Chapter 6: Learning
Conditioning
• Can lead to some very unique behaviors
– Phobias…
• Classical Conditioning: a type of learning
where a stimulus acquires the ability to give a
response that was originally caused by
another stimulus
– In English- …
Classical Conditioning
• Ivan Pavlov: prominent Russian physiologist
in the early 1900’s, who did Nobel prize
winning research on digestion,
– discovered (partly by accident) that dogs
will salivate in response to the sound of a
tone.
– In doing so, he discovered classical,
Pavlovian, conditioning.
Classical Conditioning
• Terminology
– Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that
elicits an unconditioned response without previous
conditioning…Pavlov’s meat powder.
– Conditioned Stimulus (CS): a previously neutral
stimulus that has acquired the capacity to elicit a
conditioned response...the sound of a tone
– Unconditioned Response (UCR): an unlearned
reaction to a UCS that occurs without previous
conditioning…salivating
– Conditioned Response (CR): a learned reaction
to a conditioned stimulus…salivating to the tone
Figure 6.1 Classical conditioning apparatus
Figure 6.2 The sequence of events in classical conditioning
Classical Conditioning
• Conditioned responses:
– Conditioned fears: bridges, dentist, storms
– Pleasant Emotions: love (gum), that is why
barely clothed women sit on truck hoods
– Physiological Responses:
immunosuppressant drugs and weird
tasting liquid in animals, allergic reactions,
drug tolerance, withdrawal symptoms,
sexual arousal, fetishes
Figure 6.3 Classical conditioning of a fear response
Classical Conditioning: More Terminology
• Trial = pairing of UCS and CS… (How many
times have the tone and the meat powder
been paired?) Some behaviors are learned
after only one trial or pairing, while others
take many trials.
• Acquisition = initial stage in learning,
acquiring the response
• Stimulus contiguity = Conditioning has
been shown to depend on stimulus contiguity;
that is, the occurring of stimuli together in
time and space
Classical Conditioning: More Terminology
• 3 types of Classical Conditioning
– Simultaneous conditioning: CS and UCS
begin and end together
– Short-delayed conditioning: CS begins
just before the UCS, end together,
• appears to most promote acquisition of a
classically conditioned response. ideally
the delay should be very brief, about ½ a
second.
– Trace conditioning: CS begins and ends
before UCS is presented
Processes in Classical Conditioning
• Extinction: occurs when the CS and UCS are no
longer paired and the response to the CS is
weakened
– We know that the response is still there, just not
active, because of spontaneous recovery
• Spontaneous Recovery: an extinguished response
reappears after a period of non-pairing.
• Stimulus Generalization: occurs when conditioning
generalizes to additional stimuli that are similar to the
CS;
– for example, Watson and Rayner’s study with
Little Albert, who was conditioned to fear a white
rat but later came to be afraid of many white, furry
Figure 6.7 Acquisition, extinction, and spontaneous recovery
Processes in Classical Conditioning
• Discrimination: the opposite of
generalization; that is, the response is to a
specific stimulus
– similar stimuli don’t work
• Higher-order conditioning: occurs when a
CS functions as if it were a UCS to establish
new conditioning…
– condition to respond to a tone with saliva,
pair the tone with a light.
Figure 6.10 Higher-order conditioning
Operant Conditioning
or Instrumental Learning
• Operant Conditioning
– Learning in which responses come to be
controlled by their consequences
• Classical conditioning regulates
involuntary responses, operant cond.
voluntary responses (not absolute)
–Some argue they are 2 different
aspects of a single learning process
Operant Conditioning
or Instrumental Learning
• Edward L. Thorndike (1913) – Thorndike’s
law of effect stated that if a response in the
presence of a stimulus leads to satisfying
effects, the association between the stimulus
and the response is strengthened.
• This law became the cornerstone of Skinner’s
theory.
Operant Conditioning
or Instrumental Learning
• B.F. Skinner (1953) – principle of
reinforcement:
– organisms tend to repeat those responses
that are followed by favorable
consequences, or reinforcement.
