PSYCHOLOGY
(8th Edition)
David Myers
PowerPoint Slides
Aneeq Ahmad
Henderson State University
Worth Publishers, © 2006
1
Learning
Chapter 8
2
Learning
How Do We Learn?
Classical Conditioning
 Pavlov’s Experiments
 Extending Pavlov’s
Understanding
 Pavlov’s Legacy
3
Learning
Operant Conditioning
 Skinner’s Experiments
 Extending Skinner’s
Understanding
 Skinner’s Legacy
 Contrasting Classical & Operant
Conditioning
4
Learning
Learning by Observation
 Bandura’s Experiments
 Applications of Observational
Learning
5
ADAPTATION
• Adaptation is adjusting to a changed
environment
• Development involves adapting to
increasingly complex environments, using
knowledge gained from experience
• Instinctive behavior is adaptive
(ex:imprinting, others?)
6
Definition
Learning is a relatively permanent change in an
organism’s behavior due to experience.
Learning is more flexible in comparison to the
genetically-programmed behaviors of Chinooks,
for example.
7
HABITUATION
• Habituation is a type of learning: adapting
to stimuli that do not change
• It is NOT because the organism has learned
about a relationship or an association
• Opponent Process Theory by Richard
Solomon is based on habituation
8
OPPONENT PROCESS
THEORY
• Habituation to repeated stimuli is the result
of two interacting processes:
– A Process = fixed automatic, emotional,
unlearned response
– B Process = initially slower reaction, triggered
by the A Process; counter effect of A Process
– Explains emotions, drug dependency
9
How Do We Learn?
EXPERIENCE IS THE KEY TO
LEARNING
We learn by association. Our minds
naturally connect events that occur in
sequence.
2000 years ago, Aristotle suggested this
law of association. Then 200 years ago
Locke and Hume reiterated this law.
10
Stimulus-Stimulus Learning
Learning to associate one stimulus
with another (basis of Classical Conditioning).
11
Stimulus-Stimulus Learning
Learning to associate one stimulus
with another.
12
Response-Consequence Learning
Learning to associate a response
with a consequence (basis of Operant Conditioning).
13
Response-Consequence Learning
Learning to associate a response
with a consequence.
14
Classical Conditioning
Sovfoto
Ideas of classical conditioning originate from old
philosophical theories. However, it was the
Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov who elucidated
classical conditioning. His work provided a basis
for later behaviorists like John Watson and B. F.
Skinner.
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
15
BEHAVIORISM
• Behaviorism is a view that Psychology
should:
– Be an objective science (currently accepted)
– Study behavior without reference to mental
processes, therefore a rejection of introspection
(currently not accepted)
16
Pavlov’s Experiments
Before conditioning, food (Unconditioned
Stimulus, US) produces salivation
(Unconditioned Response, UR). However, the
tone (neutral stimulus) does not.
17
Pavlov’s Experiments
During conditioning, the neutral stimulus (tone)
and the US (food) are paired, resulting in
salivation (UR). After conditioning, the neutral
stimulus (now Conditioned Stimulus, CS) elicits
salivation (now Conditioned Response, CR)
18
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
• TERMINOLOGY
–
–
–
–
Conditioned = Learned
Unconditioned = Unlearned
Stimulus = Causes a response
Response = Behavioral reaction to stimulus
• BASIC COMPONENTS:
–
–
–
–
Natural reflex (automatic, involuntary)
Neutral stimulus
Association of stimuli
Timing
19
ACTIVITY—spray bottle
• What behavior (response) was demonstrated?
• What action (stimulus) led to the behavior?
• Was the behavior voluntary or involuntary? Did
this change?
• What word (neutral stimulus) became associated
with the stimulus?
• How long did this take?
• What might cause the response to disappear?
20
Acquisition
Acquisition is the initial stage in classical
conditioning in which an association between a
neutral stimulus and an unconditioned
stimulus takes place.
1. In most cases, for conditioning to occur, the
neutral stimulus needs to come before the
unconditioned stimulus.
2. The time in between the two stimuli should
be about half a second.
21
Acquisition
The CS needs to come half a second before the US
for acquisition to occur.
