6 Learning Revised by Pauline Davey Zeece, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Chapter Overview How do we learn? Classical conditioning Operant conditioning Biology, cognition, and learning Learning by observation
How Do We Learn?
Learning Acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors through experience Associative learning: Learning that certain events occur together Events may be two stimuli or a response and its consequences. Cognitive learning: Acquisition of mental information by observing events, watching others, or through language
Forms of Conditioning Classical conditioning One learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events Produces respondent behavior Operant conditioning One learns to associate an action and its consequence. Produces operant behavior
Figure 6.1 - Classical Conditioning
Figure 6.2 - Operant Conditioning
Retrieve and Remember 1 Why are habits, such as having something sweet with that cup of coffee, so hard to break?
Classical Conditioning Pavlov s experiments Pavlov s legacy
Figure 6.3 - Pavlov s Classic Experiment
Classical Conditioning: Terms Neutral stimulus (NS): Evokes no response before conditioning Unconditioned stimulus (US): Unconditionally, naturally and automatically, triggers a response Unconditioned response (UR): Unlearned and naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus (US)
Conditioned Response and Conditioned Stimulus Conditioned response (CR) Learned response to a previously neutral but now conditioned stimulus Conditioned stimulus (CS) Irrelevant stimulus that triggers a conditioned response (CR) after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US)
Pavlov s Experiments Explored conditioning processes Acquisition Extinction Spontaneous recovery Generalization Discrimination Ivan Pavlov: Experimental investigation should lay a solid foundation for a future true science of psychology (1927).
Retrieve and Remember 2 An experimenter sounds a tone just before delivering an air puff that causes your eye to blink. After several repetitions, you blink to the tone alone. What is the NS? The US? The UR? The CS? The CR?
Acquisition Initial stage where one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus A neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. Quail tale Recent research on Japanese quail shows that their capacity for classical conditioning gives them a reproductive edge.
Figure 6.4 - An Unexpected CS Psychologist Michael Tirrell (1990) recalled: My first girlfriend loved onions, so I came to associate onion breath with kissing. Before long, onion breath sent tingles up and down my spine. Oh what a feeling!
Retrieve and Remember 3 In horror movies, sexually arousing images of women are sometimes paired with violence against women. Based on classical conditioning principles, what might be an effect of this pairing?
Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery Extinction Weakening of a conditioned response when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus Spontaneous recovery Reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response
Acquisition, Extinction, and Spontaneous Recovery The rising curve (simplified here) shows that the CR rapidly grows stronger as the NS becomes a CS due to repeated pairing with the US (acquisition) The CS weakens when it is presented alone (extinction). After a pause, the CR reappears (spontaneous recovery).
Retrieve and Remember 4 The first step of classical conditioning, when an NS becomes a CS, is called. When a US no longer follows the CS, and the CR becomes weakened, this is called.
Generalization and Discrimination Generalization The tendency to respond similarly to stimuli that resemble the conditioned stimulus after conditioning Discrimination The learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other irrelevant stimuli
Retrieve and Remember 5 What conditioning principle is affecting the snail s affections?
Pavlov s Legacy Pavlov showed how learning can be studied objectively. Many responses to many stimuli can be classically conditioned in many other species.
Retrieve and Remember 6 If the aroma of cake baking makes your mouth water, what is the US? The CS? The CR?
Classical Conditioning in Everyday Life Pavlov s principles influence human health and well-being. Examples: Patients can develop classically conditioned side effects to drugs given as cancer treatments. Former drug users often feel a craving when they are again in the drug-using context.
Retrieve and Remember 7 In Watson and Rayner s experiments, Little Albert learned to fear a white rat after repeatedly experiencing a loud noise as the rat was presented. In these experiments, what was the US? The UR? The NS? The CS? The CR?
Operant Conditioning Skinner s experiments Skinner s legacy Contrasting classical and operant conditioning
Differences Between Classical and Operant Conditioning Classical conditioning Learning associations between events are not controlled by the learner. Involves respondent behavior Operant conditioning The learner associates his/her own actions with consequences. Involves operant behavior
Retrieve and Remember 8 With classical conditioning, we learn associations between events we (do/do not) control. With operant conditioning, we learn associations between our behavior and (resulting/random) events.