• Operant chamber or “Skinner box”: small
enclosure in which an animal can make a
specific response that is recorded, while the
consequences of the response are
systematically controlled
Operant Conditioning
or Instrumental Learning
– Emission of response: Because operant
responses tend to be voluntary, they are
said to be emitted rather than elicited.
– Reinforcement contingencies: the
circumstances, or rules, that determine
whether responses lead to the presentation
of reinforcers.
– Cumulative recorder: creates a graphic
record of responding and reinforcement in
a Skinner box as a function of time
Figure 6.12 Reinforcement in operant conditioning
Figure 6.13 Skinner box and cumulative recorder
Figure 6.14 A graphic portrayal of operant responding
Basic Processes in Operant Conditioning
• Acquisition: initial stage of learning
• Shaping: gradual process which consists of
the reinforcement of closer and closer
approximations of a desired response…key in
pet tricks
• Extinction: the gradual weakening and
disappearance of a response tendency,
because the response is no longer followed
by a reinforcer…stop giving food when the rat
presses the lever…results in a brief surge of
responding followed by a gradual decline until
it approaches zero
Basic Processes in Operant Conditioning
• Stimuli that precede a response can exert
considerable influence over operant behavior,
basically becoming “signals” that a reinforcer is
coming
• Discriminative stimuli are cues that influence operant
behavior by indicating the probable consequences of
a response
• Stimulus Control
– Generalization: occurs when a new stimulus is
responded to as if it were the original
– Discrimination: occurs when an organism
responds to one stimulus, but not another one
similar to it
Table 6.1 Comparison of Basic Processes in Classical and Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement:
Consequences that Strengthen Responses
• Primary Reinforcers
– events that are inherently reinforcing because they
satisfy biological needs
• Primary reinforcers in humans include food,
water, warmth, sex, and maybe affection
expressed through hugging and close bodily
contact.
• Secondary Reinforcers
– events that acquire reinforcing qualities by being
associated with primary reinforcers.
• Secondary reinforcers in humans include things
like money, good grades, attention, flattery,
praise, and applause
Schedules of Reinforcement
• Continuous reinforcement: when every
instance of a designated response is
reinforced (faster acquisition, faster
extinction).
• Intermittent reinforcement occurs when a
designated response is reinforced only some
of the time (greater resistance to extinction).
Schedules of Reinforcement
• Intermittent (partial) reinforcement
– Ratio schedules: require the organism to
make the designated response a certain
number of times to gain each reinforcer
• Fixed: entails giving a reinforcer after a
fixed number of non-reinforced
responses
• Variable: entails giving a reinforcer after
a variable number of non-reinforced
responses
Schedules of Reinforcement
– Interval schedules: require a time period
to pass between the presentation of
reinforcers
• Fixed: reinforcing the first response that
occurs after a fixed time interval has
elapsed
• Variable: entails giving the reinforcer for
the first response after a variable time
interval has elapsed
Figure 6.17 Schedules of reinforcement and patterns of response
Schedules of Reinforcement
Number of Times Amount of Time
Know
Fixed-Ratio
Fixed Interval
Don’t Know
Variable-Ratio
Variable-Interval
Schedules of Reinforcement
• Now Ask:
– 1) What is the reward?
– 2. Do I know or not know WHEN I will get
the reward (note: not if...when! This will
help with the confusion).
– 3. By me repeating a behavior will that
bring my reward FASTER (not will it bring it
- you always assume you will get the
reward). (If you answer yes it is under the
number of times, if no it is amount of time)
Consequences:
Reinforcement and Punishment
• Responses can be strengthened either by presenting
positive reinforcers or by removing negative
reinforcers :
– Positive reinforcement = response followed by
rewarding stimulus
– Negative reinforcement = response followed by
removal of an aversive stimulus, regulates escape
and avoidance learning
• Escape learning: an organism learns to
perform a behavior that decreases or ends
aversive stimulation (turning on the air
conditioner).
• Avoidance learning: an organism learns to
prevent or avoid some aversive stimulation
(turn on the a/c before it gets too hot).
