ABC of learning (conditioning)

1. ABC of learning (conditioning) • Learning is .... • Conditioning is like learning, a theory about how learning works which is focused on the ABC • Antecedent – event before the response • Behaviour (aka response) • Consequence • A stimulus (antecedent) leads to a response • Reinforcement is a positive consequence

2. Example Questions 1. In early experiments in this area, the scientist would slap the subject in the face, and the subject would blink. The slap is a _____________. The blink is a ____________. 2. Blinking when slapped in the face is an example of a _______ response. 3. Animals have more/less reflex responses than humans. 4. The student is sitting in an exam. The student can’t answer all the questions, so tries to copy answers off a neighbour. The student is caught and given a zero for the exam and fails the subject. Being in the exam and not knowing all the answers is the __________, trying to copy answer is the __________ and failing the subject is called the _______________.

3. The two big ‘Conditioning’ theories Classical Conditioning (first) Operant Conditioning Two stimulus happen together. The response to one the stimuli spreads to also be the response to the other Pavlov The dogs salivate when they eat, after a while they would salivate when they heard the person coming to feed them. When behaviours are rewarded and not punished they are more likely to be repeated Skinner Skinner trained pigeons by feeding them when they did the ‘right thing’, or given them an electric shock when they did the ‘wrong thing’.

4. Classical Conditioning • A neutral stimulus (NS) elicits no response • An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) elicits a response • often reflex response e.g. salivation, blink • Acquisition is linking of the NS and UCS • presented together e.g. bring food and ring bell • Acquisition phase is time between NS and UCS • the shorter the better • Extinction occurs if NS is presented without UCS • bell rung repeatedly, but no food, salivation lessens • Spontaneous recovery can occur • After extinction, if link occurs again, salivation returns

5. Classical Conditioning ? ? If repeated many times on its own

6. Unconditioned Response (UR) Often a reflex Classical Conditioning Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) Nothing! Neutral Stimulus (NS) Acquisition Process conditioned Response (CR) After acquisition process If repeated many times on its own Nothing! =extinction

7. Sample Questions In the previous example with dogs, bells and food: Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) is _________ Conditioned Stimulus (CS) is ____________ The unconditioned response (UR) is ________ The conditioned response (CR) is __________ The period when the stimulus are given together in order to develop the conditioned response is called the ___________. If later this conditioned response stops it is called __________.

8. Generalisation and Discrimination Generalisation Discrimination Similar stimulus lead to same response Similar stimulus DON’T lead to response

9. Sample Exam Questions When Jessica was a young child, her mother often used CleanQuick spray to clean the house. This did not initially bother Jessica. When Jessica was eight years old, she experienced a severe gastric illness. During this time, Jessica’s mother used CleanQuick spray wherever Jessica was in order to reduce the risk of infecting others. Since then, whenever Jessica smells CleanQuick spray she feels ill. Use the language of classical conditioning for Jessica. Question 5 The period of time when she experienced the illness and the continuous spraying of CleanQuick is known as A. responding. B. operating. C. extinction. D. acquisition. Question 6 Before Jessica’s illness, CleanQuick spray was A. a conditioned response. B a neutral stimulus. C. an unconditioned stimulus. D. an unconditioned response.

10. Further Sample Exam Questions Question 8 As a teenager, when Jessica feels nauseous at the smell of CleanQuick spray, the nausea is an example of A. a conditioned response. B. an unconditioned response. C. a generalised response. D. spontaneous recovery. Question 9Jessica now also feels nauseated when she smells a similar spray, CleanSlow. This is an example of A. spontaneous recovery. B. stimulus generalisation. C. stimulus discrimination. D. acquisition Question 7 As a teenager, CleanQuick spray is now to Jessica a A. conditioned stimulus. B. unconditioned stimulus. C. conditioned response. D. unconditioned response.

