Learning and Language Development

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Learning and Language Development
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Module 14Classical Conditioning
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Learning Objectives

• LO 14.1 What are the principles of classical
  conditioning?
• LO 14.2 How can classical conditioning be
  specialized to affect emotions?
• LO 14.3 How does classical conditioning function
  in our everyday lives?

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What is Learning?
LO 14.1 What are the principles of classical
conditioning?

• Learning any relatively permanent change in
  behavior brought about by experience or practice.
• When people learn anything, some part of their
  brain is physically changed to record what they
  have learned.
• Any kind of change in the way an organism behaves
  is learning.
• Change controlled by a genetic blueprint is
  called maturation.

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Pavlov and Classical Conditioning
LO 14.1 What are the principles of classical
conditioning?

• Ivan Pavlov Russian physiologist (person who
  studies the workings of the body) who discovered
  classical conditioning through his work on
  digestion in dogs.
• Classical conditioning - learning to make a
  reflex response to a stimulus other than the
  original, natural stimulus that normally produces
  the reflex.

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Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 14.1 What are the principles of classical
conditioning?

• Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) - a naturally
  occurring stimulus that leads to an involuntary
  (reflex) response.
• Unconditioned means unlearned or naturally
  occurring.

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Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 14.1 What are the principles of classical
conditioning?

• Unconditioned response (UCR) - an involuntary
  response to a naturally occurring or
  unconditioned stimulus.
• Neutral stimulus (NS) - stimulus that has no
  effect on the desire response.

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Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 14.1 What are the principles of classical
conditioning?

• Conditioned stimulus (CS) - stimulus that becomes
  able to produce a learned reflex response by
  being paired with the original unconditioned
  stimulus.
• A neutral stimulus can become a conditioned
  stimulus when paired with an unconditioned
  stimulus.

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Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 14.1 What are the principles of classical
conditioning?

• Conditioned response (CR) - learned reflex
  response to a conditioned stimulus.
• Sometimes called a conditioned reflex.

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Figure 14.1 Classical ConditioningBefore
conditioning takes place, the sound of the bell
does not cause salivation and is a neutral
stimulus, or NS. During conditioning, the sound
of the bell occurs just before the presentation
of the food, the UCS. The food causes salivation,
the UCR. When conditioning has occurred after
several pairings of the bell with the food, the
bell will begin to elicit a salivation response
from the dog without any food. This is learning,
and the sound of the bell is now a CS and the
salivation to the bell is the CR.
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Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 14.1 What are the principles of classical
conditioning?

• Although classical conditioning happens quite
  easily, there are a few basic principles that
  researchers have discovered
• The CR (conditioned response) and UCR
  (unconditioned response) are essentially the
  samesalivation.
• An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is always
  followed by a conditioned stimulus (CS).

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Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 14.1 What are the principles of classical
conditioning?

• Stimulus generalization - the tendency to respond
  to a stimulus that is only similar to the
  original conditioned stimulus with the
  conditioned response.

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Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 14.1 What are the principles of classical
conditioning?

• Stimulus discrimination - the tendency to stop
  making a generalized response to a stimulus that
  is similar to the original conditioned stimulus
  because the similar stimulus is never paired with
  the unconditioned stimulus.

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Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 14.1 What are the principles of classical
conditioning?

• Extinction - the disappearance or weakening of a
  learned response following the removal or absence
  of the unconditioned stimulus (in classical
  conditioning) or the removal of a reinforcer (in
  operant conditioning).
• Spontaneous recovery - the reappearance of a
  learned response after extinction has occurred.

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Figure 14.2 Extinction and Spontaneous
RecoveryThis graph shows the acquisition,
extinction, spontaneous recovery, and
reacquisition of a conditioned salivary response.
Typically, the measure of conditioning is the
number of drops of saliva elicited by the CS on
each trial. Note that on the day following
extinction, the first presentation of the CS
elicits quite a large response.
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Conditioned Emotional Response
LO 14.2 How can classical conditioning be
specialized to affect emotions?

• Conditioned emotional response (CER) - emotional
  response that has become classically conditioned
  to occur to learned stimuli, such as a fear of
  dogs or the emotional reaction that occurs when
  seeing an attractive person.
• CERs may lead to phobias irrational fear
  responses.

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Conditioned Emotional Response
LO 14.2 How can classical conditioning be
specialized to affect emotions?