Consequences:
Reinforcement and Punishment
• Decreasing a response:
– Punishment: occurs when an event following a
response weakens the tendency to make that
response
• Punishment is much more than disciplinary
procedures…wear a new outfit and friends
laugh…punishing.
• Punishment may involve presentation of an
aversive stimulus (spanking) or removal of a
rewarding stimulus (taking away TV).
– Problems with punishment: can trigger strong
emotional responses (anxiety, anger, resentment,
hostility); physical punishment can lead to an
Figure 6.18 Positive reinforcement versus negative reinforcement
Figure 6.19 Escape and avoidance learning
Figure 6.20 Comparison of negative reinforcement and punishment
Changes in Our Understanding
of Conditioning
• Biological Constraints on Conditioning
– Instinctive Drift: occurs when an animal’s innate
response tendencies interfere with conditioning,
• (the raccoon who would rather rub the coins
together than obtain the reinforcer).
– Conditioned Taste Aversion: can be readily
acquired, after only one trial and when the stimuli
are not contiguous
• becoming ill occurs hours after eating a food
• suggesting that there is a biological mechanism
at work.
Figure 6.22 Conditioned taste aversion
Changes in Our Understanding
of Conditioning
• Preparedness and Phobias
– Martin Seligman has outlined the fact that
some phobias are more easily conditioned
than others,
– Preparedness: we are biologically
prepared to learn to fear objects or events
that have inherent danger.
• Spiders, snakes, bad tasting foods
Changes in Our Understanding
of Conditioning
• Cognitive Influences on Conditioning
– Signal relations: (Rescorla) illustrates that the
predictive value of a CS is an influential factor
governing classical conditioning.
• Rats and shocking (100% vs 50%)
Changes in Our Understanding
of Conditioning
– Response-outcome relations: when a response
is followed by a desired outcome, it is more easily
strengthened if it seems that it caused the
outcome (predicts)…
• you study for an exam and listen to Frank
Sinatra…you make an A. What is
strengthened, studying or listening to Frank
Sinatra?
• We try to figure out what behaviors lead
to what in order to minimize aversive
situations and maximize pleasant ones
Changes in Our Understanding
of Conditioning
• Evolutionary Perspectives on learning
– assumes that an organism’s biological
heritage places certain constraints on the
learning process
– some theorists see as merely specialized
mechanisms designed to solve particular
types of adaptive problems for particular
species
Latent Learning
• Learning not apparent from behavior when it
first occurs
– Learning can take place when no
reinforcement is given
– The Rats in Tolman’s study formed a
cognitive map (spatial layout)
Observational Learning: Basic Processes
• Albert Bandura (1977, 1986) outlined the
theory of observational learning
– Observational learning : vicarious
conditioning occurs by an organism
watching another organism (a model) be
conditioned
• Observational learning can occur for
both classical and operant conditioning
–Vicarious conditioning: being
conditioned indirectly by virtue of
observing another’s conditioning
Observational Learning: Basic
Processes
• In order for observational learning to take
place, 4 key processes are at work
• 4 key processes
– Attention: the organism must pay
attention to the model
– Retention: retain the information observed
– Reproduction: be able to reproduce the
behavior
– Motivation: observed response is unlikely
to be reproduced unless the organism is
motivated to do so
Observational Learning: Basic
Processes
• acquisition vs. performance
– Bandura distinguishes between acquisition
(having the response in your repertoire)
– performance (actually engaging in the behavior)
• Bandura asserts that reinforcement usually
influences already acquired responses, more
than the acquisition of new responses.
Figure 6.25 Observational learning
Featured Study
• Bobo Doll (Bandura)
– 80 Children (average age 4)
– Watched 3 different film clips (rewarded
aggressive behavior, punished aggressive
behavior, non-aggressive behavior) or no clip
– Put in a room with toys and psyc. Observed play
behaviors
• Children who watched rewarded agg. behavior
clip were much more violent, children who did
not watch a clip were least aggressive