Learning
Classical Conditioning
1. Simulation: Eye-blinking conditioning
For the UCS we are going to use a “Puff of air” delivered to the eye through a plastic straw.
For the CS we are going to use a “tap” of a pencil or pen in the palm of the hand.
Team up with another student in the class (one person will be the experimenter, the other one will
be the participant).
The experimenter will need:
• Pen
• Plastic straw (provided by lecturer)
The experimenter and participant will need to sit in front of each other.
The participant should sit still in a comfortable position looking forward with one palm extended.
The experimenter should rest his/her chin in one hand and use that hand to aim the straw at the
corner of the participant’s eye. With the hand not holding the straw, the experimenter should hold
the pencil in a position where she/he can easily tap the participant’s palm.
Please note that it is very important that the experimenter remains still so the participant is
not cued by any other movement to deliver the puff.
1. Begin by presenting the CS (i.e., tap) alone 15-20 trials, timing them randomly.
2. Now, present the CS (i.e., tap) immediately before the UCS (i.e., puff of air) for 15-20 trials.
3. Omit the UCS (i.e., puff of air) in the next couple of trials to demonstrate what it is now the
conditioned response: Blinking- the participant will blink when only the tap and not the puff
of air has been presented.
Complete the following exercises:
1. Using the chart below, analyse the following experiences in terms of classical conditioning:
Experience
Unconditioned
stimulus
Unconditioned
response
Conditioned
stimulus
Conditioned
response
A song reminds
you of a former
friend or
romantic
partner
You cringe
when you pass
the intersection
where you
nearly had a car
accident
Opening a can
of pet food with
a can opener
leads your pet
to start jumping
around
Walking by the
gym where you
hurt yourself
working out
makes you
wince.
Smelling a
perfume you
wore during a
great party
makes you
smile and feel
good
2. In classical conditioning, let’s say that a CS is repeatedly presented by itself, not followed
by the US, ____ is likely to occur. What happens to the strength of the response to the CR
and the likelihood of it occurring?
3. In the example above, does it mean that we have “unlearned” that behaviour?
Classical and Operant Conditioning
Complete the following exercises:
Positive or negative Reinforcement?
1. Decide if the following item is an example of positive or negative reinforcement. Focus on the
highlighted target behavior to determine if it was positively or negatively reinforced. Provide a
reason for your answer.
Dave sometimes teased Marsha about her weight. One day this angered Marsha so that she
slapped Dave in the face. She continued doing this whenever Dave teased her. As a result of this
relation, Dave teased Marsha about her weight more often than he ever had before she began
slapping him.
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2. Decide if the following item is an example of positive reinforcement. Focus on the highlighted
target behavior to determine if it was positively reinforced. Provide a reason for your answer.
The employees of the Do-it-White Toothbrush company worked hard one year and as a result of
producing 1000 toothbrushes per hour for a month the employees were given an average bonus of
$300 to their pay at the end of the month. The employees were very pleased with the bonus. They all
agreed that they worked for a great employer and vowed to work even harder than they had before.
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3. Decide if the following item is an example of positive reinforcement. Focus on the highlighted
target behavior to determine if it was positively reinforced. Provide a reason for your answer.
Three heroin addicts were in a drug treatment program in which they took methadone, a drug that
allows addicts to cease taking heroin without encountering unpleasant heroin withdrawal
symptoms. As a part of the program, several desirable target behaviors were defined including
passing drug-use tests, arriving on time to the treatment center, and gaining body weight. When a
desirable target behavior occurred, the addict threw a die. If a winning number came up on the die,
the addict would receive points that could be traded for things such as methadone home-delivery,
tickets to events, bus tickets, desirable foods, and free lunches. If the winning number did not come
up on the die, the addict received nothing. This procedure strengthened the target behaviors of the
three addicts.
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Real Life Learning: Operant Conditioning
Using what you’ve now learned about Operant Conditioning, devise a scenario and solution you
might come across as a psychologist. Think of a problem related to psychology (for example: a
child’s behaviour; alcohol problems; problems with aggression). Now think of a programme of
learning, using operant conditioning that might help and how you would put this into practice to
make it most effective
Problem: ________________________________________________________________________
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Behaviour you want to change:
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Is this punishment or reinforcement?
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Are you presenting a positive or negative environmental consequence?
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What schedule of reinforcement might you decide to use and what would it look like?
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Are there any conflicting environmental consequences that might affect your programme and make
it less effective, or are there any general limitations?
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