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Chapter 6
Learning
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What is learning?
See handout 6-2 With your aisle partner, discuss whether you think each of the scenarios is an example of learning.
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Learning
Learning – A process through which experience produces lasting change in behavior or mental processes
the behavior can’t be explained by native response tendencies (e.g. instincts), maturation, or temporary states (e.g. fatigue or drugs)
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Learning
In this chapter we will not learn about:
Instincts: they are innate, NOT learned
Maturation: normal stages will be covered in an upcoming chapter
Memory: covered in a previous chapter
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Simple Learning
Habituation – Slug habituates to squirts of water
Associative learning
Paging cows
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Complex Learning
Behavioral learning – learning achieved through manipulation of stimuli and responses (e.g. classical and operant conditioning)
-contrast with cognitive learning
B. F. Skinner’s behaviorist manifesto:
psychology’s concern should be behavior
methods should be objective, not introspective
goal should be “prediction and control of behavior” rather than understanding of mental events
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7. The Essentials of Classical Conditioning
Today, whenever you hear the name “Pavlov,” put a dab of lemon powder on your tongue. Let’s begin with a video about him.
Neutral stimulus – produces no conditioned response (CR) prior to learning (Pavlov)
-easy button
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8. The Essentials of Classical Conditioning
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
Unconditioned response (UCR)
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Conditioned response (CR)
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9. The Essentials of Classical Conditioning
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
The stimulus that elicits an UCR
-airsoft pistol
Unconditioned response (UCR)
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Conditioned response (CR)
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10. The Essentials of Classical Conditioning
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
The response elicited by a UCS without prior learning
-flinching
Unconditioned response (UCR)
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Conditioned response (CR)
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11. The Essentials of Classical Conditioning
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
Unconditioned response (UCR)
A previously neutral stimulus that comes to elicit the CR
-easy button
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Conditioned response (CR)
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12. The Essentials of Classical Conditioning
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
A response elicited by a previously neutral stimulus that has become associated with the UCS
-flinching
Unconditioned response (UCR)
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Conditioned response (CR)
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13. Classical conditioning
Acquisition – Initial learning stage; CR (salivating) becomes elicited by the conditioned stimulus (CS)
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14. Classical conditioning
Close your eyes and imagine you are floating in warm ocean waters. Relax In this scene, what is the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR?
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15. Higher order conditioning
If a tone signals food and produces salivation, a light that becomes associated with the tone can also produce salivation
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16. Classical Conditioning (CD)
Extinction – Weakening of a conditioned association in the absence of a UCS
-many of you no longer respond to the horn.
Spontaneous recovery – Reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a time delay
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17. Acquisition, Extinction, and Spontaneous Recovery
Strength of the CR
(Weak)
(Strong)
(Time)
Trials
(1)
Acquisition
(CS + UCS)
(2)
Extinction
(CS alone)
(3)
Spontaneous Recovery
(CS alone)
Rest period
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18. Classical Conditioning: Generalization and Discrimination
Stimulus generalization: giving a CR to stimuli that are similar to the CS (Little Albert)
Stimulus discrimination: responding to one stimulus but not to stimuli that are similar
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Let’s try an experiment with a horn and the classroom lights. When we are done, let’s apply CC terms to the experiment Let’s practice labelling the parts of CC with a handout.
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20. Applications of Classical Conditioning
Taste-aversion learning – learning to avoid food after a single experience, if eating it is followed by illness (caveat: if you get sick DIRECTLY after eating a food, you often won’t get taste aversion)
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A Challenge to Pavlov
Why are some associations readily learned while others are resistant to learning?
Contiguity: the nearer the better
The Seahawk-balloon pairing might be too far apart
Contingency: the more regular the better
The UCS must ALWAYS be paired with the CS during acquisition
Novelty: the newer the better
It would be hard to make a new CS out of the school bell, because you hear it twelve times a day. It’s not new.
