Learning

1. Learning Chapter 5

2. Classical Conditioning • Learning Outcomes • Describe the basics of classical conditioning and how they relate to learning • Give examples of applying conditioning principles to human behavior • Explain extinction • Discuss stimulus generalization and discrimination

3. The Basics of Classical Conditioning • Learning: a relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience • Classical conditioning: a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to bring about a response after it is paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about that response • Palov’s experiment

5. The Basics of Classical Conditioning • Neutral stimulus: before conditioning, this stimulus does not naturally bring about the response of interest (bell) • Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response, without having been learned (meat)

6. The Basics of Classical Conditioning • Unconditioned response (UCR): natural, innate, reflexive response; unlearned (salivation to meat) • Conditioned stimulus (CS): once the neutral stimulus, paired with a UCS to bring about a response formerly caused by the UCS (bell) • Conditioned response (CR): a response that, after conditioning, follows a previously neutral stimulus (salivation to the bell)

7. Conditioning and Human Behavior • Human behavior is also learned through classical conditioning, particularly emotional responses, such as fear • Watson & Rayner’s experiment to classically condition Little Albert to show fear of a rat • Neutral stimulus = rat • UCS = loud noise • UCR = fear of the noise • CS = rat • CR = fear of the rat

8. Extinction • Extinction: a previously conditioned response decreases in frequency and eventually disappears • Spontaneous recovery: the reemergence of an extinguished conditioned response after a period of rest and no further conditioning

9. Extinction

10. Generalization and Discrimination • Stimulus generalization: a conditioned response follows a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus; the greater the similarity, the greater the likelihood for generalization • Stimulus discrimination: if two stimuli are sufficiently different from each other that one brings about the conditioned response but the other does not

11. Operant Conditioning • Learning Outcomes • Define the basics of operant conditioning • Explain reinforcers and punishment • Present the pros and cons of punishment • Discuss schedules of reinforcement • Explain the concept of shaping

12. The Basics of Operant Conditioning • Operant conditioning: learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened (more likely to recur regularly) or weakened (less likely to recur regularly), depending on its favorable or unfavorable consequences

13. The Basics of Operant Conditioning • Reinforcement: the process by which a stimulus increases the probability that a preceding behavior will be repeated • Reinforcer: any stimulus that increases the probability that a preceding behavior will occur again • Primary reinforcer • Secondary reinforcer

14. Positive and Negative Reinforcers • Positive reinforcer: a stimulus added to the environment that brings about an increase in a preceding response • Negative reinforcer: an unpleasant stimulus whose removal leads to an increase in a preceding response

15. Punishment • Punishment: a stimulus that decreases the probability that a preceding behavior will happen again • Positive punishment: adding an unpleasant stimulus to the environment • Negative punishment: removing a pleasant stimulus from the environment

16. Figure 2

17. The Pros and Cons of Punishment • Punishment can be effective, but there are also disadvantages • Frequently ineffective if not delivered soon after undesirable behavior • Physical punishment can send message of approval & even encouragement of physical aggression in other situations • Sometimes difficult for punisher to control the degree/amount of physical punishment…“in the heat of the moment”

18. Schedules of Reinforcement • Schedules of reinforcement: different patterns of frequency & timing of reinforcement following desired behavior • Continuous reinforcement schedule: reinforcing of a behavior every time it occurs(learning occurs more rapidly) • Partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule: reinforcing of a behavior some (but not all) of the time it occurs (behavior lasts longer after reinforcement stops)

19. Schedules of Reinforcement • Fixed-ratio schedule: reinforcement is given only after a specific number of responses are made (ex.: rat receives a food pellet every 10th time it presses a lever) • Variable-ratio schedule: reinforcement occurs after a varying number of responses (ex.: telephone salesperson’s job)

20. Shaping • Shaping: the process of teaching a complex behavior by rewarding closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior • First, reinforce any behavior that is remotely similar to the desired behavior • Then reinforce only responses that are closer to the desired behavior • Then reinforce only the desired behavior

22. Cognitive Approaches to Learning • Learning Outcomes • Explain latent learning and how it works in humans • Discuss the influence of observational learning in acquiring skills • Describe research findings about observational learning and media violence

23. Cognitive Approaches to Learning • Cognitive learning theory: focuses on the thought processes (cognitions) that underlie learning

24. Latent Learning • Latent learning: Learning in which a new behavior is acquired but is not demonstrated until some incentive is provided for displaying it • Cognitive map: mental representations of spatial locations and directions

25. Observational Learning • Observational learning: learning by watching the behavior of another person (model) (Albert Bandura, the “social cognitive approach”)

26. Violence in the Media • Research supports the claim that watching high levels of media violence makes viewers more susceptible to acting aggressively • One study found one-fourth of violent young male offenders had attempted a media-inspired copycat crime