22
Extinction
When the US (food) does not follow the CS
(tone), CR (salivation) begins to decrease and
eventually causes extinction. Example?
23
RECONDITIONING
THE QUICK RELEARNING OF A
CONDITIONED RESPONSE AFTER
EXTINCTION Example?
24
Spontaneous Recovery
After a rest period, an extinguished CR (salivation)
spontaneously recovers, but if the CS (tone) persists
alone, the CR becomes extinct again. Example?
25
Stimulus Generalization
Tendency to respond to
stimuli similar to the CS is
called generalization. Pavlov
conditioned the dog’s
salivation (CR) by using
miniature vibrators (CS) on
the thigh. When he
subsequently stimulated
other parts of the dog’s
body, salivation dropped.
26
EXTENDING PAVLOV
• John Watson, another Behaviorist, worked with
Baby Albert (Reading and Questions)
• Video: Phobias (define) and Wolpe’s systematic
desensitization (define) treatment is based on CC
• Various Behavioral therapies - what techniques
did you see in the video?)
• Some medical treatments are based on classically
conditioning immune system response (placebos)
27
Applications of Classical
Conditioning
Watson used classical
conditioning procedures to
develop advertising
campaigns for a number of
organizations, including
Maxwell House, making the
“coffee break” an American
custom.
Brown Brothers
Baby Albert Activity and
Worksheet
The Office Video clip
John B. Watson
28
Stimulus Discrimination
Discrimination is the learned ability to distinguish
between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that
do not signal an unconditioned stimulus. Example?
29
SECOND ORDER CONDITIONING
• ALSO referred to as Higher Order Conditioning
• When a conditioned stimulus acts like an unconditioned
stimulus, creating conditioned stimuli out of events
associated with it.
• Example?
–
–
–
–
Money
Good Grades
A pleasant tone of voice
A word of praise
• Very important adaptive characteristic of cc in preparing
organism for life threatening events
30
SECOND ORDER CONDITIONING
• Conditioned reinforcers, also known as, secondary
reinforcers, are learned.
• They get their power through association with primary
reinforcers.
• For example:
– Our lives are filled with potential secondary reinforcers each of
which may have been linked with more basic rewards. Secondary
reinforcers greatly enhance our ability to influence one another.
31
Extending Pavlov’s Understanding
Pavlov and Watson considered consciousness,
or mind, unfit for the scientific study of
psychology. However, they underestimated
the importance of cognitive processes and
biological constraints.
32
Cognitive Processes
Early behaviorists believed that learned
behaviors of various animals could be reduced
to mindless mechanisms.
However, later behaviorists suggested that
animals learn the predictability of a stimulus,
meaning they learn expectancy or awareness of a
stimulus (Rescorla, 1988).
33
Cognitive Processes
This principle helps explain why classical
conditioning treatments that ignore cognition
often have limited success.
In classical conditioning, especially with
humans, it is not only the simple CS-US
association but also the thought that counts.
34
TASTE AVERSION
ACTIVITY: SOUP
Use a 9 point scale (1 = dislike extremely)
• 1. Stirred by a thoroughly washed, used
flyswatter.
• 2. Flyswatter is brand new.
• 3. Thoroughly washed but used comb
• 4. Thoroughly washed, used dog bowl
35
TASTE AVERSION:
FAVORITE COOKIE
•
•
•
•
5.
6.
7.
8.
Dropped it on the grass first?
A waiter had taken a bite first?
An acquaintance had taken a bite first?
A good friend had taken a bite first?
36
TASTE AVERSION
• The association principle is everything
when it comes to food. Rozin’s results:
• 1. 82% a 4 or less (clean flyswatter)
• 2. 58% disliked (brand new flyswatter)
• 3. 76% disliked (clean, used comb)
• 4. 71% disliked (washed dog bowl)
37
Taste Aversion
•
•
•
•
5.
6.
7.
8.
Only 34% would pass up (grass)
84% reject (waiter)
31% reject (acquaintance)
Just 16% refuse (friend)
38
Taste Aversion and Biological
Predispositions
• Have you ever gotten sick after eating a
particular food?
• How did you feel about/react to the food
after the incident?
