Experimental Psychology PSY 433

1. Experimental PsychologyPSY 433 Chapter 9 Conditioning and Learning

2. What is Plagiarism? • http://www.indiana.edu/~wts/pamphlets/plagiarism.shtml#plagiarized

3. Samples from Past Student Papers • The participants will report to a specified lab room in building 5. Participants will be greeted and asked to quietly take a seat at a computer station. • Subjects will report to a specified lab room in building 5. Upon entering the lab subjects will be greeted and asked to quietly take a seat. • This is Unacceptable

4. Another Unacceptable Example • Using a bivalent within-subjects design, we will be measuring the affect… • Using a bivalent within-subjects design, we will measure the participant’s correct responses. • We will be using a bivalent within-subjects design measuring both the affects of the sex… • Using a bivalent design, the correct responses of the participants will be measured…

5. One More Unacceptable Example • Data was analyzed using SPSS a statistics software program produced by IBM. A 0.05 significance level was used. • Information was collected from the participants’ responses and was evaluated at the .05 level of significance using SPSS known as a statistical software developed by IBM. • One student clearly used a group member’s paper as a template for writing the Results.

6. Willow the Reading Dog • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_LhwuN1c1U • http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/pets/2009/10/youtube-video-willow-a-dog-that-can-read.html

7. Learning • A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge as a result of experience • Conditioning means learning. • Classical (respondent) conditioning -- learn an association between two stimuli • Instrumental (operant) conditioning -- learn an association between a behavior and a particular outcome.

8. Pavlov’s Studies

9. Classical Conditioning Prior to conditioning Neutral stimulus (tone) (Orientation to sound but no response) UCS (food powder in mouth) UCR (salivation) Conditioning Neutral stimulus CS (tone) CR (salivation) + UCS (food powder) After conditioning CS (tone) CR (salivation)

10. Classical Conditioning Examples • Dog learns to associate food with the sight of a dog food can. • Patient learns to associate the sight of the dentist’s office with the pain of dental work (drill). • Standing in front of the refrigerator until you feel hungry for something. • Hot dogs at the ballpark, popcorn at the movies. • Phobias – fear of flying.

11. Operant Conditioning • Operant conditioning – consequences of a behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future. • Thorndike’s S-R learning. • Also called instrumental conditioning. • Skinner box – an animal is rewarded each time it makes a specific response.

12. Increases Behavior Consequences Reduces Positive reinforcementadds a good thing Negative reinforcement removes bad thing Reinforcement +  Punishment Punishment adds a bad thing Response cost removes good thing

13. Four Kinds of Consequences Positive Stimulus (Add) Negative Stimulus (Subtract) Positive Reinforcement Bonus for working hard leads to more hard work Negative Reinforcement Headache gone after aspirin leads to more aspirin use Increase Behavior Positive Punishment Getting speeding ticket leads to less speeding Negative Punishment Missing dinner leads to less staying out late Decrease Behavior

14. More Terminology • Discriminative stimulus – signals the opportunity to perform a behavior and get a reward. • Traffic light tells us when to go. • “Open” sign tells us when we can buy coffee. • Extinction – after learning, reward is withheld and the behavior gradually stops occurring. • Null contingency – no relationship between reward or punishment and behavior exists.

15. DVs in Learning Experiments • Response rate – number of responses as a function of time. • Response amplitude -- amount of saliva. • Response latency -- time to accomplish a response. • Time to complete a maze • Resistance to extinction -- how long it takes a response to go away once it stops being rewarded.

16. IVs in Learning Experiments • Magnitude of reinforcement (size of reward). • Delay prior to reinforcement. • Amount of deprivation (motivation to obtain the reward). • Intensity of the CS and UCS in classical conditioning.