Learning

Chapter 5Learning Definition of LearningLearning is any relatively permanent change in behavior brought on by experience or practicerelatively permanent refers to the fact that when people learn anything, some part of their brain is physically changed to record what theyve learned This is actually a process of memory, without the ability to remember, people cant learn anythingexperience or practice refers to the tendency for behavior to differ based on the experience of specific eventsIf a behavior results in a positive experience, it is likely to occur againIf a behavior results in a negative experience, it is not likely to occur again

Classical Conditioning Ivan Pavlov studied the digestive system of dogs Reflex an involuntary response that is not under personal control or choiceEx. Dogs salivate when they receive foodStimulus any object, event, or experience that causes a response (the reaction of an organism)Ex. Food given to dogs that causes the reflexive response of salivationPavlov noticed that his dogs were salivating when they werent supposed toSome would start salivating when they saw the lab assistant bringing their food, some when they heard the clatter of the food bowl from the kitchen, some when it was the time of day when they were usually fedThus, Pavlov switched his focus to study these responses and eventually termed the phenomenon classical conditioning Learning to make an involuntary (reflex) response to a stimulus other than the original, natural stimulus that normally produces the reflex

Elements of Classical Conditioning Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) the original, naturally occurring stimulus that leads to an involuntary (reflex) responseUnconditioned because it is unlearnedIn Pavlovs research, food is the UCSUnconditioned response (UCR) an involuntary (reflex) response to a naturally occurring stimulus or UCSAlso unlearned, occurs because of genetic wiring in the nervous systemIn Pavlovs research, salivation is the UCRConditioned stimulus (CS) stimulus that becomes able to produce a learned reflex response by being paired with the original UCSAlmost any stimulus can become associated with a UCS if it is paired with UCS often enoughBefore a stimulus is associated with a UCS it is called a neutral stimulus (NS) stimulus that has no effect on the desired responseAfter being paired with the UCS enough times to produce the reflexive response alone, the NS becomes the CSIn Pavlovs research, lab assistant bringing food, bell, or clatter of the food bowl is the CSConditioned response (CR) learned reflex response to a CSIs usually not as strong as the original UCR, but is essentially the same responseIn Pavlovs research salivation in response to the lab assistant or clatter of the food bowl is the CR

Pavlovs Famous ExperimentsPaired the ticking of a metronome with the presentation of foodBecause the metronomes ticking didnt normally produce salivation it was the NS before any conditioning took placeCR and UCR are both salivationThey differ because they are in response to different things UCR occurs after a UCSCR occurs after a CSFood (UCS) produces salivation (UCR)Food (UCS) is repeatedly paired with sound of the metronome (NS)After pairings: sound of the metronome (CS) produces salivation (CR)

Pavlovs Basic Principles of Classical ConditioningThe CS must come before the USCIf the sound of the metronome came just after the dogs received food, they did not become conditionedThe CS and UCS must come very close together in time no more than 5 secondsWhen the time between the potential CS and the UCS was extended to several minutes, no association between the two was madeToo much could happen in the longer interval of time to interfere with conditioningRecent studies have found that the interstimulus interval (ISI), the time between the CS and UCS can vary depending on the nature of the conditioning task and even the organism being conditionedShorter ISIs (less than 500 milliseconds) have been found to be ideal for conditioningThe NS must be paired with the UCS several timesOften many pairings are necessary The CS is usually some stimulus that is distinctive, or stands out, from other competing stimuli The metronome was a sound that was not normally present in the laboratory and, therefore, was distinct Stimulus Generalization and Discrimination Stimulus generalization the tendency to respond to a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus with the conditioned responsePavlov noticed that similar sounds to the metronome would produce a similar CRStrength of the response is not as strong as to the original CRStimulus discrimination the tendency to stop making a generalized response to a stimulus that is similar to the original CS because the similar stimulus is never paired with the UCSPavlov never paired the sounds similar to the metronome with foodBecause only the real CS (metronome) was followed with food (UCS) the dogs learned to tell the difference, or discriminate, between the fake sounds and the actual CSThis occurs when an organism learns to respond to different stimuli in different ways Extinction and Spontaneous RecoveryExtinction the disappearance or weakening of a learned response following the removal or absence of the UCS When the CS (metronomes ticking) was repeatedly presented without the UCS (food), the CR (salivation) died out or stopped occurring In theory, this occurs because new learning has taken placeDuring extinction, the CS-UCS association that was learned, weakens, as the CS no longer predicts the UCSFor Pavlovs dogs, they learned not to salivate to the metronome because it no longer predicted foodSpontaneous recovery the reappearance of a learned response after extinction has occurred After extinction, Pavlov waited a few weeks before letting the dogs hear the metronome again, when he brought it back, they began to salivate againThis brief recovery of the CR shows that the CR is still retained even after extinction (remember that learning is relatively permanent), so something that is learned is really still in there even after extinctionIt is just suppressed or inhibited by the lack of an association with the UCSAs time passes, this inhibition weakens, especially if the original CS has not been present for a whileHigher-Order ConditioningOccurs when a strong CS is paired with another NS, causing the NS to become a second CSAt the point that Pavlovs dogs were strongly conditioned to salivate (CR) when they heard the metronome (CS) if another sound, like a snap (NS), occurred just before the metronome (CS) enough times, the snap (NS) would become a CS and produce salivation (CR) by itselfFood (UCS) would have to be presented every now and then to maintain the original CR of salivation to the metronome (CS)Without the UCS the higher-order conditioning would be difficult to maintain and would gradually fade awayConditioned Emotional Responses Conditioned emotional responses emotional response that has become classically conditioned to occur to learned stimuliJohn Watsons classic Little Albert experiment demonstrated the classical conditioning of a phobia (an irrational fear response)Presentation of a white rat was paired with a loud scary noise until Albert feared the white ratBefore conditioning: white rat = NSDuring conditioning: white rat (NS) paired with loud noise (UCS) to produce fear (UCR)After conditioning: white rat (CS) produces fear (CR)In advertising, commercials often use things that are known to produce an emotional response in hopes that the emotional response will become associated with their product (ex. Attractive women or cuddly puppies)

