Chapter 6
Learning & Conditioning
Discussion Question:
What is learning?
Learning
Learning: Relatively permanent change in
behavior due to experience
• Does NOT include temporary changes
due to disease, fatigue, injury,
maturation, or drugs, since these do NOT
qualify as learning even though they can
alter behavior
Classical Conditioning
 A type of learning in which a stimulus acquires
the capacity to evoke a response that was
originally evoked by another stimulus.
 How could the following be examples of CC:
Songs?
 Food?
 Clothing?
 Old Schools?

Classical Conditioning
 Ivan Pavlov
 Russian physiologist who studied digestion
 Used dogs to study salivation when dogs were presented
with meat powder
 Reflex: Automatic, non-learned response
Pavlov’s Dogs
 The Office Altoid Experiment
 Clockwork Orange

Pavlovian Terms
 Neutral Stimulus: Stimulus that does not evoke
a response
 Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Stimulus that
evokes a response because it has been
repeatedly paired with an unconditioned
stimulus
 Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A stimulus
innately capable of eliciting a response
Pavlovian Terms cont’d
 Unconditioned Response (UCR): An innate
reflex response elicited by an unconditioned
stimulus (UCS)
 Conditioned Response (CR): A learned response
elicited by a conditioned stimulus
Classical conditioning apparatus
Pavlov’s Dog
 NS- Bell (because is causes no response before




training)
CS- Bell (after pairing with meat)
UCS- Meat Powder (dog naturally likes)
UCR- Salivate (dog salivates at meat- relex)
CR- Salivate (dog salivates at bell)
Figure 6.2 The sequence of events in classical conditioning
Figure 6.3 Classical conditioning of a fear response
Classical Conditioning: More Terminology
 Trial = pairing of UCS and CS
 Acquisition = initial stage in learning
 Stimulus contiguity = occurring 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
 Trace conditioning: CS begins and ends before UCS is
presented
Processes in Classical Conditioning
 Extinction
 Spontaneous Recovery
 Stimulus Generalization
 Discrimination
 Higher-order conditioning
Generalization versus Discrimination
Bitten by this
Bitten by this
Afraid of this
Not afraid of
this
Figure 6.7 Acquisition, extinction, and spontaneous recovery
Figure 6.10 Higher-order conditioning
Operant Conditioning
 Edward L. Thorndike (1913)
 Law of Effect

The probability of a response is altered by the effect it has;
responses that lead to desired effects are repeated; those
that lead to undesired effects are not
B.F. Skinner
 B.F. Skinner (1953) – principle of reinforcement
 Operant chamber



Commonly referred to as a “Skinner Box”
Voluntary Responses
Reinforcement contingencies (rules)

Big Bang Theory
Figure 6.12 Reinforcement in operant conditioning
Figure 6.13 Skinner box and cumulative recorder
Basic Processes in Operant Conditioning
 Acquisition
 Shaping
 Successive Approximations or baby steps toward goal
 Extinction
 Stimulus Control
 Generalization
 Discrimination
Figure 6.14 A graphic portrayal of operant responding
Table 6.1 Comparison of Basic Processes in Classical and Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement:
Consequences that Strengthen Responses
 Primary Reinforcers
 Satisfy biological needs

Food, water, warmth, sex, affection
 Secondary Reinforcers
 Conditioned reinforcement

$, grades, attention, flattery, praise, applause
Consequences:
Reinforcement and Punishment
 Increasing a response:
 Positive reinforcement = response followed by
rewarding stimulus
 Negative reinforcement = response followed by
removal of an aversive stimulus
Escape learning
 Avoidance learning

 Decreasing a response:
 Punishment
 Problems with punishment
Reinforcement
 Positive Reinforcement: When a response is
followed by a reward or other positive event
 Negative Reinforcement: When a response is
followed by the removal of an unpleasant event
(e.g., the bells in Fannie’s car stop when she
puts the seatbelt on); ends discomfort
Punishment
 Punishment is defined as a consequence that
follows an operant response that decreases (or
attempts to decrease) the likelihood of that
response occurring in the future.
Positive Punishment
 In an attempt to decrease the likelihood of a
behavior occurring in the future, an operant
response is followed by the presentation of an
aversive stimulus. This is positive punishment.
 If you stroke a cat's fur in a manner that the cat finds
unpleasant, the cat may attempt to bite you.
Therefore, the presentation of the cat's bite will act as
a positive punisher and decrease the likelihood that
you will stroke the cat in that same manner in the
future.
Negative Punishment
 In an attempt to decrease the likelihood
of a behavior occurring in the future,
an operant response is followed by the
removal of a positive stimulus. This is
negative punishment.
 When a child "talks back" to his/her mother, the child
may lose the privilege of watching her favorite
television program. Therefore, the loss of viewing
privileges will act as a negative punisher and
decrease the likelihood of the child talking back in the
future.
Positive
Reinforcement
Getting Money
Food
Hugs
Treats
Praise
Negative
Changing the batteries in
smoke detector to make it
stop beeping
Taking off uncomfortable
clothing
Tylenol for a headache
Punishment
Spanking
Hitting
Yelling
Pinching
Time-out
Grounding
No TV
No Sex
Figure 6.18 Positive reinforcement versus negative reinforcement
Schedules of Reinforcement
 Continuous reinforcement
 Intermittent (partial) reinforcement
 Ratio schedules
Fixed
 Variable


Interval schedules
Fixed
 Variable

Figure 6.17 Schedules of reinforcement and patterns of response
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
 Conditioned Taste Aversion
 Preparedness and Phobias
 Cognitive Influences on Conditioning
 Signal relations
 Response-outcome relations
 Evolutionary Perspectives on learning
Figure 6.22 Conditioned taste aversion
Observational Learning: Basic Processes
 Albert Bandura (1977, 1986)
 Observational learning
 Vicarious conditioning
 4 key processes
 attention
 retention
 reproduction
 motivation
 acquisition vs. performance
Figure 6.25 Observational learning