PSYC 101 Learning Study Notes

Introduction to Psychology

Course: PSYC 101
Chapter: 6
Topic: Learning

Learning Objectives

  • Define learning.

  • Identify three types of learning processes:

    • Nonassociative

    • Associative

    • Social

  • Describe the nonassociative learning processes: habituation and sensitization, and explain the significance of each.

6.1 Learning Results from Experience

  • Definition of Learning:

    • Learning is defined as a relatively enduring change in behavior that results from experience.

    • Distinction between learning and memory:

    • Learning: Refers to the adjustment of behavior based on associations between stimuli, actions, or consequences, or through repeated exposure to stimuli.

    • Memory: Involves the acquisition, storage, and retrieval of knowledge about facts, events, places, and skills.

  • Conditioning:

    • A process where environmental stimuli and behavioral responses become connected, fostering the development of associations.

John B. Watson and Behaviorism

  • John B. Watson established the school of thought known as behaviorism:

    • Emphasizes the effects of the environment on observable behaviors.

    • Behaviorism arose as a reaction to the earlier psychological focus on conscious and unconscious mental processes.

    • Watson posited that psychology should focus solely on observable mental events.

    • Behaviorism dominated the field of psychology until the 1960s and profoundly impacted various psychological domains.

Types of Learning

1. Nonassociative Learning

  • Definition: Learning to adjust responses to a repeated stimulus.

  • Characterized by responding after repeated exposure to a single stimulus or event.

2. Associative Learning

  • Definition: Learning that involves linking two stimuli or events that occur together.

3. Social Learning

  • Definition: Learning by instruction or by observing how others behave.

6.2 Habituation and Sensitization Are Models of Nonassociative Learning

  • Habituation:

    • Defined as a decrease in behavioral response following repeated exposure to a stimulus.

    • Commonly occurs if the stimulus is neither harmful nor rewarding.

    • Dishabituation: An increase in response because of a change in something familiar.

  • Sensitization:

    • Defined as an increase in behavioral response following exposure to a stimulus.

    • Typically arises from stimuli that are perceived as threatening or painful.

6.3 Classical Conditioning Is Learning What Goes Together

  • Classical Conditioning:

    • A learning process where predictive associations are formed through conditioning connecting environmental stimuli to behavior.

    • Two main types of associative learning:

    • Classical Conditioning

    • Operant Conditioning

Ivan Pavlov’s Research

  • Watson was heavily influenced by Ivan Pavlov’s studies on the salivary reflex, which emerged as an automatic response when a food stimulus is presented to a hungry animal.

    • Pavlov received a Nobel Prize in 1904 for his research on the digestive system.

    • His observations revealed that dogs began salivating upon seeing bowls associated with food, indicating a learned response.

6.3 Behavioral Responses Are Conditioned

  • Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning:

    • Involves a neutral object eliciting a reflexive response when associated with a stimulus that naturally produces that response.

Typical Pavlovian Experiment Structure:

  1. Conditioning Trials:

    • A neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to produce a reflex (e.g., salivation).

    • Neutral Stimulus: Any stimulus perceived (e.g., a ringing bell) that does not naturally elicit the reflex.

    • Unconditioned Stimulus (US): A stimulus that elicits a reflexive response without prior learning (e.g., food).

  2. Test Trials:

    • The neutral stimulus is alone, and the effect on the reflex is measured (e.g., noting salivation due to a metronome sound).

  3. Important Definitions:

    • Unconditioned Response (UR): A natural response elicited by the unconditioned stimulus (e.g., salivation).

    • Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A stimulus that elicits a response only after learning (e.g., the metronome after conditioning).

    • Conditioned Response (CR): The learned response to the conditioned stimulus (e.g., salivation in response to the metronome).

6.4 Learning Is Acquired and Persists Until Extinction

  • Acquisition: The gradual formation of the association between the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, reliant on time or contiguity.

    • The response is stronger when there is a brief delay between the CS and the US (e.g., scary music before a frightening scene).

