Learning

Learning

• Any enduring change in behavior based on experience

• Enduring change in behavior– If behavior does not change then learning did

not take place

• Experience– We encounter some form of a learning event

Learning Theory

• Experience shapes behavior– Touch a hot stove

• Learning is adaptive– Never touch a hot stove again

• We can discover the laws of learning through systematic experimentation

Classical Conditioning

• Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)– Anything that stimulates an automatic

(reflexive) response• Food

• Unconditioned reflex (UCR)– Automatic response

• Hunger

Classical Conditioning

• Conditioned stimulus (CS)

– Pair a neutral item with a UCS

– McDonald's golden arches (neutral) & french fries (UCS)

– The golden arches become a conditioned stimulus (CS) for the french fries

Classical Conditioning

• Conditioned response (CR)

– The UCR (desire for french fries) becomes associated with the CS (golden arches)

– Hunger (UCR) leads to a desire to eat at McDonalds (CR)

Ivan Pavlov

• Ivan Pavlov noticed a peculiar phenomenon while studying the digestive systems of dogs

• When presented with food (UCS) a dog would salivate (UCR)

• Pavlov decided to ring a bell (neutral stimulus) just before presenting food to a dog

• The sound of the bell (CS) quickly led to the dog salivating

Classical Conditioning

• Pavlov’s discovery, classical conditioning, can account for a great deal of behavior

• For example, quickly write down three words to describe a Ferrari sports car

• Your responses were the results of classical conditioning

Little Albert

• Little Albert was a normal, well adjusted, 9 month old

• Albert was given objects by John Watson including:– a white lab rat – a white coat – other things that incorporated the color white

• Watson tested Albert’s response to a loud noise (UCS) by banging on a steel bar directly behind his head

• Albert reacted by jumping, falling forward, and whimpering

Little Albert

• Two months later Watson selected a white rat, something Albert was use to playing with, as the CS

• Now every time Albert reached out to the white rat Watson struck the steel bar creating a loud sound

• Albert immediately became afraid of the white rat

• Albert also feared anything with the color white such as a white coat, Santa mask, etc

Little Albert

• Watson moved Albert from the test room to a large lecture hall, Albert reacted the same

• Watson waited for a period of time and retested Albert, found the same negative responses

• Albert’s mother removed him from the study. Watson never had a chance to de-program Albert

Conditioned Responses

• Conditioned taste aversions– Nasty tasting cough syrup

• Conditioned emotional responses– Your favorite song generates positive emotions

• Conditioned immune responses– Chemotherapy

Stimulus Generalization

• Once you have learned to pair a given CS with a UCS you tend to generalize to stimuli of a similar nature

– “The first person I ever met from Greece was a really nice person. You know, the Greeks are nice people!”

• The more similar a stimuli is to the original CS the more likely generalization will occur

Stimulus Discrimination

• Opposite of stimulus generalization

• Learn to respond to a restricted range of stimuli

– My ex was from California

– I know a lot of good people from California, my ex just isn’t one of them

Extinction

• Occurs when a CR is weakened to the point of being eliminated

• The CS occurs without the UCS– A police officer on beat patrol (CS) has repeated friendly

encounters with citizens in a high crime area– Citizens gradually learn not to associate the officer with being

arrested

• Spontaneous Recovery– Tendency for CS to come back, normally a short lived phenomena– Citizen observes an arrest and, temporarily, regains a fear of the

police officer

Factors Affecting Classical Conditioning

• Interstimulus Interval– Time period between CS and UCS. The shorter

the better

• One’s Learning History– Prior experience with similar CS

• Preparedness to Learn– Some CS/UCS easier to learn than others

Operant Conditioning

• Operant conditioning involves one’s behavior creating a consequence

• Operants (behaviors) that we take with the goal of generating a response

• Law of effect - Edward Thorndike suggested that the likelihood of a behavior being repeated depends upon the perceived consequence of the behavior

Law of Effect

• Will a student cheat on an exam? Law of Effect states the student will focus on the probable outcome:

– Excellent chance of getting caught - Probably won’t cheat

– Little chance of getting caught - More inclined to cheat

Classical versus Operant

• Classical Conditioning - The environment impacts you

– Someone else links food to McDonald’s arches

• Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning - You emit behavior to influence the environment

– You do something with the expectation of an outcome

Reinforcement

• Reinforcement involves any consequence that increases the probability that a response will occur

• Positive Reinforcement– The consequence of a behavior makes the

behavior more likely to happen-I buy my first lottery ticket and win $1000.00

-I buy more lottery tickets

Reinforcement

• Negative Reinforcement– The termination of an adverse stimulus makes a

behavior more likely to happen. This can be either an escape or avoidance

- Escape - I hit the mute button on the TV and the commercial goes silent

- Avoid - I alter my route to work in order to avoid a known speed trap

Punishment

• Punishment is any consequence that decreases the probability of a behavior being repeated

– Positive Punishment - Involves a consequence that is not good:

• Going to jail for DUI

– Negative Punishment - Something good is taken away• You cheat on me and I’ll stop loving you

Problems with Punishment

• The person being punished isn’t sure what behavior caused the punishment– Why are you yelling at me?

