Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY (7th Ed)

1. Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY (7th Ed) Chapter 8 Learning James A. McCubbin, PhD Clemson University Worth Publishers

2. Learning: p. 308 Learning: relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience Shapes • thoughts • language • motivations • attitudes • Personalities • emotions • Even the simplest of species learn by associating 2 things

3. Association • We learn by association • Association: how our minds naturally connect events that occur in sequence • How we associate 1 thing with another thing that happens AFTER it • Aristotle 2000 years ago & John Locke & David Hume 200 years ago knew about learning from association… • Associative Learning • learning that two events occur together…expecting 2nd thing to happen if the 1st happens • two stimuli = a response & its consequences • 1) Lightening  2) BOOOM!!! = fear (Response)

4. Association: Can be automatic OR by choice Event 1 Event 2 • Learning to associate 2 events • Snail: just water, will habituate • If shock added, response is stronger & continues… • Get automatic response • Seals: chooses to do something to gain something b/c associates reward w/ some activity (SL 46... eyes!) Sea snail associates splash with a tail shock Seal learns to expect a snack for its showy antics

5. Classical or Pavlovian (associative) Conditioning • Learning to associate 2 stimuli (flash + BOOM) • Conditioning: process of learning associations 3 types: • Classical conditioning (involuntary) • Operant conditioning • Observational learning if voluntary (2 & 3 = voluntary)

6. Operant Conditioning • We learn to associate a response & its consequence • If we do something, we cause something else to happen

7. Classical Conditioning • Ivan Pavlov • 1849-1936 • Russian physician/ neurophysiologist • Nobel Prize in 1904 • Studied digestive secretions (salivating reflex) in animals… especially using dogs

8. Classical Conditioning • Pavlov’s device for recording salivation

9. Classical Conditioning: Basic Terms • Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS…aka…US) • stimulus that unconditionally--automatically and naturally--triggers a response • Unconditioned Response(UCR…aka…UR) • unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus • salivation when food is in the mouth • Neutral stimulus (NS): originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, becomes the conditioned stimulus • CONDITIONED Stimulus (CS) & triggers a conditioned response • Conditioned Response (CR): learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus

10. Pavlov’s Classic Experiment: UCS, UCR; NS; CS, CR (note: NS not in yr bk but does show up) 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)

11. Classical Conditioning • organism comes to associate two stimuli • a neutral stimulus (NS) that signals an unconditioned stimulus begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for the unconditioned stimulus • UCS = UCR (naturally occurring) • NS = no response at 1st • UCS + NS = UCR then CS = CR For Pavlov’s dog & salivation on the board: ID the following: UCS = UCR NS = bell Food saliva UCS + (NS) = UCR then CS = CR Food bell saliva bell saliva

12. Behaviorism: Look at observable behaviors ONLY • John B. Watson: Watson was 1 of very 1st behaviorists • Developed the with the terms “behaviorism” & “behaviorist” relating to this type of study • Viewed psychology as objective science • Psychologists still agree w/ this today • recommended study of behavior w/o reference to unobservable mental processes • This is Not still accepted by all psych schools of thought today (cognition? emotion?)

13. Neat little trick! 

14. Classical Conditioning • Acquisition: You acquire (gain) an association Initial (1st) stage in classical conditioning • Phase associating a neutral stimulus (NS) with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) so that the NS begins to elicit (bring on) a conditioned response (CR) • It is how you paired UCS + NS to get CS • In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response

15. UCS (passionate kiss) UCR (sexual arousal) CS (onion breath) UCS (passionate Kiss) UCR (sexual arousal) CS (onion breath) CR (sexual arousal) Acquisition of sexual response to onion breath!! 

16. Conditioning • Extinction • Getting rid (diminishing) of a CR • in classical conditioning, when a UCS does not follow a CS…may be 1 time…or more…lessens then stops EX: Dog hears footsteps (bell, etc…..) but does NOT get the conditioning stimulus…like the food • in operant conditioning, when a response is no longer reinforced

17. Classical Conditioning • Spontaneous Recovery • reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished (or extincted) CR • Generalization • tendency for stimuli similar to CS to elicit similar responses • Discrimination: only responding to a specific stimulus - “can tell the difference between…” • in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that do not signal a UCS

