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    Chapter 8 Learning Outline

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    Jazmin Wong
    The document discusses learning through classical and operant conditioning. It covers key topics such as: - Classical conditioning involves associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response. Pavlov's experiments with dogs demonstrated this. - Operant conditioning involves learning associations between behaviors and their consequences through reinforcement or punishment. Skinner's experiments in operant chambers helped establish this principle. - Both types of conditioning have been applied to influence human behavior, though some argue Skinner neglected human cognition and free will.

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    Chapter 8 Learning Outline

    Uploaded by

    Jazmin Wong
    178 views6 pages
    The document discusses learning through classical and operant conditioning. It covers key topics such as: - Classical conditioning involves associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response. Pavlov's experiments with dogs demonstrated this. - Operant conditioning involves learning associations between behaviors and their consequences through reinforcement or punishment. Skinner's experiments in operant chambers helped establish this principle. - Both types of conditioning have been applied to influence human behavior, though some argue Skinner neglected human cognition and free will.

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    AP Psychology

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    The document discusses learning through classical and operant conditioning. It covers key topics such as: - Classical conditioning involves associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response. Pavlov's experiments with dogs demonstrated this. - Operant conditioning involves learning associations between behaviors and their consequences through reinforcement or punishment. Skinner's experiments in operant chambers helped establish this principle. - Both types of conditioning have been applied to influence human behavior, though some argue Skinner neglected human cognition and free will.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    178 views6 pages

    Chapter 8 Learning Outline

    Uploaded by

    Jazmin Wong
    The document discusses learning through classical and operant conditioning. It covers key topics such as: - Classical conditioning involves associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response. Pavlov's experiments with dogs demonstrated this. - Operant conditioning involves learning associations between behaviors and their consequences through reinforcement or punishment. Skinner's experiments in operant chambers helped establish this principle. - Both types of conditioning have been applied to influence human behavior, though some argue Skinner neglected human cognition and free will.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 6

    Chapter 8: Learning

    Adaptability: the capacity to learn new behaviors that enable us to cope with
    changing circumstances
    Learning: a relatively permanent change in an organisms behavior due to
    experience
    Associative learning: learning that certain events occur together. The events
    may be two stimuli (classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences
    (operant conditioning).
    o Positive associations of upward flexion infused stimuli with more positive
    overtones
    Conditioning: process of learning associations
    Classical conditioning: learn to associate two stimuli and thus to anticipate
    events

    i.e. lightning=impeding crack of thunder, thus brace ourselves when lightning


    flashes;

    operant conditioning: learn to associate a response and its consequence


    i.e. repeat acts with rewards; avoid acts with punishment

    observational learning: learn from others experiences and examples


    Behaviorism: the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that
    (2) studies behavior without references to mental processes. Most agree with (1)
    not (2).

    Classical Conditioning
    Classical conditioning (pavlovian conditioning): a type of learning in which
    one comes to associate stimuli. A neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned
    stimulus (UCS) begins to produce a response that anticipates and prepares for
    the unconditioned stimulus.
    Pavlovs Experiments

    Unconditioned response (UCR): the unlearned, naturally occurring response


    to the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), such as salivation when food is in the
    mouth
    Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that unconditionallynaturally and
    automaticallytriggers a response
    Conditioned response (CR): the learned response to a previously neutral
    conditioned stimulus
    Conditioned stimulus (CS): an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after
    association with an UCS, comes to trigger a conditioned response
    Before conditioning
    o UCS (food in mouth)UCR (salivation)
    o Neutral stimulus (tone) no salivation
    During conditioning
    o Neutral stimulus (tone) + UCS (food in mouth) UCR (salivation)

    After conditioning
    o CS (tone) CR (salivation)

    Acquisition

    Acquisition: The initial stage in classical conditioning


    o the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an UCS so that the neutral
    stimulus comes to elicit a CR.
    o In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response
    Conditioning seldom occurs when CS comes after the UCS
    o Supports that classical conditioning is biologically adaptive
    o Helps organisms prepare for good or bad events
    Sexual arousal
    o Before
    UCS (passionate kiss)UCR(sexual arousal)
    o During
    Neutral stimulus (onion breath) + UCS (passionate kiss) UCR
    (sexual arousal)
    o After
    CS (onion breath) CR (sexual arousal)

    Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery

    Extinction: the diminishing of a conditioned response


    o Occurs in classical conditioning when an UCS does not follow a CS
    o Occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced
    i.e. dogs salivate less and less when food isnt there with tone
    Spontaneous recovery: the reappearance, after a rest period, of an
    extinguished conditioned response
    i.e. after several hours, the tone initiated salivation again

    Generalization

    generalization: the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for


    stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses
    automatic and submissive
    o i.e. child bitten by one dog may fear all dogs

    Discrimination

    discrimination: in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish


    between a CS and other stimuli that do not signal an UCS
    o i.e. dogs respond to particular tones and not other tones

    Updating Pavlovs Understanding


    Cognitive Processes

    idea that rats and dogs exhibit cognition seemed unnecessary


    Rescorla & Wagner argued that when two significant events occur close together
    in time, an animal learns the predictability of the second event

    The more predictive the association, the stronger the conditioned response
    Expectancy: an awareness of how likely it is that the UCS will occur
    Explains why classical conditioning treatments that ignore cognition often have
    limited success

