CONDITIONING AND LEARNING

Learning- it is a relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience, excluding motivation, fatigue, maturation, disease, injury or drugs

A. TYPES OF LEARNING

- Associative Learning – occurs whenever a person or an animal forms a simple association among various stimuli and / or responses.

- Cognitive Learning – understanding knowing, anticipating, or otherwise making use of information-rich mental processes

1. ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING

reinforcement is key – any event that increases the probability that a response will occur again.

a. events that precede a response are antecedents

b. events that follow a response are consequences

c. classical conditioning – an antecedent stimulus that doesn’t produce a response is linked with one that does

d. operant conditioning - learning is based on the consequences of responding

I. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING – IVAN PAVLOV

A. Pavlov’s Experiment: bell, meat powder, salivation

1. the bell began as a neutral stimulus (NS) becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS)

because of learning will create a response. 2. meat powder (which causes salivation) is

an unconditioned (unlearned) stimulus (US) when done several times the dogs began to

salivate when they heard the bell the bell, which had no effect, began to

create the same response that food did

3. salivating is an innate reflex, so it is an unconditioned response (UR)

4. when the bell produced salivation, the dog was making a new response, thus salivation became a conditioned (learned) response (CR)

II. PRINCIPLES OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

A. Acquisition (training) a conditioned response must be reinforced (strengthened)

B. Higher Order Conditioning 1. a well-learned CS is used to reinforce

further learning 2. the CS has become strong enough to be

used like an unconditioned stimulus

C. Expectancies 1. during conditioning, the brain learns to

expect that the US (reflex) will follow the CS (learned response). As a result, the brain prepares the body to response to the US (reflex)

D. Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery 1. Conditioning can be weakened by

removing reinforcement, leading to extinction

2. the reappearance of a response following apparent extinction is spontaneous recovery

E. GENERALIZATION

1. Other stimuli similar to CS may trigger a response – stimulus generalization

F. Discrimination 1. The ability to respond differently to

various stimuli many children learn to discriminate voice

tones associated with pain from those associated with praise or affection.

III. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING IN HUMANS

A. Conditioned Emotional Response – gut responses

many involuntary, autonomic nervous system responses (fight or flight reflexes ) are linked with new stimuli and situations by classical conditioning

B. LEARNED FEARS

1. some phobias begin as conditioned emotional responses – learned emotional reaction to a previously neutral stimulus.

phobias are fears that persists even when no realistic danger exists.

2. stimulus generalization and higher order conditioning can spread CERs to other stimuli; what began as a limited fear may become a disabling phobia

3. the amygdala is responsible for emotions and is not effected by cognitive learning – you can’t read about it to lose the fear.

4. conditioned fears do respond to a therapy called desensitization – gradually exposing the phobic person to feared stimuli while he/she remains calm or relaxed

C. VICARIOUS (SECONDHAND) CONDITIONING

1. when we learn to respond emotionally to a stimulus by observing another person’s emotional reaction

conditioning can occur indirectly 2. Vicarious classical conditioning – when

we learn to respond emotionally by observing another person’s emotional reactions

the emotional attitudes we develop toward foods, political parties, ethnic groups, escalators, etc. are probably conditioned not only by direct experiences, but vicariously as well.

V. OPERANT CONDITIONING

we associate responses with their consequences

1. acts that are reinforced then to be repeated – the law of effect (the probability of a response is altered by the effect it has) – learning is strengthened each time a response is followed by a satisfying state of affairs

learning is based on the consequences of responding (wearing certain clothes, telling jokes)

Classical Conditioning is passive In Operant conditioning, the learner

actively “operates” on the environment

A. POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

Operant reinforcer– any event that follows a response and increases its probability of occurring again.

what is reinforcing for one person may not be for another.

B. ACQUIRING AN OPERANT RESPONSE

1. Information and contingency - like classical conditioning, operant learning is based on information and expectancies – we learn to expect that a certain response will have a certain effect at certain times

2. a reinforcer works best when it is response contingent - tells a person that a response was “right” and worth repeating.

3. Timing – is effective when it rapidly/immediately follows a correct response

C. Shaping – the gradual molding of responses to a desired pattern

D. Operant Extinction – learned responses that are not reinforced gradually will fade away.

E. Negative Reinforcement – making a response removes an unpleasant event

negative reinforcement increases responding by ending discomfort

F. Punishment – following a response with an unpleasant consequence. It decreases the likelihood that the response will occur again

1. Primary Reinforcers are natural, nonlearned, and rooted in biology: they produce comfort, end discomfort, or fill an immediate physical need: food, water, sex

2. Secondary reinforcers are learned: money, praise, attention, approval, success, affection, grades

V. OPERANT REINFORCERS

a. token reinforcer – money, gold stars, poker chips – tangible secondary reinforcers

b. social reinforcers – learned desires for attention and approval; influence human behavior

3. FEEDBACK – INFORMATION ABOUT THE EFFECT A RESPONSE HAD

if you are trying to learn something, reinforcement comes from knowing that you achieved a desired result

most effective when it is frequent, immediate, and detailed

V. PARTIAL REINFORCEMENT

most of our responses are more inconsistently rewarded. In daily life, learning is based on partial reinforcement, in which reinforcers do not follow every response.

VI. STIMULUS CONTROL – STIMULI THAT CONSISTENTLY PRECEDE A REWARDED RESPONSE TEND TO INFLUENCE WHEN AND WHERE THE RESPONSE WILL OCCUR.

many of the stimuli we encounter each day act like stop or go signals that guide our behavior

A. Operant stimulus generalization – is the tendency to respond to stimuli similar to those that preceeded operant reinforcement; when similar antecedents are present.

B. Discrimination – to respond differently to varied stimuli; you learn to differentiate between antecedent stimuli that signal reward and nonreward

this has a tremendous impact on human behavior. Learning to recognize different automobile brands, birds, animals, wines, music, etc. depends on operant discrimination in learning.

IX. PUNISHMENT

a punisher is any consequence that reduces the frequency of a target behavior.

A. Vairables Affecting Punishment must be given contingently might reinforce bad behaviors; it can be

either the onset of an unpleasant event or the removal of a positive state of affairs.

1. The effectiveness of punishers depends on their timing, consistency, and intensity.

2. severe punishement can be extremely effective in stopping behavior

mild punishment usually only temporarily suppresses a response

B. THE DOWNSIDE OF PUNISHMENT

1. aversive – painful or uncomfortable; as a result, people/ situations associated with punishment tend to become feared, resented, or disliked (classical conditioning)

2. encourages escape and avoidance learning – we learn to make a response in order to end an aversive stimulus

3. it increases aggression as a response to frustration.

C. USING PUNISHMENT WISELY

1. Use the minimum punishment necessary to suppress misbehavior

2. Avoid harsh punishment such as spanking 3. Don’t use punishment at all if you can

discourage misbehavior in other ways 4. Apply punishment, during, or immediately

after, misbehavior, if not possible wait for the next instance of misbehavior

5. Be consistent 6. Expect anger from a punished person 7. Punish with kindness and respect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy_mIEnnlF4