Vicarious ConditioningVicarious conditioning classical conditioning of a reflex response or emotion by watching the reaction of another personEx. Children used to receive vaccination shots in schoolThe nurse would line children up, and one by one they would receive the shotWhen some children received their shots, they cried a lotBy the time the nurse got to the end of the line of children, they were all crying, many of them before the needle even touched their skinThe children had learned their fear response to the shot from watching the reactions of the children who went before them

Other Conditioned ResponsesConditioned 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 associationEx. The chemotherapy drugs that cancer patients receive can create severe nausea, which usually causes them to develop a taste aversion to anything they eat up to 6 hours before the treatmentBiological 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 learningEx. If an animal eats something that makes them sick, they are likely to avoid that food in the future, which increases their chances of survival and passing on their genes to future generations These 2 types of conditioning violate 2 of Pavlovs basic principlesThe pairing of the CS and USC being close in timeTaste aversion can develop even if the food was eaten a considerable time before nausea occursIt should take multiple pairing of the CS and UCS to achieve conditioning Because of biological preparedness, taste aversion can occur with only one or few parings of the stimulus food with the nausea responseWhy Does Classical Conditioning Work?2 ways to explain how one stimulus can come to stand for anotherStimulus substitution Pavlovs original theory Suggested that the CS, through its association close in time with the UCS, came to activate the same place in the brain that was originally activated by the UCSBut if a mere association in time is all that is needed, why would conditioning not work when the CS is presented immediately after the UCSCognitive perspective modern explanation Suggests that the CS provides information or an expectancy about the coming of the UCSThe CS has to provide some kind of information about the coming of the UCS in order to achieve conditioningIf the CS comes after the UCS it cant provide any information about when the UCS is coming Ex. If rats experience an electric shock (UCS) while a specific tone (NS) is played, they will expect a shock (UCS) to occur during the tone (CS) and become anxious (CR) when they hear the toneBut if the shock (UCS) comes immediately after the tone stops (NS), they will act normally when hearing the tone and anxious (CR) when it stops (CS), because they expect that during the tone a shock will not occurOperant ConditioningClassical conditioning is the kind of learning that occurs with reflexive, involuntary behaviorOperant conditioning is the kind of learning that applies to voluntary behaviorOperant conditioning the learning of voluntary behavior through the effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to responses Thorndikes Puzzle Box: How to Frustrate a CatThorndike would place a hungry cat inside a puzzle box from which the only escape was to press a lever on the floor of the boxA bowl of food was placed outside the box, so the hungry cat would be highly motivated to get outThe cat would move around the box, pushing and rubbing against the walls trying to escape and would eventually push the lever by accident and open the doorThe lever is the stimulus, the pushing of the lever is the response, and the consequence is both escape from the box and foodAfter a number of trials the cat took less and less time to push the lever Its important not to assume the cat had figured out the connection between the lever and freedom, Thorndike kept moving the lever to a different position, and the cat had to learn the whole process over againThe cat would simply push and rub around the same area that had worked the last time and each time found the lever a little more quickly

Thorndikes Law of EffectBased on his puzzle box research Thorndike developed the law of effectIf an action 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 This is the basic principle behind learning voluntary behavior In the case of the puzzle box, pushing of the lever was followed by a pleasurable consequence (freedom and food), so pushing the lever became a repeated response

