Learning

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Learning

• Helps us survive
• Underlies virtually all our behavior
• Psychologists are interested in the process How
  does learning occur?
• Def. Relatively long-term change in behavior or
  behavior potentiality that results from
  experience.

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Learning takes place in a variety of ways

• Habituation, Perceptual Learning
• Associative Learning (S-R or SS) Classical and
  Operant Conditioning.
• Observational learning Imitation, Modeling
• Cognitive Learning

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Habituation Associative Learning

• Habituation simplest form of learning.
• An organisms response weakens as a
  function of repeated exposure to the stimulus.
  Sounds, odors, etc.
• Associative learning, involving relationships,
  has attracted more research interest.

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BehaviorismConditioning and Learning1920s-1960
s

• You learn what you do

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The Rise of Behaviorism

• Structuralism What goes on in the mind? Method
  used Introspection
• Behaviorism John B. Watson (1878-1958)
• Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It, 1913
  
• Psychology as the behaviorist views it
  is a purely objective experimental branch of
  natural science. Its theoretical goal is the
  prediction and control of behavior.
• Eschewed introspection and consciousness

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Behaviorism continued

• Focus Learning rather than thinking
• Task Which stimuli would elicit which
• directly observable responses.
• Goal Prediction and control of behavior
• ABCs Antecedents
• Behavior
• Consequences

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Behaviorism Environmental Determinism

• Contrast with Nativism
• Contrast with Freud
• Contrast with Structuralism
• Contrast with Humanism
• Consistent with Functionalism
• Consistent with Empiricism

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Focus ofOthers
Behaviorists

• Unlearned
• Nature
• Genetics
• Heredity
• Nativism
• Biological

• Learned
• Nurture
• Environment
• Experience
• Empiricism
• Environmental

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Pioneers in the History of Behaviorism

• Ivan Pavlov (1927)
• Conditioned Reflexes
• John B. Watson (1913)
• Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It
• E. L. Thorndike (1927)
• The Law of Effect
• B. F. Skinner (1938)
• The Behavior of Organisms
• Albert Bandura (1977) Social learning theory
• Robert Rescorla (current) Cognitive CC

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Does the name Pavlov Ring a Bell?
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Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning

• CS (neutral stimulus, e.g., bell
• UCS (unconditioned stimulus, e.g., meat)
• UCR (unconditioned response), e.g.,
  salivation
• CR (conditioned response, e.g., salivation)

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CC paradigm

• Outset
• CS-------
• .
• .
• UCS--------UCR
• After pairings of CS UCS
• CS-----------CR

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Autonomic NS Response examples

• Salivation
• Glandular Rs (palm sweating)
• Heart palpitations
• Human eye blinks
• Pupilary dilation or constriction
• Nausea
• Fear

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Autonomic NS Response examples

• Salivation
• Glandular Rs (palm sweating)
• Heart palpitations
• Human eye blinks
• Pupilary dilation or constriction
• Nausea
• Fear

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Autonomic Nervous System Responses conditionable
by CC continued

• Broncodilation constriction
• Conditioned taste aversions
• Drug and alcohol cravings
• Sexual arousal
• Orgasms
• Vomiting
• Blood pressure increases decreases
• Heart rate increases decreases

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Examples of CC

• Vanilla Bronchodilation
• Conditioned nausea with chemotherapy
• Sexual fetishes, e.g. shoes, feet, hands
• Ads Johnson/Goldwater--blond child picking
  daisies, nuclear explosion in background
• Movies Jaws music

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CC cont.

• Stimulus generalization responses would
  generalize to stimuli similar to the original
  CS--the more similar, the greater the
  generalization. Other tones on tuning fork
• Higher order conditioning CS2 --linked to CS1
• Extinction Repeated presentations of the CS
  w/o the UCS

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Watson Raynor (1920)

• Little Albert (9-11 month- old boy)
• First demonstration that fear can be learned via
  Pavlovian conditioning
• CS---- white rat
• UCS---loud sound
• UCR---fear
• CS-------CR (fear)

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Mary Cover Jones (1924)

• Fear can be extinguished using Pavlovian
  procedures
• Boy named Peter
• CS white rabbit
• UCS candy
• Conditioned fear to rabbit, then extinguished it
  using counter-conditioning

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• Prior to Extinction
• CS rabbit ----CR fear (and avoidance)
• UCS candy ----positive emotions (approach)
• Counter-Conditioning
• CS
• .
• UCS-------------UCR positive emotions
• After many CS-UCS pairings (trials)
• CS rabbit --------CR (no fear, calm, approach

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Behavior TherapyBehavior Modification

• Joseph Wolpe (1958)
• Systematic Desensitization-a type of extinction
• Wolpe used deep muscle relaxation to inhibit
  anxiety
• Stimulus generalization
• Acquire, extinguish, or change behavior

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Behavior Therapy Examples

• Alcoholics Conditioning nausea using Antabuse
• Pedophiles Pairing shock with pictures of
  children
• Phobias Pairing relaxation with the feared
  stimuli
• Compulsive behaviors pairing shock with the
  undesired behavior

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Sauce Bearnaise SyndromeConditioned Taste
Aversion

• Martin Seligman Preparedness to learn
• Phobias
• John Garcia Conditioned taste aversion
• Violates the 1/2 second CS-UCS Interval standard
• Lessons learned in one trial (pairing)
• Probably has survival value for the organism

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Preparedness to learn

• Prepared The biology and genetics of the
  organism contribute greatly to its ability and
  readiness to learn certain things. Taste with
  nausea fear snakes, etc.
• Unprepared Neutral
• Contraprepared Organisms is not genetically
  suited to make the association. Goats bleating
  for food reward, novel taste with shock, etc.