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22. Association Principle
Think of your favorite soup: Now imagine the soup is served to you in an ordinary bowl, but has been stirred by a thoroughly washed, used flyswatter. How much would you like to eat that soup, on a scale of 1=not at all to 9=very much?
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If that flyswatter were brand new, how much would you like to eat the soup, on a scale of 1=not at all to 9=very much?
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If the soup were first stirred with a thoroughly washed but used comb, how much would you like to eat that soup, on a scale of 1=not at all to 9=very much?
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If the soup were served in a thoroughly washed, used dog bowl, how much would you like to eat that soup, on a scale of 1=not at all to 9=very much?
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Of 143 participants…
82% gave a four or lower
58% gave a four or lower
76% gave a four or lower
71% gave a four or lower
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27. Association principle
Linking two events that occur close together but are unrelated Association principle applies in both CC and OC Accounts for superstition
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28. Before we get to operant conditioning…
Can I have two volunteers for an experiment? You will need to leave the room for a few moments as I prepare the experiment. Shaping – reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer versions of the desired behavior.
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The Skinner Box
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30. How Do We Learn New Behaviors by Operant Conditioning?
Trial-and-error learning – Learner gradually discovers the correct response by attempting many behaviors and noting which ones produce the desired consequences
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31. How Do We Learn New Behaviors by Operant Conditioning?
In operant conditioning, the consequences of behavior, such as rewards and punishments, influence the chance that our behavior will occur again
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33. Skinner’s Radical Behaviorism
B.F. Skinner believed that the most powerful influences on behaviors are their consequences
Based ideas on Thorndike’s Law of Effect: behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.
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34. The Power of Reinforcement
Positive reinforcers – Stimulus presented after a response that increases the probability of that response happening again
Negative reinforcers – Removal of an unpleasant stimulus after a response, increasing the probability of that response happening again
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35. Contingencies of Reinforcement
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36. Stimulus Discrimination
Used in operant conditioning to teach subject to discriminate between one stimulus and others closely associated with that stimulus.
We know to go at green lights, not red.
Check out Lily discriminating between “roll over” and “treat.”
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37. The Power of Reinforcement
Primary reinforcers – Reinforcers, such as food and sex, that are innate because of their biological value
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39. The Power of Reinforcement
Secondary reinforcers – Stimuli, such as money or tokens, that acquire their reinforcing power by their learned association with primary reinforcers (also called conditioned reinforcers)
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40. The Problem of Punishment
Punishment – A stimulus which decreases the likelihood of the response it follows
How does this differ from negative reinforcement?
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41. Punishment vs. Negative Reinforcement
Response
Consequence
Negative Reinforcement
Loud Noise
Press Lever
Loud Noise Removed
Punishment
No Noise
Press Lever
Loud Noise Applied
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42. The Problem of Punishment
Positive punishment – The application of an aversive stimulus after a response
Omission training (negative punishment) – The removal of an appetitive stimulus after a response
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43. Four Kinds of Consequences
Positive or appetitive
STIMULUS
Negative or aversive
+ Present
Positive Reinforcement
Bonus for working hard leads to more hard work
Punishment
Getting speeding ticket leads to less speeding
- Remove
Negative Reinforcement
Aspirin curing headache causes more aspirin use
Omission Training
Missing dinner leads to less staying out late
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CC or OC
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Yay!
If you know the difference between punishment and negative reinforcement, you are smarter than Bill Murray.
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Let’s practice
With an aisle partner, determine whether each example is classical conditioning or operant conditioning.