B.F. Skinner: The Next BehavioristSkinner took leadership of behaviorism after WatsonHe combined the work of Pavlov and Thorndike into a way to explain that all behavior is the product of learningSkinner is who actually termed the learning of voluntary behavior operant conditioningVoluntary behavior is what people and animals do to operate in the worldImportant distinction between operant and classical conditioningIn classical conditioning, learning a reflex depends on what comes BEFORE the response (UCS), and what will become the CSIn operant conditioning, learning depends on what happens AFTER the response, the consequenceThe Concept of Reinforcement Reinforcement any event or stimulus, that when following a response, increases the probability that the response will occur againTypically, reinforcement is pleasurable But, reinforcement can also be negative, like avoiding something unpleasant Ex. When a behavior causes the removal of painSkinners research involved something called a Skinner box or operant conditioning chamberOften involved placing a rat into one of the chambers and training it to push down on a bar to get food

Primary and Secondary Reinforcers Reinforcers are not all alike, there are 2 typesPrimary any reinforcer that is naturally reinforcing by meeting a basic biological need, such as hunger or touchInfants, toddlers, preschool age children, and animals can be easily reinforced with primary reinforcersEx. You can reinforce a toddlers behavior with candySecondary any reinforcer that becomes reinforcing after being paired with a primary reinforcer, such as praise, money, or gold starsEx. Money can be a reinforcer because it is associated with the ability to obtain (purchase) things that meet basic needs, such as food and shelter

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Positive and Negative ReinforcementReinforcers can also differ in the way they are usedPositive reinforcement the reinforcement of a response by the addition or experiencing of a pleasurable stimulusEx. Every time a rat presses a bar it receives food. The rats pressing of the bar is positively reinforced by the pleasurable reward of foodNegative reinforcement the reinforcement of a response by the removal, escape from, or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulusEx. If during a mild electric shock, if a rat presses a bar the shock stops. The rats pressing of the bar is negatively reinforced by the removal of the painful shock stimulusSchedules of ReinforcementThe timing of reinforcement can have a tremendous difference in the speed at which learning occurs and the strength of the learned responseConsider this scenario: Heathers mother gives her a quarter every night she remembers to put her dirty cloths in the hamper. Seans mother gives him gives him a dollar at the end of the week, but only if he has put his cloths in the hamper every night that week.Which child will learn to put their cloths in the hamper more quickly?After both Heather and Sean have been conditioned to put their dirty cloths in the hamper, if both mothers stop giving money, which child is more likely to continue to putting their dirty cloths in the hamper the longest?The Partial Reinforcement EffectContinuous reinforcement the reinforcement of each and every correct responseResponses that are reinforced each time they occur are more easily and quickly learnedEx. Therefore, because Heather was reinforced every night with a quarter, she will learn the association faster than SeanPartial reinforcement effect the tendency for a response that is reinforced after some, but not all, correct responses to be very resistant to extinctionEx. Sean expected to get a reinforcer only after 7 correct responses, when his reinforcers stop, he might continue to put his dirty cloths in the hamper for several more days or even another week or so, hoping that the reinforcer will eventually come anywayHeather will probably stop putting her dirty cloths in the hamper more quickly than Sean because she expects to be reinforced after every correct responseThe Partial Reinforcement EffectPartial reinforcement can be accomplished according to different patterns or schedulesIt might be a certain interval of time thats importantWhen timing of the response is more important, it is called an interval scheduleEx. If an office safe can only be opened at a specific time of day, it wouldnt matter how many times a person tried to open it because it would only work at a specific timeEx. A rat can only get 1 food pellet for pressing a lever every 2 hours, regardless of how many times the bar is pressed

Or it might be the number of responses required thats importantWhen the number of responses is more important, the schedule is called a ratio schedule, because a certain number of responses is required for each reinforcerEx. If a person had to sell a certain number of raffle tickets in order to get a prizeEx. A rat must press a bar 10 times to get a food pellet, regardless of how long it takes

Another way schedules of reinforcement can differ is in whether the number of responses or interval of time is fixed (the same every time) or variable (a different number or interval is required in each case)So its possible to have a fixed interval schedule, a variable interval schedule, a fixed ratio schedule, and a variable ratio scheduleFixed Interval Schedule of ReinforcementFixed Interval Schedule schedule of reinforcement in which the interval of time that must pass before reinforcement becomes possible is always they sameEx. Receiving a paycheck at the end of each weekIf you were teaching a rat to press a lever to get food pellets, you might require it to push the lever at least once within a 2 minute time span to get a pelletIt wouldnt matter how many times the rat pushed the bar; the rat would only get a pellet at the end of the 2 minute interval if it had pressed the bar at least onceFixed Interval Schedule of ReinforcementFixed interval schedule of reinforcement does not produce a fast rate of respondingSince it only matters that at least one response is made during the specific interval of time, speed is not that importantEventually the rat will start pushing the lever only as the interval of time nears its end, which is what causes the scalloping effect seen in the graphThe response rate goes up just before the reinforcer and then drops off immediately after, until it is almost time for the next reinforcer