18. Acquisition (CS+UCS) Strength of CR Spontaneous recovery of CR Extinction (CS alone) Extinction (CS alone) Pause Classical Conditioning

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. UCS (drug) UCR (nausea) CS (waiting room) UCS (drug) UCR (nausea) CS (waiting room) CR (nausea) Nausea Conditioning in Cancer Patients: Taste Aversion comes from associating last food ingested (or a situation) b4 throwing up… learns to avoid that food…or situation

21. Classical conditioning in Cancer patients: How our brain makes a biological connection: Taste Aversion

22. Pavlov’s legacy: Why it’s still important today: 1) classical conditioning: 1 way that virtually all organisms learn to adapt to their environments 2) showed how a mental process such as learning can be studied objectively, & this provided a scientific model of isolating elementary building blocks of complex behaviors & studying them w/ objective lab procedures --------------- Real EX’s: of Classical conditioning: *Baby w/ intense nausea *“Our song!” *Anabuse (w/ alcohol) *good food + flu = ugh!

23. Biological Predispositions: Certain animals are affected more quickly & strongly by certain things that help them to learn to adapt to their environments -Rats: taste aversion -Birds: sight aversion

24. Practice:ID in each given situations UCS UCR NS CS CR : 1. Little Albert 2. Ms. Uptight yells at Mary. Now when M. comes to class, she gets nervous, feels nauseated, & her palms get sweaty 3. Tom & Ernie think it would be funny to train their brother’s horse to jump and buck when he hears “Whoa!” HOW would they do this??? And ID each of the 5 above… ?: What is the MAJOR way in which Classical & Operant Conditioning vary? (V?)

25. Scaring the birds!“Copying” poisonous or dangerous animals ...

26. Operant Conditioning • behavior strengthened if followed by reinforcement OR diminished (lessened) if followed by punishment • Person makes a choice to do something in order to get something or to avoid something • Law of Effect • Thorndike’s principle: rewarded behaviors are more likely to recur. • Then Skinner developed “behavior technology,” that outlined principles of behavior control • Thorndike came up with a way to show this…Thorndike’s Puzzle Box (See DMA: 8)

27. Operant Behavior: operates (acts) on environment to produce consequences • Respondent Behavior (like Pavlov) • occurs as an automatic response to stimulus • behavior learned through classical conditioning is respondent • Which is which? Ask: Voluntary response or an involuntary response? O or R? EX’s: -Be quiet for 30 min.? -Shriek at a loud sound? -Get nauseated smelling a food that made you sick once? -Study harder to pull up a grade?

28. Operant Conditioning • B.F. Skinner(1904-1990):most famous of behaviorists • elaborated Thorndike’s Law of Effect • developed behavioral technology (equipment) EX: the operant chamber (Skinner box) to study responses of animals • Wrote Walden Two: perfect society using operant principles…also wrote Beyond Freedom & Dignity

29. Operant Chamber • Skinner Box: Operant chamber • chamber with a bar or key that an animal manipulates to obtain a food or water reinforcer • contains devices (bar, light, button, etc.) to record responses & counter to keep a record of responses • frequently used w/ rats & pigeons

30. Operant Conditioning Reinforcer: an event that strengthens the behavior it follows Shaping: operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer approximations of a desired goal -little by little, step by step, w/ small rewards (reinforcers) along the way until you get the behavior you want

31. Chaining:putting together, in a series, different tasks that have been shaped, to form a longer task… *P. 324: Read & find 2 EX’s on that page of shaping (See DMA: # 9)

32. Operant Conditioning (p. 325..note a few differences)

33. Punishment: NOT negative reinforcement! • aversive event that decreases the behavior that it follows • powerful controller of unwanted behavior (p. 328)

35. Principles of Reinforcement:A “Contingency of Reinforcement” • Primary Reinforcer: innately (?) reinforcing stimulus….i.e., satisfies a biological need • Conditioned Reinforcer(a.k.a. secondary reinforcer) • stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with primary reinforcer Schedules of Reinforcement Continuous Reinforcement • reinforcing the desired response each time it occurs • Do 1, get 1 Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement • reinforcing a response only part of the time • results in sloweracquisition (takes longer) • But…greater resistance to extinction (stays stronger!)

