1. Chapter 7: Learning

2. 4 Types of learning:
Classical Conditioning: learn by unavoidable physical association (involuntary)
Operant Conditioning: learning cause by actions we perform (voluntary)
Social Learning: learn by watching others
Cognitive Approach: using thought processes in learning

3. Conditioning
Conditioning is learning or making an association between two events.
- Real life examples?

4. Classical Conditioning
Can be divided into two parts:
STIMULUS
Unconditioned (UCS) and Conditioned (CS)
RESPONSE
Unconditioned (UCR) and Conditioned (CR)
Naturally, the unconditioned stimulus produces the unconditioned response
After conditioning, the conditioned stimulus produces the conditioned response (conditioned response has been brought on by learning)

5. Pavlov’s Dog Classical Conditioning
Discovered by Ivan Pavlov accidentally during process of investigating process of digestion

6. Pavlov’s Dog

7. Conditioning BEFORE CONDITIONING… AFTER CONDITIONING…
Unconditioned Stimulus:
UCS= Food
Unconditioned Response:
UCR= Salivation
Neutral Stimulus:
NS (N)= bell
AFTER CONDITIONING…
Conditioned Stimulus:
CS= Sound of bell
Conditioned Response:
CR= Salivation

9. Little Albert Experiment
Remember John Watson’s Little Albert Experiment?

10. Little Albert Experiment
Identify the following in Watson’s Little Albert experiment:
Unconditioned Stimulus
Unconditioned Response
Conditioned Stimulus
Conditioned Response
Neutral Stimulus

11. Little Albert Experiment
Watson found that…
conditioning of emotions in response to neutral objects is possible
A conditioned emotion can generalize to other objects

12. Little Albert Experiment
Mary Cover Jones – student of Watson’s researched how to overcome phobias after her experience observing the Little Albert Experiment.

13. Generalization vs. Discrimination
Stimulus generalization: similar response produced from one specific stimulus to other stimuli that resemble the original
Discrimination: Similar stimulus or cue does not produce a similar response because no reinforcement follows
What could have caused little Albert to discriminate between a white rat and a Santa Claus mask, for example?

14. Extinction
Extinction: Loss of association over time, fears can be reversed by associating it with something pleasant
What could have caused extinction for little Albert?

15. Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning is learning caused by actions we perform (voluntary)
Human performs actions (operations)
Example:
Big Bang Theory:

16. Operant Conditioning
Behavior learned due to consequences (reinforcement & punishment)
Reinforcement: strengthens response, critical for this type of learning
Positive reinforcement = something organism wants is added
Example?
Negative reinforcement = something organism doesn’t want is taken away or avoided
Punishment: weaken a response by adding something unpleasant, can be taken away or added.
What type of operant conditioning is used in Big Bang Theory?

17. Reinforcement
Reinforcement is something that follows a response and strengthens the tendency to repeat that response
Primary Reinforcement: something necessary for psychological/ physical survival that is used as a reward.
eg: Food or water
Secondary Reinforcement: anything that comes to represent a primary reinforce, such as money bringing food.
Motivation to go to work every day is to receive money to purchase food and shelter.

18. Punishment
Punishment: the process of weakening a response by following it with unpleasant consequences
Examples?

19. Operant Conditioning
Shaping: the process of gradually refining a response by successively reinforcing closer approximations of it.
Dog being trained to jump through hoop will first be reinforced w/ food for simply approaching hoop; then reinforced for walking through hoop; eventually, shaped to jump through hoop
Other examples?
Chaining: reinforcing the connection between different parts of a sequence
Learning a dance, you first learn different parts of routine, then put the parts together.

20. Operant Conditioning B.F. Skinner Operant conditioning chamber
AKA “Skinner Box”

21. Schedules of Reinforcement
Different methods of providing reinforcement during operant conditioning
“Skinner Box” = continuous reinforcement, when each time a desired behavior occurs (pull lever), it is reinforced (food appears)
Other schedules of reinforcement include:
Variable Ratio
Fixed Ratio
Variable Interval
Fixed Interval

22. Schedules of Reinforcement
Variable Ratio: varying the number of times a desire behavior must occur before a reinforcement is given
EXAMPLES:
A pigeon must peck three times before he receives food, the next time requires five pecks, then seven, then two, and so on
A slot machine is another example, since players cannot predict when the large jackpot reward will appear.

23. Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio: The person/animal receives reinforcement after a fixed number of acts (desired behaviors)
EXAMPLES:
A pigeon receives food after five pecks every time.
Receive a prize once you’ve reached the bottom of every cereal box
A factory worker receives a certain amount of money for every product he/she produces
What would be a potential issue with the last example of fixed ratio reinforcement?

24. Schedules of Reinforcement
Variable Interval: Reinforcement is given after a variable amount of time.
EXAMPLES:
When fishing, you never know how long it will take (variable time) to catch a fish (positive reinforcement)

25. Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Interval: reinforcement is given after a fixed amount of time
EXAMPLES:
Most jobs issue paychecks every two weeks, no matter how many hours of work you do each week.
More congressional activity before vacation
If pigeon pecks, it is given food every five minutes
What might be the disadvantage of this last schedule of reinforcement?

26. Stimulus Generalization vs. Generalization
Stimulus Generalization: A response spread from one specific stimulus to other stimuli that resemble the original
Generalization: A behavior that spreads from one situation to another one.
One a boy pets a dog and it results in a wagging tail, he is likely to approach and pet another dog.

27. Social Learning
Social Learning: All learning that occurs in a social situation
Observational learning: form of social learning in which the organism observes and imitates the behavior of others
Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll Study:

28. Cognitive Approach to Learning
Cognitive Approach: a way of learning based on abstract mental processes and previous knowledge
We use the cognitive approach to learn very abstract and subtle things that could not be learned simple through conditioning or social learning
Like algebra or acting, for example Superstitions are
also learned this way

29. Cognitive Maps
. E.C. Tolman theorized that all animals (including humans and rats) form Cognitive maps, which are mental images of where one is located in space.
Cognitive maps help us to figure out where we are located in an environment and how to get to where we want to go.
Rats use cognitive maps to navigate mazes. They also use strategies, which are methods of solving problems