Ex. This is similar to the way factory workers speed up production just before payday and slow down just after paydayVariable Interval Schedule of ReinforcementVariable interval schedule of reinforcement the interval of time that must pass before reinforcement becomes possible is different for each trial or eventA rat might receive a food pellet when it pushes a lever, every 5 minutes on average, but sometimes the interval might be 2 minutes, sometimes 10But the rat must push the lever at least once after that 2 or 10 minute interval to get the pelletBecause the rat cant predict how long the interval is going to be, it pushes the bar more or less continuously, producing the smooth line on the graph

Ex. Pop quizzes are unpredictable, students dont know exactly what day they might be given a quiz, so the best strategy is to study a little every night just in case and show up to classEx. Dialing a busy phone number, because you dont know when the call will go through, you keep dialing and dialingFixed Ratio Schedule of ReinforcementFixed ratio schedule of reinforcement the number of responses required for reinforcement is always the sameNotice 2 things about the graphThe rate of responding is very fast, especially compared to the fixed interval scheduleRapid response rate occurs because the rat wants to get to the next reinforcer as fast as possible, and the number of lever pushes countsThere are little breaks in the response pattern immediately after a reinforcer is givenThe pauses or breaks come right after a reinforcer, because the rat knows about how many lever pushes will be needed to get to the next reinforcer because its always the sameFixed schedules, both interval and ratio, are predictable, which allow rest breaks

Ex. Some sandwich shops give out punch cards to their customers that get punched every time they buy a sandwich, when the card has 10 punches, the customer might get a free sandwichVariable Ratio Schedule of ReinforcementVariable ratio schedule of reinforcement the number of responses required for reinforcement is different for each trial or eventThe rat might be expected to push the bar an average of 20 time to get reinforcement, that means that sometimes the rat would push the lever 10 times before a reinforcer comes, but on other trials it might take 30 presses or moreIn the graph, the line is just as rapid a response rate as the fixed ratio schedule because the number of responses still mattersBut the graph is much smoother because the rat is taking no rest breaks because it doesnt know how many times it may have to push the lever to get the next food pelletUnpredictability makes the variable schedule responses more or less continuous

Ex. People who put money into a slot machine continuously, do so because the dont know how many times they will have to do this until the jackpot comes. They do this continuously because the next one might hit the jackpot. The same is true with lottery tickets and pretty much any sort of gamblingComparison of Reinforcement Schedules

Additional Factors to Effective ReinforcementRegardless of the schedule of reinforcement, 2 additional factors contribute to making reinforcement of a behavior as effective as possibleTiming In general, a reinforcer should be given as immediately as possible after the desired behaviorDelaying reinforcement tends not to work well, especially when dealing with animals and small childrenReinforce only the desired behaviorThis should be obvious, but everyone makes mistakes sometimesEx. Many parents make the mistake of giving a child who has not done some chore the promised treat anyway, which completely undermines the childs learning of that chore or taskAlso, who hasnt given a treat to a pet that has not really done the trick?

Examples: which kind of reinforcement is going on?Andys father nags him to wash his car. Andy hates being nagged, so he washes the car so his father will stop nagging.Negative reinforcement, washing his car removes the unpleasant stimulus of his father naggingBradley learns that talking in a funny voice gets him lots of attention from his classmates, so now he talks that way often.Positive reinforcement, increasing use of the voice to get attentionTina is a server at a restaurant and always tries to smile and be pleasant because that seems to lead to bigger tipsPositive reinforcement, Tinas smiling and pleasantness are reinforced by better tipsWill turns his report in to his teacher on the day it is due because papers get marked down a letter grade for every day they are lateNegative reinforcement, avoiding the unpleasant stimulus of being marked down a grade by turning in a paper on timeThe Role of Punishment in Operant ConditioningThinking back to positive and negative reinforcementThese strategies are important for increasing the likelihood that the targeted behavior will occur againBut what about a behavior we do not want to occur again?Punishment