11. Applications of Classical Conditioning • Graduated Exposure (systematic desensitisation) • Scared? Show them a little, then a little more • E.g. Heights, up a step, then a metre, then 2m • Aversion therapy • Stop bad habits • E.g. Drug that causes nausea if alcohol is drunk • Flooding • Scared of water? Throw them in the deep end! • Maximise the fear, then help them cope

12. Example Questions Treatment of a phobic anxiety disorder may involve a number of strategies, one of which is the use of systematic desensitisation. The therapy of systematic desensitisation is based mainly around • A. observational learning. • B. classical conditioning principles. • C. insight learning. • D. operant conditioning principles.

13. Example Questions ____________ is where a punishment is used to stop a bad habit, ___________ is where a feared stimulus is given at full level and the person is helped to cope, while ____________ is where a feared stimulus is gradually increased. a) Flooding, graduated exposure, aversion therapy b) Flooding, aversion therapy, graduated exposure c) Aversion therapy, graduated exposure, flooding d) Aversion therapy, flooding, graduated exposure

14. Operant Conditioning Skinner trained animals using reinforcements and punishments. Reinforcement = action more likely to occur Positive Reinforcement = reward (e.g. Food) Negative Reinforcement = removal of a negative stimulus (e.g. removal of electric shocks) Punishment = Adding unpleasant stimulus (e.g. Detention, Caning) Punishment Type 2: Response Cost = Removing a positive stimulus (e.g. Removal of phone/ipod)

15. Quadrants of Operant Conditioning

16. Schedule

17. Schedules of Reinforcement When is a reinforcement given? • For every correct response? Continuous • Based upon number of correct responses? Rate • Fixed Rate e.g. Every 5 correct responses • Variable Rate i.e. After a random number of correct responses. e.g. Poker Machines. • Based upon time? Interval • Fixed interval e.g. 10 minutes after correct response • Variable interval i.e. After a changing random amount of time. e.g. Fishing What schedule do you think will be most effective?

18. Sample Question Jess has decided that she eats too many chocolates. She develops a program to modify her eating behaviour. Every time she goes through a whole day without eating a chocolate, she makes herself a chocolate smoothie • before going to bed. Every day that she does eat a chocolate, she does not eat dessert after dinner. • In terms of operant conditioning, Jess’s behaviour modification involves • A. positive reinforcement – smoothie and negative reinforcement – no dessert. • B. negative reinforcement – smoothie and punishment – no dessert. • C. positive reinforcement – smoothie and response cost – no dessert. • D. negative reinforcement – no dessert and response cost – smoothie.

19. Sample Question • Which one of the following programs is likely to be the most effective in increasing the number of boxes of oranges picked by workers in an orange orchard? • A. Give a bonus of 10 dollars to each worker every time 10 boxes are picked. • B. At the end of the picking season, give a bonus to the workers who pick above the average number of boxes. • C. At the end of each day, reduce the payment per box of those workers who pick less than the average number of boxes. • D. At the end of the picking season, reduce the payment of those workers who pick less than the average number of boxes.

20. Operant Generalisation and Discrimination Generalisation Discrimination Respond to similar stimulus if reinforced Similar stimulus DON’T lead to response e.g. Drug Sniffer Dogs

21. Applications of Operant Conditioning Shaping: of behaviour, by reinforcing behaviours that lead to the desired outcome, but punishing behaviours that don’t. (e.g. Teachers with students). Token economies: (Wolfe) <studied chimps> Tokens are awarded for ‘good behaviour’ and can later be exchanged for food or privileges (e.g. gold stars, exchanged for chocolate) Primary = tangible (food, water, sex) Secondary = intangible (praise, status)

22. Comparison of the two major types Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning • Learner is passive, the link between stimulus will happen regardless or their activity • Stimulus occurs before response (bell before food) • Involuntary: no choice • Reflex • Learner is active. If they do nothing, nothing will happen. • Reward occurs after response (food after pushing lever) • Voluntary: choice • Spontaneous

23. Sample Questions Which one of the following elements is associated with learning by operant conditioning, but not by classical • conditioning? • A. extinction • B. punishment • C. acquisition • D. stimulus discrimination Operant conditioning is best described as • A. the continual pairing of a conditioned and unconditioned stimulus. • B. the impact of consequences on behaviour. • C. the effect of observation on behaviour. • D. behavioural changes due to development of bodily systems.

