Learning and Conditioning

I. The Assumptions of Behaviorism

A. Behaviorists are deterministic.

B. Behaviorists believe that mental explanations areineffective.

C. Behaviorists believe that the environment plays apowerful role in molding behavior.

Learning: any relatively permanent change inbehavior that is based upon experience.

Behaviorists: psychologists who insist thatpsychologists should study only observable,measurable behaviors, not mental processes.

B. Methodological Behaviorists: study only events that they can measure and observe, BUT they sometimes use those observations to make inferences about internal events.

1) Intervening Variable: something that cannot be directlyobserved yet links a variety of procedures to a variety ofpossible responses.

A. Radical Behaviorists: believe that internal states arecaused by events in the environment, or by genetics.

II. Two Key Types of Behaviorists

III. Pavlov and Classical Conditioning

1) Classical Conditioning Terminology

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) An event that consistently and automatically elicits an unconditioned response. (Food)

Unconditioned Response (UCR) An action that the unconditioned stimulus automatically elicits. (Salivation)

Conditioned Stimulus (CS) Formerly the neutral stimulus, having been paired with the unconditioned stimulus, elicits the same response.(Bell) That response depends upon its consistent pairing with the UCS.

Conditioned Response (CR) The response elicited by the conditioned stimulus due to the training. (Salivation) Usually it closely resembles the UCR.

A. Classical Conditioning: learning based on association of a stimulus that does not ordinarily elicit a particular response with another stimulus that does elicit the response. Applies to involuntary responses.

B. An unfamiliar neutral stimulus enhances conditioning.

C. Acquisition: the process that establishes or strengthens a conditioned response.

D. Extinction: the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus leading to a decrease and elimination of the response.

E. Spontaneous Recovery: the temporary return of an extinguished response.

H. Stimulus generalization: the extension of a conditioned response from the training stimulus to similar stimuli.

I. Stimulus discrimination: the process of learning to respond differently to two stimuli because they produce two different outcomes.

J. Drug Tolerance and Classical Conditioning

Pavlov believed that after enough training, the CS essentially became the UCS, rather than simply a signal that the UCS was coming.

Later research determined that this is NOT the case, rather the CS does indeed becomes a signal that the UCS is coming.

F. Simultaneous conditioning: the conditioned stimulus andthe unconditioned stimulus are presented at the same time.

G. Compound conditioning: two or more conditioned stimuliare presented together with the unconditioned stimulus.

K. Blocking Effects: it is difficult to condition the same response in an animal to more than one stimulus once an association has been made to a previously presented stimulus.

Behaviorism: Classical Conditioning

• John Watson: Conditioning of Fear

• Orphan boy ‘Little Albert’

– 3. Albert cried because of noise– 4. Eventually, site of rat made

Albert cry

– 1. Albert liked the furry rat – 2. Rat presented with loud CRASH!

IV. Thorndike and Operant Conditioning

A. Thorndike’s Law of Effect: an animal is more likely torepeat a behavior if it led to favorable consequences even if itdoesn’t understand why.

C. Forms of Operant Conditioning

1) Reinforcer: an event that follows a response and increases the future probability of that recent response.

Primary Reinforcers: are reinforcing because of their ownproperties. (Food)

Secondary Reinforcers: are reinforcing because of previous experiences. (Money) “I’ve learned through experience that I can exchange money for food.”

2) Punishment is an event that decreases the probability of a response. (Pain)

B. Operant Conditioning: learning based on association of behavior with its consequences. The individual learns from the consequences of “operating” in the environment. Applies to voluntary responses.

Operant Conditioning: Reinforcement

• Increases likelihood of behavior reoccurring– Positive: Giving a reward

• Candy for finishing a task

– Negative: Removing something aversive• No chores for getting an A+ on homework

Operant Conditioning: Punishment

• Decreases likelihood of behavior reoccurring– Positive: Adding something aversive

• Extra Chores

– Negative: Removing something pleasant• Taking away car keys

D. Extinction: occurs if responses stop producingreinforcements.

E. Stimulus Generalization: occurs when a new stimulus issimilar to the original reinforced stimulus. The more similarthe new stimulus is to the old, the more strongly the subjectis likely to respond.

F. Discriminative Stimulus: a stimulus that indicates whichresponse is appropriate or inappropriate.

G. Belongingness: the concept that certain stimuli are classified together or more readily associated with certain outcomes more so than with others.

V. Skinner and the Shaping of Behavior

A. Shaping: establishes new responses by reinforcing successive approximations to it.

B. Schedule of Reinforcement: is a set of rules of procedures for delivery of reinforcement.

C. Continuous Reinforcement: provides reinforcement every time a response occurs.

D. Intermittent Reinforcement: sometimes a particular response is reinforced and other times it is not.

1) Ratio: when the delivery of reinforcement depends onthe number of responses given by the individual.

2) Interval: when delivery of reinforcement depends on the amount of time that has passed since the last reinforcement.

E. Four Subcategories of Intermittent Reinforcement

1) Fixed-Ratio Schedule: provides reinforcement only after a certain “fixed” number of correct responses have been made.

2) Variable-Ratio Schedule: provides reinforcement after a variable number of correct responses.

3) Fixed-Interval Schedule: provides reinforcement for the first response made after a specific time interval.

4) Variable-Interval Schedule: provides reinforcement after a variable amount of time has elapsed.

Extinction of responses tends to take longer when an individual has been on an intermittent schedule, especially one that is variable,rather than a continuous schedule.

One explanation for this difference is that on an intermittent schedule,the lack of reinforcement does not signify the complete ending of all reinforcements. It’s harder to tell when your experiences with reinforcement are truly over.

VI. Applications of Operant Conditioning

A. Animal Training

B. Breaking Bad Habits

1) Behavior Modification: the clinician determines which reinforcers sustain an undesirable behavior and then tries to change the behavior by reducing the opportunities for reinforcement of the unwanted behavior and providing reinforcers for a more acceptable behavior.

VII. Other Kinds of Learning

A. Conditioned Taste Aversions

B. Social Learning: we learn about many behaviors before we attempt them for the first time by observing the behaviors of others and from imagining the consequences of our own.

D. Self-Efficacy in Social Learning: we tend to imitate people we admire and who are perceived as similar to us in some fashion.

C. Bandura’s“Bobo” Doll Study