How Does Punishment Differ From Reinforcement? People experience 2 kinds of things as consequences in the worldThings they like (ex. Food, money, candy, sex, praise, etc.)Things they dont like (ex. Spankings, being yelled at, experiencing any kind of pain, etc.)Additionally, people experience these two kinds of consequences in 1 of 2 waysDirectly (ex. Getting money for working or getting yelled at for misbehaving)Or they dont experience them at all (ex. Losing an allowance for misbehaving or avoiding a scolding by lying about misbehavior)4 Ways to Modify BehaviorReinforcementPunishmentPositive (Adding)Something valued or desirable Something unpleasantPositive ReinforcementEx. Getting a gold star for good behaviorPunishment by ApplicationEx. Getting a spanking for disobeying Negative (Removing/Avoiding)Something unpleasant Something valued or desirable Negative ReinforcementEx. Avoiding a ticket by stopping at a red lightPunishment by RemovalEx. Losing a privilege such as going out with friends2 Kinds of PunishmentPunishment any event or object that, when following a response, makes that response less likely to happen againPunishment by application the punishment of a response by the addition or experiencing of an unpleasant stimulusThis is the kind of punishment people usually think ofEx. Spanking Punishment by removal the punishment of a response by the removal of a pleasurable stimulus This is the kind of punishment people normally confuse with negative reinforcementEx. grounding a teenager is removing the freedom to do what the teenager wants to do Negative Reinforcement VS. Punishment by RemovalExample of Negative Reinforcement Example of Punishment by RemovalStopping at a red light to avoid getting in an accidentLosing the privilege of driving because you got into too many accidentsMailing an income tax return by April 15 to avoid paying a penaltyHaving to lose some of your money to pay the penalty for late tax filingObeying a parent before the parent reaches the count of 3 to avoid getting a scoldingBeing grounded (losing your freedom) because of disobedience Negative reinforcement occurs when a response is followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulusIf something unpleasant has just gone away as a consequence of that response, the response will tend to happen againIf the response increases, the consequence has to be some kind of reinforcementPunishment by removal occurs when a response if followed by the removal of a pleasant stimulusIf something pleasant is taken away as a consequence of a response, the response probably will not happen againIf the response decreases, the consequence has to be some type of punishment In both, something is removed, but the difference between them is what is taken away and the result it has on behaviorProblems With PunishmentAlthough punishment can be effective in reducing or weakening a behavior, it has several drawbacksPunishment is used to weaken a response, and getting rid of a response that is already well established isnt easyIn reinforcement, all that has to be done is strengthen an already existing response Punishment usually serves to temporarily suppress or inhibit a behavior until enough time has passedEx. Punishing a childs bad behavior doesnt always eliminate the behavior completely As time goes on, the punishment is forgotten, and the bad behavior may occur again in a kind of spontaneous recovery of the old (probably pleasurable) behaviorPunishment by application can be pretty severe, and severe punishments do one thing well: it stops the behavior immediately It may not stop it permanently, but it does stop itIn a situation in which a child might be doing something dangerous or self-injurious, this kind of punishment is sometimes more acceptable Ex. If a child starts to run into a busy street, the parent might scream at the child to stop and then administer several rather severe swats to the childs rearIf this is not usual behavior for the parent, the child will most likely never run into the street againProblems With PunishmentOther than situations of immediately stopping dangerous behavior, severe punishment has too many drawbacks to be really useful (it can also lead to abuse)Severe punishment may cause a child (or animal) to avoid the punisher instead of the behavior being punished, so the child (or animal) learns the wrong responseSevere punishment may encourage lying to avoid the punishment (a kind of negative reinforcement), again, not the response that is desiredSevere punishment creates fear and anxiety, emotional responses that do not promote learning, if the point is to teach something, this kind of consequence isnt going to helpHitting provides a successful model for aggressionProblems With Punishment Punishment as a model for aggressionThe adult is using aggression to get he/she wants from the childChildren sometimes become more likely to use aggression to get what they want when they receive this kind of punishment And, the adult has lost an opportunity to model a more appropriate way to deal with parent-child disagreements Since aggressive punishment does tend to stop the undesirable behavior, at least for a little while, the parent actually experiences a kind of negative reinforcementWhen they spank, the unpleasant behavior goes awayThis may increase the tendency to use aggressive punishment over other forms of discipline and can lead to child abuseSome children are so desperate for their parents attention that they will misbehave on purposeThe punishment is a form of attention, and these children will take whatever attention they can get, even if it is negative