24. One Trial Learning Like Classical Conditioning, but it only needs ____ trial which is a reinforcer/punishment. The second stimulus must be extremely unpleasant e.g. Painful electric shock, Poison NS can be a long time after CS Like a bad first impression of a person. ‘Garcia Effect’, or Taste Aversion (for food) e.g. Feed coyotes poisoned sheep -> taste aversion for sheep

25. Trial-and-error learning Behaviours that lead to pleasing consquences are more likely to be repeated than behaviours that lead to unpleasant consequences. Thorndike Animals were trapped in a cage and could see food outside. They would try different ways to escape until they were able to. or

26. Observational Learning (modeling) by Bandura Learning by seeing and copying Requires: • Pay attention (no attention = no learning) • Remember what was seen = retention • Be able to reproduce what was seen • Have a motivation to reproduce 1. Kids who watched aggressive behaviour rewarded (or not punished) were more aggressive (1961). 2. If behaviour was elicited by rewarding the kids for being aggressive, it didn’t matter if the behaviour they observed was rewarded, ignored, or punished (1965). Children model what parents do, not what they say

27. Sample Questions Bandura studies observational learning. According to his experiments • Watching violence had no effect at all on behaviour • Rewards or lack of punishment for violence can change lead to more aggression in dogs • A painful electric shock or poison can lead to learning in a short period of time • If a person is rewarded for violent behaviour, it doesn’t matter if the person they observed was punished Examples of one-trial learning include • Training dogs to salivate at the sound of bells • Training coyotes eat sheep by giving them poisoned sheep carcasses • Training pigeons to press a button to receive food • Training rats to avoid water that tastes sugary. • Training rats to avoid drinking if they hear a loud sound

28. Insight Learning (Kohler) Chimps learnt how to solve problems • Preparation: get to know the problem • Incubation: tune out • Illumination or insight: ah-ha! Solution arrives • Verification: implements solution Instant and Permanent Learning.

29. Latent Learning (Tolman) 1930s It’s possible for learning to occur without it being demonstrated this is called ______ learning. Rats ran around mazes. • Group 1. Given reinforcement (reward) every time • Group2. Given reinforcement after 10 tries Performance of both groups was identical from the time the second group rewarded onward. Implies both groups had learnt the same amount, but it was latent in group 2 until rewarded. Both groups had created a ‘cognitive map’ of the area.

30. Sample Questions Name two similarities and one difference between trial and error learning, and insight learning. What are the key differences between ‘trial and error’ learning by Thorndike, and ‘operant learning’ by Skinner Which of the following learning theories can not have a delay between learning and demonstrating learning through behaviour? • Latent Learning • Observational Learning • Insight Learning • None of the above. Animal trainers use a number of steps to teach dolphins how to dive through a hoop. First they give the dolphin some food when it swims near the hoop in the water. Then, after the dolphin has done this for a while, they only give the dolphin some food when it swims through the hoop in the water. The conditioning principle the animal trainers are using in order to teach the dolphins to dive through a hoop is called • A. shaping. • B. a token economy. • C. trial and error learning. • D. systematic desensitisation.

31. Sample Question Edward Tolman described the concepts of ‘latent learning’ and ‘cognitive maps’ when testing rats in mazes. Which one of the following statements best describes these two concepts of latent learning and a cognitive map? A. Latent learning is learning that has occurred but is not currently evident in behaviour while a cognitive map is a mental representation of an area. B. Latent learning is the type of learning shown in a mental representation of an area while a cognitive map relates to the type of learning that occurred in the brain. C. Latent learning is the type of learning shown when there is an enduring change to behaviour as a result of experience while a cognitive map is a physical representation of an area. D. Latent learning is the sudden understanding of the relationship between a problem and solution whereas a cognitive map is a map of the brain showing where cognition is actually located.