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48. Contingencies of Reinforcement
Continuous reinforcement – Reinforcement schedule in which all desired responses are reinforced
Partial reinforcement – Reinforcement schedule in which some, but not all, desired responses are reinforced (also called intermittent reinforcement)
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49. Schedules of Partial Reinforcement
Ratio schedules – Provide reward after a certain number of responses; produce higher response rates than…
Interval schedules – Provide reward after a certain time interval
Fixed Ratio (FR)
Variable Ratio (VR)
Fixed Interval (FI)
Variable Interval (VI)
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50. Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio (FR)
Rewards appear after a certain set number of responses
Variable Ratio (VR)
e.g. factory workers getting paid after every 10 cases of product are completed Effect: activity slows after reinforcer and then picks up; goes extinct quickly without constant reinforcement
Fixed Interval (FI)
Variable Interval (VI)
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51. Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio (FR)
Rewards appear after a certain number of responses, but that number varies from trial to trial
Variable Ratio (VR)
Fixed Interval (FI)
e.g. slot machine pay-offs Effect: responding rate is high and stable; most resistant to extinction
Variable Interval (VI)
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52. Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio (FR)
Rewards appear after a certain fixed amount of time, regardless of number of responses
Variable Ratio (VR)
Fixed Interval (FI)
e.g. weekly or monthly paychecks Effect: activity increases as deadline nears; can cause fast extinction
Variable Interval (VI)
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53. Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio (FR)
Rewards appear after a certain amount of time, but that amount varies from trial to trial
Variable Ratio (VR)
Fixed Interval (FI)
e.g. random visits from the boss who delivers praise Effect: steady activity results, good resistance to extinction
Variable Interval (VI)
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As a rule:
Variable is more resistant to extinction than fixed
Ratio is more resistant to extinction than interval
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55. Reinforcement schedules
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56. Let’s try some practice figuring out reinforcement schedules
Handout
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57. The Use and Abuse of Punishment
Power usually disappears when threat of punishment is removed
Punishment
Often triggers aggression
May inhibit learning new and better responses
Is often applied unequally
Reinforcement should be chosen over punishment whenever possible
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58. Alternatives to Punishment
Reinforcing preferred activities
Premack principle: a more preferred activity can reinforce a less preferred activity
Shaping
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59. Operant and Classical Conditioning Compared
Classical conditioning involves the association of two stimuli (UCS + CS) before the response or behavior
Operant conditioning involves a reinforcing (reward) or punishing stimulus after a response or behavior
A video that summarizes classical and operant conditioning.
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60. How Does Cognitive Psychology Explain Learning?
According to cognitive psychology, some forms of learning must be explained as changes in mental processes, rather than as changes in behavior alone
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61. How Does Cognitive Psychology Explain Learning?
Cognitive maps – A mental representation of physical space (contrasted with chained association [knowing the turns])
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Cognitive Maps
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63. Cognitive Learning Processes
Latent learning: learning you didn’t know you’d learned until required to apply it. Insight learning – Problem solving occurs by means of a sudden reorganization of perceptions
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Motivation
Intrinsic motivation – Desire to engage in an activity for its own sake Extrinsic motivation – Desire to engage in an activity to achieve an external consequence (e.g. a reward)
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65. Coping with Personal Problems
Problem-focused coping: trying to solve the external problem Emotion-focused coping: trying to change your reaction to (and ignoring) the problem (can be maladaptive) Learned helplessness – when an organism becomes conditioned to believe that a situation is unchangeable or inescapable
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66. Internal vs. external locus of control
Locus of control – the extent to which people believe they can control events affecting them—is the locus internal or external?
Self-control comes from internal L.O.C.
The marshmallow experiment in Colombia
And in America (executive function)
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67. Brain Mechanisms and Learning
Long-term potentiation – Physical changes that strengthen the synapses in groups of nerve cells; the neural basis of learning
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68. Operant and Classical Conditioning
In action
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69. Observational Learning: Bandura’s Challenge to Behaviorism
Observational learning – new responses are acquired after watching others’ behavior and the consequences of their behavior—can be prosocial or antisocial
Bandura’s Doll Experiment; more video
Modeling: I do, we do, you do
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Mirror neurons allow us to model behavior. Prosocial behavior: saying “please” and “thank you”
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End of Chapter 6
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