36. Schedules of Reinforcement • Fixed Ratio (FR) • reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses • faster you respond the more rewards you get • different ratios • very high rate of responding • EX: piecework pay: make 3 dresses, get $5; buy 5 get 1 free • Variable Ratio (VR) • reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses • average ratios • EX: gambling; or …. maybe…fishing (casts)? • very hard to extinguish because of unpredictability: …we tend to keep on trying to get it again

37. Schedules of Reinforcement • Fixed Interval (FI) • reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed • response occurs more frequently as the anticipated time for reward draws near • EX: paycheck • Variable Interval (VI) • reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals • produces slow steady responding • EX: pop quiz…or fishing (time sitting)?

39. Number of responses Fixed Ratio 1000 Variable Ratio Fixed Interval 750 Rapid responding near time for reinforcement 500 Variable Interval 250 Steady responding 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Time (minutes) Skinner’s 4 Schedules of Reinforcement: Each black “tic” = a reinforcer RATIO = gets higher # responses than Interval…. And VARIABLE (unpredictable) = higher than Fixed

41. A Question Answered from AP Psy Listserv: Is a kid’s “time-out” negative reinforcement OR negative punishment”… What do YOU think?? Some students might consider "time out" a negative reinforcement technique, but traditional time out is not actually a negative reinforcement technique. Sitting a child in a chair in the corner for a period of time is really omission training--depriving that child of something he or she wants in order to teach them not to do the undesired behavior. Omission training is a form of punishment--not reinforcement. If getting out of time out were tied to a behavior, then it would qualify as negative reinforcement. EX: if kids can get out of time out if they agree to comply with parental requests, then they would be negatively reinforced to be compliant. If time out were used as a negative reinforcement technique, then it would be a more powerful behavior modification technique. (See p.231)

42. What does each pic have to do w/ operant conditioning? Training Lions Training Rats Training Men… 

43. Learned Helplessness • Learned helplessness was discovered accidentally by psychologists Martin Seligman and Steven F. Maier • They initially observed helpless behavior in dogs classically • conditioned to expect an electrical shock after hearing a tone. • Later, the dogs were placed in a shuttlebox with 2 chambers • separated by a low barrier. • Floor was electrified on one side, but not on the other. • Dogs previously subjected to the classical conditioning made no • attempts to escape, even though they could avoid shock simply by • jumping over the low barrier. • In People: EX: child who performs poorly on math tests & • assignments quickly begins to feel nothing he does will have an • effect on his math performance. • Later when faced with math-related tasks, he may experience a • sense of helplessness.

44. Learned Helplessness: WHY even TRY???

45. Cognition & Operant Conditioning • Intrinsic Motivation • Desire to perform a behavior for its own sake • Comes from something inside of us driving us • Extrinsic Motivation • Desire to perform a behavior due to some possible rewards …or punishments • Comes from something outside (ex-) driving us

46. Biological Predispositions (p. 331): like Classical Conditioning, the ability to be trained a certain way has limits… ….Ya’ can’t teach pigs to fly…  Hamsters: Why is it easier to get it to dig or stand on hind legs than to wash its face even though it does all naturally? What are the biological predisposition of the following? Rats? Cats? Pigs? See: Problem w/ pigs & instinctive drift?

47. Skinner’s legacy: Critics: He dehumanized ppl by saying we could “train” them to behave however we wanted using reinforcements… Also in Beyond Freedom & Dignity -- he didn’t accept concept of “free-will”…our choices He completely rejected cognitive psychology as any form of science…believed it was a newer form of Wilhelm Wundt’s(“father of psych:” 1st psych lab ,1879: “birthday of psy”) ideas of introspection, which had been totally discounted 1) At school: said using computers to teach lets each kid work at his own pace & reinforces automatically (“Good job! Go to the next problem!” “Try that one again...”) 2) Techniques at work? 3) At home?

48. Operant vs Classical Conditioning p.335Note: is Table 8.3 , not 8.2 KNOW this!

49. Observational Learning • aka “Social Learning” • learning by observing others • Modeling • process of observing and imitating a specific behavior (Role models) • Albert Bandura (t-337)(DMA # 11 -Bobo doll) • Pro-social Behavior • positive, constructive, helpful behavior • opposite of antisocial behavior

50. Observational Learning • Mirror Neurons • Frontal lobe neurons that fire when we perform certain actions… • BUT these also fire when observing another performing the actions • Monkey see, monkey do? • May enable imitation, language learning, and empathy Remember the BoBo Doll ... DMA