Chapter 9

SUMMARY

9.1 Define learning.

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Learning refers to any enduring change in the way an organism responds based on its experience. Learning theories assume that experience shapes behaviour, that learning is adaptive and that uncovering laws of learning requires systematic experimentation.

9.2 Describe the basic principles underlying classical conditioning.

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Conditioning is a type of learning studied by behaviourists. Classical conditioning refers to learning in which an environmental stimulus produces a response in an organism. An innate reflex is an unconditioned reflex. The stimulus that produces the response in an unconditioned reflex is called an unconditioned stimulus (UCS). An unconditioned response (UCR) is a response that does not have to be learned. A conditioned response (CR) is a response that has been learned. A conditioned stimulus (CS) is a stimulus that, through learning, has come to evoke a CR.

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Once an organism has learned to produce a CR, it may respond to stimuli that resemble the CS with a similar response. This phenomenon is called stimulus generalisation. Stimulus discrimination is the learned tendency to respond to a very restricted range of stimuli or to only the one used during training. Extinction in classical conditioning refers to the process by which a CR is weakened by presentation of the CS without the UCS; that is, the response is extinguished.

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Factors that influence classical conditioning include the interstimulus interval (the time between presentation of the CS and the UCS), the individual’s learning history and prepared learning.

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Neuroscientists have begun to track down the neural processes involved in classical conditioning. Research on the marine snail Aplysia and on long-term potentiation (LTP) in more complex animals suggests that learning involves an increase in the strength of synaptic connections through changes in the presynaptic neuron (which more readily releases neurotransmitters), changes in the postsynaptic neuron (which becomes more excitable) and probably an increase in dendritic connections between the two.

9.3 Describe the basic principles underlying operant conditioning.

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Thorndike’s law of effect states that an animal’s tendency to produce a behaviour depends on that behaviour’s effect on the environment. Skinner elaborated this idea into the concept of operant conditioning, which means learning to operate on the environment to produce a consequence. An operant is a behaviour that is emitted rather than elicited by the environment. A consequence is said to lead to reinforcement if it increases the probability that a response will recur. A reinforcer is an environmental consequence that occurs after an organism has produced a response, which makes the response more likely to recur.

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Positive reinforcement is the process whereby presentation of a stimulus (a reward or pay-off) after a behaviour makes the behaviour more likely to occur again. A positive reinforcer is an environmental consequence that, when presented, strengthens the probability that a response will recur.

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Negative reinforcement is the process whereby termination of an aversive stimulus (a negative reinforcer) makes a behaviour more likely to recur. Negative reinforcers are aversive or unpleasant stimuli that strengthen a behaviour by their removal. Whereas the presentation of a positive reinforcer rewards a response, the removal of a negative reinforcer rewards a response.

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Reinforcement always increases the probability that a response will recur. In contrast, punishment decreases the probability of a response, through either exposure to an aversive event following a behaviour (positive punishment) or losing or failing to obtain reinforcement previously associated with behaviour (negative punishment). Punishment is commonplace in human affairs but is frequently applied in ways that render it ineffective.

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Extinction in operant conditioning occurs if enough conditioning trials pass in which the operant is not followed by its previously learned environmental consequence.

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Four phenomena in particular help explain the power of operant conditioning: schedules of reinforcement, discriminative stimuli (stimuli that signal to an organism that particular contingencies of reinforcement are in effect), the behavioural context and characteristics of the learner.

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In a continuous reinforcement schedule the environmental consequence is the same each time an animal emits a behaviour. In partial or intermittent schedules of reinforcement, reinforcement does not occur every time the organism emits a particular response. In a fixed-ratio (FR) schedule of reinforcement, an organism receives reinforcement at a fixed rate, according to the number of operant responses emitted. As in the FR schedule, an animal on a variable-ratio (VR) schedule of reinforcement receives a reward for some percentage of responses, but the number of responses required before each reinforcement is unpredictable. In a fixed-interval (FI) schedule of reinforcement, an animal receives reinforcement for its responses only after a fixed amount of time. In a variable-interval (VI) schedule of reinforcement, the animal cannot predict how long that time interval will be.

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The operant conditioning of a given behaviour occurs in the context of other environmental contingencies (such as the impact of obtaining one reinforcer on the probability of obtaining another) and broader social and cultural processes. Characteristics of the learner also influence operant conditioning, such as prior behaviours in the animal’s repertoire, enduring characteristics of the learner and species-specific behaviour.

