Chapter 9: Conditioning and Learning

1. Chapter 9: Conditioning and Learning

2. Outline • Classical conditioning • Operant conditioning • types of reinforcement • types of reinforcement schedules • role of discriminative • Vicarious learning • Factors that influence modelling

3. Classical Conditioning • Unconditioned Stimuli (national flag) • Unconditioned Response (sense of nationalism) • Neutral or Conditional Stimulus (candidate) • When flag is paired with candidate, he/she elicits a sense of nationalism.

4. Classical Conditioning (continued) • No voluntary control • Multiple pairing of US and CS • Works better for behavioral responses (Pavlovian Dog) than for cognitive/affective responses • Can be chained [association can be transferred] • Influence behavior by triggering association between conditional and neutral stimulus.

5. Operant Conditioning • Altering behavior by associating each behavior with consequences. • A positive consequence will increase probability of behavior and negative will decrease. • Applicable for voluntary behaviors

6. Reinforcement • It refers to the consequences that come with a given behavior. • The probability of behavior depends on the consequences of the behavior.

7. Types of Reinforcement • Positive -- behavior is followed by a reward or a positive consequence • Negative -- behavior followed by the removal of a negative consequence • Punishment -- behavior followed by a negative consequence. • Extinction -- no consequence

8. Reinforcement Schedules • Continuous -- consequence for every time the behavior occurs. • Fixed-Ratio -- consequence for every predefined number of times the behavior occurs • Variable -- no set pattern

9. Pros and Cons of Different Reinforcement Schedules • Continuous is expensive and very effective, but changes expectations. • Fixed is less expensive, but less effective. • Variable is less effective, but very inexpensive, and not prone to extinction, and does not influence expectations.

10. Shaping • Changing behavior using small incremental changes in behavior rather than a single big shift in behavior.

11. Discriminative Stimuli • The mere presence or absence of certain stimuli can alter the likelihood of behaviors. • This is related to the concept of reinforcement except that it occurs before the behavior. • Most promotions are examples of discriminative stimuli.

12. Vicarious Learning • Changing one’s own behavior by observing the behavior of others and the consequences that occurred. • Known as modeling. • Can be used for developing new behaviors, inhibit undesirable behaviors, facilitate known desired behaviors.

13. Factors Influencing Vicarious Learning (Modeling) • Models who are attractive, credible, high-status, experts are more effective. • Vivid and detailed portrayal of modeled behavior and consequences increases modeling. • Perceptive and confident people are able to learn better.