Learning

1. Learning Stolen by Coach B. from many sources including www.appsychology.com

2. Learning and Behaviorism • Three major areas of learning • Classical Conditioning: Pavlov • Instrumental /Operant Conditioning: Skinner • Social Learning Theory: Bandura

3. Learning questions • What is Behaviorism? • Who was Pavlov? • What is classical conditioning? • What is UCS, UCR, CS, CR? (same card) • What is acquisition? extinction? • What is stimulus generalization? • What is stimulus discrimination? • What was the Baby Albert experiment? • What is spontaneous recovery? • What is Operant Conditioning? • Who was BF Skinner? • What is positive reinforcement? Negative Reinforcement? Positive punishment? Negative punishment? Aversive stimulus? • Fixed ratio schedule, variable ratio schedule? • Primary vs secondary reinforcers? • Who was Albert Bandura and his Bobo doll experiment? • What is social learning theory?

4. What is Behaviorism? • School of psychology- studies scientifically observable behaviors, not unconscious drives. • Behaviorists like tabula rasa (blank slate) • Free will is an illusion. • Includes classical, operant and social learning theory

5. John B. Watson “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own special world to bring them up in, and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, merchant-chief, and yes, beggar man or thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.”

6. Classical Conditioning It all started with: Ivan Pavlov

8. What is classical conditioning? • When your brain and nervous system make an association between 2 stimuli (things). • Example: food and a bell A song and making out with your “friend”

9. Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response. Unconditional Response (UCR): the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the UCS.

10. Conditioned Stimulus (CS): an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with the UCS, comes to trigger a response. Conditioned Response (CR): the learned response to a previously neutral stimulus.

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13. Come up with your own examples of Classical Conditioning

14. What is the Little Albert experiment? • John Watson classically conditioned a baby to fear a white rat. Then the baby feared all furry things.

16. Pavlov spent the rest of his life outlining his ideas. He came up with 5 critical terms that together make up classical conditioning. • Acquisition • Extinction • Spontaneous Recovery • Generalization • Discrimination

17. Acquisition • The initial stage of learning. • The phase where the neutral stimulus is associated with the UCS so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit the CR (thus becoming the CS). Does timing matter? • The CS should come before the UCS • They should be very close together in timing.

18. Extinction • The diminishing of a conditioned response. • Will eventually happen when the UCS does not follow the CS. Is extinction permanent?

19. Spontaneous Recovery • The reappearance. After a rest period, of an extinguished conditioned response.

20. Generalization • The tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the CS to elicit similar responses.

21. Stimulus Generalization The Baby was given the rat while Watson sounded a loud, scary clank.. Now the baby is afraid of all furry things.

23. Discrimination • The learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that does not signal UCS.

24. How can we apply classical conditioning?

25. Applications of Taste Aversion • treating alcoholism, using the drug Antabuse • causes nausea and violent vomiting when combined with alcohol • attempts to create a taste aversion to alcohol • Problem: alcoholics tend to stop taking Antabuse so they can drink again • but when used properly, Antabuse does reduce total amount of alcohol consumed (Brewer et al., 2000; Chick et al., 1992)

26. Applications of Taste Aversion • humane methods of controlling predators, agricultural pests? • coyotes & wolves ate sheep carcasses laced with nausea-inducing poison; developed aversion to sheep meat (Gustavson et al., 1974, 1976) • wolves penned with sheep later seemed to fear it! • similar results with baboons in African gardens, raccoons attacking chickens, ravens & crows feeding on raven eggs

28. Stimulus Discrimination: learning to respond differently to two stimuli because different outcomes follow them. • A dog may drool to a bell, but not a gong.

29. Extinction • If a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, then the conditioned response will disappear. This is known as extinction. If a dog learns to associate the sound of a bell with food and then the bell is rung repeatedly, but no food is presented, the dog will soon stop salivating a the sound of the bell.

30. Conditioned Taste Aversion • Link a food with illness • CS paired with UR • Preparedness • Concern for patients receiving chemotherapy

31. The Garcia effect • People get sick after eating at a restaurant so they won’t eat at that restaurant, even if they know the food was safe.

32. 1. Sara is watching a storm. A bolt of lightening is followed immediately by a huge crash of thunder and makes her jump. This happens several more times. The storm starts to move away and there is a gap between the lightening bolt and the sound of thunder, yet Sara jumps at the lightening bolt. • What is the: • UCS • UCR • CS • CR

33. 2. Steve's mouth waters whenever he eats anything with lemon in it. One day, while seeing an advertisement showing lemons, his mouth begins to water. • What is the: • UCS • UCR • CS • CR

34. Operant Conditioning • Also known as Instrumental Conditioning • Thorndike and his cats • Key difference from Classical Conditioning: subject’s behavior determines an outcome and is subsequently impacted by that outcome • Operant generally applies to skeletal muscles, classical to visceral responses

35. What is operant conditioning? • Behaviors are a result of reinforcements and punishments. • B.F. Skinner is the famous guy.

36. Edward Thorndike • Law of Effect: rewarded behavior is likely to recur.

37. Thorndike’s Puzzle Box • Edward Thorndike (1874-1949): created a puzzle box: cage with latched door that could only be opened by pressing lever inside • cats became quicker and quicker to press lever once they figured it out • Law of Effect: rewarded behaviors are more likely to be repeated

38. B.F. Skinner C’mon gimmie a kiss!

40. B.F. Skinner • Most influential behaviorist • Envisioned a utopian society based upon his theories • Skinner Box • Ping-pong playing and airplane flying pigeons • Shaping – training with rewards

41. Skinner Box

42. How do you shape behavior?What is shaping? Shaping is like “training.” You shape or change a behavior through reinforcements and punishments.

43. Shaping • A procedure in Operant Conditioning in which reinforcers guide behavior closer and closer towards a goal.

44. Operant Conditioning Chamber“Skinner box” Conditioning

46. Reinforcer • Any event that STRENGTHENS the behavior it follows. Two Types of Reinforcement: Positive and Negative

47. Reinforcement – increasing desired behavior • Positive Reinforcement – giving something good to increase a behavior (example?) • Negative Reinforcement – taking away something bad to increase a behavior (example?)

48. Punishment – reducing behavior • - positive punishment giving something bad to reduce a behavior (example?) spanking = aversive stimulus • - negative punishment – (omission training) taking away something good to reduce a behavior (example?)

49. Positive Reinforcement • Strengthens a response by presenting a stimulus after a response.

50. Negative Reinforcement • Strengthens a response by reducing or removing an aversive stimulus.