Experimental Psychology PSY 433

1. Experimental PsychologyPSY 433 Chapter 9 Conditioning and Learning

2. Willow the Reading Dog • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_LhwuN1c1U • http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/pets/2009/10/youtube-video-willow-a-dog-that-can-read.html

3. Learning • A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge as a result of experience • Conditioning means learning. • Classical (respondent) conditioning -- learn an association between two stimuli • Instrumental (operant) conditioning -- learn an association between a behavior and a particular outcome.

4. Pavlov’s Studies

5. Classical Conditioning Prior to conditioning Neutral stimulus (tone) (Orientation to sound but no response) UCS (food powder in mouth) UCR (salivation) Conditioning Neutral stimulus CS (tone) CR (salivation) + UCS (food powder) After conditioning CS (tone) CR (salivation)

6. Classical Conditioning Examples • Dog learns to associate food with the sight of a dog food can. • Patient learns to associate the sight of the dentist’s office with the pain of dental work (drill). • Standing in front of the refrigerator until you feel hungry for something. • Hot dogs at the ballpark, popcorn at the movies. • Phobias – fear of flying.

7. Operant Conditioning • Operant conditioning – consequences of a behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future. • Thorndike’s S-R learning. • Also called instrumental conditioning. • Skinner box – an animal is rewarded each time it makes a specific response.

8. Increases Behavior Consequences Reduces Positive reinforcementadds a good thing Negative reinforcement removes bad thing Reinforcement +  Punishment Punishment adds a bad thing Response cost removes good thing

9. Four Kinds of Consequences

10. Creative Punishment

11. More Terminology • Discriminative stimulus – signals the opportunity to perform a behavior and get a reward. • Traffic light tells us when to go. • “Open” sign tells us when we can buy coffee. • Extinction – after learning, reward is withheld and the behavior gradually stops occurring. • Null contingency – no relationship between reward or punishment and behavior exists.

12. DVs in Learning Experiments • Response rate – number of responses as a function of time. • Response amplitude -- amount of saliva. • Response latency -- time to accomplish a response. • Time to complete a maze • Resistance to extinction -- how long it takes a response to go away once it stops being rewarded.

13. IVs in Learning Experiments • Magnitude of reinforcement (size of reward). • Delay prior to reinforcement. • Amount of deprivation (motivation to obtain the reward). • Intensity of the CS and UCS in classical conditioning.