    Biological Predispositions

    Gregory Kimble believed that responses could be conditioned to any stimulus


    that an organism could perceive
    He was proven wrong because animals capacity for conditioning is constrained
    by its biology
    o Garcia & Koelling noticed rats avoided drinking water from bottles in
    radiation chambers
    (1) violate notion that UCS must follow CS immediately
    (2) contradict idea that any perceivable stimulus could serve as a
    CS
    Biological predispositions of each species dispose it to learn the particular
    associations that enhance its survival
    Learning enables animals to adapt to their environments

    Pavlovs Legacy

    Many other responses to many other stimuli can be classically conditioned in


    many other organisms
    Showed how a process such as learning can be studied objectively

    Applications of Classical Conditioning

    Drug counselors advise addicts to steer clear of settings associated with the
    euphoria of drugs
    Taste of a drug may produce an immune response
    Watsonbelieved that behavior is a bundle of conditioned responses
    o Watson & Rayner little albertconditioned to cry at the sight of a
    white rate
    Respondent behavior: behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some
    stimulus
    o Skinners term for behavior learned through classical conditioning
    Operant Conditioning

    Operant behavior: behavior that operates on the environment, producing


    consequences
    Learning associations between events that it doesnt control (classical) or
    learning associates between its behavior and resulting events (operant)

    Skinners Experiments

    Edward L. Thorndike
    o Law of Effect: rewarded behavior is likely to recur

    Operant chamber (skinner box): a chamber containing a bar or key that an


    animal can manipulate to obtain a good or water reinforce, with attached
    devices to record the animals rate of bar pressing or key pecking

    Shaping

    Shaping: an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior


    toward closer and closer approximations of a desired goal
    o i.e. food guides animals toward desired behavior
    successive approximationsreward responses closer to desired behavior and
    ignore all other responses

    Principles of Reinforcement

    reinforcement: any event that strengthens the behavior it follows


    o positive presenting a stimulus after a response (food & money)
    o negative reducing a removing an adverse stimuli (aspirin relieves
    headache)
    o i.e. billys tantrums reinforced when parents give in; parents behavior will
    be reinforced when billy stops screaming
    Primary Reinforcer: an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies
    a biological need
    o i.e. getting food or being relieved of an electric shock
    conditioned reinforcer: a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its
    association with a primary reinforcer
    o learned
    o i.e. pleasant tone of voice, good grades
    immediate and delayed reinforcers
    o with rates, less likely to learn
    o but humans do respond to delayed reinforcers
    Reinforcement Schedules
    o Continuous reinforcement: reinforcing the desired response every time
    it occurs
    learning and extinction occur rapidly
    o partial intermittent reinforcement: reinforcing a response only part of
    the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater
    resistance to extinction
    Four schedules by Skinner
    Fixed-ratio schedules: a response is only reinforced after a
    specified number of responses
    Variable-ratio schedule: a response is reinforced after an
    unpredictable number of responses
    Fixed-interval schedule: a response is only reinforced after
    a specified amount of time has passed
    Variable-interval schedule: a response is reinforced after
    at unpredictable time intervals

    Punishment

    Punishment: an event that decreases the behavior it follows


    Punisher: any consequence that decreases the frequency of a preceding
    behavior
    Larzelerefound problem with human punishment studies
    o Spanking should be combined with reasoning and positive parenting
    Punished behavior is suppressed
    Punishment may increase aggressiveness by demonstrating that aggression is a
    way to cope with problems
    Punishment is better when combined with reinforcement

    Updating Skinners Understanding

    Skinner granted the existence of private processes and the biological


    underpinnings of behavior

    Cognition and Operant Conditioning

    Skinner resisted that cognitive processes have a necessary place in the science
    of psychology and in the understanding of conditioning
    Latent learning: learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an
    incentive to demonstrate it
    o Cognitive map: a mental representation of the layout of ones
    environment
    i.e. after exploring a map, rates act as if they have learned a
    cognitive map of it
    o learning can occur without reinforcement
    overjustification effect: the effect of promising a reward for doing what one
    already likes to do
    o the person may not see the reward, rather than the intrinsic interest, as
    the motivation for performing the task
    o Grolnick & Ryan children taught in a less controlling manner learned as
    much and found a passage more interesting that children who were taught
    in a more controlling manner
    Biological Predispositions

    Natural predispositions constrain animals capacity for operant conditioning


    i.e. difficult to use food as a reinforcer to shape hamster behaviors that arent
    normally associated with food or hunger
    Brelandscircus animals

    Skinners Legacy

    External influences shape behavior


    Urged use of operant principles to influence peoples behavior
    Objection: Skinner dehumanized people by neglecting their personal freedom
    and by seeking to control their actions

    Applications of operant Conditioning

    School
    o Teaching machines and textbooks that would shape learning in small steps
    and provide immediate reinforcement for correct responses
    o Computers to pace material
    o Athleticsreinforce small successes & increase the challenege
    Work
    o Desired performance is well-defined and achievable
    o Reward is given for specific, not vague behaviors
    o Animal trainers use food as reinforcement
    Home
    o Spending behavior controlled by consequences
    o Parents
    Reinforce good behavior
    Ignore whining
    Do not yell or hit
    o Ourselves
    State our goal
    Monitor how often we engage in the behavior
    Reinforce the desired behavior
    Reduce the incentiveness

    Learning by Observation

    Modeling: the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

    Banduras Experiments

    Children imitated the words and acts they observed with the bobo doll

    Applications of Observational Learning

    Understand abusive relationships


    Prosocial behavior: positive, constructive, helpful behavior
    o Opposite of antisocial beahavior
    o i.e. MLK & Ghandi
    models are effective when actions and words are consistent

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