• How strong was this feeling/reaction?
• How long did the feeling/reaction last?
39
Biological Predispositions
Pavlov and Watson believed that laws of
learning were similar for all animals.
Therefore, a pigeon and a person do not differ
in their learning.
However, behaviorists later suggested that
learning is constrained by an animal’s biology.
40
Biological Predispositions
Courtesy of John Garcia
Garcia showed that the duration
between the CS and the US may be
long (hours), but yet result in
conditioning. A biologically adaptive
CS (taste) led to conditioning and not
to others (light or sound).
John Garcia
41
Biological Predispositions
Even humans can develop classically to
conditioned nausea.
42
Biological Predispositions
*Important Point*--Learning enables animals
to adapt to their environments.
This adaptation shows why animals would be
responsive to stimuli that announce significant
events, such as food or pain.
However, behaviorists later suggested that
learning is constrained by an animal’s biology.
43
Pavlov’s Legacy
Pavlov’s greatest contribution
to psychology is isolating
elementary behaviors from
more complex ones through
objective scientific
procedures.
Ivan Pavlov
(1849-1936)
44
Applications of Classical
Conditioning
1. Alcoholics may be conditioned (aversively)
by reversing their positive-associations with
alcohol.
2. Through classical conditioning, a drug (plus
its taste) that affects the immune response
may cause the taste of the drug to invoke the
immune response.
45
Anxiety and Phobias video
46
SHAPING EXERCISE
• How did we get the subject to perform the
behavior?
• What if we had waited until he/she was able
to perform the behavior perfectly before we
reinforced it?
• Shaping: reinforcing successive
approximations
47
Operant & Classical Conditioning
1. Classical conditioning
forms associations
between stimuli (CS
and US). Operant
conditioning, on the
other hand, forms an
association between
behaviors and the
resulting events
(consequences).
48
Operant & Classical Conditioning
2. Classical conditioning involves respondent
behavior that occurs as an automatic
response to a certain stimulus. Operant
conditioning involves operant behavior, a
behavior that operates on the environment,
producing rewarding or punishing stimuli.
49
Skinner’s Experiments
Skinner’s experiments extend Thorndike’s
thinking, especially his law of effect. This law
states that rewarded behavior is likely to occur
again.
Yale University Library
50
Using Thorndike's law of effect as a starting
point, Skinner developed the Operant chamber,
or the Skinner box, to study operant
conditioning.
Walter Dawn/ Photo Researchers, Inc.
51
From The Essentials of Conditioning and Learning, 3rd
Edition by Michael P. Domjan, 2005. Used with permission
by Thomson Learning, Wadsworth Division
Operant Chamber
Operant Chamber
The operant chamber,
or Skinner box, comes
with a bar or key that
an animal manipulates
to obtain a reinforcer
like food or water. The
bar or key is connected
to devices that record
the animal’s response.
52
Shaping
Shaping is the operant conditioning procedure
in which reinforcers guide behavior towards the
desired target behavior through successive
approximations (hot/cold activity).
Fred Bavendam/ Peter Arnold, Inc.
Khamis Ramadhan/ Panapress/ Getty Images
A rat shaped to sniff mines. A manatee shaped to discriminate
objects of different shapes, colors and sizes.
53
SHAPING
• GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF UNINTENDED
SHAPING.
• CHAINING
• Linking in a sequence of several different reinforced
behaviors
54
Types of Reinforcers
Any event that strengthens the behavior it
follows is a reinforcer. A heat lamp positively
reinforces a meerkat’s behavior in the cold.
Reuters/ Corbis
55
Analyze Charts of Reinforcement
• The Big Bang Theory Video Clip
56
Critical Thinking Exercises
• Positive and Negative Reinforcement
Activities
57
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT
• Remember: the behavior increases due to
the removal or the end of an aversive
stimuli
• Two types:
– Escape conditioning: organism learns to make a
response to end the negative reinforcement
– Avoidance conditioning: organism learns to
avoid the negative reinforcer.
58
• Avoidance conditioning (continued):
– A powerful influence on everyday behavior
Example?