• The person being punished learns to fear the punisher. The person doing the punishing, not the behavior, becomes the issue– I’m not misbehaving, my dad is just a mean hateful person

• Punishment may not eliminate the rewards for a behavior– Getting drunk and then driving home is more important than

maybe going to jail again

Problems with Punishment

• People tend to punish when they are angry and upset

– The behavior being punished is lost in the arguing and emotions

• Aggression leads to aggression

– Children who are physically beaten tend to become child abusers when they become parents

Extinction

• Extinction of an operant behavior tends to occur if the expected consequence of a behavior fails to happen on repeated occasions

– At first you always returned my calls during the work day. Then you didn’t return my calls. Now I don’t call during your work shifts.

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Continuous Reinforcement Schedule

– The consequence is the same every time the behavior is emitted

• Partial (intermittent) schedules of reinforcement

– Behavior is reinforced only part of the time it is emitted

– Surprisingly, behaviors that emit partial reinforcement are less likely to become extinct than are behaviors exposed to continuous reinforcement

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Ratio Schedules

– Fixed-ratio schedule• Reinforcement on a set schedule such as every 5th

time

– Variable-ratio schedules• Reinforcement is unpredictable

Intermittent Reinforcement

• Discriminate Stimulus– Contingencies are in effect so that

reinforcement only produces the desired behavior under certain circumstances

• I will cheer loudly at sports stadiums but never raise my voice in museums

Society & Operant Conditioning

• Operant Conditioning works both ways

– The punishment is a negative reinforcer for the parent if the child’s behavior in question ceases.

– Increases likelihood similar forms of punishment will be used by the parent in the future

• Behavioral economics

– Links reinforcement with economics

– If I like both Pepsi and Coke, and the price of Pepsi goes up, then I drink more Coke

Characteristics of the Learner

• Shaping– Involves taking a series of steps to elicit the

desired behavior – Often used when teaching a new language

• Chaining– Link together a sequence of existing responses

in a novel manner– Can be used to improve athletic performance

Characteristics of the learner

• Individuals differ in their ability to be conditioned

• Some of us learn quicker than our classmates

• Some of us are more aggressive when confronted with others attempts to condition us while others’ tend to be avoidant

Drive Reduction Theory

• Drive - An internal state that impels one to act

• Reinforcers - Stimulants that reduce drives

• Primary Drives - Central to survival– Hunger-Food– Thirst-Water

• Secondary Drives - Culturally defined– Money– Frequent flier points from an airline

Role of Feelings

• A behavior that is followed by a pleasurable feeling is reinforced

• A behavior followed by a negative feeling will be less likely to occur

• Guilt serves as a negative feeling therefore it may reduce guilt producing behavior

Gray’s 3 Behavioral Systems

• Behavioral Approach System - Pleasurable emotional states and approach-oriented behaviors

• Behavioral Inhibition System - Involves potential dangers and involves anxiety

• Fight-Flight System - In the face of terror one will either elect to fight it out or will attempt to run away

Social Learning Theory

• Referred to as:

– Cognitive Theory, Social Learning Theory, Cognitive-Behavioral theory

• Suggests that how we construct the environment is as important to learning as actual environmental contingencies

– Involves one’s experiences and expectations

– For those who grew up in small towns, NYC may seem very threatening

Latent Learning

• Suggests that learning involves the creation of “cognitive maps” that we can recall at a later time under the right circumstances

• Once learned, not forgotten

• One will respond to new circumstances with old behaviors

Cognitive-Social Theory

• Proposes that one’s expectations about the consequences of a behavior render the behavior more or less likely to occur

– If I am friendly towards new classmates then they will be friendly towards me

– If I ignore those in out groups they will likely ignore me in the future

Expectancies

• Self-fulfilling prophecies involve expectations of a given outcome leading to behavior that ensures the outcome

– John just knows he will fail the final exam

– John doesn’t study

– Sure enough, John fails the final exam due to his lack of preparation

Locus of Control

• Generalized expectations on whether (or not) our behavior can bring about a desired outcome

• Internal Locus of Control - I believe I can control my own fate– More likely to take action– If I study hard I will get a good grade

• External Locus of Control - I can’t control my fate– More likely to be passive – It doesn’t matter whether I study or not, the professor

doesn’t give good grades to student athletes

Learned Helplessness

• An expectancy that one cannot escape adverse events– Simply don’t try– Often linked to depression

Observational Learning

• Also referred to as vicarious learning

• We observe the consequences of others behaviors– What does father do when my older brother

comes home after his curfew?

Modeling

• We tend to model behavior of someone we admire or an authority figure

• Role models are those we emulate

• Public figures become role models whether they want to be or not