Chapter 6

1. Chapter 6 Learning Schacter Gilbert Wegner PSYCHOLOGY • Slides prepared by: • Melissa S. Terlecki, Cabrini College

2. 6.1 Defining Learning: Experience That Causes A Permanent Change PSYCHOLOGY Schacter Gilbert Wegner

3. Learning and Habituation • Learning: some experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner. • can be conscious and deliberate or unconscious. • Habituation: a general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in responding. • a simple form of learning.

4. Questions • How are learning and memory linked? • Why won’t the noise from a highway near your home keep you awake at night?

5. 6.2 Classical Conditioning: One Thing Leads To Another PSYCHOLOGY Schacter Gilbert Wegner

6. Classical Conditioning • Behaviorism measures only observable, quantifiable behavior. • Classical conditioning: when a neutral stimulus evokes a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally evokes a response. • unconditioned stimulus (US), unconditioned response (UR), conditioned stimulus (CS), conditioned response (CR)

7. Figure 6.1: Pavlov’s Apparatus for Studying Classical Conditioning (p. 164)

8. Figure 6.2: The Elements of Classical Conditioning (p. 165)

9. Questions • Why do some dogs seem to know when it’s dinner time?

10. US UR CS CR A reaction that resembles an UR, but is produced by a CS. Something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism. A stimulus that is initially neutral and produces no reliable response in an organism. A reflexive reaction that is reliably elicited by an US. Match the Classical Conditioning Component With Its Definition

11. The Real World: Understanding Drug Overdoses • Drug overdose deaths are puzzling: • victims are often experienced drug users. • the dose is not larger than they usually take. • deaths tend to occur in unusual settings. • A CS includes the context and many CR’s can be compensatory reactions to the US. • Taking drugs in a new environment can be fatal.

12. The Basic Principles of Classical Conditioning • Classical conditioning is based on the association between the CS and the US. • Acquisition: the phase of classical conditioning when the CS and the US are presented together. • Extinction: the gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the US is no longer presented. • Spontaneous recovery: the tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period.

13. Figure 6.3: Acquisition, Extinction, and Spontaneous Recovery (p. 167)

14. Questions • How does conditioned behavior change when the unconditioned stimulus is removed?

15. Generalization and Discrimination • Generalization: a process in which the CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different from the original one used during acquisition. • Discrimination: the capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli.

16. Figure 6.4: Stimulus Generalization (p. 168)

17. Questions • How can changing the can opener you use affect a conditioned dog’s response?

18. Conditioned Emotional Responses: The Case of Little Albert • In Watson’s experiment, Little Albert associated a frightening loud noise (US) with a white rat (CS) to elicit fear (CR). • also showed stimulus generalization in fear responses to similar stimuli. • Fear can be learned just as any other behavior. • Conditioning can be applied to humans just as any other animal. • Ethics?

19. Watson’s Experiment with Little Albert (p. 169)

20. Questions • Why did Albert fear the rat?

21. The Neural Elements of Classical Conditioning • The amygdala (central nucleus) is critical for emotional conditioning. • When fear conditioning takes place, a behavioral and physiological (autonomic nervous system) response are elicited by the CS. • path from amygdala to midbrain controls the behavioral response. • path from the amygdala to the hypothalamus controls the physiological response.

22. Questions • What is the role of the amygdala in fear conditioning?

23. The Cognitive Elements of Classical Conditioning • Classical conditioning only occurs when an animal has learned to set up an expectation. • Conditioning is easier when the CS is an unfamiliar event than a familiar one (no pre-existing expectations).

24. Figure 6.5: Expectation in Classical Conditioning (p. 171)

25. Questions • How does familiarity with the stimulus hinder new conditioning?

26. The Evolutionary Elements of Classical Conditioning • The conditioning of food aversions and preferences has adaptive value. • rapid learning across 1-2 trials. • conditioning should take place over long intervals. • aversion to be to smell or taste rather than ingestion itself. • aversion should occur more often for novel foods. • Biological preparedness: a propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others.

