Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

CHAPTER 5:

Learning

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Learning

Classical Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

Observational Learning

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Learning Ethology

The study of the behavior of animals in their natural habitat.

Fixed Action Pattern A species-specific behavior that is built into

an animal’s nervous system and triggered by a specific stimulus.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

LearningEthology

In herring gull chicks, pecking is elicited (released) by the movement of any red dot, even on objects that do not resemble an adult herring gull. This is an example of a fixed action pattern.

Herring-Gull Models

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

LearningDefining Learning

A relatively permanent change in knowledge or behavior that results from experience. Adaptation by learning is flexible. Humans adapt to life’s demands by learning

and not by instinct. The key to learning is association.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Learning Habituation of Fear

Habituation The tendency of an

organism to become familiar with a stimulus as a result of repeated exposure

It is the simplest form of learning.

Note here that rats repeatedly exposed to a cat’s odor, and no cat, hid less over time.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

LearningClassical Conditioning

A type of learning in which an organism comes to associate one stimulus with another (also called Pavlovian conditioning).

Classical Conditioning involves learning that one event predicts another.

This type of learning involves• An unconditioned stimulus• An unconditioned response• A conditioned stimulus• A conditioned response

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical ConditioningAn unconditioned stimulus (US)

A stimulus (an event) that triggers an unconditioned (involuntary) response.

• Examples: food, loud noises, painful stimuli

• In Pavlov’s experiments, the US was the food.

An unconditioned response (UR) An unlearned response to an unconditioned

stimulus. • Examples: salivation to food, jumping when hearing

a loud noise, moving away from something painful

• In Pavlov’s experiments, salivation to the food was the UR.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning

A conditioned stimulus (CS) A neutral stimulus (an event) that comes to evoke a

classically conditioned (learned) response due to being presented shortly before the US.

• In Pavlov’s experiments, the CS was the bell.

A conditioned response (CR) A learned response to a classically conditioned

stimulus. • In Pavlov’s experiments, salivation to the bell was the CR.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning Pavlov’s Apparatus

Pavlov classically conditioned dogs to salivate. Salivation was measured by a pen attached to a slowly rotating cylinder of paper.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning Pavlov’s DiscoveryBefore Conditioning

Before Stimuli Are Paired Unconditioned Stimulus (US) elicits

Unconditioned Response (UR)• Meat powder leads to salivation

Neutral stimulus elicits no particular response• Bell leads to orienting response only, no salivation

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning Pavlov’s DiscoveryDuring and After Conditioning

Conditioning: Neutral Stimulus is Paired with the Unconditioned Stimulus

Bell rings, then meat powder is delivered This procedure is repeated several times

After Several Trials of pairing the bell with the food When Bell rings, dog salivates The Bell is now a Conditioned Stimulus (CS) Salivation is a Conditioned Response (CR)

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning Basic Principles

Acquisition Formation of a learned response to a stimulus

through presentation of an unconditioned stimulus

Extinction Elimination of a learned response by removal of the

unconditioned stimulus

Spontaneous Recovery Re-emergence of an extinguished conditioned

response after a rest period

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning The Rise and Fall of a Conditioned Response

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning Temporal Relations in Classical Conditioning

In forward pairing, the CS precedes the US.

Easiest conditioning

In simultaneous pairing, the CS and US occur together.

In backward pairing, the CS follows the US.

Most difficult Time

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning Generalization & Discrimination

Stimulus Generalization The tendency to respond to a stimulus that is

similar to the conditioned stimulus

Discrimination In classical and operant conditioning, the

ability to distinguish between different stimuli

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning Higher-Order Conditioning

With repeated pairing, a neutral stimulus can be linked with a CS.

The bell (CS) is paired with a black square.

This neutral stimulus becomes a CS.

In the example, the black square elicits salivation.

One CS was used to create another CS.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical Conditioning When the CS Predicts the US

Top graph: The US does not happen without the CS

Good learning here, the CS predicts the US

Bottom graph: The US happens with or without CS

Poor learning here, the CS does not predict the US

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Classical ConditioningThe Conditioning of Little Albert

An 11-month old boy – named “Albert” – was conditioned to fear a white laboratory rat.

Each time he reached for the rat, Watson made a loud clanging noise right behind Albert.

Albert’s fear generalized to anything white and furry.

Including rabbits and a Santa Claus mask

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Learning Operant Conditioning

Thorndike’s Law of EffectCats were put into puzzle

boxes and the time to escape decreased over the number of attempts.

Law of Effect Responses followed by

positive outcomes are repeated, whereas those followed by negative outcomes are not.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Operant ConditioningThe Principles of Reinforcement

Operant Conditioning The process by which organisms learn to behave in ways that produce reinforcement.

Reinforcement Any stimulus that increases the likelihood of a prior response.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Operant ConditioningThe Principles of Reinforcement

Punishment Any stimulus that decreases the likelihood of a prior response.

Shaping Using reinforcements to guide an animal or person gradually toward a specific behavior.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Operant Conditioning Reinforcement & Punishment

Increases Behavior

Decreases Behavior

Present Stimulus

Positive Reinforcement(give money)

Positive Punishment(give chores)

Remove Stimulus

Negative Reinforcement(take away chores)

Negative Punishment(take away money)

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Operant Conditioning Schedules of Reinforcement

Simple reinforcement schedules produce characteristic response patterns.

Steeper lines mean higher response rates.

Ratio schedules produce more responses than do interval schedules.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Operant Conditioning Using Reinforcement to Boost Job Performance

All salesclerks were observed for a 20-day baseline period.

Then, half were given cash bonuses for good performance, half were not.

The ones given cash bonuses improved job performance.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Operant Conditioning Condition Oneself to Break a Bad Habit

Identify specific target behavior to changeRecord baselineFormulate a plan

To increase a behavior, use reinforcement To extinguish behavior, avoid situations where

it occurs or remove reinforcementsImplement the plan, revise as neededMaintain the change

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Operant Conditioning New DevelopmentsRats in a Maze: Evidence for a Cognitive Map Tolman trained rats in this

maze, with all alleys open. If “Block A” in place, rats

chose green (shorter) path. If “Block B” in place, rats

chose blue path. Green path is also

blocked. Rats take the shortest

detours, navigating as if they have an internal map.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Operant Conditioning New Developments

Latent LearningLatent Learning: Learning that occurs but is not exhibited in performance until there is an incentive to do so.

Some rats found food every time (red line)

Some rats never found food (blue line)

Some rats found food on Day 11 (green line)

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Operant Conditioning New DevelopmentsHidden Cost of RewardsPreschoolers played with felt-tipped markers and

were observed.Divided into 3 groups:

Given markers again and asked to draw Promised a reward for playing with markers Played with markers, then rewarded

Children who drew with the markers to get the reward were now less interested in them.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Observational Learning

Learning that takes place when one observes and models the behavior of others.

Studies of Modeling Children and others model both antisocial and prosocial behavior.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall

Observational LearningThe Process of Modeling Involves:

Attention One must pay attention to a behavior and its consequences.

Retention One must recall what was observed.

Reproduction Observers must have the motor ability to reproduce the

modeled behavior.Motivation

Observer must expect reinforcement for modeled act.

Psychology, 4/e by Saul Kassin ©2004 Prentice Hall