LEARNING

Learning Behavior

› You learn by observing Change

› Connections between neurons are formed Relatively enduring

› Change is usually permanent Practice and experience

› Reinforces

Learning Stimulus – produces activity in an

organism› Anything perceived by the senses – smell,

touch, taste, sight, hearing Response – reaction of an organism to

a stimulus› Stimulus: Bright light› Response: Close/cover your eyes

Aristotle Greek philosopher 4th Century B. C. Laws of Association

› Associations are mental connections between two stimuli

Ivan Pavlov Russian psychologist Won the Nobel Peace

Prize Classical

Conditioning Conducted his

research on dogs

Natural Response Unconditioned Response (UCR)

› unlearned, occurs naturally, no conditioning or training are needed in order to produce this response

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) › the stimulus that causes the UCR

Learned Response Conditioned response (CR)

› Learned response

Conditioned stimulus (CS)› A stimulus presented that wouldn’t

normally cause a certain response

Pavlov’s Experiment

What happens when a dog is given food ?› Gets excited, jumps around, salivates

What happens when you ring a bell?› Gets excited jumps around, NO salivating

What happens if every time you give a dog food you rang a bell?› The dog will eventually salivate

What happens now if you ring the bell?› The dog will salivate

Pavlov’s Experiment UCS

› Food UCR

› Salivation

CS › Bell

CR › Salivation

Why does the dog now salivate to the sound of the bell?› The dog has learned to associate the bell with food – he

learned something!

Pavlov’s Observations

The following 4 areas play a role in classical conditioning› Time between CS and UCS› Repetition› Extinction› Generalization and discrimination

Applications of Classical Conditioning

1. Counterconditioning› Changing a negative response to a positive

one 2. Flooding

› Having a person face their fear continuously

3. Desensitization› Gradually exposing a person to something

they fear

Operant Conditioning

A behavior is learned in connection with a reward or punishment

E.L. Thorndike Operant conditioning Placed a cat in a “puzzle box”

› One lever in the box would open the door› The cat would claw around and eventually find the

lever› Once the door opened the cat was able to get out

and received a reward (food)› The cat was put back in the box, it would claw

around again and find the lever, get out of the box and receive the reward

› After a number of trials the cat new exactly where to go to get his reward

B.F. Skinner Behavior psychologist Respondent behavior

› The response that is involuntary, it doesn’t have to be learned, it happens automatically

Operant behavior› Voluntary behavior, choosing to do

something Reinforcement

› Encourages or discourages a behavior

Principles of Operant Conditioning

Any response followed by a reinforcing stimulus tends to be repeated

A stimulus is considered reinforcing when it increases the rate of an operant behavior

Primary and Secondary Reinforcements

Primary › A stimulus that is tied

to some aspect of survival (food, water)

Secondary› A stimulus that is not

necessary for survival, (money, praise)

Changes in Operant Conditioning

Generalization › when stimuli are similar but not identical,

and the CR still occurs Discrimination

› learning the difference between two similar stimuli

Extinction › getting rid of a response

Shaping

A method of refining a behavior by reinforcing behaviors that are close to the desired behavior

Eventually the reinforcements will lead to the actual desired behavior

Chaining Teaching steps to a desired behavior

separately

Once each behavior is linked together you get the actual desired behavior

Schedules of Reinforcement

How often must a person receive reinforcement for a behavior to continue?

Fixed Schedule› Given consistently

Variable Schedule › Given at different rates or times

Schedules of Reinforcement

Ratio Schedule › Based on the number of times a behavior

occurs and the rate at which it’s reinforced Interval Schedule

› Reinforcement is given after a specific amount of time

Biology of Conditioning

Taste Aversion› Develop a dislike for a particular food if it

resulted in an illness (biological preparedness)

› Adaptive behavior Instinctual Drift

› Instincts› We drift towards certain things because of

inborn tendencies

Latent Learning Edward Tolman

› Individuals interact with the environment› Form associations between two different

stimuli› Cognitive maps – associations made

previously that can be used at a later time› Latent learning – using a previously

learned behavior at a later time, but when you learned it, it wasn’t obvious that you could use it for something else

Insight Learning

Wolfgang Kohler Figuring out a method or behavior

› Placed chimpanzees in cages with bananas hanging from the ceiling

› In the cages were several boxes› Chimps tried jumping and climbing to get

to the bananas› After a while they studied the boxes› They then stacked the boxes, climbed on

top and got the bananas

Cognitive Theories

Cognition › Thinking› Memory formation› Learning› Problem solving

Jean Piaget

French psychologist Mental abilities develop as a function of

biological development & experience Schemas contain info. About

› Objects› Actions› Events› Relationships

Example: Morning routine

Jean Piaget

Children are already born with certain schema› Suck› Reach › Look› Grasp

Stages of Cognitive Development

1. Sensorimotor (birth-2 years)› Differentiates self from objects› Object permanence – things continue to

exist even when they are no longer present to the senses

2. Preoperational (2-7 years)› Use language, represent objects with

words

Stages of Cognitive Development 3. Concrete operational (7-12)

› Think logically› Classifies objects by several features

(size, color, shape) 4. Formal operational (12 & up)

› Become concerned with the hypothetical, the present, and the future

Factors Affecting Learning

Meaningfulness› Words or ideas that have personal meaning

Transfer› Learning new information, but being able to use it

in real world situations Chemical Influence

› Stimulants – caffeine, soda, coffee – inc. brain chemicals and may allow for more rapid learning

› Depressants – alcohol – reduce nerve firing and the potential for learning

Social or Observational Learning

Albert Bandura› Direct experience› Vicarious experience - observing

Bandura’s Research Divided preschool children into 2 groups

› One watched a film of an adult playing quietly with a doll

› The other watched a film of an adult playing aggressively with the doll Punching, kicking, throwing it around the

room Later, when the children were allowed

to play with toys, those who had seen the more aggressive film were more than twice as likely to act aggressively

Processes in Observational Learning

Acquisition or modification of a behavior after at least one exposure to the behavior Attention Retention Motor Reproduction Processes Motivation

Violence in the Media

Observational Learning› Media violence can encourage violent

behavior

› Children brought up in a home where there is no aggressive behavior or punishment are usually less likely to exhibit violent behaviors seen in the media.

Current Approaches

Individual differences in cognitive processes› The big picture› Minor details› Hands-on › Think or reasoning

Factors that Influence Learning

Emotions› Advantageous to learning› If emotions are overwhelming, little

learning takes place Evolutionary

› Processes are inborn and are turned on by situations we face each day

Factors the Influence Learning

Culture› Values – learning depends on your family

values› Perceptual Processes – how do you

perceive what you come into contact with› Intelligence – varies among people