– Maintains phobias etc. because the response is
reinforced by the reduction of the fear
59
Primary & Secondary Reinforcers
1. Primary Reinforcer: An innately reinforcing
stimulus like food or drink.
2. Conditioned Reinforcer (sometimes called a
secondary reinforcer): A learned reinforcer
that gets its reinforcing power through
association with the primary reinforcer.
Example?
60
Immediate & Delayed Reinforcers
1. Immediate Reinforcer: A reinforcer that
occurs instantly after a behavior. A rat gets
a food pellet for a bar press.
2. Delayed Reinforcer: A reinforcer that is
delayed in time for a certain behavior. A
paycheck that comes at the end of a week.
We may be inclined to engage in small immediate
reinforcers (watching TV) rather than large delayed
reinforcers (getting an A in a course) which require
consistent study.
61
Reinforcement Schedules
1. Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforces the
desired response each time it occurs.
Learning is very rapid but extinction is also
rapid.
2. Partial Reinforcement: Reinforces a
response only part of the time. Though this
results in slower acquisition in the
beginning, it shows greater resistance to
extinction later on. You may need to start
with a continuous schedule.
62
PARTIAL OR INTERMITTENT
REINFORCEMENT TERMS
•
•
•
•
Fixed - Never changing
Variable - Changing
Interval - Having to do with time
Ratio - Having to do with behavior or
performance
63
Partial or Intermittent
Reinforcement Schedules
1. Fixed-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response
only after a specified number of responses.
e.g., piecework pay.
2. Variable-ratio schedule: Reinforces a
response after an unpredictable number of
responses. This is hard to extinguish because
of the unpredictability. (e.g., behaviors like
gambling, fishing.)
64
Interval Schedules
1. Fixed-interval schedule: Reinforces a
response only after a specified time has
elapsed. (e.g., preparing for an exam only
when the exam draws close.) Produces a
scalloping response
2. Variable-interval schedule: Reinforces a
response at unpredictable time intervals,
which produces slow, steady responses. (e.g.,
pop quiz.)
65
Schedules of Reinforcement
66
Analyze Schedules of Reinforcement
67
IDENTIFY THE SCHEDULE OF
REINFORCEMENT: FI, VI, FR,
VR
• 1. Paid 10 dollars for every 20 puzzles solved
• 2. Playing Bingo
• 3. Child who likes to hear theme music from
Jeopardy every night at 7 pm
• 4. Waiting for a sunny day to go to the beach
• Group Practice with hand-out 16-7
68
Punishment
An aversive event that decreases the behavior it
follows.
69
Analyze Punishment Charts
70
PUNISHMENT
• REMEMBER:
• POSITIVE IS TO ADD
• NEGATIVE IS TO SUBTRACT
• DO NOT THINK IN TERMS OF GOOD
AND BAD!
71
Punishment Examples
• Come up with an
example of Positive
Punishment
– For a toddler
– For a teenager
– For an adult
• Come up with an
example of Negative
Punishment
– For a toddler
– For a teenager
– For an adult
Write down about time
when you were punished.
What were the immediate
and lasting effects?
Did the punishment fit the
crime?
Did the punishment
decrease the behavior?
72
Punishment
Although there may be some justification for
occasional punishment (Larzelaere & Baumrind,
2002), it usually leads to negative effects.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Results in unwanted side effect such as fear.
Conveys no information to the organism.
Justifies pain to others.
Causes unwanted behaviors to reappear in its
absence.
5. Causes aggression towards the agent.
6. Causes one unwanted behavior to appear in
place of another.
73
PUNISHMENT
• 7. Does not erase an undesirable habit, it
merely suppresses it
• 8. Ineffective unless applied immediately
after and each time
• 9. Does not specify correct behavior
74
GUIDELINES IN USING
PUNISHMENT
• Specify why
• Concentrate on behavior not the person
• Should be immediate and strong enough
without being too strong
• Be careful of escalation (if punishment is
not given early enough, bad behavior
escalates
• Combine with other behavior
75
Super Nanny Episode
76
Extending Skinner’s Understanding
Skinner believed in inner thought processes and
biological underpinnings, but many
psychologists criticize him for discounting
them.