Problems With Punishment Punishment by removal is less objectionable and is the only kind of punishment that is permitted in many public schoolsBut this kind of punishment also has drawbacksIt teaches the child what not to but not what the child should doBoth punishment by removal and punishment by application are usually only temporary in their effect on behaviorAs time passes, the behavior will most likely return as the memory of the punishment gets weaker, allowing spontaneous recovery of the negative behavior How to Make Punishment More EffectivePunishment should immediately follow the behavior it is meant to punishIf the punishment comes long after the behavior, it will not be associated with that behavior (also true for reinforcement)Punishment should be consistent If the parent says that a certain punishment will follow a certain behavior, the parent must make sure to follow through and do what he/she promisedPunishment for a particular behavior should stay at the same intensity or increase slightly but never decreaseEx. If a child is scolded for jumping on the bed the first time, the second time the behavior happens the child should be punished by scolding or by a stronger penalty, like removal of a favorite toyBut if the first misbehavior is punished by spanking and the second only by a scolding, the child learns to gamble with the possible punishmentPunishment of the wrong behavior should be paired with reinforcement of the right behavior Pairing punishment with reinforcement allows parents and others to use a much milder punishment and still be effectiveIt also teaches the desired behavior rather than just suppressing the undesired oneEx. If a 2 year old is eating with her fingers, the parent should pull her hand gently out of her plate and say something like No, we dont eat with our fingers, we eat with our fork. then place the fork in the childs hand and praise her for using it, See, you are doing such a good job with your fork, Im so proud of you!Stimulus ControlDiscriminative stimulus any stimulus that provides the organism with a cue for making a certain response in order to obtain reinforcement Specific cues lead to specific responses, and discriminating between cues leads to success Ex. A police car is a discriminative stimulus for slowing down and a red stoplight is a cue for stopping because both of these actions are usually followed by negative reinforcement, people dont want to get a ticket or get hit by another carEx. A doorknob is a cue for where to grab a door to open itIf a door has a knob, people always turn it, but if it has a handle, people usually pull itThe 2 kinds of opening devices each cause a different response from people, and their reward is opening the door Other Concepts in Operant ConditioningShaping the reinforcement of simple steps in behavior that lead to a desired more complex behavior Ex. If you wanted to train your dog to jump through a hoop, you would have to start with some behavior that the dog is already capable of doing on its ownThen gradually mold that starting behavior into a jump (something the dog is capable of doing but not likely to do on its own)You would start with the hoop on the ground in front of the dog and then call the dog through the hoop, using a treat as baitAfter the dog steps through the hoop, you give the dog a treat (positive reinforcement)The next time, you could raise the hoop a little, reward the dog for walking through it again, the raise the hoop again, reward again, and so onThe goal is achieved by reinforcing each Successive approximationSuccessive approximations small steps in behavior, one after the other, that lead to a particular goal behavior

Other Concepts in Operant ConditioningExtinction in operant condition involves the removal of the reinforcement (in classical conditioning, extinction involves the removal of the UCS)Ex. If a child is throwing a tantrum to get a candy bar, if the parent does not cave in and removes the reinforcement (the candy bar) and if possible parental attention, the tantrum will eventually stopOperantly conditioned responses can also be generalized to stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus (just like in classical conditioning)Ex. When a baby is first learning to label objects and people, he may say Dada when his father is present, and the father reinforces the behavior with praise and attentionBut sometimes the baby will call all men Dada, but over time as other men fail to reinforce this response, hell learn to discriminate among them and his father and only call his father DadaIn this way, the man who is actually his father becomes a discriminative stimulus Spontaneous recovery also occurs in operant conditioning (just like in classical conditioning)Ex. In the example of teaching the dog to jump through the hoop, if the dog has already learned other tricks, like rolling over or shaking paws, when learning a new trick the dog may try to get a reinforcer by performing its old tricks, before finally walking through the hoop

Using Operant Conditioning: Behavior ModificationBehavior modification the use of operant conditioning techniques to bring about desired changes in behaviorUsed for many years to change undesirable behavior and create desirable responses in animals and humans, particularly in school childrenIf a teacher wants to use behavior modification to help a child learn to be more attentive during lecturesSelect a target behavior, such as making eye contact with the teacherChoose a reinforcer, such as a gold star applied to the childs chart on the wallEvery time the child makes eye contact, the teacher gives the child a gold star. Inappropriate behavior, such as looking out the window, is not reinforced with gold starsAt the end of the day, the teacher gives the child a special treat or reward for having a certain number of gold stars (reward is decided ahead of time and discussed with the child)The gold stars in the example above, can be considered tokens, secondary reinforcers that can be traded in for other kinds of reinforcersToken economy type of behavior modification in which desired behavior is rewarded with tokens Commonly used in programs like Alcoholics Anonymous

Using Operant Conditioning: Behavior ModificationAnother tool behaviorists use to modify behavior is called time-outTime-out 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