• Vicarious conditioning - classical conditioning
  of a reflex response or emotion by watching the
  reaction of another person.

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Taste Aversion
LO 14.3 How does classical conditioning
function in our everyday lives?

• Conditioned taste aversion - development of a
  nausea or aversive response to a particular taste
  because that taste was followed by a nausea
  reaction, occurring after only one association.

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Taste Aversion
LO 14.3 How does classical conditioning
function in our everyday lives?

• Biological preparedness - the tendency of animals
  to learn certain associations, such as taste and
  nausea, with only one or few pairings due to the
  survival value of the learning.

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Module 15Operant Conditioning
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Learning Objectives

• LO 15.1 What is Thorndike's law of effect?
• LO 15.2 What are the principles of operant
  conditioning?
• LO 15.3 What are some specializations of operant
  conditioning?
• LO 15.4 How does operant conditioning function in
  everyday life?

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Law of Effect
LO 15.1 What is Thorndike's law of effect?

• Operant conditioning - the learning of voluntary
  behavior through the effects of pleasant and
  unpleasant consequences to responses.

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Law of Effect
LO 15.1 What is Thorndike's law of effect?

• Thorndike's Law of Effect - law stating that if a
  response is followed by a pleasurable
  consequence, it will tend to be repeated, and if
  followed by an unpleasant consequence, it will
  tend not to be repeated.

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Skinner's Contribution
LO 15.2 What are the principles of operant
conditioning?

• Behaviorist wanted to study only observable,
  measurable behavior.
• Gave operant conditioning its name.
• Operant - any behavior that is voluntary.

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Skinner's Contribution
LO 15.2 What are the principles of operant
conditioning?

• In classical conditioning, learning depends on
  what happens before the response.
• Antecedent stimuli - stimuli that comes before
  another.
• In operant conditioning, learning depends on what
  happens after the response the consequence.

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Reinforcement
LO 15.2 What are the principles of operant
conditioning?

• Reinforcement - any event or stimulus, that when
  following a response, increases the probability
  that the response will occur again.
• Reinforcer - any event or object that, when
  following a response, increases the likelihood of
  that response occurring again.

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Reinforcement
LO 15.2 What are the principles of operant
conditioning?

• Reinforcement (continued)
• Primary reinforcer - any reinforcer that is
  naturally reinforcing by meeting a basic
  biological need, such as hunger, thirst, or
  touch.
• Secondary reinforcer - any reinforcer that
  becomes reinforcing after being paired with a
  primary reinforcer, such as praise, tokens, or
  gold stars.

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Positive and Negative Reinforcement
LO 15.2 What are the principles of operant
conditioning?

• Positive reinforcement - the reinforcement of a
  response by the addition or experiencing of a
  pleasurable stimulus (a reward following a
  response).
• Negative reinforcement - the reinforcement of a
  response by the removal, escape from, or
  avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus.

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Figure 15.1 Two Forms of ReinforcementIn the
example of positive reinforcement, a child earns
a good grade and receives a pleasurable
consequence a hug from a parent. In the example
of negative reinforcement, the noise outside a
child's window is preventing the child from
sleeping. The child removes the unpleasant
stimulus (the loud noise) by wearing headphones.
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Punishment
LO 15.2 What are the principles of operant
conditioning?

• Punishment - any event or object that, when
  following a response, makes that response less
  likely to happen again.
• Punishment by application - the punishment of a
  response by the addition or experiencing of an
  unpleasant stimulus.

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Punishment
LO 15.2 What are the principles of operant
conditioning?

• Punishment by removal - the punishment of a
  response by the removal of a pleasurable stimulus.

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Table 15.1 Negative Reinforcement vs.
Punishment by Removal
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Shaping
LO 15.3 What are some specializations of
operant conditioning?

• Shaping - technique in which a person is rewarded
  for gradually coming closer to demonstrating a
  desirable behavior by reinforcing steps toward
  the desired behavior and extinguishing behaviors
  that move away from the desired behavior.
• Successive approximations - small steps in
  behavior, one after the other, that lead to a
  particular goal behavior.

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Other Classical Conditioning Concepts
LO 15.3 What are some specializations of
operant conditioning?

• Extinction occurs if the behavior (response) is
  not reinforced.
• Operantly conditioned responses also can be
  generalized to stimuli that are only similar to
  the original stimulus.
• Spontaneous recovery (reoccurrence of a once
  extinguished response) also happens in operant
  conditioning.

