LEARNING: AN OVERVIEW

• Learning is a relatively permanent or stable change in behavior as a result of experience.

• Learning occurs by various methods, including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning.

• Cognitive factors are also implicated in learning, particularly in humans.

NONASSOCIATIVE LEARNING

• Nonassociative learning occurs when an organism is repeatedly exposed to one type of stimulus.

  • Two important types of nonassociative learning are habituation and sensitization.

• Desensitization refers to a decreased responsiveness to an aversive stimulus after repeated exposure.

  • This phenomenon may occur on its own or in the context of desensitization therapy.

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

• Classical conditioning was first described by Ivan Pavlov and is sometimes called Pavlovian conditioning.

  • Classical conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus, paired with a previously meaningful stimulus, eventually takes on some meaning itself.

• Psychologists use specific terms for the various stimuli in classical conditioning.

  • The conditioned stimulus (CS) is the initially neutral stimulus—in our example, the light.

  • The unconditioned stimulus (US) is the initially meaningful stimulus.

    • In our example, the US is food.

  • The response to the US does not have to be learned; this naturally occurring response is the unconditioned response (UR).

• Forward conditioning, in which the CS is presented before the US, can be further divided into delay conditioning, in which the CS is present until the US begins, and trace conditioning, in which the CS is removed some time before the US is presented.

• Albert showed that he was afraid of other white fluffy objects; the closer they resembled the white rat, the more he cried and cringed.

  • This is known as generalization.

  • If Albert could distinguish among similar but distinct stimuli, he would be exhibiting discrimination.

• Acquisition takes place when the pairing of the natural and neutral stimuli (the loud noise and the rat) have occurred with enough frequency that the neutral stimulus alone will elicit the conditional response (cringing and crying).

• Extinction, or the elimination of the conditioned response, can be achieved by presenting the CS without the US repeatedly (in other words, the white rat without the loud noise).

• Spontaneous recovery, in which the original response disappears on its own, but then is elicited again by the previous CS at a later time, is also possible under certain circumstances.

• Contiguity approach is a method of teaching that involves linking new information to existing knowledge.

  • It is based on the idea that learning is more effective when new information is connected to what the learner already knows.

• Contingency approach is a management theory that suggests that the most effective way to manage a situation is to assess the needs of the situation and then tailor the management approach to those needs.

  • It emphasizes the importance of adapting management styles to the specific needs of the situation.

OPERANT CONDITIONING

• Operant conditioning (also called instrumental conditioning) involves an organism’s learning to make a response in order to obtain a reward or avoid punishment.

• B.F. Skinner pioneered the study of operant conditioning, although the phenomenon first was discovered by Edward L. Thorndike, who proposed the law of effect, which states that a behavior is more likely to recur if reinforced.

• Differential reinforcement of successive approximations is a type of operant conditioning that involves reinforcing a behavior that is gradually getting closer to the desired behavior.

  • It is used to teach complex behaviors by breaking them down into smaller, more manageable steps.

• Food is a form of natural reinforcement; you don’t have to learn to like it.

  • These types of natural reinforcers, such as food, water, and sex, provide primary reinforcement.

• Secondary reinforcement is provided by learned reinforcers.

• Positive reinforcement is a reward or event that increases the likelihood that a particular type of response will be repeated.

• Negative reinforcement is the removal of an aversive event in order to encourage the behavior.

• Omission training also seeks to decrease the frequency of behavior by withholding the reward until the desired behavior is demonstrated.

• A schedule of reinforcement refers to the frequency with which an organism receives reinforcement for a given type of response.

• In a continuous reinforcement schedule, every correct response that is emitted results in a reward.

• Schedules of reinforcement in which not all responses are reinforced are called partial (or intermittent) reinforcement schedules.

• A fixed-ratio schedule is one in which the reward always occurs after a fixed number of responses.

• A variable-ratio schedule is one in which the ratio of responses to reinforcement is variable and unpredictable.

• A fixed-interval schedule is one in which reinforcement is presented as a function of fixed periods of time, as long as there is at least one response.

• Variable-interval schedule, reinforcement is presented at differing time intervals, as long as there is at least one response.

• Punishment is the process by which a behavior is followed by a consequence that decreases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated.

• Behavior modification - A combination of reinforcers and punishers designed to alter behavior.

• Token economy— an artificial economy based on tokens.

• Learned helplessness occurs when consistent efforts fail to bring rewards.

BIOLOGICAL FACTORS

• The biological basis of learning is of great interest to psychologists.

• Neuroscientists have tried to identify the neural correlates of learning.

• Experiments were conducted in which some rats were raised in an enriched environment, while others were raised in a deprived environment.

• Donald Hebb proposed that human learning takes place by neurons forming new connections with one another or by the strengthening of connections that already exist.

• Eric Kandel, a neuroscientist, examined classical conditioning in Aplysia.

  • Kandel found that when a strong stimulus, such as a shock, happens repeatedly, special neurons called modulatory neurons release neuromodulators.

• Neuromodulators strengthen the synapses between the sensory neurons (the ones that sense the touch) and the motor neurons (the ones that withdraw the gill) involved.

• Long-term potentiation (LTP) - A physiological change that correlates with a relatively stable change in behavior as a result of experience.

SOCIAL LEARNING

• A third kind of learning is social learning (also called observational learning), which is learning based on observing the behavior of others as well as the consequences of that behavior.

  • Because this learning takes place by observing others, it is also referred to as vicarious learning.

• Albert Bandura conducted some of the most important research on social learning.

• In a classic study, Bandura had children in a waiting room with an adult confederate (someone who was “in” on the experiment).

• Observational learning is a phenomenon frequently discussed in the debate over violence in the media.

• Building on recent views that there are multiple types of intelligence, including emotional intelligence, a number of schools have developed programs in social and emotional learning.

COGNITIVE PROCESSES IN LEARNING

• The behaviorist view, championed by Skinner, is that behavior is a series of behavior-reward pairings, and cognition is not as important to the learning process.

• One more recent view of learning posits that organisms start the learning process by observing a stimulus; then they continue the process by evaluating that stimulus; then they move on to a consideration of possible responses; and finally, they make a response.

• An example of classical conditioning worthy of special mention is conditioned taste aversion (CTA), also known as the Garcia effect, after the psychologist who discovered it.

• Stimulus generalization is a process in which a response that has been learned in response to a particular stimulus is also given in response to similar stimuli.

  • Stimulus generalization is a form of learning in which an organism learns to respond to a new stimulus in the same way as it responds to a previously learned stimulus.

• Biofeedback refers to people learning to alter their physiological processes by various cognitive control techniques.

• Insight learning - This occurs when we puzzle over a solution to a problem, unsuccessfully, and then suddenly the complete solution appears to us.

Next Chapter: Chapter 11:Cognitive Psychology: Memory, Language, and Problem-Solving