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Operant and classical conditioning share many common features, such as extinction, prepared learning, discrimination, generalisation and the possibility of maladaptive associations. Although operant conditioning usually applies to voluntary behaviour, it can also be used in techniques such as biofeedback to alter autonomic responses, which are usually the domain of classical conditioning. In everyday life, operant and classical conditioning are often difficult to disentangle because most learned behaviour involves both.

9.4 Explain the basic premise of cognitive–social theory.

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Cognitive–social theory incorporates concepts of conditioning from behaviourism but adds two additional features: a focus on cognition and on social learning. Tolman demonstrated that rats formed cognitive maps or mental images of their environment and that these were responsible for latent learning — learning that has occurred but is not currently manifest in behaviour. Many classic learning phenomena have been reinterpreted from a cognitive perspective, including stimulus discrimination and generalisation.

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According to cognitive–social theory, the way an animal construes the environment is as important to learning as actual environmental contingencies. Cognitive–social theory proposes that expectations or expectancies of the consequences of behaviours are what render behaviours more or less likely to occur. Locus of control refers to the generalised expectancies people hold about whether or not their own behaviour will bring about the outcomes they prefer. Learned helplessness involves the expectancy that one cannot escape aversive events and the motivational and learning deficits that accrue from it. Explanatory style refers to the way people make sense of bad events. Individuals with a depressive or pessimistic explanatory style see the causes of bad events as internal, stable and global. Expectancies such as locus of control and explanatory style differ across cultures, since cultural belief systems offer people ready-made ways of interpreting events, and people who live in a society share common experiences (such as work and schooling) that lead to shared beliefs and expectancies.

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Psychologists have studied several kinds of social learning (learning that takes place as a direct result of social interaction), including observational learning (learning by observing the behaviour of others) and tutelage (direct instruction). Observational learning in which a human (or other animal) learns to reproduce behaviour exhibited by a model is called modelling. In vicarious conditioning, a person learns the consequences of an action by observing its consequences for someone else.

KEY TERMS

acquisition In classical conditioning, the initial stage of learning in which the conditioned response becomes associated with the conditioned stimulus.

antisocial personality disorder A personality disorder marked by irresponsible and socially disruptive behaviour in a variety of areas.

avoidance learning A negative reinforcement procedure in which the behaviour of an organism is reinforced by the prevention of an expected aversive event.

biofeedback A procedure for monitoring autonomic physiological processes and learning to alter them at will.

blocking When a stimulus fails to elicit a conditioned response because it is combined with another stimulus that already elicits the response.

chaining A process of learning in which a sequence of already established behaviours is reinforced step-by-step.

classical conditioning A procedure by which a previously neutral stimulus comes to elicit a response after it is paired with a stimulus that automatically elicits that response; the first type of learning to be studied systematically.

cognitive maps Mental representations of visual space.

cognitive–social theory A theory of learning that emphasises the role of thought and social learning in behaviour.

conditioned response (CR) In classical conditioning, a response that has been learned.

conditioned stimulus (CS) A stimulus that the organism has learned to associate with the unconditioned stimulus.

conditioning A form of learning.

contextual learning Learning not only a simple association between a CS and a UCS but also the context for that association.

continuous reinforcement schedule When the environmental consequences are the same each time an organism emits a behaviour.

discriminative stimulus (SD) A stimulus that signals that particular contingencies of reinforcement are in effect.

escape learning A negative reinforcement procedure in which the behaviour of an organism is reinforced by the cessation of an aversive event that already exists.

expectancies Expectations relevant to desired outcomes.

explanatory style The way people make sense of events or outcomes, particularly aversive ones.

external locus of control The belief that one’s life is determined by forces outside (external to) oneself.

extinction In classical conditioning, the process by which a conditioned response is weakened by presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus; in operant conditioning, the process by which the connection between an operant and a reinforcer or punishment is similarly broken.

fixed-interval (FI) schedule When the organism receives rewards for its responses only after a fixed amount of time.

fixed-ratio (FR) schedule When the organism receives reinforcement at a fixed rate, according to the number of responses emitted.

galvanic skin response (GSR) An electrical measure of the amount of sweat on the skin that is produced during states of anxiety or arousal; also called skin conductance or electrodermal activity (EDA).

generalised expectancies Expectancies that influence a broad spectrum of behaviour.

habituation The decreasing strength of a response after repeated presentations of the stimulus.

immune system A system of cells throughout the body that fights disease.

insight In learning theory, the ability to perceive a connection between a problem and its solution; in psychodynamic treatments, the understanding of one’s own psychological processes.

