Learning

1
Learning

• Examples
• What is learning?
• Relatively permanent change in behavior due to
  experience
• Learning vs. Performance
• Types of Learning
• Classical (Pavlovian) conditioning
• Instrumental (Operant) conditioning
• Social (Observational) learning

2
Association

• We learn by association
• Our minds naturally connect events that occur in
  sequence
• Aristotle 2000 years ago
• John Locke and David Hume 200 yrs ago
• Associative Learning
• learning that two events occur together
• two stimuli
• a response and its consequences

3
Behaviorism

• John B. Watson
• viewed psychology as objective science
• generally agreed-upon consensus today
• recommended study of behavior without reference
  to unobservable mental processes
• not universally accepted by all schools of
  thought today

4
Classical Conditioning

• Pavlovs Experiments
• Components of Classical Conditioning
• UCS -------gt UCR
• CS -------gt CR
• Other aspects of Classical Conditioning
• Acquisition
• CS-UCS sequence
• Strength of the UCS
• of CS-UCS pairings

5
Pavlovs Classic Experiment
Before Conditioning
UCS (food in mouth)
Neutral stimulus (tone)
No salivation
UCR (salivation)
During Conditioning
After Conditioning
UCS (food in mouth)
CS (tone)
Neutral stimulus (tone)
UCR (salivation)
CR (salivation)
6
Classical Conditioning (cont.)

• Extinction
• Systematic desensitization
• Flooding
• Spontaneous Recovery
• Generalization Discrimination

7
Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning
8
Taste Aversions

• A special case of classical conditioning
• one CS-UCS pairing is sufficient
• time between CS and UCS can be quite lengthy.
• Aversions develop only to internal stimuli
  (food), not to external stimuli (lights, napkins,
  tablecloth, etc.)

9
Instrumental (Operant) Conditioning

• Definition based upon the concept or principles
  of Reinforcement and Punishment
• Historical Figures of Importance
• Thorndike
• Law of Effect behaviors followed by favorable
  consequences become more likely and behaviors
  followed by unfavorable consequences become less
  likely
• Skinner
• Shaping conditioning procedure in which
  reinforcers guide behavior toward closer
  approximations of a desired goal

10
Operant Chamber

• Skinner Box
• soundproof chamber with a bar or key that an
  animal presses or pecks to release a food or
  water reward
• contains a device to record responses

11
Instrumental Conditioning Procedures

• Reinforcement anything that increases the
  likelihood of a behavior
• Positive (reward)
• Negative (avoidance or escape)
• Punishment anything that decreases the
  likelihood of a behavior
• Positive
• Negative (time-out grounding)

12
Criteria for Effective Punishment

• Delivered immediately after undesirable response
  has occurred.
• Strong enough to make a real difference.
• Consistency
• No unauthorized escape from the punisher.
• Provide reward for desired behavior.
• Be prepared for displaced aggression.

13
Schedules of Reinforcement

• Ratio based on the number of responses (the
  amount of work)
• Fixed (FR)
• Variable (VR)

• Interval based on time from the last
  reinforcement.
• Fixed (FI)
• Variable (VI)

14
Schedules of Reinforcement
15
Cognition and Operant Conditioning

• Latent Learning
• learning that occurs, but is not apparent until
  there is an incentive to demonstrate it
• Overjustification Effect
• the effect of promising a reward for doing what
  one already likes to do
• the person may now see the reward, rather than
  intrinsic interest, as the motivation for
  performing the task

16
Operant vs Classical Cond.

• Extinction CR decreases when CS is Responding
  decreases when
• repeatedly presented alone. reinforcement
  stops.

17
Social (Observational) Learning

• Learning which occurs through observing and
  imitating behavior of others.
• Guidelines for Successful Modeling
• Attention
• Retention
• Production Processes
• Motivation