Chapter 6 Learning

1. Chapter 6Learning

2. Learning • Learning is defined as any relatively permanent change in behavior that is based upon experience. • It is an area of psychology that seems simple to evaluate but is in fact quite complex. • Factors both within and outside of an organism can influence and interfere with learning.

3. Module 6.1 • Behaviorism

4. Behaviorism • Behaviorists are psychologists who insist that psychologists should study only observable, measurable behaviors, not mental processes. • There is however a wide range of views among researchers who call themselves behaviorists.

5. Behaviorism • Methodological behaviorism • Methodological behaviorists study only events that they can measure and observe. • They sometimes use those observations to make inferences about internal events.

6. Behaviorism • Methodological behaviorism • For example, from observing how an animal behaves in the presence of certain stimuli, a methodological behaviorist will infer the presence of an intervening variable. • An intervening variable is something that cannot be directly observed yet links a variety of procedures to a variety of possible responses.

7. Behaviorism • Methodological behaviorism • If a monkey is more likely to show its teeth or make loud noises in response to the placement of a stuffed animal or a larger monkey of the same species in its cage, and to a recording of growling noises of a predatory cat, the methodological behaviorist will infer the presence of the intervening variable fear.

8. Behaviorism • Methodological behaviorism • What measurements would you take to infer the presence of intervening variables such as: • Hunger • Affection • Anger

9. Behaviorism • Radical behaviorism • Radical behaviorists believe that internal states are caused by events in the environment, or by genetics. • The ultimate cause of behavior is therefore the observable events, not the internal states. • Most discussions of mental states are sloppy and should be rephrased into a description of behavior.

10. Behaviorism • The rise of behaviorism • In the early 1900’s, the structuralists used introspection as a technique to study psychology. • They asked subjects to describe their own experiences in order to study thoughts and ideas.

11. Behaviorism • The rise of behaviorism • Behaviorists believed that it was useless to ask people to describe their private experiences. • There was no way to check the accuracy of these reports, and hard to define what “private experiences” mean. • Behaviorists insisted that psychology deal with observable and measurable events only.

12. Behaviorism • The rise of behaviorism • Jacques Loeb argued that all animal behavior, and most human behavior, could be explained with stimulus-response psychology. • Stimulus-response psychology attempts to explain behavior in terms of how each stimulus triggers a response. • Flinching away from a blow and shading one’s eyes from a strong light would be examples of stimulus-response behaviors.

13. Behaviorism • The rise of behaviorism • More complex patterns of behavior are just the result of adding together many changes of speed and direction elicited by various stimuli. • Modern behaviorists do not subscribe to this model but now believe that behavior is the product of a history of stimuli and responses, plus the effects of natural physiological states (hunger, tiredness, etc.)

14. Behaviorism • The rise of behaviorism • The behaviorists carried on the tradition of asking questions about animal learning. This tradition was abandoned when it was found to be impossible to answer questions about how intelligent different animal species are. • Early behaviorists believed that it might be possible to determine the basic laws of learning by studying how animals learn.

15. Behaviorism • The assumptions of behaviorism • Behaviorists are deterministic • They assume that we live in a universe of identifiable cause-and-effect. Since our behavior is part of that universe, it too must have identifiable causes. • If we know enough about the individual’s past experiences, current influences, and genetics, we can predict that individual’s behavior.

16. Behaviorism • The assumptions of behaviorism • Behaviorists believe that mental explanations are ineffective. • Q. Why is she smiling? • A. She is smiling because she is happy. • Q How do you know she is happy? • A. We can tell she is happy because she is smiling.

17. Behaviorism • The assumptions of behaviorism • Behaviorists believe that this sort of exchange is typical of the circular reasoning that can arise when one attempts to infer the presence of internal states based on behavior. • The influence of this perspective can be seen in the American legal system, where witnesses are not allowed to draw inferences about what they saw, but rather are encouraged only to describe appearance and behavior.

