How We Learn from
Experience
Classical and Operant
Conditioning
Classical Conditioning Was
Discovered by Ivan Pavlov
All animals automatically salivate when
food is placed in their mouth
But, as we all know, we can also begin
to salivate just by seeing someone
eating scrumptious food
Originally Pavlov was only interested in
studying the digestive process of dogs

He knew that each time he gave his dogs food, they
would automatically salivate.

The food is an example of an unconditioned stimulus
and salivation to the food is an example of a
unconditioned response. Why are they unconditioned?

But what puzzled Pavlov is that his dogs soon began to
salivate when they were put in their harness before he
had given them food?!
The brains of these dogs had begun to
associate the lab with food

Originally only food powder placed in their
mouth would cause the dogs to salivate.

However, soon the dogs began to salivate to the
stimuli of the lab.

Which salivation response is unconditioned and
which is conditioned and why?
To study how a reflex is conditioned to a
new stimulus, Pavlov decided to associate
a tuning fork with food
Sure enough, the dogs now began to
salivate to the sound of the tuning fork

The salivation response to food in your mouth is
inborn so is called an _________
response.
However, the salivation response to the sound of
the tuning fork is learned so is called a
_________ response.
The salivation response to both the food and to
the tuning fork is a reflex. Why?
Watson used classical conditioning
to get little Albert to fear white rats
How Albert was conditioned to fear rats

From birth we all fear a loud sudden noise—it is
inborn or unlearned. Therefore, the noise is an
_________ stimulus and the _________ is an
_________ response.

Watson made a loud, sudden noise every time
the white rat was close to little Albert.

Fairly soon little Albert began to fear white rats—
a learned fear. So the rat is a ________stimulus
and the fear of the rat is a _________response
So a loud sudden noise is causes a
fear reflex from birth so is called what
type of stimulus?
a)
A conditioned stimulus
b)
An unconditioned stimulus
However, Albert learned to fear white
rats so now a white rat is called:
A) a conditioned stimulus; or
B) a unconditioned stimulus
The Fear Response to a sudden loud
noise is inborn or unlearned so is a:
 A)
a conditioned response
 B)
an unconditioned response
In contrast, the Fear response to the
white rat is learned so is called:
 A)
the conditioned response
 B)
the unconditioned response
Classical conditioning explains how we
learn all types of fears like a fear of
small enclosed spaces
Being stuck in a small, enclosed space
elicits an automatic fear response

Being stuck is an unconditioned stimulus and the
fear reflex is an unconditioned response. Why?
Some of my students learned fear
of small spaces by being stuck in
small space, like a trunk
Being locked in trunk can condition a person
to fear any small enclosed space, like being
in a closet or under a bed.
 Identify the unconditioned stimulus (UCS):

unconditioned response (UCR):

conditioned stimulus (CS):

conditioned response (CR):
Almost Drowning
 Almost
drowning is an unconditioned
stimulus that elicits the unconditioned
reflex of fear. Why?
Now a Person could have a conditioned or learned
fear of deep water due to it being associated with
the experience of almost drowning. Identify the
unconditioned and conditioned variables:
UCS: ___________________
UCR: ___________________
CS: _____________________
CR:_____________________
We all will have a fear reflex if
attacked by a dog!
If attacked by a dog, we might start to have
a fear response every time we see a dog.

The Unconditioned stimulus is the ___________
and the conditioned stimulus is the __________
The automatic response to the dog
attack and the automatic response to
seeing a dog would both be fear
The fear response to an attacking dog would is
called a ___________ response. Why?
But the fear response to seeing a dog is called a
________________ response. Why?
We all are born with a fear of falling
 So
falling is which type
of stimulus—unconditioned
or conditioned and why?
What type of response is
the fear response to
falling—unconditioned or
conditioned and why?
A person who had a bad fall from a tree
might learn a fear of heights
Is this an unconditioned
fear or conditioned
fear?
Is being on a ladder a
unconditioned stimulus
or conditioned stimulus?
All people would have a fear
response to being bitten by a snake
 What
this?
type of stimulus and response is
If you were bitten by a snake or heard scary
stories about snakes, you likely would learn
to fear snakes.

