1. CHAPTER 8 Learning

2. Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience Adaptability  Our capacity to learn new behaviors that allow us to cope with new experiences Associative learning  Our mind naturally connects events that occur in sequence  Two stimuli Rewarding or Punishing

3. Behavorists John Watson  Argued that psychology should be an objective science  Psychology should study only overt behavior without reference to mental process  Believed learned behaviors could be reduced to universal stimulus-response mechanisms

4. Classical Conditioning

5. Ivan Pavlov Pavlov demonstrated that classical conditioning involves respondent behavior  Reflexive behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

6. Pavlov’s Dog Pavlov would repeatedly present a neutral stimulus (a tone) just before and unconditioned stimulus (UCS) such as food which triggered the unconditioned response (UCR) of salvation After several repetitions, the tone (now the conditioned stimulus [CS]) began triggering a conditioned response (CR)…salvation

7. Acquisition, extinction, Spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination Acquisition  Response are acquired  Initially learned when the CS is presented ½ second before UCS Extinction  CS weaken if they are not reinforced Spontaneous Recovery  CS may reappear after rest Generalization  Responses may be triggered by stimuli similar to CS Discrimination  Responses wont be triggered by dissimilar stimuli

8. Cognitive Processes and Biological Restraints Conditioning occurs best when the CS and the UCS have just the sort of relationship that would lead a scientist to conclude that the CS causes the UCS Conditioning principles are constrained by the biological predispositions of each species

10. Importance of Pavlov and Classical Conditioning Laid the foundation of John Watson’s beliefs Provide insights into drug abuse and how it may be overcome Works on body’s disease- fighting immune system Psychologists use extinction procedures to control less adaptive emotions and condition new responses to emotion- arousing stimuli  Think Autism

11. Operant Conditioning

12. B. F. Skinner Operant conditioning involves operant behavior that actively operates on the environment to produce stimuli. Skinner’s Experiments  Work elaborated Edward Thornndike’s law of effect: Rewarded behavior is likely to reoccur

13. Skinner’s Box Skinner used an operant chamber (Skinner Box) to conduct his experiments Used shaping (rewards like food) to guide an animal’s natural behavior toward desired behavior  Reward only behavior that closely resembles desired behavior  Ignore all others  Shapes complex behaviors

14. Reinforcement Reinforcer is any event that increases the frequency of a preceding response  Positive: pleasant stimulus after response  Negative: reducing or removing an unpleasant stimulus  Primary: Innately satisfying  Conditioned: Learned

15. Schedules of Reinforcement Continuous reinforcement  When desired response is reinforced every time it occurs Most common are partial reinforcement schedules  Fixed-ratio schedules  Reinforce behavior after a set number of responses  Variable-ratio schedules  Provide reinforcement after unpredictable number of responses  Fixed-interval schedules  Reinforce after a fixed time interval  Variable-interval schedules  Reinforce the first response after varying intervals

17. Effects of Punishment Punishment is most effective when strong, immediate, and consistent  It is NOT the logical opposite of reinforcement Undesired side effects  Increased aggression  Fear of punisher  Resentment  Does not guide towards desired behavior

18. Cognitive Process/Biological Predispositions Criticisms of Skinner  He underestimated the importance of cognitive and biological restraints  Rats created a cognitive map of the maze  Rats latent learning became evident only when there was some incentive to demonstrate it

19. Cognitive Perspective Overjustification effect  People come to see rewards, rather than intrinsic interest, as motivation for performance  Hidden cost of rewards  Undermines intrinsic motivation (desire to perform for its own sake) Extrinsic Motivation  Desire to perform because of promised rewards or threats of punishment  Interest only survives when reward is not a bribe or coercive but a signal of job well done

20. Controversy over Skinner Criticisms  Repeatedly insisting that external influences, not in internal thoughts and feelings, shape behavior  Dehumanized people by neglecting personal freedom Skinner’s response  Behavior is already controlled by external reinforcers, why not administer those consequeneces for human betterment

21. Uses of Operant Principles Used in various settings  In Schools  Rewards for work Extra credit  Online testing Immediate reinforcement  In business  Positive reinforcement for jobs Improved productivity  In Homes  Parenting

23. Learning by Observation

24. Observational Learning Among higher animals, learning does not only occur through direct experience  Observational Learning  The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior (modeling) Mirror neurons  Recently discovered in frontal lobe  Provide a neural basis for observational learning

25. Albert Bandura’s Experiment Antisocial models have antisocial effects  Children observed adults aggressive outbursts with doll  When left alone the replicated same behaviors  Experiments were also used to study the effects of tv violence on children Good News  Just as antisocial behavior can be learned, so can prosocial behaviors