18. Behaviorism • The assumptions of behaviorism • Behaviorists believe that the environment plays a powerful role in molding behavior. • The most powerful influence on behavior is outcome. • Our environment selects and perpetuates successful behaviors, much as evolution selects successful animals. • Behaviorists do not deny the importance of heredity, but they do not emphasize it.

19. Behaviorism • People are often quick to dismiss behaviorism, because they are disturbed by the notion that thoughts, beliefs and emotions are not the cause of behavior. • A behaviorist would argue that past outcomes of behaviors have caused the thoughts, beliefs and emotions. • How could you scientifically support the idea that thoughts, beliefs and emotions exist independently of your previous experiences?

20. Module 6.2 • Classical Conditioning

21. Pavlov and Classical Conditioning • Ivan Pavlov was a physiologist who won a Nobel Prize for his research on digestion. • His original description of classical conditioning was a by-product of this research. He did not set out to discover classical conditioning.

22. Classical Conditioning • Pavlov noticed that the dogs he used to do his research salivated upon the sight of the lab workers who fed them. • He concluded that this reflex was “psychological” because it was based on the dog’s previous experiences. • Further testing demonstrated that the sight of food produced the same effect as giving the same amount of food to the dog.

23. Figure 6.2 Pavlov used dogs for his experiments on classical conditioning and salivation. The experimenter can ring a buzzer (CS), present food (UCS), and measure the responses (CR and UCR). Pavlov himself collected saliva with a simple measuring pouch attached to the dog’s cheek; his later colleagues used a more complex device.

24. Classical Conditioning • Based upon his tentative acceptance of the salivation as a reflex, Pavlov used the term conditional reflex to describe this response. • The term was mistranslated into English as conditioned reflex, a mistake that helped create the terminology we use to describe classical conditioning.

25. Classical Conditioning • Pavlov started with the unconditioned reflex of salivation to food. He hypothesized that that this was an automatic connection. • The dogs had an unconditioned reflex between food and secretion of digestive juices.

26. Classical Conditioning • A buzzer is called a neutral stimulus because it elicits attention to the sound, but no automatic connection. • The dogs would lift their ears and look around when the buzzer sounded, but no salivation was produced.

27. Classical Conditioning • Pavlov conjectured that animals develop new connections by transferring a response from one stimulus to another. • He hypothesized that if a buzzer always preceded the food, the buzzer would begin to elicit the reflex of salivation.

28. Classical Conditioning • After a few pairings of the buzzer with the food, the dogs would begin to salivate as soon as the buzzer sounded.

29. Figure 6.3a With classical conditioning a conditioned stimulus is followed by an unconditioned stimulus. At first the conditioned stimulus elicits no response, and the unconditioned stimulus elicits the unconditioned response. After sufficient pairings the conditioned stimulus begins to elicit the conditioned response, which can resemble the unconditioned response.

30. Figure 6.3b With classical conditioning a conditioned stimulus is followed by an unconditioned stimulus. At first the conditioned stimulus elicits no response, and the unconditioned stimulus elicits the unconditioned response. After sufficient pairings the conditioned stimulus begins to elicit the conditioned response, which can resemble the unconditioned response.

31. Figure 6.3c With classical conditioning a conditioned stimulus is followed by an unconditioned stimulus. At first the conditioned stimulus elicits no response, and the unconditioned stimulus elicits the unconditioned response. After sufficient pairings the conditioned stimulus begins to elicit the conditioned response, which can resemble the unconditioned response.

32. Classical Conditioning • Terminology • Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)  An event that consistently and automatically elicits an unconditioned response. • Unconditioned Response (UCR)  An action that the unconditioned stimulus automatically elicits.

33. Classical Conditioning • Terminology • Conditioned Stimulus (CS)  Formerly the neutral stimulus, having been paired with the unconditioned stimulus, elicits the same response. That response depends upon its consistent pairing with the UCR. • Conditioned Response (CR)  The response elicited by the conditioned stimulus due to the training. Usually it closely resembles the UCR.

