunteer to leave the classroom for a minute…. - Shaping the experimenter rewards an organism each time it makes a response that is close to the desired response

Reinforcement Positive Reinforcement - strengthens a response by its presence - operant conditioning relies on reinforcement Negative Reinforcement - strengthens a response with its absence - a reverse reward

Reinforcement Secondary Reinforcement - a stimulus that has been associated w/ something that satisfies a need - EX: Money to maintain a family, individuals must provide food, clothing, shelter etc. o Money does not give them these things but they can buy the things with money

Reinforcement Role of Punishment - Punishment: providing negative stimulus after a behavior has occurred