Unit 6 - Learning

Learning

the process of aquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

What does it mean that we learn by association?

Our minds naturally connect events that occur in sequence

Habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus

Habituation example

a new ringtone can be distracting at first — slowly you start to pay less attention to it

Associative Learning

Learning that certain events occur together

What is the difference between classical and operant conditioning

in classical conditioning we learn to associate two stimuli and anticipate events

in operant conditioning we associate our behavior with it’s consequence

Cognitive Learning

the aquisition of mental information

• by observing events, by watching others, or through language

Classical Conditioning

a type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli

• as a result the first stimulus comes to elicit behavior in anticipation of the second stimulus

Person associated with classical conditioning

Ivan Pavlov

Classical conditioning in Pavlov’s experiment

when the dog heard the sound of the tone it started drooling in anticipation of food

Behaviorism

the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes

• Most research psychologists today agree with (1-objective science) but not with (2-without reference to mental processes)

Psychologist associated with behaviorism

John B. Watson

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

a stimulus that unconditionally (naturally and automatically) triggers an unconditioned response

Unconditioned Stimulus (US) in Pavlov’s Dogs

food

Unconditioned Response (UR)

an unlearned, naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus

Unconditioned Response (US) in Pavlov’s Dogs

drooling/salivating

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

a stimulus that elicts no response before conditioning

Neutral Stimulus (NS) in Pavlov’s Dogs

tone, buzzer, light, touch on the leg, sight of circle

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR)

Conditioned Stimulus (CS) in Pavlov’s Dogs

a previously meaningless tone that now triggers salivation

Conditioned Response (CR)

a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus

Conditioned Response (CR) in Pavlov’s Dogs

salivation in response to the tone

Classical conditioning example

Food cravings

• we associate specific foods with feel good sensations making dieting hard

acquisition

• classical conditioning - the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response

• operant conditioning - the strengthening of a reinforced response

biological reason that animals and humans can be conditioned

because it helps them prepare for good or bad events

Higher-order conditioning

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus (Also called second-order conditioning)

Higher-order conditioning example

an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food learns that light predicts the tone and begins responding to the light alone

Extinction

• the diminishing of a conditioned response

• classical conditioning - an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS)

• operant conditioning - a response is no longer reinforced.

Spontaneous Recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

Generalization

• classical conditioning - the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to provoke similar responses

• operant conditioning - occurs when responses learned in one situation occur in other, similar situations

Discrimination

• classical conditioning - the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

• operant conditioning - the ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced from similar responses that are not reinforced

Why is Pavlov’s work still important?

1. many other responses to many other stimuli can be classically conditioned in many other organisms

2. showed us how a process such as learning can be

   studied objectively

Watson’s “Little Albert” Experiment

Showed how specific fears are conditioned with a baby

Presented a rat and struck a hammer (creating a loud sound the baby was afraid of). After many repeats, the baby cried at the sight of the rat & similar animals

Operant Conditioning

a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher

Person associated with operant conditioning

B.F. Skinner

Law of effect

• behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely

• behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

Person who created Law of Effect

Edward L. Thorndike

Skinner Box (aka operant chamber)

in operant conditioning research, a chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking

Reinforcement

any event that strenghtens the behavior it follows

Shaping

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

• clapping as a person gets closer to the desired goal vs. stopping when they are farther and continuing only when they get closer

Discriminative stimulus

a specific stimulus that prompts a response after association with reinforcement (in contrast to related stimuli not associated with reinforcement)

Discriminative stimulus example

pigeons pecking only after seeing a human face, but not after seeing other images

difference between positive and negative reinforcement

both strenghten responses but positive reinforcement presents a pleasurable stimulus and negative reinforcement removes something negative