Identify the:
UCS:
UCR:
CS:
CR:
People can learn a fear by
observing others with that fear
 See
 Now
a person become fearful to a spider:
you have a fear response to seeing
spiders:
If a fear can be learned, it also can be
unlearned through desensitization
In class we watched a video of a
woman who unlearned her phobia of
snakes.
Describe the small steps used by the
therapist when exposing the woman to the
snake.
Why does this type of exposure therapy so
effective in helping people lose their fears?
How could someone learn a taste
aversion to cotton candy? To
Brussels Sprouts?
What is UCS, UCR, CS and CR when a
person learns to feel nauseated to the smell
of tequilas?
How we learn voluntary behaviors: Law
of Effect as observed by Thorndike
B. F. Skinner work discovered the science of
operant conditioning: Consequences that
encourage & discourage our behaviors
Skinner taught his rats to press the
lever by giving them food pellets as
moved closer and closer to the lever
Operant conditioning

Our voluntary (operant) responses are
influenced by the consequences they receive.

Positive reinforcements encourage our operant
responses by providing us something good

Examples of positive reinforcement: praise,
attention, money, a sense of accomplishment,
affection, good grades, blue ribbons
Examples of positive
reinforcements that encourage us!
Skinner taught his pigeons to turn circles,
play ping pong & play tic, tack, toe by
positively reinforcing these behaviors in
small step.
Positive Reinforcement
 Getting
something pleasant
 Intrinsic:
Simply gives us a good feeling
via our pleasure centers
 Extrinsic:
Grades, money, approval,
attention—i.e. from our environment
Negative Reinforcements Also
Encourage Operant Responses
 Negative
reinforcements enable us to
escape or avoid an unpleasant
consequence
 Examples
of negative reinforcement: take
an aspirin to escape a headache, drive
close to speed limit so not get a speeding
ticket or study for a test so not get an F!
Punishment and extinction both
discourage our behaviors
Skinner never use
punishment—just extinction
 Why
do you think giving electric shocks to
rats or pigeons that weren’t learning well is
a terrible idea?
 So
what would Skinner do if the rats and
pigeons did not accomplish the behavior
they had been taught?
Quiz

a)
b)
c)
d)
You start a fitness program and lose a
significant percentage of body fat. This
consequence is:
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
Extinction
Quiz

a)
b)
c)
d)
You join a health club but never have the
time to go. This consequence would
best be identified as:
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
Extinction
Quiz

a)
b)
c)
d)
Your personal trainer at your fitness club
is very critical about your attitude and
fitness. This would be perceived by
many of us as:
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
Extinction
Quiz
 You
take an art class and find that your
sketching ability improves significantly.
This consequence is a:
 a) positive reinforcement
 b) negative reinforcement
 c) punishment
 d) extinction
Quiz

a)
b)
c)
d)
Your art teacher makes no comments
about your art work. This consequence
is:
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
Extinction
Quiz

a)
b)
c)
d)
At the end of your art class, one of your
projects is chosen to be in the student
exhibit. This is a:
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
Extinction
Quiz

During your art class other more
experienced students make it clear that
your work is inferior and unsophisticated.
a)
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
Extinction
b)
c)
d)
Animal trainers faithfully follow the principles
of operant conditioning: Only use positive
reinforcement and extinction
Shaping a mouse to learn through
a maze
Shaping of Complex Behaviors:
Shaping Dog to Climb Wall
Shaping Dog to Open Waste Can
How Teach a Dog to Jump over
fences and through hoops through
shaping?
Clicker Training used with animals
Bandura’s Study with the Bobo Doll
illustrate the learning principle of
observation and imitation
Children will imitate live models,
filmed models and cartoon models