Learning
Peer Counselling November
In this unit

This section of the course introduces students to differences between learned and unlearned
behavior. The primary focus is exploration of different kinds of learning, including classical
conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. The biological bases of behavior
illustrate predispositions for learning.

AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:

• Distinguish general differences between principles of classical conditioning, operant
conditioning, and observational learning (e.g., contingencies).

• Describe basic classical conditioning phenomena, such as acquisition, extinction, spontaneous
recovery, generalization, discrimination, and higher-order learning.

• Predict the effects of operant conditioning (e.g., positive reinforcement, negative
reinforcement, punishment).

• Predict how practice, schedules of reinforcement, and motivation will influence quality of
learning.

• Interpret graphs that exhibit the results of learning experiments.

• Provide examples of how biological constraints create learning predispositions.

• Describe the essential characteristics of insight learning, latent learning, and social learning.

• Apply learning principles to explain emotional learning, taste aversion, superstitious behavior,
and learned helplessness.

• Suggest how behavior modification, biofeedback, coping strategies, and self-control can be
used to address behavioral problems.

• Identify key contributors in the psychology of learning (e.g., Albert Bandura, John Garcia, Ivan
Pavlov, Robert Rescorla, B. F. Skinner, Edward Thorndike, Edward Tolman, John B. Watson).
Basic Learning Concepts
and Classical Conditioning
 What is learning, and what are some basic forms of learning?
Learning
the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring
information or behaviors.
classical
conditioning
learn to expect and prepare for significant events such as
food or pain
operant
conditioning
learn to repeat acts that bring rewards and avoid acts
that bring unwanted results
cognitive
learning
learn new behaviors by observing events and watching others, and
through language, we learn things we have neither experienced nor
observed
We learn by association
Our minds naturally connect events that occur in sequence
• Give people a red pen (associated with error marking) rather than a black pen and,
when correcting essays, they will spot more errors and give lower grades (Rutchick
et al., 2010).
• After handling dirty paper money, people (market vendors, students in laboratory
games) become more selfish and exploitative; after handling fresh, clean money
they become more unselfish and fair (Yang et al., 2013).
• sleeping in a certain posture in bed, walking certain routes on campus, eating popcorn in a movie
theater—the behaviors become associated with the contexts.
Associative learning is conditioning
Two Forms of Conditioning
1. Classical conditioning, we learn to associate two stimuli and thus to anticipate
events. We associate stimuli that we do not control, and we respond automatically,
which is called respondent behavior. (conditioned or unconditioned responses)
2. In operant conditioning, we learn to associate a response (our
behavior) and its consequence. Thus we (and other animals) learn to
repeat acts followed by good results or avoid bad ones. This produces
operant behavior.
Pavlov’s classic experiment Pavlov presented a neutral stimulus (a tone) just before an
unconditioned stimulus (food in mouth). The neutral stimulus then became a conditioned stimulus,
producing a conditioned response.
BEFORE CONDITIONING
DURING CONDITIONING
first
AFTER CONDITIONING
Components of Conditioning
 There are 5 main components of conditioning. Classical Conditioning always
involves these parts. They are:
Neutral Stimulus
Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
Unconditioned Response (UR)
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
Conditioned Response (CR)
See handout