77
Cognition & Operant Conditioning
Evidence of cognitive processes during operant
learning comes from rats during a maze
exploration in which they navigate the maze
without an obvious reward. Rats seem to
develop cognitive maps, or mental
representations, of the layout of the maze
(environment).
78
COGNITIVE PROCESSES
• Learned helplessness (Martin Seligman)
• Insight (Sultan’s Aha! Experience)
• Premack Principle (hierarchy of behavioral
preferences)
• Disequalibrium Hypothesis (What you’ve
been prevented from will increase as a
reinforcer) “Reverse psychology!”
79
Latent Learning
Such cognitive maps are based on latent
learning, which becomes apparent when an
incentive is given (Tolman & Honzik, 1930).
80
Motivation
Intrinsic Motivation:
The desire to perform a
behavior for its own
sake.
Extrinsic Motivation:
The desire to perform a
behavior due to
promised rewards or
threats of punishments.
81
Biological Predisposition
Photo: Bob Bailey
Biological constraints
predispose organisms to
learn associations that
are naturally adaptive.
Breland and Breland
(1961) showed that
animals drift (instinctive
drift) towards their
biologically predisposed
instinctive behaviors.
Marian Breland Bailey
82
Skinner’s Legacy
Skinner argued that behaviors were shaped by
external influences instead of inner thoughts and
feelings. Critics argued that Skinner
dehumanized people by neglecting their free will.
Falk/ Photo Researchers, Inc
.
83
Applications of Operant
Conditioning
Skinner introduced the concept of teaching
machines that shape learning in small steps and
provide reinforcements for correct rewards.
LWA-JDL/ Corbis
In School
84
Applications of Operant
Conditioning
Reinforcement principles can enhance athletic
performance.
In Sports
85
Applications of Operant
Conditioning
Reinforcers affect productivity. Many companies
now allow employees to share profits and
participate in company ownership.
At work
86
Applications of Operant
Conditioning
In children, reinforcing good behavior increases the
occurrence of these behaviors. Ignoring unwanted
behavior decreases their occurrence.
PARENTING:
Reinforce correct behavior, target specific behavior
Ignore whining
When behavior occurs, explain and give a time out.
87
Applications of Operant
Conditioning
•
•
•
•
Culturally approved gender roles
Discriminative stimuli (insomnia)
Socialization
Others?
88
Operant vs. Classical Conditioning
89
Learning by Observation
© Herb Terrace
Higher animals,
especially humans,
learn through observing
and imitating others.
©Herb Terrace
The monkey on the
right imitates the
monkey on the left in
touching the pictures in
a certain order to obtain
a reward.
90
Reprinted with permission from the American
Association for the Advancement of Science,
Subiaul et al., Science 305: 407-410 (2004)
© 2004 AAAS.
Mirror Neurons
Neuroscientists discovered mirror neurons in
the brains of animals and humans that are active
during observational learning.
91
Learning by observation
begins early in life. This
14-month-old child
imitates the adult on TV
in pulling a toy apart.
Meltzoff, A.N. (1998). Imitation of televised models by infants.
Child Development, 59 1221-1229. Photos Courtesy of A.N. Meltzoff and M. Hanuk.
Imitation Onset
92
Bandura's Bobo doll
study (1961) indicated
that individuals
(children) learn
through imitating
others who receive
rewards and
punishments.
Courtesy of Albert Bandura, Stanford University
Bandura's Experiments
93
Applications of Observational
Learning
Unfortunately,
Bandura’s studies
show that antisocial
models (family,
neighborhood or TV)
may have antisocial
effects.
94
Positive Observational Learning
Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works
Fortunately, prosocial (positive, helpful) models
may have prosocial effects.
95
Gentile et al., (2004)
shows that children in
elementary school
who are exposed to
violent television,
videos, and video
games express
increased aggression.
Ron Chapple/ Taxi/ Getty Images
Television and Observational
Learning
96
Modeling Violence
Children modeling after pro wrestlers
Glassman/ The Image Works
Bob Daemmrich/ The Image Works
Research shows that viewing media violence
leads to an increased expression of aggression.
97
Observational Learning Cube
Exercise in groups
98