Positive Reinforcement

increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers

• A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response

Positive Reinforcement Example

pay someone for work that they have done

Negative Reinforcement

increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing aversive stimuli

Negative Reinforcement Examples

hitting snooze to silence an annoying alarm

Primary Reinforcer

a naturally reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need

Primary Reinforcer Example

having a painful headache go away

Secondary Reinforcers (aka Conditioned Reinforcers)

a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer

Secondary Reinforcer Example

Money

desire for money comes from desire for food, then hunger makes people money hungry

Reinforcement Schedule

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

Continuous Reinforcement Schedule

reinforcing a response every time it occurs

Continuous Reinforcement Schedule Example

every time a child raises their hand; the teacher gives them a sticker

Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement Schedule

reinforcing a response only part of the time

• results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement Schedule Example

sales people do not make a sale with every pitch; they make a sale once in a while

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

reinforcing a response after a specified number of responses

• Every so many

Fixed-Ratio Schedule Example

coffee shops reward us with a free drink after 10 purchases

Variable-Ratio Schedule

reinforcing a response after an unpredictable number of responses

Variable-Ratio Schedule Example

claw machines; getting a prize after an unpredictable number of times

Fixed Interval Schedule

reinforcing a response only after a specified time has elapsed

• Every so often

Fixed Interval Schedule Example

people check the mail more frequently as the time for it to arrive approaches

Variable Interval Schedule

reinforcing a response at unpredictable time intervals

• Unpredictably often

Variable Interval Schedule Example

recieving a message after constantly checking your phone at random times

Punishment

An event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows

Difference between reinforcement and punishment

Reinforcement increases the behavior that it follows while punishment decreases the behavior that it follows

Positive Punishment

impose an aversive stimulus

Positive Punishment Example

give a traffic ticket for speeding

Negative Punishment

Withdraw a rewarding stimulus

Negative Punishment Example

Take away a misbehaving teen’s driving privileges

Why are environments not the whole story to conditioning?

An animal’s capacity for conditioning is constrained by it’s biology, predispositions prepare it to learn the associations

preparedness

a biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value

What did John Garcia find in his studies of taste aversion?

When rats ate a novel substance before being nauseated by a drug or radiation they developed a conditioned taste aversion to the substance but not the sight or sound associated with it

An example of how biological constraits predispose organisms to learn associations that are naturally adaptive.

it’s possible to condition a hamster to dig or rear up with a food reinforcer but it’s not possible to condition it to wash it’s face or to do other actions that aren’t associated with food

What did Rescorla & Wagner show about conditioning?

an animal can learn the predictability of an event

Tolman’s Cognitive Map

a mental representation of the layout of one’s environment

• after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it

Latent Learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

Insight

a sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

instrinsic motivation is the desire to perform a behavior for the sake of doing it while extrinsic behavior is the desire to perform a behavior to recieve promised rewards or to avoid punishment (internal vs. external)

Problem-focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress directly—by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor

Emotion-focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction

Learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

External locus of control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate

External locus of control example

getting a good job depends on being at the right place at the right time

Internal locus of control

the perception that we control our own fate

Internal locus of control example

getting a job because you worked hard for it

Self-control

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards

What do you need to have better self control?

attention and energy. With frequent practice in overcoming unwanted urges you can strenghten self-control and imporve self-management (anger, dishonesty, impulsive spending)

Observational Learning

learning by observing others (Also called social learning)

Modeling

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

Person associated with observational learning

Albert Bandura

Summarize Bandura’s famous Bobo Doll experiment

A child is put in a room with an Adult. After 10 mins the adult lashes out at an inflatable bobo doll. The child is then taken to a room with toys but quickly taken to another room because they are told these toys are being saved for good children. The child sees a bobo doll in the room and lashes out at the bobo doll, generally repeating the behavior seen in the adult.

How observational learning works: Mirror Neurons

frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so. The brain’s mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation and empathy

What is the theory of mind

children’s brains do enable their empathy and their ability to infer another’s mental state

Prosocial behavior

positive, constructive, helpful behavior

When are models most effective?

when their actions and words are consistent

• To encourage children to read, read to them and surround them with books and people who read