Chapter 5

Learning
What is Learning?

1. What is the definition of learning according to Baron, 2001?

Learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior, or behavior potential produced by
experience.

2. Briefly mention the aspects of this definition.

 The change in behavior is relatively permanent.
 The change must be a result of experience.
 Learning can be a result of direct and indirect experience.

How Learning Happens

3. What are the basic forms in which learning occurs?

The basic forms of learning are: classical conditioning, operant conditioning and observational
learning.

Classical Conditioning

4. When do we remember things together according to Aristotle?

We remember things together (1) when they are similar, (2) when they contrast, (3) when they are
contiguous.

5. What does the principle of contiguity say?

The principle of contiguity states that whenever two or more sensations occur together often
enough, they will become associated. Later when only one of these sensations (a stimulus) occurs,
the other will be remembered too (response).

6. What is classical conditioning?

A learning process by which a subject comes to respond in a specific way to a previously neutral
stimulus after the subject repeatedly encounters the neutral stimulus together with another
stimulus that already elicits the response.

7. What is a reflex? Give example

A reflexive is an automatic stimulus-response sequence mediated by the nervous system. A common
example is an experiment in which Ivan Pavlov rang a bell while presenting meat powder to his dog.
The meat powder naturally triggered salivation in the dog, while the bell was a neutral stimulus.
Over time, the dog began salivating in response to the bell alone.
8. What did Pavlov notice while experimenting with dogs?
He noticed that after pairing the presentation of the meat and the sound of the bell, the dog
salivated to the sound of the bell alone.

9. What is the learned response the dog displayed?

The learned response the dog displayed was salivating to an neutral stimulus which is the sound of
the bell.

10. What is neutral stimulus in the above observation?

A neutral stimulus in the above observation is the sound of the bell.

11. Why did the dog salivate on hearing the sound of the bell although no meet was served?
Because the presentation of the meat was paired with the sound of the bell for few times.

12. Why was the sound of the bell in the experiment a neutral stimulus?
Because the sound of the bell does not make the dog salivate before pairing it with meat.

13. Why is called an unconditioned stimulus?

Because the unconditional stimulus unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a
response. For example, when you smell one of your favorite foods, you may immediately feel very
hungry. In this example, the smell of the food is the unconditioned stimulus.

14. What is an unconditioned response?

The unconditional response is the unlearned response that occurs naturally in reaction to the
unconditioned stimulus. For example, if the smell of food is the unconditioned stimulus, the feeling
of hunger in response to the smell of food is the unconditioned response.

15. What should be done in order for the conditioning to occur?

The neutral stimulus should be repeatedly paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

16. What happens when the conditioning is complete?

The neutral stimulus changes into a conditioned stimulus.

17. What do the unconditioned stimulus produce?

The unconditioned stimulus (meat) produces unconditioned response (salivation).

18. What does the conditioned stimulus produce?

The conditioned stimulus (bell sound) produces conditioned response (salivation).
The Major Principles in Classical conditioning

19. What are the processes in classical conditioning that Pavlov identified?
They are: generalization, discrimination and extinction.

20. What is generalization? Give example.

Generalization is responding in the same way to similar stimulus. After a dog learned to salivate in
response to hearing a certain bell sound, it will also salivate to similar tones that are slightly higher
or lower.

21. What is discrimination? Give example.

Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that
have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus. For example, if a bell tone were the
conditioned stimulus, discrimination would involve being able to tell the difference between the bell
sound and other similar sounds.

22. What is extinction? Give example.

Extinction is when the occurrences of a conditioned response decrease or disappear. In classical
conditioning, this happens when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with an unconditioned
stimulus. For example, if the smell of food (the unconditioned stimulus) had been paired with the
sound of a whistle (the conditioned stimulus), it would eventually come to evoke the conditioned
response of hunger. However, if the unconditioned stimulus (the smell of food) were no longer
paired with the conditioned stimulus (the whistle), eventually the conditioned response (hunger)
would disappear.

Application of Classical Conditioning

23. Why is classical conditioning so important in real life?
Because it is a fundamental part of all forms of animal and human training.

24. Give two examples of the application of classical conditioning on human beings.
 It is used to form good habits like enjoying exercising.
 It is used to break bad habits such as smoking and overeating.

25. What does classical conditioning primarily influence in classroom learning? Give example.
It influences the emotional behavior such as anxiety, sadness, happiness, etc. For example, when a
certain teacher produces emotional feelings in you, those emotions are a result of classical
conditioning.

