Classical & Operant Conditioning Observational Learning Modules 19-21

1. Classical & Operant Conditioning Observational Learning Modules 19-21

2. Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning • Ivan Pavlov • 1849-1936 • Russian physician/ neurophysiologist • Nobel Prize, 1904 • studied digestive secretions

3. Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning • Pavlov’s device for recording salivation

4. Pavlov’s Apparatus for Studying Classical Conditioning in Dogs

5. Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning: Respondent Behavior • Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) • stimulus that unconditionally- naturally and automatically - triggers a response • Unconditioned Response(UCR) • unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus • salivation when food is in the mouth

6. Classical Conditioning: Respondent Behavior • learning in which a neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a response after being paired with another stimulus that naturally elicits that response • Unconditioned response (UCR): automatic response to a stimulus • Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): naturally and automatically elicits a response • Conditioned response (CR): learned response to a previously neutral stimulus • Conditioned stimulus (CS): after repeated pairings with UCS, elicits the same response

7. Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning: Respondent Behavior • Conditioned Stimulus (CS) • originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response • Conditioned Response (CR) • learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus

8. Before Conditioning UCS (food in mouth) Neutral stimulus (tone) UCR (salivation) No salivation During Conditioning After Conditioning UCS (food in mouth) CS (tone) Neutral stimulus (tone) UCR (salivation) CR (salivation) Pavlov’s Classic Experiment

9. UCS (passionate kiss) UCR (sexual arousal) CS (onion breath) UCS (passionate Kiss) UCR (sexual arousal) CS (onion breath) CR (sexual arousal) Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning

10. Classical Conditioning

11. Classic Conditioning Allows Animals to Learn to Predict Events • Learning theorists once believed that the learning in classical conditioning is unintentional and automatic (classic behaviorism). • Most contemporary learning theorists now believe classical conditioning involves quite a bit of “mindfulness”because, (through the conditioning process) humans and other animals are learning to reliably predict upcoming events.

12. Classic Conditioning Allows Animals to Learn to Predict Events • Psychologists once believed that the key to acquiring a conditioned response was the sheer number of CS-UCS pairings. • However, the order and timing of CS-UCS pairings is also very important because it provides valuable information about the upcoming occurrence of the unconditioned stimulus.

13. Utility of classical responding: Avoiding aPredator’s Attack through Classical Conditioning—Step 1

14. Avoiding a Predator’s Attack through Classical Conditioning—Step 2

15. Avoiding a Predator’s Attack through Classical Conditioning—Step 3

16. Stages in Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning • Acquisition • the initial stage of learning, during which a response is established and gradually strengthened • the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus

17. Stages in Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning • Extinction: gradual weakening and disappearance of the conditioned response • Spontaneous recovery: reappearance of an extinguished response after a period of nonexposure to the conditioned stimulus

18. After Acquisition, Other Stimuli Can Produce the Conditioned Response • Stimulus generalization: tendency for a conditioned response to be elicited by stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus

19. 60 Drops of saliva in 30 seconds 50 40 30 20 10 Hind paw Pelvis Shoulder Front paw 0 Thigh Trunk Foreleg Part of body stimulated Generalization

20. After Acquisition, Other Stimuli Can Produce the Conditioned Response • Higher-order conditioning: neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus after being paired with an existing conditioned stimulus

21. Animals Differ in What Responses Can Be Classically Conditioned • Early learning theorists assumed that the principles of conditioning were similar across all species, but subsequent research indicates that this assumption is incorrect. • Animals often differ in what responses can be conditioned. • In some animals, some responses can be conditioned much more readily to certain stimuli than to others. • An animal’s biology steers it toward certain kinds of conditioning.

22. Taste aversion study by Garcia and Koelling Rats learned to avoid a light-noise combination when it was paired with electric shock, but not when it was followed by X rays that made them nauseous. In contrast, rats quickly learned to avoid flavored water when it was followed by X rays, but they did not readily acquire an aversion to this same water when it was followed by shock. It is also adaptive that in taste aversion, strong conditioning develops despite the long delay between the CS (the taste) and the UCS (the nausea).

23. Biological Constraints on Taste Aversion in Rats

24. Animals Differ in What Responses Can Be Classically Conditioned Phobias: exaggerated and irrational fears of objects or situations Such intense fear reactions often develop through classical conditioning. We can develop a phobia toward anything, but some objects (snakes) or situations elicit phobic reactions more easily than others.

25. UCS (drug) UCR (nausea) CS (waiting room) UCS (drug) UCR (nausea) CS (waiting room) CR (nausea) Nausea Conditioning among Cancer Patients

26. UCS (loud noise) UCR (fear) CS (rat) UCS (loud noise) UCR (fear) CS (rat) CR (fear) Stimulus similar to rat (such as rabbit) Conditioned fear (generalization) Little Albert’s Fear Conditioning

27. Operant Conditioning • B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) • elaborated Thorndike’s Law of Effect • developed behavioral technology

28. Operant Behavior Is Voluntary & Directedby Consequences • Edward Thorndike ‘s Law of Effect: • the relationship between behavior and its consequences • So named becausebehavior becomes more or less likely based on the effect it has in producing desirable or undesirable consequences.

