Learning

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Learning

• Chapter 6
• Psyc103
• Jen Wright

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learning

• What is learning?
• T/F Having experiences that result in a
  (relatively) permanent change in the mental
  states and behavior of the learner.
• These changes have to be relevant to the
  experiences.
• How do we determine when an organism has learned
  something?

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types of learning

• Habituation
• Associative learning
• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
• Observational learning
• Implicit learning

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habituation

• What is habituation?
• A) Decreased response to a stimulus after
  repeated or prolonged exposure.
• B) Increased response to a stimulus after
  repeated or prolonged exposure.
• C) Having the same response to a stimulus over
  and over again.
• D) Having the same response to different stimuli.
• Ceasing to hear traffic running by house on
  freeway
• Ceasing to flinch at loud bangs on gun range
• Ceasing to feel nervous when talking in public
• Ceasing to get aroused at sight of romantic
  partner

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• Why do we habituate?
• Our attentional resources are limited
• Needed to recognize, identify, and deal with
  novel stimuli
• Therefore, habituation to regularities in our
  environment decreased energy required

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associative learning

• Learning to associate two (or more) events
• Take pain meds ? back pain goes away.
• Drink a beer ? find that you suddenly have a
  wonderful sense of humor.

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classical conditioning

• T/F Form of learning that builds upon
  associative learning
• Find original (natural) association
• Unconditioned stimulus (US) ? Unconditioned
  response (UR)
• Sight of food ? salivation

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• Introduce conditioned stimulus
• Sound of bell (CS) sight of food (US) ?
  salivation (UR)
• Create conditioned association
• Conditioned stimulus (CS) ? Conditioned response
  (CR)
• Sound of bell (CS) ? salivation (CR)

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Project Manager
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T/F Conditioned Stimulus
T/F Conditioned Stimulus
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• This sort of conditioning seems straightforward.
  But there are more surprising
  examples
• Pain medication (US)? decrease in back pain (UR)
• But, what would happen if I introduced a
  conditioned association?
• Pain medication (US) strong flavor (CS) ?
  decrease in back pain (UR)
• Could I get to where all I needed was the strong
  flavor to get relief from back pain?
• Strong flavor (CS) ? decrease in back pain (CR)

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• Weds 515-630 Psyc Club
• Getting into Graduate School
• ECTR 114
• Weds 645-730 Study Session for Exam02
• Maybank 100

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placebo effect?

• This gives us a new understanding of the placebo
  effect.
• It also explains many other phenomena
• Drug overdoses
• Drug ? experience of getting high
• Drug overall environment ? high
• Drug tolerance drug environment
• New environment ? lower drug tolerance

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heres one you can try at home

• Dark light ? dilated pupils
• Dark light bell ? dilated pupils
• 20-30 trials
• Now watch your pupils closely in a mirror
• Bell alone ? dilated pupils!
• And heres something to try on your roommate
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vEo7jcI8fAuI

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higher-order conditioning

• Second-order conditioning
• Money ? fancy new car
• Fancy new car ? admiration of other people
• Fancy new car ? thrill of driving fast
• Money ? admiration/thrill
• Third-order conditioning
• Vegas ? money ? admiration/thrill

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higher-order conditioning

• bell food ? salivating
• bell ? salivating
• light ? bell
• light ? salivating
• The light can bring about salivating, even though
  it was never actually associated directly with
  the food.

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influencing factors

• Neural element
• Role of emotion (amygdala)
• Cognitive element
• T/F Anything can be a conditional stimulus if
  associated with another stimulus.
• False Not everything can be a CS
• Must be an unfamiliar and reliable stimulus

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role of cognition?

• CS ? expectation (MS) ? CR

without an expectation, no conditioning can occur
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• Evolutionary element
• Biological preparedness
• T/F easiest to develop phobias for things that
  are the most dangerous

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operant conditioning

• When consequences of behavior determine whether
  the behavior will be repeated in the future.
• Reinforcers increase the likelihood behavior
  repeated
• Punishers decrease the likelihood behavior
  repeated
• Positive presentation of a stimulus into
  environment
• Negative removal of a stimulus from environment

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Giving people something they want
Taking away something they dont want
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Giving people something they dont want
Taking away something they want
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• Think of a behavior you really wish you could
  stop doing.
• Now consider what is the reinforcement that
  keeps you doing it?
• Think of a behavior you really wish you could
  start doing.
• Now consider what is the punishment that keeps
  you from doing it?

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• For professor, having lively student discussion
  in class is
• A) positive reinforcer
• B) negative reinforcer
• C) positive punishment
• D) negative punishment

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• Dropping an exam in exchange for good class
  attendance
• A) positive reinforcer
• B) negative reinforcer
• C) positive punishment
• D) negative punishment

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• Shutting someone out of a conversation because
  they tend to say inappropriate things
• A) positive reinforcer
• B) negative reinforcer
• C) positive punishment
• D) negative punishment

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• Making someone the designated driver because they
  got out of control the weekend before
• A) positive reinforcer
• B) negative reinforcer
• C) positive punishment
• D) negative punishment

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shaping

• Learning that results from the reinforcement of
  successive approximations to a final desired
  behavior.
• Higher-order conditioning

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Youtube clips

• Rat basketball
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vg6F0bRTurPk
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v2QY2UxBStvo
• Dog roll over
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vfLoHH03QAAI

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schedules of reinforcement

• Continuous reinforcement
• Coke machine
• Problem with continuous reinforcement is that the
  behavior stops shortly after the reinforcement
  stops.
• Learning requires a (relatively) permanent change
  in behavior.
• Intermittent reinforcement more powerful
  learning mechanism
• Slot machine

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• Continuous reinforcement
• Coke machine
• Intermittent reinforcement
• Slot machine
• Why use intermittent reinforcement?
• A) More powerful learning mechanism for learner
• B) Cheaper investment for teacher
• C) Both

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• Fixed interval schedule
• Getting a raise every January 1st
• Variable interval schedule
• Random searches of school lockers
• Fixed ratio schedule
• Punishment after three transgressions
• Variable ratio schedule
• Slot machine

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superstitious behavior

• Reinforcement of coincidental connection between
  two variables
• e.g. lucky t-shirt and homerun
• Why is superstitious behavior so hard to break?
• Role of expectations?

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rewards

• Extrinsic vs. intrinsic rewards
• Implications for development?
• Neural element
• Pleasure/pain centers of brain (dopamine)

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observational learning

• Learning without direct experience
• Social learning
• Cultural norms
• Role models
• Adults
• Elders
• Peers
• Celebrities
• Virtual reality

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What kind of learning is this?
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• Mirror neurons
• Imagination
• Creativity

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• Learning that
• Penguins cant fly
• Charleston is in SC
• The best instructor for Psyc103 is Dr. Wright
• Learning how
• To ride a bike
• To eat at a restaurant
• To ski or windsurf
• To play chess

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• Learning that
• Semantic/propositional knowledge
• Typically explicit
• Tied to explicit memory
• Learning how
• Procedural knowledge
• know how
• Typically implicit
• Tied to implicit memory