Chapter 6

Learning

Slides prepared by: Melissa S. Terlecki, Cabrini College

PSYCHOLOGYSchacterGilbertWegner

PSYCHOLOGYSchacterGilbertWegner

6.1

Defining Learning: Experience That Causes A

Permanent Change

Learning and Habituation

Learning: some experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner.can be conscious and deliberate or

unconscious.Habituation: a general process in which

repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in responding.a simple form of learning.

Questions

How are learning and memory linked?

Why won’t the noise from a highway near your home keep you awake at night?

PSYCHOLOGYSchacterGilbertWegner

6.2

Classical Conditioning: One Thing Leads To

Another

Classical Conditioning

Behaviorism measures only observable, quantifiable behavior.

Classical conditioning: when a neutral stimulus evokes a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally evokes a response.unconditioned stimulus (US),

unconditioned response (UR), conditioned stimulus (CS), conditioned response (CR)

Figure 6.1: Pavlov’s Apparatus for Studying Classical Conditioning (p. 164)

Figure 6.2: The Elements of Classical Conditioning (p. 165)

Questions

Why do some dogs seem to know when it’s dinner time?

Match the Classical Conditioning Component With Its Definition

USURCSCR

A reaction that resembles an UR, but is produced by a CS.

Something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism.

A stimulus that is initially neutral and produces no reliable response in an organism.

A reflexive reaction that is reliably elicited by an US.

The Real World: Understanding Drug Overdoses

Drug overdose deaths are puzzling:victims are often experienced drug users. the dose is not larger than they usually take.deaths tend to occur in unusual settings.

A CS includes the context and many CR’s can be compensatory reactions to the US.

Taking drugs in a new environment can be fatal.

The Basic Principles of Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is based on the association between the CS and the US.

Acquisition: the phase of classical conditioning when the CS and the US are presented together.

Extinction: the gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the US is no longer presented.

Spontaneous recovery: the tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period.

Figure 6.3: Acquisition, Extinction, and Spontaneous Recovery (p. 167)

Questions

How does conditioned behavior change when the unconditioned stimulus is removed?

Generalization and Discrimination

Generalization: a process in which the CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different from the original one used during acquisition.

Discrimination: the capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli.

Figure 6.4: Stimulus Generalization (p. 168)

Questions

How can changing the can opener you use affect a conditioned dog’s response?

Conditioned Emotional Responses: The Case of Little Albert

In Watson’s experiment, Little Albert associated a frightening loud noise (US) with a white rat (CS) to elicit fear (CR). also showed stimulus generalization in fear

responses to similar stimuli.

Fear can be learned just as any other behavior.

Conditioning can be applied to humans just as any other animal.

Ethics?

Watson’s Experiment with Little Albert (p. 169)

Questions

Why did Albert fear the rat?

The Neural Elements of Classical Conditioning

The amygdala (central nucleus) is critical for emotional conditioning.

When fear conditioning takes place, a behavioral and physiological (autonomic nervous system) response are elicited by the CS. path from amygdala to midbrain controls the

behavioral response. path from the amygdala to the hypothalamus

controls the physiological response.

Questions

What is the role of the amygdala in fear conditioning?

The Cognitive Elements of Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning only occurs when an animal has learned to set up an expectation.

Conditioning is easier when the CS is an unfamiliar event than a familiar one (no pre-existing expectations).

Figure 6.5: Expectation in Classical Conditioning (p. 171)

Questions

How does familiarity with the stimulus hinder new conditioning?

The Evolutionary Elements of Classical Conditioning

The conditioning of food aversions and preferences has adaptive value. rapid learning across 1-2 trials. conditioning should take place over long intervals. aversion to be to smell or taste rather than

ingestion itself. aversion should occur more often for novel foods.

Biological preparedness: a propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others.

Questions

How have cancer patients’ discomfort been eased by our understanding of food aversions?

Culture and Community: Is it Possible That Humans Have an Innate Ability to Understand Geometry?

Basic comprehension of geometric shapes compared between Americans and the Munduruku (an isolated tribe in the Amazon).

All participants performed well above chance.

Is knowledge of geometry universal and innate?

PSYCHOLOGYSchacterGilbertWegner

6.3

Operant Conditioning: Reinforcements From The

Environment

Law of Effect

Operant conditioning involves the study of behaviors that are reactive.

Thorndike’s research focused on instrumental behaviors.

Operant conditioning: a type of learning in which the consequences of an organism’s behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future.

Law of effect: the principle that behaviors that are followed by a “satisfying state of affairs” tend to be repeated and those that produce an “unpleasant state of affairs” are less likely to be repeated.

Figure 6.6: Thorndike’s Puzzle Box (p. 174)

Figure 6.7: The Law of Effect (p. 174)

Questions

What is the relationship between behavior and reward?

Reinforcement, Punishment, and the Development of Operant Conditioning

Operant behavior: behavior that an organism produces that has some impact on the environment.

Reinforcer: any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it. positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement.

Punisher: any stimulus or event that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behavior that led to it. positive punishment, negative punishment.

