Chapter 5

Learning

  • A relatively permanent change in behavior, knowledge, capability, or attitude

    • acquired through expperience

    • cannot be attributed to illness, injury, or maturation

However, certain changes such as physical growth and maturity have nothing to do with learning and are genetically programmed


Classical Conditioning

  • A type of learning through which an organism learns to associate one stimulus

    • stimulus

      • Any event or object in the environment to which an organism respponds

  • Classical conditioning was an accidental discovery by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

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Pavlov and the Process of Classical Conditioning

  • Neutral Stimulus (tone) is presented shortly before an unconditioned stimulus (food)

  • Naturally elicits an unconditioned response (salivation)

  • After repeated pairings, the conditioned stimulus alone (the tone) comes to elicit the conditioned response (salivation)

Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning

learning hasn’t occured

  • Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

    • elicits unconditioned response without learning

      • e.g., food, loud noise, light in eye, puff of air in eye

  • Unconditioned Response (UR)

    • response elicited by an unconditioned stimulus without learning

      • e.g., salivation, startle, contraction of pupil, eye blink

Unconditioned and Conditioned

  • Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

    • a neutral stimulus that, after repeated pairing an US, becomes associated with it then elicits…

    • A conditioned response

  • Conditioned Response (CR)

    • learned response elicited (to bring out) by CS as a result of repeated pairing with an US, for example, a tone

  • Higher-Order Conditioning

    • Conditioned stimuli are linked to form a series of signals


Changes to Conditioned Responses

  • Extinction

    • Weakening and disappearance of CR as a result of repeated presentation of CS without US i. e., forgetting

  • Spontaneous Recovery

    • reappearance of extinguished CR when organism is exposed to CS following rest period


Types of Conditioned Responses

  • Generalization

    • Tendency to make a CR to a stimulus that is similar to the original CS

  • Discrimination

    • learned ability to distinguish between similar stimuli

    • CR occurs only in response to the original CS, not to similar stimuli


John Watson and Emotional Conditioning

  • Watson and Rayner (1920) “Little Albert” Study

    • A child was classically conditioned to fear a rat

  • Conditioned fears persist and modify personality throughout life

  • Mary Cover Jones (1924) later used classical conditioning to remove fears in another child

The Cognitive Perspective

  • Pavlov and Watson

    • classical conditioning involved the repeated pairing of CS and US

  • Robert Rescorla

    • A critical element is whether the CS provides information that enables the organism to reliably predict the occurrence of the US


Biological Predispositions

  • Organisms are biologically predisposed to acquire fears from objects that may pose a threat to survival

  • Martin Seligman (1972): most common fears “are related to the survival of the human species through the long course of evolution”


  • Taste Aversion

    • not necessarily a survival mechanism

      • the intense dislike and/or avoidance of particular foods that have been associated with nausea or discomfort

      • biologically adaptive for survuval

  • Psycological or personal preference may be influenced by genetic predisposition

Operant Conditioning: Thorndike, Skinner, and the Consequences of Behavior

  • Law of Effect (Edward Thorndike)

    • The Consequence or effect of a response determines the tendency to respond in the same way in the future

      • The behavior is either strengthened or weakened based on the consequences of that behavior

      • Organisms tend to repeat behaviors that bring about pleasant or desired consequences

  • Operant Conditioning

    • The consequences of behavior are manipulated to increase or decrease or decrease (modify) the frequency of an existing behavior or create a new one

  • Operant - voluntary behavior that accidentally brings about some kind of consequence


The Process of Operant Conditioning

  • Shaping

    • learning in small steps rather than all at once

    • rewarding successive approximations of desired response

    • used to condition complex behaviors in people as well as in animal training

  • Reinforcement - Any event that follows a response and serves to strengthen or increase the probability that the response will be repeated

    • Results in strengthening a behavior

Ideally, only desired behavior(s) should be reinforced

  • Positive Reinforcement - Addition of a consequence intended to increase the likelihood of a behavior/response occurring

  • Negative Reinforcement - removal of a consequence intended to increase the likelihood of behavior/response occurring

Positive and negative reinforcement involves the addition or removal of a consequence, does not necessarily refer to “good” or “bad”



Reinforcement

  • Primary Reinforcer

    • A reinforcer that fulfills a basic physical need for survival and does not depend on learning; life sustaining, i.e. eating.

  • Secondary Reinforcer

    • a reinforcer that is acquired or learned through association with other reinforcers i.e., money, praise, applause, attention


Schedules of Reinforcement Ratios and Intervals

  • A systematic process for administering reinforcement which influences the operant conditioning process

  • Ratio - number of occurrences

  • Interval - related to time, number of times


Schedules of Reinforcement - Ratios: based on # of occurences

  • Fixed-Ratio (FR)

    • The reinforcer is given after a fixed number of correct, non reinforced responses; using the ATM (1-1); predictable.

