Learning

What is Learning?
!A relatively permanent change in
an organism’s behavior due to
experience.
! conditioning: The acquisition of
specific patterns of behavior in the
presence of well-
well-defined stimuli.
 2 Types of Conditioning
! classical (C.C.): a response
naturally elicited by one stimulus
comes to be elicited by a different,
formerly neutral stimulus
! operant (O.C.): Conditioning in
which the experimenter takes a
response that the subject already
has and strengthens it by
reinforcing it every time it occurs
Pavlov’s Investigations
Classical Conditioning Terms
! unconditioned stimulus (US): A
stimulus that always elicits a
specific response in the absence of
any training.
! unconditioned response (UR): A
response that is always elicited by
a specific stimulus in the absence
of any training.
Classical Conditioning Terms
! neutral stimulus (NS): A stimulus
that does not elicit a specific
response
! conditioned stimulus (CS): a NS
that acquires the ability to elicit a
specific response
! conditioned response (CR): A
response similar to the UR that is
elicited by the CS
Classical Conditioning Procedure
Before Conditioning

Bell o
(S) Response

Food Salivation
(US) (UR)
Classical Conditioning Procedure
During Conditioning

Bell Food
(S) (US)

Salivation
(UR)
Classical Conditioning Procedure
After Conditioning

Bell Salivation
(CS) (CR)
Classical Conditioning Terms
! AversiveConditioning:
Counterconditioning which
associates an undesirable state
with an unwanted behavior
 Persistence of Classical
Conditioning
! extinction:
presentation of CS
without US leads to a lessening of
responding and then no response
! spontaneous recovery: the
reappearance of the CR after a
pause in extinction trials
 Classical Conditioning in
Humans
! J.B. Watson classically conditions
“Little Albert” to fear white rats.
Conditioning Little Albert
Before Conditioning

Rat o
(S) Fear

Loud
Fear
oise
(UR)
(US)
Conditioning Little Albert
During Conditioning

Loud
Rat oise
(S) (US)

Fear
(UR)
Conditioning Little Albert
After Conditioning

Rat Fear
(CS) (CR)
 Common Examples of C.C.
! phobias
phobias:: irrational fears
! conditioned food (taste) aversion:
aversion:
classically conditioning a novel
flavor to illness
 Modification of Original C.C.
! response generalization: CR
triggered by stimulus similar to the
CS (e.g., Little Albert and other
furry things)
! stimulus discrimination: CR is not
elicited by stimuli similar to CS; CR
is elicited only by a specific CS
 Higher Order Conditioning
! Pairing a second conditioned
stimulus with the first conditioned
stimulus in order to produce a
second conditioned response
! an earlier CS becomes the US for
further learning
 Operant Conditioning Terms
! operant (O.C.): Conditioning in which
the experimenter takes a response that
the subject already has and strengthens
it by reinforcing it every time it occurs
! shaping: A procedure in which rewards
gradually guide an animal’s behavior
toward a desired behavior.
 Operant Conditioning Terms
! reinforcer: An event or stimulus that
makes the behavior it follows more
likely to occur again.
! punisher: A stimulus that follows a
behavior and decreases the
likelihood that the behavior will be
repeated.
 Types of Reinforcement

! primary reinforcers
! secondary reinforcers
! positive reinforcers
! negative reinforcers
 Primary & Secondary
Reinforcers
! primary reinforcer: A reinforcer that
is rewarding in itself, such as food,
water, and sex.
! secondary reinforcer: A reinforcer
that acquires its reinforcing power
through association with a primary
reinforcer.
 Positive Reinforcers
!A pleasant event that follows an
operant response and increases
the likelihood that the response will
recur.
 Negative Reinforcers
!A negative reinforcer strengthens a
given response by removing an
aversive stimuli.
 Punishment
! The aim of punishment is to
decrease the likelihood that an
ongoing behavior will recur.
! For punishment to be effective it
should be swift, sufficient, and
certain.
 Punishment
! Punishment is generally not as
effective as the skillful application of
reinforcement.
! Avoidance training is an alternative
strategy to using punishment.
! avoidance training: Learning a
desirable behavior to prevent the
occurrence of something unpleasant.
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
! Reinforcers increase the rate of
responding.
! Punishers decrease the rate of
responding.
 Reinforcement vs. Punishment
There are two ways to provide reinforcement (rewards) or punishment. First, the experimenter (or more likely, a parent or
teacher) can give the participant (or child) something. Whenever something is given, or added, this is called positive. When
something is taken, or subtracted, we use the term negative. Thus, if a teacher gives a child candy for behaving nicely in
class, this is positive reinforcement. But if the teacher makes the child clean the blackboards during recess for speaking out in
class, this is positive punishment. Note that "positive" and "negative" do not mean "good" and "bad;" they merely indicate
whether something was added (positive) or taken away (negative). These terms can be tricky, so take a minute to study the
table below.