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Operant Stimuli and Stimulus Control
LO 15.3 What are some specializations of
operant conditioning?

• Discriminative stimulus - any stimulus, such as a
  stop sign or a doorknob, that provides the
  organism with a cue for making a certain response
  in order to obtain reinforcement.

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Schedules of Reinforcement
LO 15.3 What are some specializations of
operant conditioning?

• Partial reinforcement effect - the tendency for a
  response that is reinforced after some, but not
  all, correct responses to be very resistant to
  extinction.
• Continuous reinforcement - the reinforcement of
  each and every correct response.

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Schedules of Reinforcement
LO 15.3 What are some specializations of
operant conditioning?

• Fixed interval schedule - schedule of
  reinforcement in which the interval of time that
  must pass before reinforcement becomes possible
  is always the same.

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Schedules of Reinforcement
LO 15.3 What are some specializations of
operant conditioning?

• Variable interval schedule of reinforcement -
  schedule of reinforcement in which the interval
  of time that must pass before reinforcement
  becomes possible is different for each trial or
  event.
• Fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement - schedule
  of reinforcement in which the number of responses
  required for reinforcement is always the same.

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Schedules of Reinforcement
LO 15.3 What are some specializations of
operant conditioning?

• Variable ratio schedule of reinforcement -
  schedule of reinforcement in which the number of
  responses required for reinforcement is different
  for each trial or event.

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Behavior Resistant to Conditioning
LO 15.3 What are some specializations of
operant conditioning?

• Instinctive drift - tendency for an animal's
  behavior to revert to genetically controlled
  patterns.
• Each animal comes into the world (and the
  laboratory) with certain genetically determined
  instinctive patterns of behavior already in place.

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Behavior Resistant to Conditioning
LO 15.3 What are some specializations of
operant conditioning?

• Instinctive drift (continued)
• These instincts differ from species to species.
• There are some responses that simply cannot be
  trained into an animal regardless of
  conditioning.

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Behavior Modification
LO 15.4 How does operant conditioning function
in everyday life?

• Behavior modification - the use of operant
  conditioning techniques to bring about desired
  changes in behavior.
• Token economy - type of behavior modification in
  which desired behavior is rewarded with tokens.

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Behavior Modification
LO 15.4 How does operant conditioning function
in everyday life?

• Time-out - a form of mild punishment by removal
  in which a misbehaving animal, child, or adult is
  placed in a special area away from the attention
  of others.
• Essentially, the organism is being removed from
  any possibility of positive reinforcement in the
  form of attention.

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Behavior Modification
LO 15.4 How does operant conditioning function
in everyday life?

• Applied behavior analysis (ABA) modern term for
  a form of behavior modification that uses shaping
  techniques to mold a desired behavior or response.

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Biofeedback and Neurofeedback
LO 15.4 How does operant conditioning function
in everyday life?

• Biofeedback- the use of feedback about biological
  conditions to bring involuntary responses such as
  blood pressure and relaxation under voluntary
  control.
• Neurofeedback - form of biofeedback using
  brainscanning devices to provide feedback about
  brain activity in an effort to modify behavior.

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Module 16Cognitive Learning and Observational
Learning
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Learning Objectives

• LO 16.1 What occurs in observational learning?
• LO 16.2 How does observational learning function
  in everyday life?
• LO 16.3 What is cognitive learning theory?

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Observational Learning
LO 16.1 What occurs in observational learning?

• Observational learning - learning new behavior by
  watching a model perform that behavior.

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Four Elements of Observational Learning
LO 16.2 How does observational learning
function in everyday life?

• Attention
• To learn anything through observation, the
  learner must first pay attention to the model.
• Memory
• The learner must also be able to retain the
  memory of what was done, such as remembering the
  steps in preparing a dish that was first seen on
  a cooking show.

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Four Elements of Observational Learning
LO 16.2 How does observational learning
function in everyday life?

• Imitation
• The learner must be capable of reproducing, or
  imitating, the actions of the model.
• Motivation
• Finally, the learner must have the desire to
  perform the action.

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Cognitive Learning Theory
LO 16.3 What is cognitive learning theory?

• Early days of learning focus was on behavior.
• 1950s and more intensely in the 1960s, many
  psychologists were becoming aware that cognition,
  the mental events that take place inside a
  person's mind while behaving, could no longer be
  ignored.
• Edward Tolman - early cognitive scientist.