Figure 6.8: Skinner Box (p. 175)

Table 6.1: Reinforcement and Punishment (p. 176)

Match the Operant Conditioning Component With Its Example

Positive Reinforcement

Negative Reinforcement

Positive Punishment

Negative Punishment

Getting a pizza party for earning a good grade on an exam.

Having your car privileges taken away for disobeying a curfew.

Having to do more weekly chores for getting caught stealing money.

Taking a particular pain reliever medication to get rid of a headache.

Questions

Why is reinforcement more constructive than punishment in learning desired behavior?

Reinforcers

Primary reinforcers satisfy biological needs.

Secondary reinforcers are associated with primary reinforcers through classical conditioning.

Overjustification effect: circumstances when external rewards can undermine the intrinsic satisfaction of performing a behavior.

Questions

Can rewards backfire?

The Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning

A discriminative stimulus is one that is associated with reinforcement.

Stimulus control develops when a particular response only occurs when the appropriate stimulus is present. discrimination and generalization effects.

Shaping: learning that results from the reinforcement of successive approximations to a final desired behavior.

Superstitious behaviors reinforced?

Shaping (p. 178, 179)

Questions

How can operant conditioning produce complex behaviors?

Questions

How would a behaviorist explain superstitions?

Schedules of Reinforcement Schedule of reinforcement: when/how an organism is

reinforced for a particular behavior. interval schedule: time intervals. ratio schedule: ratio/number of responses.

Fixed interval schedule (FI): reinforcements are presented at fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made.

Variable interval schedule (VI): reinforcements are based on an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement.

Fixed ratio schedule (FR): reinforcements are presented after a specific number of responses have been made.

Variable ratio schedule (VR): reinforcements are based on a particular average number of responses.

Intermittent reinforcement: only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement.

Figure 6.9: Reinforcement Schedules (p. 181)

Questions

How does a radio station use scheduled reinforcements to keep you listening?

Questions

How do ratio schedules work to keep you spending your money?

Match the Schedule of Reinfocement With Its Example

FI VIFRVR

After every 10 pizzas you buy, you get one free.

A casino jackpot machine hits every 100th player.

For every 10 minutes you sit still at the doctor’s office, you get a lollipop.

A car dealership gives away keys to a brand new car every hour.

The Neural Elements of Operant Conditioning

Pleasure centers in the limbic system (medial forebrain bundle, hypothalamus, and nucleus accumbens) are involved in conditioning.

Dopamine (positive emotions) is secreted throughout these pathways.

Pathways linked to hunger, sexual interest and activity.

Figure 6.10: Pleasure Centers in the Brain (p. 183)

Questions

What are the brain’s “pleasure centers”?

Cognitive Elements of Operant Conditioning

Latent learning: a condition in which something is learned but is not manifested as a behavioral change until sometime in the future. reinforcement not required.

Cognitive Map: a mental representation of the physical feature of the environment.

Figure 6.11: Latent Learning (p. 184)

Figure 6.12: Cognitive Maps (p. 184)

Questions

What are “cognitive maps”, and why are they a challenge to behaviorism?

The Evolutionary Elements of Operant Conditioning

Rats learned to go to the arm in the T-maze with the food, but they had to overcome the initial tendency to go the wrong way. foraging behavior is instinctual.

Each species is biologically predisposed to learn some things more readily than others (and to respond to ways that are consistent with its evolutionary history).

Figure 6.13: A Simple T-maze (p. 185)

The Misbehavior of Organisms (p. 186)

Questions

What explains a rat’s behavior in a T-maze?

PSYCHOLOGYSchacterGilbertWegner

6.4

Observational Learning: Look At Me

Observational Learning

Observational learning: learning takes place by watching the actions of others.model: someone whose behavior might

serve as a guide for others.Observational learning also occurs in

animals.Mirror neurons fire when one performs

an action or watches another perform the same action.

Observational Learning in Surgical Training (p. 187)

Figure 6.14: Beating Up Bobo (p. 188)

Questions

What did the Bobo doll experiment show about children and aggressive behavior?

What do mirror neurons do?

PSYCHOLOGYSchacterGilbertWegner

6.5

Implicit Learning: Under The Wires

Implicit Learning

Implicit learning: learning that takes place largely independent of awareness of both the process and the products of information acquisition. experiments in artificial grammar, serial reaction

time. large individual differences. unrelated to IQ. changes little across the lifespan. resistant to many disorders.

Figure 6.15: Artificial Grammar and Implicit Learning (p. 191)

Questions

How can you learn something without being aware of it?

Why are tasks learned implicitly difficult to explain to others?

Neural Pathways of Implicit and Explicit Learning

Patients suffering from psychoses or amnesia still show implicit learning.

Dot pattern prototype experiment; implicit and explicit processing groups showed activation in different brain regions. explicit group showed increased activation in the

prefrontal and parietal cortices, and hippocampus (among other areas).

implicit group showed decreased activation in occipital lobe (visual processing).

Questions

What technology shows that implicit and explicit learning are associated with separate structures in the brain?

Figure 6.16: Implicit and Explicit Learning Activate Different Brain Areas (p. 192)

Where Do You Stand: Learning For Rewards Or For Its Own Sake?

Reward shapes good behavior, yet the overjustification effect predicts this to have negative effects.

Learning should be fun for its own sake, not because incentives follow.

Example: academic performance in schools.