Operant Conditioning

26. What is operant conditioning?

Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for
behavior.
Thorndike’s Law of Effect

27. What is Thorndike’s Law of Effect?

According to this law, responses that are closely followed by satisfaction will become firmly
attached to the situation and therefore more likely to reoccur when the situation is repeated. In
contrast, if the situation is followed by discomfort, the connections to the situation will become
weaker and the behavior is less likely to occur when the situation is repeated.

28. What are the three types of responses or operant that can follow a behavior:
 Neutral: responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability
of a behavior.
 Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behavior.
 Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behavior.

Reinforcement

29. What does operant conditioning lead to?

It leads to either an increase or decrease of the probability that an operant behavior will occur
again.

30. What are the types of reinforcement?

There are two types of reinforcement: positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement.

31. What is a positive reinforcement? Give example.

It is a positive stimulus that follows a behavior and whose occurrence strengthens the
associated behavior response. For example, if your teacher gives you 5 dirhams each time you
complete your homework you will repeat this behavior in the future. This strengthens the
behavior of doing your homework.

32. What is a negative reinforcement? Give example.

It is the effect that results from the removal of an unpleasant stimulus such as physical or
psychological pain. For example, if you do not complete your homework you give your teacher
5 dirhams. You will do the homework to avoid paying 5 dirhams. This strengthens the behavior
of doing your homework.

33. What do negative and positive reinforcements have in common?

The behavior increase in both of them.

Punishment

34. What is punishment? Give example

It is the process of presenting an undesirable stimulus or removing a desirable stimulus in order
to decrease the probability of a preceding response to occur again. For example, when a student
 uses his mobile during the class, the teacher will take the mobile from him for one week. In this
case the student will not use his mobile in class again.

35. What are the two types of punishment?

The two types of punishment are positive punishment and negative punishment.

36. What is positive punishment? Give example.

Positive punishment means adding something unpleasant to a situation. For example when the
rat receives a shock when it presses the lever in Skinner box, it is less likely to push it again.

37. What is a negative punishment? Give example.

It involves removing a pleasant stimulus. For example, if a child misbehaves, he may not be
allowed to watch television that evening.

38. What is time out? Give example.

It is an effective negative punishment in which an individual is removed from an environment
containing positive events. For example, a child who hits other children is asked to sit alone in a
corner with no toys, television, etc for a certain period of time.

39. What is the difference between reinforcement and punishment?

The goal of both types of punishment is to decrease the repetition of a behavior, whereas the
goal of both types of reinforcement is to increase the frequency of a behavior.

Types of Reinforcement

40. What are the two types of reinforcing stimuli?

They are primary reinforcer and conditioned or secondary reinforcer.

41. What is a primary reinforcer? Give examples.

A primary reinforcer is anything that has the power to increase behavioral probabilities because
it is involved with a biological need of the organism. Food, sleep, temperature stabilities are
examples of primary reinforcers. Also, escape from pain and social acceptance can be
considered primary reinforcers due to their evolutionary importance for human beings and
other organisms.

42. When do primary reinforcers provide a powerful source of motivation.

Primary reinforcers provide a powerful source of motivation when an organism is deprived of
them.
43. Why are primary reinforcers are often used in operant conditioning?
Primary reinforcers are often used in operant conditioning because of their immediate power to
modify behavior.
 44. Why are primary reinforcers powerful?
The primary reinforcers are powerful because they are of biological importance to the organism.

45. What is a secondary reinforce?

It is anything that can increase the probability of behavior because of its reliable association
with primary reinforcers.

46. Money is a powerful secondary reinforcers. How?

Money is a powerful reinforer because it can buy the things that meet primary needs such as
food and shelter.

Reinforcement Schedules

47. What are the two major types of reinforcement schedules?

They are continuous and intermittent schedules.

48. What is a continuous reinforcement schedule? Give example.

A continuous reinforcement schedule reinforces every correct response. After conditioning a
response, intermittent reinforcement becomes more effective. For example, the team leader
could praise the team members every time they do a good job.

49. What is an intermittent reinforcement schedule? Give example.

Intermittent reinforcement schedule operates when some but not all responses are reinforced.
For example, you get a bonus when you work hard.

50. Which type of reinforcement schedule is more common in real life?

Intermittent reinforcement schedule.

51. What are the four types of intermittent reinforcement schedules?

They are variable ratio, fixed ratio, fixed interval and variable interval schedules.

52. What is a fixed ratio schedule? Give example.

A fixed-ratio schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a response is reinforced only after a
specified number of responses. For example, a child is offered a reward after they earn five A’s
on her homework assignments. After her fifth A on a homework assignment, she gets to pick out
a new toy.