29. Thorndike’s Law of Effect • Rewarded behavior is likely to recur • E. L. Thorndike

30. Operant Behavior Is Voluntary & Directedby Consequences • B. F. Skinner made the law of effect the cornerstone for his influential theory of learning, called operant conditioning. • According to Skinner, the organism’s behavior is “operating” on the environment to achieve some desired goal. • Operant conditioning: learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcement and weakened if followed by punishment

31. Operant Conditioning • Operant Chamber (“Skinner Box”) • soundproof chamber with a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer • contains a device to record responses

32. Skinner Box

33. Shaping Reinforces Closer Approximations to Desired Behavior • Shaping (or the method of successive approximations): teaching a new behavior by reinforcing closer and closer approximations to the desired behavior

34. A Reinforcer Increases the Probability of the Behavior It Follows • The fundamental principle of behaviorism is that rewarded behavior is likely to be repeated. • This is known as reinforcement in operant conditioning. • It also states the positive side of Thorndike’s Law of Effect.

35. A Reinforcer Increases the Probability of the Behavior It Follows • Primary versus secondary reinforcers • Primary reinforcers: innately reinforcing—satisfy biological needs. • Secondary reinforcers: learned and become reinforcing when associated with a primary reinforcer

36. A Reinforcer Increases the Probability of the Behavior It Follows Positive and negative reinforcers Positive reinforcers: strengthen a response by presenting a positive stimulus after a response Negative reinforcer: strengthens a response by removing an aversive stimulus after a response

37. Positive and Negative Reinforcement, Positive and Negative Punishment

38. Different Reinforcement Schedules Lead to Different Learning and Performance Rates • Continuous reinforcement leads to the fastest learning. • The biggest problem with continuous reinforcement is that when it ends, extinction occurs rapidly.

39. Different Reinforcement Schedules Lead to Different Learning and Performance Rates • Partial reinforcement has an important effect on your continued performance because being reinforced only once in a while keeps you responding vigorously for longer periods of time than does continuous reinforcement.

40. Different Reinforcement Schedules Lead to Different Learning and Performance Rates Fixed-interval schedules: reinforce the first response after a fixed-time interval has elapsed • Fixed-ratio schedules:reinforce a response after a specified number of nonreinforced responses • Variable-interval schedules: reinforce the first response after a variable-time interval has elapsed • Variable-ratio schedules: reinforce a response after a variable number of nonreinforced responses

41. Schedules of Reinforcement

42. Accidental Reinforcement Can Cause Superstitious Behavior • Superstitious behavior:learned because it happened to be followed by a reinforcer, even though this behavior was not the cause of the reinforcer. • Skinner trained superstitious behavior in hungry pigeons. He reasoned that when reinforcement occurred, it would be paired with whatever response the pigeons had just performed. Instances of accidental reinforcement triggering superstitious behavior is common among people.

43. Punishment Should Be Used Only under Certain Circumstances • Punishment: The process by which a consequence decreases the probability of the behavior that it follows.

44. Punishment Should Be Used Only under Certain Circumstances • To be effective in reducing unwanted behaviors: • The punishment must be prompt, • It must be relatively strong, and • It must be consistently applied. • Alternative to punishment of undesirable behavior: • Allow undesirable actions to continue without either positive or negative consequences until they are extinguished

45. Criticism ofOperant Conditioning Theory is that it Overlooks Genetic Predispositions • Biological constraints on learning • As with classical conditioning, an animal’s biology can restrict its capacity for operant conditioning. • Species-specific behavior patterns can interfere with operant conditioning, a genetic constraint called instinctive drift.

46. Criticism of Operant Conditioning Theory is that it Overlooks Cognitive Processes • Latent learning: learning that occurs without apparent reinforcement and is not demonstrated until sufficient reinforcement is provided • Learning can occur without any reinforcement, something that the theory of operant conditioning assumed was not possible.

47. Latent Learning

48. Operant Conditioning Theory Overlooks Cognitive Processes • Learned helplessness: the passive resignation produced by repeated exposure to aversive events that cannot be avoided • Here again, in contradiction to behaviorist theory, research demonstrated that mental processes play a significant role in learning.

49. Applications of Operant Conditioning • Structure and feedback in learning – immediate reinforcement • Defined performance goals and immediate reinforcement at work • Parenting – reward good behavior, ignore whining, time-out

50. Observational Learning • learning by observing and imitating the behavior of others • The others whom we observe and imitate are called models. • Observational learning helps children learn how to behave in their families and in their cultures.Yet, what about the learning that occurs without direct experience?