Skinner s Experiments Bird brains spot tumors Built on Thorndike s law of effect Law of effect: Rewarded behavior is likely to be repeated. Developed to reveal principles of behavior control
Cat in a Puzzle Box Thorndike used a fish reward to entice cats to find their way out of a puzzle box through a series of maneuvers. The cats performance tended to improve with successive trials, illustrating Thorndike s law of effect (data from Thorndike, 1898).
Operant Chamber (Skinner Box) The box contains a bar or button that an animal can use to obtain a food or water reinforcer. Attached devices record the animal s rate of pressing or pecking. Inside the box, the rat presses a bar for a food reward. Outside, measuring devices (not shown here) record the animal s accumulated responses.
Shaping Behavior Shaping: A procedure in which reinforcers guide actions closer and closer toward a desired behavior Helps understand what nonverbal organisms perceive Researchers and animal trainers gradually shape complex behaviors by rewarding desired behaviors and ignoring all other responses.
TABLE 6.1 Ways to Increase Behavior Operant Conditioning Term Description Examples Positive reinforcement Add a desirable stimulus Pet a dog that comes when you call it; pay the person who paints your house. Negative reinforcement Remove an aversive stimulus Take painkillers to end pain; fasten seat belt to end loud beeping.
Retrieve and Remember 9 How is operant conditioning at work in this cartoon?
Types of Reinforcers Types of reinforcers Description Primary reinforcers Unlearned and innate Often satisfy a biological need Conditioned reinforcers (secondary reinforcers) Gain reinforcing power through their link with primary reinforcers Immediate reinforcers Immediate rewards Delayed reinforcers Delayed rewards
Reinforcement Schedules A pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced Learning occurs rapidly with continuous reinforcement. Can cause rapid extinction Partial (intermittent) reinforcement results in slower acquisition and greater resistance to extinction.
TABLE 6.2 Schedules of Partial Reinforcement Fixed Variable Every so many: reinforcement after every nth behavior, such as buy 10 coffees, get 1 free, or pay workers per product unit Produced After an unpredictable number: reinforcement after a random number of behaviors, as when playing slot machines or fly fishing Ratio Every so often: reinforcement for behavior after a fixed time, such as Tuesday discount prices Unpredictably often: reinforcement for behavior after a random amount of time, as when checking our phone for a message Interval
Retrieve and Remember 10 People who send spam are reinforced by which schedule? Home bakers checking the oven to see if the cookies are done are on which schedule? Coffee shops that offer a free drink after every 10 drinks purchased are using which reinforcement schedule?
Drawbacks of Physical Punishment Punished behavior is suppressed May reinforce parents punishing behavior Teaches the child to fear and to discriminate among situations May increase aggression by modeling violence as a way to cope with problems
Retrieve and Remember 11 Fill in the blanks below with one of the following terms: negative reinforcement (NR), positive punishment (PP), and negative punishment (NP). The first answer, positive reinforcement (PR), is provided for you. Type of Stimulus Give It Take It Away Desired (for example, a teen s use of the car): 1. PR 2. Undesired/aversive (for example, an insult): 3. 4.
Skinner s Legacy Urged people to use operant principles to influence the behavior of others Criticized for neglecting people s personal freedom and advocating external control of others B. F. Skinner
Applications of Operant Conditioning At school Many of Skinner s ideals for education have been made possible with the help of digital learning. At work Reinforcers are used to influence productivity. In parenting Desired behavior is increased by giving children attention and other reinforcers when they are behaving well.
Using Operant Conditioning to Build One s Own Strengths Setting and announcing realistic goals in measurable terms Deciding how, when, and where one will work toward their goal Monitoring how often one engages in desired behavior Reinforcing the desired behavior Reducing the rewards gradually
Retrieve and Remember 12 Ethan constantly misbehaves at preschool, even though his teacher scolds him repeatedly. Why does Ethan s misbehavior continue, and what can his teacher do to stop it?