53. What is a variable Ratio schedule? Give example.

A variable-ratio schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a response is reinforced after an
unpredictable number of responses. This schedule creates a steady, high rate of responding.
Door-to-door sales is an example of a variable ration. The salesperson travels from house to
 house, but never knows when they are going to find an interested buyer. It could be the next
house, or it might take multiple stops to find a new customer.

54. What is a fixed interval schedule? Give example.

A fixed interval schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a response is rewarded after a
certain amount of time has elapsed. Any response that occurs during that period of time is not
reinforced. A monthly salary is a good example of a fixed interval schedule. The employee
receives reinforcement every thirty days.

55. What is a variable interval schedule? Give example.

A variable interval schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a response is rewarded after
an unpredictable amount of time has passed. Your Employer Checking Your Work is a good
example of a variable interval schedule. Your boss drops by your office a few times throughout
the day to check your progress. These check-ins occur at unpredictable times, so you never
know when they might happen. The chances are good that you work at a fairly steady pace
throughout the day since you are never quite sure when your boss is going to pop in, and you
want to appear busy and productive when she does happen to stop by.

56. What are the potential problems associated with the use of punishment?
1. Punishment does not extinguish an undesirable behavior; rather it suppresses it.
2. Punishment indicates that a behavior is unacceptable, but it does not help people develop
more appropriate behaviors.
3. The person who is severely punished often becomes fearful and feels angry and hostile
toward the punisher.
4. Frequent punishment leads to aggression. Those who administer physical punishment may
become models of aggressive behavior.

57. According to psychologists, what is the best way to extinguish misbehavior?

It is removing the rewarding consequences of an undesirable behavior.

58. How can we make punishment more effective?

1. Punishment is most effective when it is applied during the misbehavior or as soon afterward
as possible.
2. Punishment should be of the minimum severity necessary to stop the undesirable behavior.
3. Punishment must be applied consistently.

Major Principles of the Operant Conditioning Theory

59. What is behavior shaping? Give example.

Instead of waiting for a subject to exhibit a desired behavior, any behavior leading to the target
behavior is rewarded. For example, B. F. Skinner discovered that, in order to train a rat to push a
 lever, any movement in the direction of the lever had to be rewarded, until finally, the rat was
trained to push a lever.

60. What is a chaining process?

Chaining is a teaching method where in which sub-skills are reinforced in a sequence to enable
the learner to perform more complex behaviors. For example, in teaching a child to tie shoes,
each individual step, from tightening the laces to making the parts of the knot, would be taught
and reinforced until the child can perform the complete task.

61. What is the difference between extinction in classical conditioning and operant conditioning?
In classical conditioning the conditioned response is extinguished when the conditioned stimulus
appears but the unconditioned stimulus does not appear. In operant conditioning a person or
animal will not persist in a certain behavior if the usual reinforce is withheld long enough.

62. What is generalization?

Generalization involves the elicitation of a response to a stimulus that resembles the original
stimulus. For example, a secretary who can type on a typewriter can also type on a computer
keyboard.

63. What is discrimination?

Discrimination involves the elicitation of a response only in the presence of the original stimulus
and not in the presence of similar stimulus. For example, behavior that is appropriate in a fast
food restaurant, such as eating with your hands, may not be appropriate in a French restaurant.

Applications of Operant Conditioning

64. What are the applications of operant conditioning?
 Biofeedback: It is a method of behavior modification that uses principles of operant
conditioning to change a maladaptive behavior. Within this method a person is presented
with visual or auditory information about some internal processes. The information is actual
feedback about the internal processes that the person can use to increase control of the
internal processes. For example, a person suffering from stress can be hooked up to a
biofeedback machine that creat4es a sound whenever the person starts getting stressed
(increasing heart rate, blood pressure, etc., would cause machine to produce the sound). By
paying attention to the sounds, the person can use relaxation techniques when there are
some changes due to the stress.
 Token Economy: It is an application of operant conditioning in which the learner receives a
'token' or coupon for exhibiting the target behavior, which can be accumulated and later
exchanged for a reinforcer.  For example, token economies can be used by retailers to
encourage repeat purchases and customer loyalty, such as providing a loyalty card that
entitles discounts.
  Shaping: It is an application of operant conditioning, whereby the learner is reinforced for
actions that gradually become closer and close to the target behavior.  Shaping is often used
in animal training to teach sequences of behavior, such as teaching a dog to sit

Observational Learning (Watching and Learning)

65. What is observational learning?

Observational learning describes the process of learning through watching others, retaining the
information, and then later replicating the behaviors that were observed.

66. How do we learn all kinds of social behaviors?

We can learn all kinds of social behaviors by observing and imitating models of behavior.