Horrible but hilarious time out method Using Operant Conditioning: Behavior ModificationApplied behavior analysis (ABA) modern term for a form of behavior modification that uses both analysis of current behavior and behavioral techniques to address a socially relevant issueEx. ABA has been used as a technique involving shaping to teach social skills to individuals with AutismSmall pieces of candy are used as reinforcers to teach social skills and language to children with autismIn ABA, skills are broken down into their simplest steps and then taught to the child through a system of reinforcementPrompts (such as moving a childs face to look at a teacher on a task) are given as needed when the child is learning a skill or refuses to cooperateAs the child begins to master a skill and receives reinforcement in the form of treats or praise, the prompts are gradually taken away until the child can do the skill independently Using Operant Conditioning: Behavior ModificationTechniques for modifying responses have been developed so that even biological responses, normally considered involuntary, such as blood pressure, muscle tension, and hyperactivity can be brought under conscious controlBiofeedback using feedback about biological conditions to bring involuntary responses, such as blood pressure and relaxation, under voluntary control Relatively newer biofeedback technique, called neurofeedback involves trying to change brain-wave activity Involves amplifiers connected to a computer that records and analyzes the physiological activity of the brainNeurofeedback can be integrated with video-game-like programs that individuals can use to learn how to produce brain waves or specific types of brain activity associated with specific cognitive or behavioral states (ex. increased attention, staying focused, relaxed awareness)Cognitive Learning Theory Behaviorists believed that only observable, measurable behavior should be studiedBut, other psychologists had an interest in cognition, the mental events that take place inside a persons mind while behaving These individuals began to dominate the field of experimental psychology Behaviorists could no longer ignore the thoughts, feelings, and expectations that clearly existed in the mind and that seemed to influence observable behaviorThey eventually began to develop a cognitive learning theory to supplement the more traditional theories of learning (conditioning)There are 3 important people that are often cited as key theorists in the early days of the development of cognitive learning theoryGestalt psychologists Edward Tolman and Wolfgang Kohler, and modern psychologist Martin Seligman Latent Learning: Tolmans Maze-Running RatsTolmans best-known experiments in learning involved teaching 3 groups of rats the same maze, one at a time 1st group each rat was placed in the maze and reinforced with food for making its way out the other sideThe rat was then placed back in the maze, reinforced when it completed the maze again, and so on until the rat could successfully solve the maze without making any errors (like wrong turns)2nd group rats were treated exactly like the first group except they didnt get any reinforcement when they exited the maze, they were simply put back over and over again for the 1st 9 daysOn the 10th day, the rats began to receive reinforcement for getting out of the maze3rd group served as a control group and were not reinforced over the entire course of the experiment

Latent Learning: Tolmans Maze-Running RatsA behaviorist would predict that only the 1st group of rats would learn the maze, because learning depends on reinforcementAt first, the 1st group of rats solved the maze after a certain number of trials Whereas the 2nd and 3rd groups seemed to wander aimlessly around until accidentally finding their way outOn the 10th day, the first time the 2nd group was reinforced, they solved the maze almost immediately Rats in the 2nd group , while wandering around in the first 9 days, had learned how to navigate the maze successfully and had stored this knowledge as a kind of mental map, or cognitive map of the layout of the mazeThe rats in the 2nd group had not demonstrated their learning of the maze in the first 9 days because they had no reason toThe cognitive map has remained hidden, or latent, until the rats had a reason to use it, getting reinforced with food for completing the mazeTolman called this latent learning learning that remains hidden until its application becomes usefulThe idea that learning could happen without reinforcement, and then later affect behavior, was something traditional operant conditioning could not explainInsight Learning: Kohlers Smart ChimpKohler was a Gestalt psychologist who became marooned on an island off the coast of North Africa when WWI broke outAt the time, he was working at a primate research lab on the island and began to study animal learning In one famous study, Kohler set up a problem for a chimpanzee named SultanThe problem was how to get to a banana that was placed just out of his reach outside his cageSultan solved the problem relatively easily, first trying to reach through the bars with his arm, then using a stick that was lying in the cage to rake the banana to himAs chimpanzees are natural tool users this only demonstrates trial-and-error learning Insight Learning: Kohlers Smart ChimpThen, the banana was placed just out of reach of Sultans extended arm with the stick in his handThere were two sticks lying around in the cage, which could be fitted together to make a single pole that would be long enough to reach the bananaSultan first tried one stick, then the other, and after about an hour he pushed one stick out of the cage as far as it would go toward the banana and then pushed the other stick behind the first oneOf course when he tried to pull the sticks back, he could only get the one in his handWhen Kohler gave him the stick back, he sat on the floor of the cage and looked at them carefully, he then put the sticks together and retrieved his banana

Insight Learning: Kohlers Smart ChimpKohler called Sultans rapid perception of relationships insight Insight the sudden perception of relationships among various parts of a problem, allowing the solution to the problem to come quickly Insight could not be gained through trial-and-error learning alone

Learned Helplessness: Seligmans Depressed DogsLearned helplessness the tendency to fail to act to escape from a situation because of a history of repeated failures in the pastSeligman presented a tone followed by a harmless but painful electric shock to one group of dogs This group of dogs were harnessed so they could not escape the shockThe researchers assumed the dogs would learn to fear the sound of the tone and later try to escape from the tone before being shockedAnother group of dogs were not conditioned to fear the tone

Learned Helplessness: Seligmans Depressed DogsThe dogs were then placed in a box consisting of a low fence in the middle that divided the box into 2 compartments The dogs could easily see over the fence and jump over if they wantedDogs who had not been conditioned to fear the tone quickly jumped from one side of the box to the other as soon as the shock occurred

Learned Helplessness: Seligmans Depressed DogsWhen the dogs who were conditioned to fear the tone were placed in the boxInstead of jumping over the fence when the tone sounded, they just sat thereThey showed distress but didnt try to jump over the fence even when the shock itself began

