Chapter 6 - Learning

Defining Learning

Learning - “the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors” (pg. 167)

Learning - “the relatively permanent change in a subject’s behavior to a given situation brought about by his or her repeated experience in that situation, provided that the behavior change cannot be explained on the basis of native response tendencies, maturation, or temporary states of the subject (e.g., fatigue, drugs, etc.)” (Hilgard & Bower)

Classical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning - “A type of learning in which we can link two or more stimuli and anticipate events” (pg. 167)

• Pavlov (Russian, early 1900s) John Watson (American, early 1900s)

  • Neutral Stimulus (NS) - A stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

  • Unconditioned Stimulus (US) - A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response

  • Unconditioned Response (UR) - Unlearned, automatic, naturally occurring response to a US

  • Conditioned Stimulus (CS) - The original NS that, after association with an US, comes to trigger a CR

  • Conditioned Response (CR) - a learned response to the original NS that is now a CS

  • Acquisition - initial learning of an association

  • Extinction - the probability of a CR occurrence decreases due to the unlinking of the CS with the US

  • Spontaneous Recovery - reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished CR

  • Generalization - tendency for a CR to occur in response to stimuli that are different but similar to the CS

  • Discrimination - the ability to distinguish between CS (that are associated with the US) and similar but irrelevant stimuli that are not associated with the US

The Association Principle

Classical conditioning all around us:

• Politicians and advisors doing “good” things during campaigns to be seen as good

  • Kissing a baby - people like babies so they focus on that like and it rubs off on the candidate

Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning - A type of learning in which specific voluntary behaviors are strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment. (association between behavior and consequence/stimulus after)

• B. F. Skinner (American)

  • Reinforcement - any event that increases the frequency of a preceding response

  • Primary Reinforcers - innately satisfying

  • Conditioned Reinforcers - satisfying because they are associated with primary reinforcers

  • Immediate Reinforcers - offer immediate payback

  • Delayed Reinforcers - require ability to delay gratification

  • Positive Reinforcement - presenting a pleasant stimulus after a response; increases the frequency of the response

  • Negative Reinforcement - reducing or removing an unpleasant stimulus after a response; increases the frequency of the response; EX. headache, taking Tylenol

    • Negative Reinforcement IS NOT punishment

  • Punishment - “an event that decreases the [frequency of] the behavior it follows” (pg. 177)

  • Positive Punishment - administers an undesirable consequence

  • Negative Punishment - withdraws something desirable

Shaping

Shaping - Reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

Reinforcement Schedules

Reinforcement Schedules - patterns that define “how often a desired response will be reinforced” (pg. 175)

1. Continuous Reinforcement - produce stimulus every single time something happens; best to use when trying to establish a behavior (acquisition)

2. Partial Reinforcement - produce stimulus in a pattern and only sometimes (every other time, every fifth time, etc.); best when trying to prevent extinction

The Overjustification Effect

The Overjustification Effect - “An expected external incentive… decreases a person’s intrinsic motivation to perform a task” (wikipedia)

Intrinsic Motivation - “the desire to perform a behavior well for its own sake” (pg. 261)

Extrinsic (Incentivized) Motivation - “the desire to perform a behavior to receive promise rewards or avoid threatened punishment” (pg. 261)

Why does this occur?

• Rather than emphasizing rewards from the beginning, they should be used occasionally as an unexpected bonus

Observational Learning

Observational Learning - “learning by others” (pg. 183)

Albert Bandura

• Used in therapy for diverse problems

Research indicated that imitative behavior is more likely to occur:

1. In ambiguous situations

2. When the model is similar to self, successful, and admirable