27. Questions • How have cancer patients’ discomfort been eased by our understanding of food aversions?

28. Culture and Community: Is it Possible That Humans Have an Innate Ability to Understand Geometry? • Basic comprehension of geometric shapes compared between Americans and the Munduruku (an isolated tribe in the Amazon). • All participants performed well above chance. • Is knowledge of geometry universal and innate?

29. 6.3 Operant Conditioning: Reinforcements From The Environment PSYCHOLOGY Schacter Gilbert Wegner

30. Law of Effect • Operant conditioning involves the study of behaviors that are reactive. • Thorndike’s research focused on instrumental behaviors. • Operant conditioning: a type of learning in which the consequences of an organism’s behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future. • Law of effect: the principle that behaviors that are followed by a “satisfying state of affairs” tend to be repeated and those that produce an “unpleasant state of affairs” are less likely to be repeated.

31. Figure 6.6: Thorndike’s Puzzle Box (p. 174)

32. Figure 6.7: The Law of Effect (p. 174)

33. Questions • What is the relationship between behavior and reward?

34. Reinforcement, Punishment, and the Development of Operant Conditioning • Operant behavior: behavior that an organism produces that has some impact on the environment. • Reinforcer: any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it. • positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement. • Punisher: any stimulus or event that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behavior that led to it. • positive punishment, negative punishment.

35. Figure 6.8: Skinner Box (p. 175)

36. Table 6.1: Reinforcement and Punishment (p. 176)

37. Positive Reinforcement Negative Reinforcement Positive Punishment Negative Punishment Getting a pizza party for earning a good grade on an exam. Having your car privileges taken away for disobeying a curfew. Having to do more weekly chores for getting caught stealing money. Taking a particular pain reliever medication to get rid of a headache. Match the Operant Conditioning Component With Its Example

38. Questions • Why is reinforcement more constructive than punishment in learning desired behavior?

39. Reinforcers • Primary reinforcers satisfy biological needs. • Secondary reinforcers are associated with primary reinforcers through classical conditioning. • Overjustification effect: circumstances when external rewards can undermine the intrinsic satisfaction of performing a behavior.

40. Questions • Can rewards backfire?

41. The Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning • A discriminative stimulus is one that is associated with reinforcement. • Stimulus control develops when a particular response only occurs when the appropriate stimulus is present. • discrimination and generalization effects. • Shaping: learning that results from the reinforcement of successive approximations to a final desired behavior. • Superstitious behaviors reinforced?

42. Shaping (p. 178, 179)

43. Questions • How can operant conditioning produce complex behaviors?

44. Questions • How would a behaviorist explain superstitions?

45. Schedules of Reinforcement • Schedule of reinforcement: when/how an organism is reinforced for a particular behavior. • interval schedule: time intervals. • ratio schedule: ratio/number of responses. • Fixed interval schedule (FI): reinforcements are presented at fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made. • Variable interval schedule (VI): reinforcements are based on an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement. • Fixed ratio schedule (FR): reinforcements are presented after a specific number of responses have been made. • Variable ratio schedule (VR): reinforcements are based on a particular average number of responses. • Intermittent reinforcement: only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement.

46. Figure 6.9: Reinforcement Schedules (p. 181)

47. Questions • How does a radio station use scheduled reinforcements to keep you listening?

48. Questions • How do ratio schedules work to keep you spending your money?

49. FI VI FR VR After every 10 pizzas you buy, you get one free. A casino jackpot machine hits every 100th player. For every 10 minutes you sit still at the doctor’s office, you get a lollipop. A car dealership gives away keys to a brand new car every hour. Match the Schedule of Reinfocement With Its Example

50. The Neural Elements of Operant Conditioning • Pleasure centers in the limbic system (medial forebrain bundle, hypothalamus, and nucleus accumbens) are involved in conditioning. • Dopamine (positive emotions) is secreted throughout these pathways. • Pathways linked to hunger, sexual interest and activity.