Pleasing
Stimulus
Positive Reinforcement
Stimulus is increases response.
Introduced Example: completion of
homework increases when
followed by praise.
Annoying
Stimulus
Positive Punishment
decreases response.
Example: because you talked,
you must do extra work.

Negative Punishment Negative Reinforcement

Stimulus is decreases response. increases response.
Removed Example: because you got Example: your speed at turning
an F, you cannot play on off an annoying alarm clock
the football team. increases.
Positive Reinforcer—
Reinforcer— a stimulus or event that is
presented after a response that increases the
likelihood that this response will occur again.
Negative Reinforcer—
Reinforcer— a stimulus or event that is
removed after a response that increases the
likelihood that this response will occur again.
Positive Punisher—
Punisher— a stimulus or event that is
presented after a response that decreases the
likelihood that this response will occur again.
Negative Punisher—
Punisher— a stimulus or event that is
removed after a response that decreases the
likelihood that this response will occur again.
 Learned Helplessness
! Failureto take steps to avoid or
escape from an unpleasant or
aversive stimulus that occurs as a
result of previous exposure to
unavoidable painful stimuli.
Seligman’s Learned
Helplessness Study
 Thorndike’s Law of Effect

! behavior
consistently rewarded will
become learned behavior
 Thorndike’s Law of Effect

! “All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever

different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The
cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the
same desire in both, attended with different views. The will
never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive
of every action of every man, even of those who hang
themselves.”
- Blaise Pascal, Pacsal’s Pensees
 Response Acquisition
Classical Operant
! Neutral Stimulus ! desired response is
becomes associated followed by
with the reinforcer
Unconditional
Stimulus
 Extinction
Classical Operant
! occurs when ! occurs when
Conditioned reinforcing is
Stimulus--
Stimulus withheld
Unconditional
Stimulus pairing
lapses
 Spontaneous Recovery

Classical Operant
! may occur ! may occur
 Response Generalization

Classical Operant
! stimuli similar to ! supplying
different
Conditioned response to
Stimulus will stimulus
elicit
Conditioned
Response
 Stimulus Discrimination
Classical Operant
! reinforcing only
! Conditioned
specific
Response is responses
specific to a
certain
Conditioned
Stimulus--
Stimulus
Unconditioned
Stimulus pairing
Differences Between Classical
& Operant Conditioning
! Classical conditioning is passive on
the part of the learner.
! Operant conditioning relies on the
learner to actively participate in the
learning process.
Differences Between Classical
& Operant Conditioning
! Inoperant conditioning reinforcers
act as incentives for learning.
! Classical conditioning, on the other
hand, does not provide incentives.
 Observational Learning
Social Learning Theory
! Much of the behavior we
display has been learned
or modified by watching
models engage in those
actions. Such models
include parents,
teachers, peers, and
television performers
Observational Learning
 Observational Learning
The Process
1. Attentional Process: People will
learn from a model only if they
are attending to the critical
features of the model’s behaviors
(i.e. attractive, engaging, similar
to observer, etc.)
 Observational Learning
The Process
2. Retention Process: The ability to
remember the model’s actions
after the model has disappeared
from the scene
 Observational Learning
The Process
3. Motoric Reproduction Process:
They must show evidence of
learning by performing the
modeled activities.
 Observational Learning
The Process
4. Reinforcement: Performance of a
learned behavior depends on
whether it will be rewarded or
punished.