Learning

Chapter 6Psyc103

Jen Wright

learning

• What is learning?T/F: Having experiences that result in a

(relatively) permanent change in the mental states and behavior of the learner.

These changes have to be relevant to the experiences.

• How do we determine when an organism has learned something?

types of learning

• Habituation• Associative learning• Classical conditioning• Operant conditioning• Observational learning• Implicit learning

habituation• What is habituation?

– A) Decreased response to a stimulus after repeated or prolonged exposure.

– B) Increased response to a stimulus after repeated or prolonged exposure.

– C) Having the same response to a stimulus over and over again.– D) Having the same response to different stimuli.

• Ceasing to hear traffic running by house on freeway• Ceasing to flinch at loud bangs on gun range• Ceasing to feel nervous when talking in public• Ceasing to get aroused at sight of romantic partner

• Why do we habituate?Our attentional resources are limited

– Needed to recognize, identify, and deal with novel stimuli

– Therefore, habituation to regularities in our environment = decreased energy required

associative learning

• Learning to associate two (or more) events

• Take pain meds back pain goes away.

• Drink a beer find that you suddenly have a wonderful sense of humor.

classical conditioning

• T/F: Form of learning that builds upon associative learning

• Find original (natural) associationUnconditioned stimulus (US)

Unconditioned response (UR)– Sight of food salivation

• Introduce conditioned stimulus– Sound of bell (CS) + sight of food (US)

salivation (UR)• Create conditioned association

– Conditioned stimulus (CS) Conditioned response (CR)

– Sound of bell (CS) salivation (CR)

Project Manager

T/F: Conditioned Stimulus

T/F: Conditioned Stimulus

• This sort of conditioning seems straightforward. But there are more surprising examples:

• Pain medication (US) decrease in back pain (UR)• But, what would happen if I introduced a

conditioned association?– Pain medication (US) + strong flavor (CS) decrease in

back pain (UR)• Could I get to where all I needed was the strong

flavor to get relief from back pain?– Strong flavor (CS) decrease in back pain (CR)

• Weds 5:15-6:30 Psyc Club– Getting into Graduate School– ECTR 114

• Weds 6:45-7:30 Study Session for Exam02– Maybank 100

placebo effect?

• This gives us a new understanding of the placebo effect.

• It also explains many other phenomena• Drug overdoses

– Drug experience of getting high– Drug + overall environment high– Drug tolerance = drug + environment– New environment lower drug tolerance

here’s one you can try at home…

• Dark light dilated pupils• Dark light + bell dilated pupils

– 20-30 trials• Now watch your pupils closely in a mirror• Bell alone dilated pupils!

• And here’s something to try on your roommate:• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo7jcI8fAuI

higher-order conditioning

Second-order conditioning1. Money fancy new car2. Fancy new car admiration of other

people3. Fancy new car thrill of driving fast4. Money admiration/thrillThird-order conditioning• Vegas money admiration/thrill

higher-order conditioning

• bell + food salivating– bell salivating

• light bell– light salivating

• The light can bring about salivating, even though it was never actually associated directly with the food.

influencing factors

• Neural element– Role of emotion (amygdala)

• Cognitive element– T/F: Anything can be a conditional stimulus if

associated with another stimulus.• False: Not everything can be a CS

– Must be an unfamiliar and reliable stimulus

role of cognition?

• CS expectation (MS) CR

without an expectation, no conditioning can occur

• Evolutionary element– Biological preparedness– T/F: easiest to develop phobias for things that

are the most dangerous

operant conditioning

• When consequences of behavior determine whether the behavior will be repeated in the future.

• Reinforcers – increase the likelihood behavior repeated

• Punishers – decrease the likelihood behavior repeated• Positive – presentation of a stimulus into environment• Negative – removal of a stimulus from environment

Giving people something they want

Taking away something they don’t want

Taking away something they want

Giving people something they don’t want

• Think of a behavior you really wish you could stop doing.– Now consider: what is the reinforcement that

keeps you doing it?• Think of a behavior you really wish you could

start doing.– Now consider: what is the punishment that keeps

you from doing it?

• For professor, having lively student discussion in class is:– A) positive reinforcer– B) negative reinforcer– C) positive punishment– D) negative punishment

• Dropping an exam in exchange for good class attendance:– A) positive reinforcer– B) negative reinforcer– C) positive punishment– D) negative punishment

• Shutting someone out of a conversation because they tend to say inappropriate things:– A) positive reinforcer– B) negative reinforcer– C) positive punishment– D) negative punishment

• Making someone the designated driver because they got out of control the weekend before:– A) positive reinforcer– B) negative reinforcer– C) positive punishment– D) negative punishment

shaping

• Learning that results from the reinforcement of successive approximations to a final desired behavior.– Higher-order

conditioning

Youtube clips

• Rat basketball• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6F0bRTurPk• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QY2UxBStvo• Dog roll over• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLoHH03QAAI

schedules of reinforcement

Continuous reinforcement– Coke machine

• Problem with continuous reinforcement is that the behavior stops shortly after the reinforcement stops.

• Learning requires a (relatively) permanent change in behavior.

Intermittent reinforcement – more powerful learning mechanism– Slot machine

Continuous reinforcement– Coke machine

Intermittent reinforcement – Slot machine

• Why use intermittent reinforcement?– A) More powerful learning mechanism for learner– B) Cheaper investment for teacher– C) Both

• Fixed interval schedule– Getting a raise every January 1st

• Variable interval schedule– Random searches of school lockers

• Fixed ratio schedule– Punishment after three transgressions

• Variable ratio schedule– Slot machine

superstitious behavior

• Reinforcement of coincidental connection between two variables– e.g. lucky t-shirt and

homerun• Why is superstitious

behavior so hard to break?

• Role of expectations?

rewards

• Extrinsic vs. intrinsic rewards– Implications for

development?• Neural element

– Pleasure/pain centers of brain (dopamine)

observational learning

• Learning without direct experience

• Social learning• Cultural norms• Role models

– Adults– Elders– Peers– Celebrities– Virtual reality

What kind of learning is this?

• Mirror neurons• Imagination• Creativity

• Learning that – Penguins can’t fly– Charleston is in SC– The best instructor for Psyc103 is Dr. Wright

• Learning how– To ride a bike– To eat at a restaurant– To ski or windsurf– To play chess

• Learning that• Semantic/propositional knowledge• Typically explicit

– Tied to explicit memory

• Learning how• Procedural knowledge• “know how”• Typically implicit

– Tied to implicit memory