  • Variable-Ratio (VR)

    • The reinforcer is given after a varying number of non reinforced responses; maquinitas, (slot machines)

  • Fixed-Interval (FI) time based

    • The enforcer is given in response to the first correct response after a specific period of time has elapsed; for example, getting paid every Friday

  • Variable-Interval (VI) decreases extinction chances

    • The reinforcer is given after first correct response following a varied period of time


Operant Conditioning: Punishment

  • Punishment

    • A consequence or action enacted to decrease or eliminate the frequency of an undesired behavior

Types of Punishment

  • Positive Punishment

    • Decrease in behavior that results from adding a consequence

  • Negative Punishment

    • decrease in behavior that results from removing a consequence

Disadvantages of Punishment

  • Punishment does not necessarily extinguish undesirable behavior

    • suppresses the behavior when the punishing agent is present

  • Indicates that behavior is unacceptable but does not help to develop more appropriate behavior


Consequences of Punishment

  • The punished often become fearful and feel angry toward the punisher

  • Frequently leads to aggression


  • Is the punisher practicing self-control?

  • What are the punishers motives?

Alternatives to Punishment

  • Removing the rewarding consequences of undesirable behavior may be the best way to extinguish it

    • not giving in to a child’s demands during a trantrum

    • becoming aware of prior unintended reinforcement

    • ignoring misbehavior that is performed merely to get attention and giving attention to more appropriate behaviors

  • Using positive reinforcement can make good behavior more rewarding

  • Plus, let’s not forget consistency re: schedules or reinforcement

  • parents oftentimes apply punishment only after their own patience is exhausted


Escape and Avoidance Learning

  • Escape Learning

    • performing a behavior because it prevents or terminates an aversive event; i.e. paying bills on time to avoid late charging

  • Avoidance Learning

    • Engaging in behaviors to avoid anticipated aversive consequences or conditions

    • For instance, not riding in a car with an intoxicated driver or putting off study time because it interferes with party time


Problems with Avoidance Learning

Too much avoidance learning, however, can be maladaptive;

  • avoiding situations because anxiety, fears and phobias, social withdrawal, participating in class

  • The avoidance behavior is negatively reinforced and thus strengthened through operant conditioning

Procrastination - maladaptive avoidance behavior



Maladaptive Learning

  • Learned Helpnessness

    • exception to learning escape or avoidance behaviors; may foster dependency

    • Passive resignation to aversive conditions due to repeated exposure to inescapable or unavoidable events; oftentimes as a result of trauma, severe punishment, etc…


Applications of Operant Conditioning

  • Behavior Modification

    • using the learning principles of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, or observational learning to change undesired behavior

    • used to change self-injurious behavior in children and adults with autism

    • Utilizes the Behavioral perspective rather than a pure Cognitive perspective

  • Biofeedback - devices which monitor physiological functions i.e. heart rate, anxiety, blood pressure, allowing a person to regulate these activity levels

  • Token Economy: motivates socially desirable behavior by reinforcing it with tokens, ex. Cigarettes, allowance, toys, money.

Cognitive Learning

  • Cognitive Processes - using your mental processes such as thinking, knowing, problem solving, planning, remembering, and forming mental representations

    • Requires mental effort

    • Using mental effort


Learning by Insight

  • Insight

    • Sudden realization of the relationship between elements in a problem

    • “lightbulb over-the-head” moment

    • makes solution apparent

    • Unique pattern of interaction involving several different brain areas


  • Kohler studies with chimpanzees-the banana dilemma.

    • Chimpanzees appeared to give up in attempts to get bananas

    • sudden realization relationship between elements in a problem situation

    • Behavior seemed to be based on insight, not trial-and error learning


Latent (hidden Learning)

  • Tolman: learning could occur without apparent reinforcement and not be demonstrated until the organism was motivated to do so.

  • Involves formation of a “cognitive map”

  • Sort of like “accidental or unintentional learning.”


Observational Learning or Social Cognitive Learning Theory

  • Alberta Bandura

    • Learning by observing the behavior of other and the consequences of that behavior; learning by imitation

      • The model is the individual who demonstrates a behavior or whose behavior is imitated

        • effectiveness of model related to status, competence, and power

        • “To do or not to do”

  • The Four processes of observational learning: determine whether learning is occurring.

    • Attention

    • Retention

    • Reproduction

    • Reinforcement

  • Bandura: simply watching model does not necessarily result in learning (such as in learning dance moves, acquiring work skills, etc..)



Effects of the Multitasking Environment

  • More time spent multitasking may leave a subject less capable of managing thought processes when not multitasking (stimulus overload)

  • Multitasking causes us to develop the habit of attending to everything in the environment rather than filtering out useless information

  • Different tasks require different intensities in focus

  • Dilutes our ability to focus and concentrate



Learning from Media: Television and Other Entertainment Media

  • “Bobo Doll” Studies (Bandura, 1961)

    • Do children imitate aggressive behavior

  • Recent research

    • Individuals who watch the most violence as children are more likely to engage in acts of violence as adults


Aggression and Violence in Media

  • Recent Research

    • Brain imaging - patterns of neural activation develop by watching violent media

  • Children also imitate prosocial behavior.

    • Media may also teach children not to engage in aggressive acts

Fact: asocial, antisocial, and prosocial behaviors are often represented in media



Learning from Media: Gaming

  • Research on gaming has produced a number of varying and conflicting outcomes including:

  • 1) increases feelings of hostility and decreases sensitivity to violent images

  • 2) increases aggressive behavior

  • 3) neither increases hostility nor decreases sensitivity