Learning : a relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience

1. Learning: a relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience Myers Chapter 7

2. Cultural Influences on Learning • Western cultures • Emphasize the Socratic principles • Use your mind to inquire of the world • Eastern cultures • Influenced by Mencius • Strive to be a more virtuous person

3. Western Understanding a topic Developing expertise Pride for success Disappointment & low self-esteem for failure Eastern Moral and social protection Contribute to society Virtues are diligence, perseverance, & concentration Cultural Perspectives on Learning

4. Western Arouse students’ interest Explain clearly Use effective instructions Organize activities well Chinese Has deep knowledge Readily answer questions Good moral model Cultural Perspectives on Teaching

5. Two Forms of Learning • Associative learning: our mind naturally links two events that occur in sequence • two stimuli • a response and its consequence • Observational learning: we learn from viewing others’ experience

6. Associative Learning • Classical Conditioning • Operant Conditioning

7. Classical Conditioning • Learning in which organisms learn to associate stimuli and thus anticipate events

8. Classical Conditioning

9. Classical Conditioning • Unconditioned response (UR): the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US) • Salivation in response to food in mouth

10. Classical Conditioning • Unconditioned stimulus (US): a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response • Food in the mouth

11. Classical Conditioning • Conditioned response: the learned response to a previously neutral stimulus • Salivation in response to the the metronome

12. Classical Conditioning • Conditioned stimulus (CS): an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after repeated association with an unconditioned stimulus, triggers a conditioned response • The sound of the metronome • Before conditioning, this was the neutral stimulus

13. Classical Conditioning • Unconditioned = unlearned • Conditioned = learned

14. Acquisition • The initial learning of the stimulus-response relationship • Ideal circumstances • 1/2 second b/t neutral stimulus and US • CS before US

15. Higher-Order Conditioning • Occurs when the conditioned stimulus from one conditioning procedure is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second, often weaker, conditioned stimulus • Also referred to as second-order conditioning

16. Extinction • The diminishing of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus occurs repeatedly without the unconditioned

17. Extinction

18. Spontaneous Recovery

19. Generalization The tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS Adaptive - extends a learned response to other stimuli in a given category Discrimination The learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other irrelevant stimuli Adaptive - limits our learned responses to appropriate stimuli Generalization & Discrimination

20. Cognitive Processes in Learning • Thoughts and perceptions are important in the conditioning process • Understanding the critical relationship between the US & CS • An “accepting” attitude

21. Biological Dispositions and Learning • Each species is biologically prepared to to learn associations that enhance its survival (help them adapt) • Human taste aversions • Rats more readily learn to avoid tastes, not sights or sounds

22. Pavlov’s Legacy • Principles of learning apply across species • Classical conditioning is one way virtually all organisms adapt • Objective study of psychological phenomena • Conditioning principles have important applications

23. John B. Watson • Behaviorism • “Little Albert”- classic conditioning may underlie specific fears

24. Operant Conditioning • The organism learns associations between its behavior and resulting events • The organism operates on the environment • In classical conditioning, the organism’s response is respondent (automatic)

25. Thorndike’s Law of Effect • Rewarded behavior is likely to occur • Basis of Skinner’s work

26. B.F. Skinner • Psychology’s most influential figure??? • Skinner box (operant chamber): a device that delivers rewards for responses and records these responses

27. Shaping • Reinforcers are used to guide an animal’s natural behavior toward a desired behavior • Successive approximations: behaviors closer and closer to the desired behavior • Ignore all other responses • Immediacy is important

28. Reinforcement • Reinforcer: any event that increases the frequency of a preceding response • Positive: presenting a pleasant stimulus after a response • Negative: reducing or removing an unpleasant stimulus after a response

29. Reinforcement • Primary reinforcers: innately satisfying • Food when we are hungry • Conditioned reinforcers: satisfying because we have learned to associate them with more basic rewards • Cash

30. Reinforcement • Continuous reinforcement: the response is rewarded every time it occurs • Learning is rapid, but so is extinction • Partial (intermittent) reinforcement: the response is not rewarded every time it occurs • Learning is slower than with continuous, but more resistant to extinction

31. Reinforcement Schedules • Ratio schedules: based on number of responses • Interval schedules: based on passage of time

32. Reinforcement Schedules • Ratio schedules: based on number of responses • Fixed ratio: reinforce after a set number of responses • Variable ratio: reinforce after an unpredictable number of responses

33. Reinforcement Schedules • Interval schedules: based on passage of time • Fixed-interval: reinforce the first response after a fixed period of time • Variable-interval: reinforce the first response after varying time intervals

34. Reinforcement

35. Punishment • Attempts to decrease the frequency of a behavior • Distinguished from reinforcement - attempts to increase the frequency of a behavior • Administration of an undesirable consequence

36. Punishment • Administration of an undesirable consequence • Negative punishment: removal of a favored object or activity • Fighting over a toy….Toy taken away • Positive punishment: administer an undesirable consequence • Fighting over a toy….Spanking

37. Punishment • Suppressing rather than changing behavior • Teaches discrimination and fear • Increases aggressiveness

38. Cognitive Processes in Operant Conditioning • Latent learning: we learn from experience with or without reinforcement, but sometimes learning is only demonstrated when we have some incentive to demonstrate it

39. Cognitive Processes in Operant Conditioning • Cognitive map: a mental representation of an environment

40. Intrinsic: the desire to perform a behavior for its own sake Extrinsic: the desire to perform a behavior to receive external rewards oravoid threatened punishment Motivation

41. Operant Conditioning and Biology • An animal’s natural predispositions constrain its capacity for operant conditioning • Naturally adaptive associations (teaching a cat to jump high)

42. Skinner’s Legacy • Critics argue he dehumanized people • Applications • Web-based schoolwork • Sports • Employee productivity • Parenting • Bad habits

43. Operant Conditioning in Our Own Lives • State your goal • Monitor how often you engage in your desired behavior • Reinforce the desired behavior • Reduce the rewards gradually

44. Classical & Operant Conditioning • Similarities • Associative learning • Involve acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, & discrimination • Influenced by cognitive and biological dispositions

45. Classical & Operant Conditioning • Differences • Classical: organism associates different stimuli they do not control and respond to those automatically • Operant: organism associates own behaviors with the consequences of those behaviors

46. Observational Learning • Modeling: the process of observing and imitating a behavior • Mirror neurons: biological basis for observational learning • Frontal lobe • Underlie our social nature

47. Observational Learning • Albert Bandura • We imitate because of rewards and punishments received by the model and the imitator • We learn to anticipate those consequences in similar situations • We tend to imitate models we perceive as similar to us, successful, or admirable

48. Prosocial Modeling • People who show nonviolent, helpful behavior prompt similar behaviors in others • Most consistent when actions & words are consistent