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Latent Learning
LO 16.3 What is cognitive learning theory?

• Edward Tolman's best-known experiments in
  learning involved teaching three groups of rats
  the same maze, one at a time (Tolman Honzik,
  1930).
• Group 1 - rewarded each time at end of maze.
• Learned maze quickly.

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Latent Learning
LO 16.3 What is cognitive learning theory?

• Edward Tolman's best-known experiments in
  learning involved teaching three groups of rats
  the same maze, one at a time (Tolman Honzik,
  1930).
• Group 2 - in maze every day only rewarded on
  10th day.
• Demonstrated learning of maze almost immediately
  after receiving reward.

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Latent Learning
LO 16.3 What is cognitive learning theory?

• Edward Tolman (continued)
• Group 3 - never rewarded.
• Did not learn maze well.
• Latent learning - learning that remains hidden
  until its application becomes useful.

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Figure 16.1 Learning Curves for Three Groups of
RatsIn the results of the classic study of
latent learning, Group 1 was rewarded on each
day, while Group 2 was rewarded for the first
time on Day 11. Group 3 was never rewarded. Note
the immediate change in the behavior of Group 2
on Day 12 (Tolman Honzik, 1930).
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Insight
LO 16.3 What is cognitive learning theory?

• Insight - the sudden perception of relationships
  among various parts of a problem, allowing the
  solution to the problem to come quickly.
• Cannot be gained through trial-and-error learning
  alone.
• Aha moment.

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Learned Helplessness
LO 16.3 What is cognitive learning theory?

• Learned helplessness - the tendency to fail to
  act to escape from a situation because of a
  history of repeated failures in the past.

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Module 17Language
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Learning Objectives

• LO 17.1 What is language, and how is it
  structured?
• LO 17.2 How are language and thought related?
• LO 17.3 How is language acquired?
• LO 17.4 What are the theories of language
  acquisition?
• LO 17.5 Which parts of the brain are associated
  with language, and how does brain damage affect
  language?

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Language
LO 17.1 What is language, and how is it
structured?

• Language - a system for combining symbols (such
  as words) so that an unlimited number of
  meaningful statements can be made for the purpose
  of communicating with others.

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Elements and Structure of Language
LO 17.1 What is language, and how is it
structured?

• Grammar - the system of rules governing the
  structure and use a of language.
• Syntax - the system of rules for combining words
  and phrases to form grammatically correct
  sentences.
• Morphemes - the smallest units of meaning within
  a language.
• Semantics - the rules for determining the meaning
  of words and sentences.

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Elements and Structure of Language
LO 17.1 What is language, and how is it
structured?

• Phonemes - the basic units of sound in language.
• Pragmatics - aspects of language involving the
  practical ways of communicating with others, or
  the social niceties of language.

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Language and Cognition
LO 17.2 How are language and thought related?

• Cognitive universalism theory that concepts are
  universal and influence the development of
  language.

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Animal Language
LO 17.2 How are language and thought related?

• Studies have been somewhat successful in
  demonstrating that animals can develop a basic
  kind of language, including some abstract ideas.

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Stages of Language Development
LO 17.3 How is language acquired?

• 2 months old - cooing (producing vowel sounds).
• 6 months old - babbling (creating consonant
  sounds).
• 1 year old - holophrases (single words meant to
  represent entire phrases of meaning).

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Stages of Language Development
LO 17.3 How is language acquired?

• 18 months old - grouping words together in short
  sentences.
• 6 years old - as fluent as an adult but with
  limited vocabulary.

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Language Acquisition
LO 17.4 What are the theories of language
acquisition?

• Language acquisition device (LAD) - born with an
  ability to understand and learn how to speak
  language.
• Environmental factors, such as an adult's tone
  toward a child, also influence language
  acquisition.

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Language and the Brain
LO 17.5 Which parts of the brain are
associated with language, and how does brain
damage affect language?

• Broca's aphasia - condition resulting from damage
  to Broca's area, causing the affected person to
  be unable to speak fluently, to mispronounce
  words, and to speak haltingly.

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Language and the Brain
LO 17.5 Which parts of the brain are
associated with language, and how does brain
damage affect language?

• Wernicke's aphasia - condition resulting from
  damage to Wernicke's area, causing the affected
  person to be unable to understand or produce
  meaningful language.