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Biological Constraints on Learning

• Conditioned Taste Aversion
• Seems to be confined to certain sensory systems
• Novelty is a crucial variable
• Cognitive awareness is of little or no value in
  reducing aversion

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Operant Conditioning

• 2nd type of Associative learning
• Involves voluntary, skeletal muscles
• Learning from consequences (reward and
  punishment)
• E. L. Thorndike 1874-1949
• --First to study operant conditioning
• --Cats in a puzzle box
• B. F. Skinner Skinner box

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Operant Conditioning

• E. L. Thorndike Law of Effect
• Behavior that is followed by consequences
  satisfying to the organism will be repeated, and
  behavior that is followed by noxious or
  unpleasant consequences will be discouraged.
• B. F. Skinner Reformulated the Law of Effect as
  the Principle of Reinforcement

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Skinner Box

• Skinner box chamber with levers or keys
• which animals can press or peck to receive a
  reward.
• In early days, the rate of an animals responding
  was measured by a cumulative recorder
• The recorder moved a pen one step up on a roll of
  paper each time the animal made a response.
• Different reward (reinforcement) schedules
  produced characteristic patterns on the recorder

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Reinforcement

• Reinforcer a stimulus that increases the
  probability of the response that precedes it.
• 1. Positive reinforcement increases
  behavior by presenting a desirable stimulus
  (e.g., food, )
• a. Primary (unlearned, e.g., food)
• b. Secondary (learned, e.g., money,
  praise)
• 2. Negative reinforcement increases
  behavior by removing an aversive stimulus (e.g.,
  shock)
• a. Primary (e.g., shock turned off)
• b. Secondary (e.g., escaping shock
  chamber)

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Reinforcement continued

• Punisher (punishing stimulus) a stimulus that
  decreases the probability of the response that
  precedes it.
• 1. Positive-swats the person for fighting
• a. Primary-shock, a slap
• b. Secondary--a scowl, disapproval
• 2. Negative-turn off TV if fighting
• continues (take away ice cream, money)

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Reinforcement, cont.

• A reinforcer is defined in terms of its
  effects--if it increases the rate of responding,
  then it is a reinforcer.
• Partial reinforcement or intermittent
  reinforcement increases resistance to extinction
• Shaping reinforcing successive approximations
  of goal behavior
• Extinction stop giving the reinforcers

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Response/Reinforcement Interval

• Interval between the response and the
  administration of the reward or punisher is
  critical
• Animals and young children, immediate is best.
  More than 1/2 second hurts.
• Hard to learn to connect the response and the
  consequence with delays--even for adults.
  Verbal skills help.

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Environmental control

• We are constantly controlled by reinforcers and
  punishers, even when we arent aware of it.
• Does it all go back to mom?
• Self-reinforcement
• Teacher
• You learn what you do--studying, eating,
  playing video games, yelling, being violent
• Skinners office
• Dieting, token economies
• Not responding is also a response

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Accidental Reinforcement

• Baseball players superstitious behavior
• Craig Biggio helmet, Dallas Cowboys white
  shirts
• Skinner pigeons
• Lucky shirts, pens, rituals?
• Mothers accidentally reinforcing temper tantrums

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Behavior Modification

• Bite nails, smoke, eat less junk food, improve
  study habits, exercise more, play video games
  less
• Identify the target behavior--be specific
• Establish base rate (frequency when)
• Self-monitoring
• Analyze the reinforcers (what is maintaining the
  behavior?)

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B-Mod cont.

• Set reasonable goals
• Decide on the rewards and punishments
• Contracts
• Relapse Prevention
• Social Support
• (A cognitive person would want to ask you to
  analyze why you think the behavior is occurring
  and work on your self-talk)

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Punishment

• B. F. Skinner was opposed to the use of
  punishment as a means of controlling behavior
• 1. Didnt work as well as rewards
• 2. Temporary suppression

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Punishment cont.

• 3. Unwanted Side Effects
• (a) Suppression of a wide range of
  behavior in addition to the intended R
• J. A. Martin (1977)
• (b) Fear anxiety conditioned
• (c) Pain-elicited aggression (Ulrich
  Azrin (1962)

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Punishment cont.

• 4. Punishment does not convey as much
  information as a reward. A reward tells the
  subject what to do. A punishment may convey what
  not to do, but doesnt indicate what the
  subject is supposed to do.

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Common Problems with Punishment

• People often administer inappropriately or when
  they are so enraged they are unable to think
  through what they are doing and how they are
  doing it
• Hard to punish immediately
• Might be reinforcing through attention
• Modeling
• May damage the persons self-esteem

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Punishment Alternatives

• Reward children when they are good instead of
  punishing them when they are bad (Masden et al,
  1970)
• (a) Ignoring the undesired behavior (dont
  reinforce it to begin with)
• (b) Extinction--stop reinforcing it
• Use of reprimands immediate, brief, firm.
• Time-Out
• Response cost (negative punishment, e.g. fines)