67. What is a model in observational learning? Give examples

A model is the person who demonstrates a behavior or whose behavior is imitated. For
example, parents are powerful models.

68. Give examples of observational learning.

 A child watches his mother folding the laundry. He later picks up some clothing and imitates
folding the clothes.
 Two friends go on a date to a Chinese restaurant. They watch other diners in the restaurant
eating with chopsticks and copy their actions in order to learn how to use these utensils.

69. People may find their inhibitions disappearing as a result of observational learning. Give
example.
Adolescents can lose resistance to drinking or drug use by seeing or hearing about peers
engaging in those behaviors.
70. Inhibitions can also be strengthened through observational learning. Give example.
A person does not need to experience the unfortunate consequences of dangerous behavior to
avoid it. For example, a student does not need to miss 20% of her classes and in consequence
suffer the failing experience as her friend did.

71. Observational learning can make people acquire fear or be immunized of it. Give example on
each case.
 Children whose mothers express fear of animals or injuries have higher levels of fear than
children whose mothers did not express such fears.
 Children who see a parent or peer behaving nonfearfully in a fear producing situation might
be immunized to feeling fear when confronting a similar frightening situation later.
Steps in Observational Learning

72. According to Bandura, observational learning takes place through four steps. What are they?
1. Attention: Attention is given to the model’s behavior.
2. Retention: A mental image of the model’s behavior is stored so that it can be retrieved later.
3. Reproduction: The model’s behavior stored in the memory is produced again in similar
situations.
4. Motivation: it involves remaining motivated to learn and carry out the behavior.
5.
73. According to Bandura, reinforcement does not work as effective as punishment. True/False (If
false correct the statement). Reinforcement works better than punishment.

Learning Aggression

74. According to Bandura, aggressive behavior is also acquired through observational learning and
that aggression and violence on television programs tend to increase aggression in children.
True/False. (If false correct the statement).

Observational Learning in Practice

75. In brief mention the three types of behavior that can be learned through observational learning.
1. Children imitate behaviors that are often aggressive on television.
2. Children imitate prosocial behaviors (positive behaviors).
3. Patients can learn to overcome phobias through observation of others interacting calmly
with what made them afraid.

Cognitive Learning

76. Many psychologists do not totally agree with behavioral interpretation of learning (operant or
classical conditioning processes) and argue that it complicates how animals and people interact
with their environment. True/False (If false correct the statement). They argue that behavioral
interpretation of learning simplifies how animals and people interact with environment.

77. Psychologists stress that mental processes such as perception, thinking and memory play a
secondary role in learning. True/False (If false correct the statement). Mental processes play a
key role in learning.

78. Give examples of cognitive learning theories.

 Insight Learning by Wolfgang Kohler
 Latent Learning by Edward Tolman

79. Why can Bandura’s observational learning be seen as an instance of cognitive learning?
 Because it also explains learning as one that involves attention, imagery, and memory.

80. What is insight learning theory? Give example.

This is an extension of the term, insight which was identified by Wolfgang Kohler while studying
the behavior of chimpanzees. He said that insight learning is a type of learning or problem
solving that happens all-of-a-sudden through understanding the relationships of problem parts
rather than through trial and error.  For example, one of Kohler's chimpanzees, learned to use a
stick to pull bananas from outside of his cage by putting the pieces of stick together. Given two
sticks that could be fitted together to make a longer stick that was long enough to reach the
bananas, aligned the sticks and in a flash of sudden inspiration, fitted the two sticks together
and pulled in the bananas. He didn't do this by trial and error, but had a sort of sudden
inspiration or insight.

81. Who identified latent learning? What is it? Give example.

Edward Tolman identified latent learning. The type of learning that occurs, but you don't really
see it until there is some reinforcement or incentive to demonstrate it. This is important to
understand that there is a difference between learning and performance. For example, if you
are in a car going to school with a friend every day, but your friend is driving all the time, you
may learn the way to get to school, but have no reason to demonstrate this knowledge.
However, when you friend gets sick one day and you have to drive yourself for the first time, if
you can get to school following the same route you would go if your friend was driving, then you
have demonstrated latent learning.

82. Cognitive theorists recognize that learning can take place in the absence of overt behavior.
True/False. (If false correct the statement)

The Importance of Knowledge in Learning

83. Why is knowledge important in learning?

Knowledge is important in learning because knowledge as a result of learning is not the end
product of learning; knowledge also guides new learning.

84. What is the most important element in the learning process according to the cognitive
approach?
What the individual brings to new learning situation is the most important element in the
learning process.

85. Tolman indicated that there are differences in behavior that might be attributed to internal
states of the organism. True/False. (If false correct the statement)