TABLE 6.4 Comparison of Classical and Operant Conditioning Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning Basic idea Learning associations between events we don t control Learning associations between our own behavior and its consequences Response Acquisition Involuntary, automatic Associating events; NS is paired with US and becomes CS Voluntary, operates on environment Associating response with a consequence (reinforcer or punisher) Extinction CR decreases when CS is repeatedly presented alone Responding decreases when reinforcement stops Spontaneous recovery Generalization The reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished CR Responding to stimuli similar to the CS The reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished response Responding to similar stimuli to achieve or prevent a consequence Discrimination Learning to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that do not signal a US Learning that some responses, but not others, will be reinforced
Retrieve and Remember 13 Salivating in response to a tone paired with food is a(n) behavior; pressing a bar to obtain food is a(n) behavior.
Biology, Cognition, and Learning Biological limits on conditioning Cognitive influences on conditioning
Biological Limits on Conditioning Natural selection favors traits that aid survival. Biological constraints: Evolved biological tendencies that predispose animals behavior and learning Limits on classical conditioning Humans are biologically prepared to learn some things, rather than others.
John Garcia Garcia and Koelling s taste-aversion research falsified the belief that environments rule behavior. Findings helped disprove the belief that almost any stimulus could serve equally well as a conditioned stimulus.
Retrieve and Remember 14 How did Garcia and Koelling s tasteaversion studies help disprove the belief that almost any stimulus (tastes, sights, sounds) could serve equally well as a conditioned stimulus?
Limits on Operant Conditioning - Romantic Red In a series of experiments that controlled for other factors (such as the brightness of the image), heterosexual men found women more attractive and sexually desirable when framed in red (Elliot & Niesta, 2008).
Limits on Operant Conditioning Nature sets a limit on each species capacity for operant conditioning. Biology predisposes one to learn associations that are naturally adaptive.
Cognition and Classical Conditioning Shared beliefs of Pavlov and Watson Avoided mentalistic concepts Maintained that the basic laws of learning are the same for all animals Watson supported behaviorism. John B. Watson Watson s view of learning underestimated the following influences: The way that biological predispositions limit learning Effect of cognitive processes on learning
Latent Learning Skinner rejected the premise that cognitive processes are integral to learning. Animals, like people, can learn from experience, with or without reinforcement.
Cognition and Operant Conditioning Rats that explored the maze without a food reward developed a cognitive map. Demonstrated latent learning once a food reward was given at the end Excessive rewards can destroy intrinsic motivation. People who focus on their work s meaning and significance do better work and earn extrinsic rewards.
Retrieve and Remember 15 Latent learning is an example of what important idea?
Learning by Observation Mirrors and imitation in the brain Applications of observational learning Thinking critically about: The effects of viewing media violence
Observational Learning Learning by observing others Modeling: Observing and imitating a specific behavior Vicarious reinforcement or punishment Helps one anticipate a behavior s consequences in observed situations Albert Bandura
Figure 6.9 - The Famous Bobo Doll Experiment
Mirrors and Imitation in the Brain Brain activity underlies intense social nature. Mirror neuron: Fires when one performs certain actions and when one observes others performing those actions Neural basis for imitation and observational learning
Experienced and Imagined Pain in the Brain Brain activity related to actual pain is mirrored in the brain of an observing loved one. Empathy in the brain shows up in areas that process emotions, but not in the areas that register physical pain.
Applications of Observational Learning Prosocial effects Prosocial behavior models have prosocial effects. Effectiveness is related to consistency in actions and words. Antisocial effects Observational learning may have adverse effects. TV shows, movies, and online videos are sources of observational learning. Aggressiveness could be genetic.
Retrieve and Remember 16 Jason s parents and older friends all smoke, but they advise him not to. Juan s parents and friends don t smoke, but they say nothing to deter him from doing so. Will Jason or Juan be more likely to start smoking?
Retrieve and Remember 17 Match the learning examples (items 1 5) to the following concepts (a e): a) Classical conditioning b) Operant conditioning c) Operant conditioning d) Observational learning e) Biological predispositions
Think Critically Effects of viewing media violence: Increased homicidal rates Increased violent behavior among teens Experimental studies have found that violence-viewing participants react more cruelly when provoked. Prompted by imitation and desensitization