intermittent schedules of reinforcement Operant procedures in which an organism is reinforced only some of the time it emits a behaviour; also called partial schedule of reinforcement.

internal locus of control The belief that one is the master of one’s fate.

interstimulus interval The duration of time between presentation of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.

interval schedules of reinforcement Operant conditioning procedures in which rewards are delivered according to intervals of time.

latent inhibition A phenomenon in classical conditioning in which initial exposure to a neutral stimulus without a UCS slows the process of later learning the CS–UCS association and developing a CR.

latent learning Learning that has occurred but is not currently manifest in behaviour.

law of contiguity Two events will become connected in the mind if they are experienced close together in time.

law of effect Law proposed by Thorndike which states that the tendency of an organism to produce a behaviour depends on the effect the behaviour has on the environment.

law of prediction The CS–UCS association will form such that the presence of the CS predicts the appearance of the UCS.

law of similarity Objects that resemble each other are likely to become associated.

laws of association First proposed by Aristotle, basic principles used to account for learning and memory, which describe the conditions under which one thought becomes connected, or associated, with another.

learned helplessness The expectancy that one cannot escape from aversive events.

learning Any relatively permanent change in the way an organism responds based on its experience.

locus of control Generalised expectancies people hold about whether or not their own behaviour will bring about the outcomes they seek.

long-term potentiation (LTP) The tendency of a group of neurons to fire more readily after consistent stimulation from other neurons.

modelling A social learning procedure in which a person learns to reproduce behaviour exhibited by a model.

negative reinforcement The process whereby a behaviour is made more likely because it is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus.

negative reinforcer An aversive or unpleasant stimulus that strengthens a behaviour by its removal.

observational learning Learning that occurs by observing the behaviour of others.

operants Behaviours that are emitted by the organism rather than elicited by the environment.

operant conditioning Learning that results when an organism associates a response that occurs spontaneously with a particular environment effect; also called instrumental conditioning.

paradoxical conditioning The conditioning that occurs when the CR is the opposite of the UCR.

partial schedules of reinforcement Operant procedures in which an organism is reinforced only some of the time it emits a behaviour; also called intermittent schedule of reinforcement.

pessimistic explanatory style A tendency to explain bad events that happen in a self-blaming manner, viewing their causes as global and stable.

phobias Irrational fears of specific objects or situations.

positive reinforcement The process by which a behaviour is made more likely because of the presentation of a rewarding stimulus.

positive reinforcer A rewarding stimulus that strengthens a behaviour when it is presented.

prepared learning Responses to which an organism is predisposed because they were selected through natural selection.

psychoneuroimmunology (PIN)The study of the interactions among behaviour, the nervous system, the endocrine system and the immune system.

punishment A conditioning process that decreases the probability that a behaviour will occur.

ratio schedules of reinforcement Operant conditioning procedures in which an organism is reinforced after a certain number of responses.

reflex A behaviour that is elicited automatically by an environmental stimulus.

reinforcement A conditioning process that increases the probability that a response will occur.

reinforcer An environmental consequence that occurs after an organism has produced a response and makes the response more likely to recur.

response contingency The connection that exists between a behaviour and a consequence because the consequence is dependent on the behaviour.

shaping The process of teaching a new behaviour by reinforcing closer and closer approximations of the desired response.

social learning Learning in which individuals learn many things from the people around them, with or without reinforcement.

spontaneous recovery The spontaneous re-emergence of a response or an operant that has been extinguished.

stimulus An object or event in the environment that elicits a response in an organism.

stimulus discrimination The tendency for an organism to respond to a very restricted range of stimuli.

stimulus generalisation The tendency for learned behaviour to occur in response to stimuli that were not present during conditioning but that are similar to the conditioned stimulus.

successive approximations A process of rewarding those behaviours that move the subject progressively closer to the desired behaviour.

superstitious behaviour A phenomenon that occurs when the learner erroneously associates an operant and an environmental event.

tutelage The teaching of concepts or procedures primarily through verbal explanation or instruction.

unconditioned reflex A reflex that occurs naturally, without any prior learning.

unconditioned response (UCR) An organism’s unlearned, automatic response to a stimulus.

unconditioned stimulus (UCS) A stimulus that produces a reflexive response without any prior learning.

variable-interval (VI) schedule An operant conditioning procedure in which an organism receives a reward for its responses after an amount of time that is not consistent.

variable-ratio (VR) schedules An organism receives a reward for a certain percentage of behaviours that are emitted, but this percentage is not fixed.

vicarious conditioning The process by which an individual learns the consequences of an action by observing its consequences for someone else.