Health Psych: 1. Learning

Learning Definition

• Learning is a relatively durable change in behavior or knowledge due to experience.

Learning Characteristics

• Involves behaviors, skills, values, emotional responses, and personal habits.

• It's a lifelong, dynamic process that enables adaptation.

Learning Types

Associative Learning

• Classical Conditioning: Linking two stimuli to evoke a response.

• Operant Conditioning: Behavior is controlled by consequences (reinforcement or punishment).

• Observational Learning: Learning through observing others; no direct experience required.

Classical Conditioning

• Involves an initially neutral stimulus becoming associated with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.

• Examples include emotional responses to stimuli like a dentist's drill.

Applications of Classical Conditioning

• Can be utilized to change health-related emotional responses (e.g., anxiety or phobias).

Operant Conditioning

• Involves reinforcing or punishing behaviors to increase or decrease their occurrence.

• Positive Reinforcement: Increases behavior by presenting a rewarding stimulus.

• Negative Reinforcement: Increases behavior by removing an aversive stimulus.

• Punishment: Decreases behavior by presenting an aversive stimulus.

Key Differences: Classical vs. Operant Conditioning

• Classical: Involuntary responses to stimuli.

• Operant: Voluntary actions based on consequences.

Observational Learning

• Influenced by the actions of models, involves vicarious reinforcement and imitation.

Therapeutic Methods

• Derived from learning theories include behavior therapy (e.g., systematic desensitization, social skills training).

Practical Considerations

• The delivery context and patients' previous experiences greatly shape their attitudes and behaviors.