Learning

Learning

Definition of Learning

  • Learning occurs when there is a permanent change in behavior and/or mental processes resulting from experience.

  • It explicitly excludes temporary changes caused by:

    • Motivation

    • Fatigue

    • Maturation

    • Disease

    • Injury

    • Drugs

  • Learning is not merely a product of practice; it involves:

    • Sensations

    • Memory

    • Behavior

    • Cognition

Biological Aspects of Learning
Sensory Stimulation

  • Learning and perception involve multiple senses:

    • Visual Stimulation: Involves what one sees

    • Sense of Hearing: Involves what one hears

    • Sense of Taste: Involves one’s taste

    • Sense of Touch: Involves pressure on the skin

Binding Problem

  • Refers to the process by which the brain combines results of many sensory operations into a single percept.

  • This occurs when sensations of color, shape, boundary, and texture are combined to produce a percept.

  • The exact mechanism of how this is done remains unknown.

Complementary Processes in Perception
Bottom-Up Processing

  • Perceptual analysis emphasizing characteristics of the stimulus.

    • Example: Recognizing a four-legged object solely by its visual characteristics.

Top-Down Processing

  • Perceptual analysis emphasizing the perceiver’s expectations, concept memories, and other cognitive factors.

    • Example: Knowing that a four-legged object seen is a table based on previous knowledge.

Memory and Learning
Types of Memory

  1. Sensory Memory: Initial stage of memory capturing immediate sensations.

  2. Working Memory: Short-term memory used for processing information.

  3. Long-term Memory: Permanent storage of knowledge and skills.

  • Learning is evidenced when one is able to repeatedly carry out a task.

  • Key questions:

    • How does an action become automatic?

    • Why would one want to repeat an action?

Theoretical Perspectives on Learning
Acquisition of Behavior

  • Exploration of how perceptions become learned and permanent.

  • The role of conditioning:

    • Classical Conditioning

    • Operant Conditioning

Classical Conditioning
Fundamentals of Classical Conditioning

  • Classical conditioning is based on what happens before a response—known as antecedents.

  • Involves a stimulus triggering an automatic response.

Example of Classical Conditioning

  • Rain Example:

    • Unconditioned Stimulus (US): Rain

    • Unconditioned Response (UR): Taking out an umbrella

    • Neutral Stimulus (NS): Grey clouds

  • Sequence of Conditioning:

    • Grey clouds (NS) + Rain (US) lead to the umbrella response becoming conditioned.

    • After repeated pairings: Grey clouds become a Conditioned Stimulus (CS) yielding a Conditioned Response (CR): Taking out an umbrella.

  • Psychologists posit that classical conditioning helps the brain form mental expectancies.

Commercial Example

  • McDonald's Advertisements:

    • Unconditioned Stimulus (US): Thinking about McDonald's burger

    • Neutral Stimulus (NS): Jingle

  • After conditioning: Jingle (CS) elicits the thought of McDonald's burger (CR).

Questions in Classical Conditioning

  • Is a neutral stimulus truly neutral if one has seen/heard it before?

Real-World Applications of Classical Conditioning

  • Singapore Subway Announcements:

    • Unconditioned Stimulus (US): Door Closing

    • Conditioned Response (CR): Not going through the door when beeping occurs.

Other Classical Conditioning Concepts
Stimulus Generalization and Discrimination

  • Stimulus Generalization: Tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus (e.g. generalizing various beeping sounds).

  • Stimulus Discrimination: Ability to distinguish between different stimuli (e.g. recognizing different bell sounds).

Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery

  • Extinction occurs when the unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow the conditioned stimulus (CS).

  • Example: MRT door beep not followed by door closing leads to people ignoring the beep (extinction).

  • Spontaneous Recovery: The conditioned response reoccurs when the CS is again associated with the US, indicating that acquired skills cannot be forgotten.

Fear as a Conditioned Response

  • Fear can be conditioned when an object of fear is paired with an emotional response.

Operant Conditioning
Definition

  • Operant conditioning is where responses are followed by stimuli that can reinforce or suppress the behavior, making it instrumental.

Key Principles

  • Responses may be followed by:

    • Reinforcement

    • Punishment

    • No consequence

  • The law of effect, coined by Edward L Thorndike, indicates that the probability of a response is altered by its consequences.

Types of Reinforcers

  • Operant Reinforcer: Increases the likelihood of a response.

  • Operant learning relies on the anticipation of consequences associated with responses.

  • Reinforcement is most effective when it is contingent upon the desired response.

Categories of Reinforcement

  1. Positive Reinforcement: Response leads to a pleasant outcome, promoting repetition of behavior.

    • Example: Receiving rewards.

  2. Negative Reinforcement: Response removes an aversive stimulus, promoting the behavior.

    • Example: Taking painkillers to relieve headaches.

Schedules of Reinforcement

  • Form of delivery of reinforcement can vary:

    • Fixed Ratio: Reward for every predetermined response.

    • Variable Ratio: Reward after a varying number of responses.

    • Fixed Interval: Reward after a set timeframe.

    • Variable Interval: Reward at unpredictable time intervals.

Premack Principle

  • Engaging in a less desirable task as a prerequisite for a more desirable one:

    • Example: Completing homework before playing on a computer.

Punishment
Nature of Punishment

  • It is used to suppress a behavior and is most effective when administered immediately following the response.

Types of Punishments

  1. Positive Punishment: Administering an unpleasant outcome to stop a behavior (e.g. a fine).

  2. Negative Punishment: Removal of a favorable stimulus to decrease behavior.

Ineffectiveness of Punishment

  • Punishments must be consistent and timely to be effective; otherwise, it may lead to:

    • Avoidance behaviors (people lying or running away).

    • Increased aggression.

Extinction in Conditioning
Extinction in Classical and Operant Conditioning

  • Classical Conditioning: Occurs when US no longer follows CS.

  • Operant Conditioning: Occurs when response no longer yields a reward.

  • Extinction indicates learned behaviors cannot be unlearned, despite a lack of subsequent reinforcement.

Modeling and Learning
Bandura's Observations

  • Modeling (imitation) facilitates learning, especially in children learning aggressive behaviors.

Vicarious Reinforcement and Punishment

  • Learning through observation of rewards and punishments others receive.

    • Example: Witnessing someone punished could help one learn what behaviors to avoid.

Avoidance Learning
Concept of Avoidance Learning

  • A behavioral phenomenon where individuals learn to avoid authority figures due to conditioning (bad experiences can lead to fear).

  • This behavior is reinforced negatively as individuals feel better after avoiding these figures.