LEARNING
Psychology
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Learning is defined:
◦ _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
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Psychologists are interested in how we learn and
the impact learning has on our behaviour.
DEFINITION
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O
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I
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C
THREE TYPES OF LEARNING
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Theory coined by Albert Bandura. Also known as
“__________________________”
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_______________________________________
________________________________.
For example: studying a professional sports
figure in order to learn the techniques of that
sport.
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Learning through observation and/or imitation
can have positive and negative impact on an
individual’s behaviour depending on what or
whom they choose to imitate.
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

According to Bandura, ___________________
_______________________________________
all play an important role in the learning process.
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For example: we learn through observation,
modeling (i.e. Bobo Doll experiment) and
through mirror neurons. (clip)
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Mirror Neurons are frontal lobe neurons that fire
when performing certain actions or when
observing another doing something. They enable
imitation, language learning, and empathy.
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
PROCESS:
A__________ -- the individual notices
something in the environment.
 R__________-- the individual remembers what
was noticed.
 R__________ -- the individual produces an
action that is a copy of what was noticed.
 M__________ -- the environment delivers a
consequence that changes the probability the
behavior will be emitted again
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
Provide two positive and two negative examples
of this process.
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

Insight learning occurs when________________
_______________________________________
____________________.
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Some noteworthy terms that describe insight
learning include: experiencing an “epiphany”
eureka! “aha”
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Insight learning suggests that it is important to
have time to absorb and think about new
learning.
INSIGHT LEARNING

The experience of insight learning often involves
three factors:
1. Seemingly all possible problem-solving
attempts have been exhausted and are
unsuccessful.
2. ____________________________________.
3. A perfect solution to the problem is suddenly
realized in a spontaneous way.
THE ANATOMY OF INSIGHT
LEARNING
WOLFGANG KOHLER
Psychologist who conducted insight learning
experiments on animals.
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In one experiment, a chimpanzee was given two
short sticks with a banana set out of reach.
After unsuccessfully attempting to reach the
banana with the short sticks, the hungry
chimpanzee gave up.
However, the chimpanzee later accidentally
discovered that the sticks could be joined
together to form one longer stick.
Just then, a spark of insight revealing a solution
manifested, allowing the chimpanzee to
successfully reach the banana.
WOLFGANG KOHLER
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Definition:
_________________________________
_________________________________.
◦ i.e. learning to respond to a particular stimulus
in a particular way
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Two types:
◦ __________ Conditioning
◦ __________ Conditioning
Conditioned Learning
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Key figure: Ivan Pavlov
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Pavlov’s dog
◦ Sounded bell right before giving the dog food
◦ Initially, the food caused the dogs to salivate
◦ Eventually the dogs salivated at the sound of
the bell alone
Classical Conditioning

An unconditioned stimulus (US) is
paired with a conditioned stimulus (CS)
to turn an unconditioned response (UR)
to a conditioned response (CR)
1.
__________
__________
__________
2.
3.
Classical Conditioning
Key figure: BF Skinner
Skinner realized that most behaviour is
not the result of the pairing of unrelated
stimuli
 Skinner put a rat in a cage that had a bar
that, when pushed, would drop a food
pellet into the cage
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◦ The rat randomly pushed the bar and got food
◦ The next time it pushed the bar, it got more
food
◦ Eventually it pushed the bar constantly,
knowing it would get food
Operant Conditioning
Using rewards to reinforce behaviours,
and punishments to discourage them
 Positive reinforcement: an event/condition
that increases the likelihood that a certain
behaviour will reoccur
 Negative reinforcement: an
event/condition that decreases the
likelihood that a certain behaviour will
reoccur
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Operant Conditioning
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Which do you think is more effective,
rewards, or punishment? Why?
Operant Conditioning