Extinction

  • Extinction refers to the inhibition of the associative bond without its elimination.

  • Animals must learn that associations are no longer adaptive:

    • Extinction: A process where the conditioned response weakens when the conditioned stimulus is repeated without the unconditioned stimulus.

    • Spontaneous Recovery: The reemergence of a previously extinguished conditioned response after the presentation of the conditioned stimulus, fading unless paired again with the US.

6.5 Second-Order Conditioning, Generalization, and Discrimination

  • Second-Order Conditioning:

    • Occurs when a conditioned stimulus becomes associated with other stimuli related to the unconditioned stimulus, enhancing the complexity of learned associations.

  • Stimulus Generalization:

    • Learning occurs when stimuli similar but not identical to the conditioned stimulus produce the conditioned response.

  • Stimulus Discrimination:

    • The differentiation between two similar stimuli when only one is associated consistently with the unconditioned stimulus.

6.7 Operant Conditioning Is Learning Actions from Consequences

  • Operant Conditioning (Instrumental Conditioning):

    • A learning process where the consequences of an action determine the likelihood of its occurrence in the future.

    • B. F. Skinner introduced the term operant, highlighting how animals operate on their environment to produce effects.

Law of Effect

  • Edward Thorndike conducted controlled experiments using a puzzle box, leading to the Law of Effect:

    • Any behavior yielding a "satisfying state of affairs" is likely to be repeated, while behavior resulting in an "annoying state of affairs" is less likely to be repeated.

Reinforcement and Punishment

  • Skinner refined Thorndike’s law by focusing on observable measures rather than subjective satisfaction.

  • Reinforcer: A stimulus that follows a response, increasing the likelihood of that response being repeated.

Shaping and Types of Reinforcement

  • Shaping: An operant conditioning technique involving reinforcement of behaviors that increasingly resemble the desired behavior, starting from acceptable approximations.

  • Types of Reinforcers:

    • Primary Reinforcers: Fulfill biological needs (e.g., food, water).

    • Secondary Reinforcers: Established through classical conditioning, serve as reinforcers without satisfying biological needs (e.g., money).

6.12 Influences on Operant Conditioning

  • Premack Principle: Suggests that a reinforcer’s value can be assessed by the time an organism spends engaging in behaviors associated with that reinforcer.

    • Employing a more valued activity can reinforce participation in a less-valued activity.

Positive and Negative Reinforcement

  • Reinforcement, whether positive or negative, increases the likelihood of behavior:

    • Positive Reinforcement: Administering a stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior's recurrence.

    • Negative Reinforcement: Removing a stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.

Positive and Negative Punishment

  • Punishment reduces the probability of behavior recurrence:

    • Positive Punishment: Administration of a stimulus to decrease the likelihood of a behavior recurring.

    • Negative Punishment: Removal of a stimulus to decrease the likelihood of a behavior recurring.

6.17 Social Learning Occurs Through Observation and Instruction

  • Social Learning: The acquisition or modification of behavior following exposure to another individual performing that behavior, serving as a powerful adaptation tool for both humans and animals.

Bandura’s Observational Studies

  • Psychologist Albert Bandura’s studies indicate that exposing children to violence may encourage aggressive behaviors.

Modeling and Vicarious Learning

  • Modeling: The imitation of observed behavior, effective only if the observer can physically imitate the behavior.

  • Vicarious Learning: Involves understanding the consequences of actions by observing others being rewarded or punished for similar actions.

    • Differentiates between learning a behavior and performing it.

Bobo Doll Studies

  • Bandura demonstrated vicarious learning through experiments with a Bobo doll.

    • Children witnessing adults punished for aggressive behavior were less likely to exhibit aggression, while those observing rewarded aggressive behavior were more likely to imitate such behavior.

Observational Learning

  • Observational Learning: Learning occurs through observing the behavior of others.

  • Modeling: Involves imitating behaviors witnessed in others.

  • Vicarious Learning: Engaging in a behavior or refraining from it based on the observed consequences experienced by others.