Learned Helplessness: Seligmans Depressed DogsWhy?The dogs that had been harnessed while being conditioned had apparently learned in the original tone/shock situation that there was nothing they could do to escape the shockSo when placed in a situation in which escape was possible, the dogs still did nothing because they had learned to be helplessThey believed they could not escape, so they didnt try More recently, learned helplessness has been studied from a neuroscientific perspective research has indicated that brain areas associated with fear/anxiety, suppression of the fight-flight response, and higher-level brain areas in the frontal lobe which determine whether or not a stimulus is controllable all play a role

Learned Helplessness: Seligmans Depressed DogsThe concept of learned helplessness has been extended to explain some behaviors characteristic of depressionDepressed people seem to lack normal emotions and become somewhat apatheticThey often stay in unpleasant work environments or bad marriages or relationships rather than trying to escape or better their situationSeligman proposed that this depressive behavior is a form of learned helplessnessDepressed people may have learned in the past that they seem to have no control over what happens to themA sense of powerlessness and hopelessness is common in depressed people, and this seems to apply to the behavior of Seligmans dogsObservational LearningObservational learning learning new behavior by watching a model (someone else who is doing that behavior) perform that behavior Sometimes the behavior is desirable, and sometimes it is notClassic study of observational learning: Albert Banduras Bobo doll study Bandura and The Bobo DollIn this classic study 2 groups of preschool children were placed in a room with an experimenter and a model and watched as the model interacted with toys in the roomGroup 1 the model interacted with the toys in a nonaggressive manner, completely ignoring the presence of a Bobo doll Group 2 the model became very aggressive with the doll, kicking it and yelling at it, throwing it in the air and hitting it with a hammerThen each child was left alone in the room and had the opportunity to play with the toys in the room while a camera filmed them through a one-way mirror

Children in group 1, who had watched the model ignore the Bobo doll, did not act aggressively toward the doll Children in group 2, who had watched the model act aggressively, beat up on the doll, hitting and kicking it, exactly imitating the models behavior

Bandura and The Bobo DollObviously, the aggressive children had learned their aggressive actions from merely watching the model, with no reinforcementThis is an example of learning/performance distinction the observation that learning can take place without actual performance of the learned behavior

Bandura and The Bobo DollIn later studies, 2 groups of children were shown the model acting aggressively on filmGroup 1 watched the model act aggressively with the Bobo doll and then be rewarded Group 2 watched the model act aggressively with the Bobo doll and then be punishedWhen placed in the room with the doll, children from group 1 imitated the models aggressive actions but children from group 2 did notThen, children from group 2 were told they would receive a reward if they could show the experimenter what the model had doneEach child from group 2 then correctly imitated the models aggressive behaviorsApparently, consequences do matter in motivating a child or an adult to imitate a particular modelBandura and The Bobo DollThis makes the tendency for some movies and TV programs to make heroes out of violent, aggressive bad guys particularly disturbing Recent nationwide study of young people ages 8-18 in the U.S. Found that young people spend almost 7.5 hours on average per day involved in media consumption (TV, computers, video games, music, cell phones, print, and movies) 7 days a weekGiven the prevalence of media multitasking (using more than one media device at a time) they are packing in approximately 10 hrs 45 mins of media during those 7.5 hoursWhile not all media consumption is violent, its easy to imagine that some of that media is of a violent nature Bandura and The Bobo DollCorrelational research stretching over nearly 2 decades suggests that a link exists between viewing violent TV and an increased level of aggression in childrenWhile correlations do not prove that viewing violence on TV is the cause of increased violence, the link between violence and viewing violence on TV is a strong oneAlthough still a topic of debate, there appears to be a strong body of evidence that exposure to media violence does have immediate and long-term effectsIncreasing the likelihood of aggressive verbal and physical behavior and aggressive thoughts and emotions in children, adolescents, and adultsThe 4 Elements of Observational LearningAttention to learn anything through observation, the learner must first pay attention to the modelEx. A person at a fancy dinner party who wants to know which utensil to use has to watch a person who seems to know what is correctCertain characteristics of models can make attention more likelyEx. People pay more attention to those they perceive as similar to them, and to those they perceive as attractiveMemory the learner must be able to retain the memory of what was doneEx. Remembering the steps in preparing a meal that was seen on a cooking showImitation the learner must be capable of reproducing, or imitating, the actions of the modelEx. A 2 year old might be able to watch someone tie shoelaces and might even remember most of the steps, but the 2 year olds chubby little fingers will not have the dexterity necessary for actually tying the lacesMotivation the learner must have the desire or motivation to perform the actionEx. The person at the fancy dinner party might not care which fork is the proper one to useIf a person expects a reward because one has been given in the past, or has been promised a future reward, or has witnessed a model getting a reward they will be much more likely to imitate the observed behavior