34. Classical Conditioning • Factors that enhance conditioning • Conditioning occurs more rapidly when the conditioned (neutral) stimulus is relatively unfamiliar. If you are already habituated to (used to) the neutral stimulus, it will take longer for its pairing with an unconditioned stimulus to form a connection for you. • Conditioning is facilitated when people are already aware of the connection between the CS and the UCS. When people are informed of the conditioning procedure prior to its beginning, they will be conditioned faster.

35. Concept Check A puff of air is blown into a rabbit’s eye just after a musical tone is played. After several repetitions of this procedure, the rabbit closes its eye when the musical tone is played. What are the: • UCS • UCR • Neutral Stimulus/CS • And CR?

36. Concept Check Answers: • UCS – Air puff • UCR – Closing eye • Neutral stimulus/CS – Musical tone • CR – Closing eye

37. Concept Check • The television commercial for Mega Burger shows a big delicious cheeseburger. A 50’s rock-and-roll song is played during the commercial. You see the commercial several times, and now when the song is playing on the radio, you get hungry. • What are the: • UCS • UCR • Neutral Stimulus/CS • And CR?

38. Concept Check Answers: • UCS - Cheeseburger • UCR - Hunger • Neutral Stimulus/CS – Rock and Roll song • CR - Hunger

39. Concept Check • When the training starts, the CS elicits ________ and the UCS elicits ________. No response The UCR

40. Concept Check • After the training, the CS elicits ________ and the UCS elicits ________. The CR The UCR

41. Classical Conditioning • The processes of classical conditioning • The process that establishes or strengthens a conditioned response is called acquisition. • To extinguish a classically conditioned response, the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus. This decrease and elimination is referred to as extinction.

42. Classical Conditioning • The processes of classical conditioning • A rabbit is conditioned to blink its eye through repeated presentation of a musical tone followed by a puff of air directly blown in its eye. After a few repetitions, the rabbit blinks its eye when the tone sounds. This is the acquisition. • The musical tone is then played repeatedly with no puff of air. Gradually, the rabbit stops blinking its eye. This is the extinction.

43. Classical Conditioning • The processes of classical conditioning • Extinction does not erase the association between the CS and the UCS. • If the puff of air is suddenly presented again to the rabbit without warning, it will blink its eye the next time the tone is played.

44. Classical Conditioning • The processes of classical conditioning • The temporary return of an extinguished response is called spontaneous recovery. • The rabbit acquires the response, and then the response is extinguished through the repeated presentation of the tone with no air puff. Many hours after the experiment, the rabbit hears a musical tone. It blinks its eye.

45. Figure 6.4 Phases of classical conditioning: Classical conditioning proceeds through several phases, depending on the time of presentation of the two stimuli. If the conditioned stimulus regularly precedes the unconditioned stimulus, acquisition occurs. If the conditioned stimulus is presented by itself, extinction occurs. A pause after extinction yields a brief spontaneous recovery.

46. Figure 6.5 The procedure for classical conditioning of the eye-blink response.

47. Concept Check To deal with your conditioned response to the song from the Mega Burger commercial, what steps would you take to produce extinction? What steps would you take to produce spontaneous recovery? • To produce extinction, play the song repeatedly with no image of the cheeseburger. • To produce spontaneous recovery, watch the commercial once a few days after the extinction procedure has been completed.

48. Classical Conditioning • The processes of classical conditioning • Stimulus generalization is the extension of a conditioned response from the training stimulus to similar stimuli. • Through conditioning Baby Hannah smiles and laughs at the title screen with dark background and white writing that precedes a funny song and cartoon on her “Merrytubbies” video tape. Her parents notice that she also smiles and giggles at the FBI Warning screen appearing on movie videotapes.

49. Figure 6.6 Stimulus generalization is the process of extending a learned response to new stimuli that resemble the one used in training. As a rule a stimulus similar to the training stimulus elicits a strong response; a less similar stimulus elicits a weaker response.

50. Classical Conditioning • The process of classical conditioning • Discrimination is the process of learning to respond differently to two stimuli because they produce two different outcomes. • Gradually Hannah stops laughing at the FBI Warning screen because the song and cartoon do not follow it.