UNIT 6: LEARNING
(CONDITIONING)
Classical
Conditionin
g
Operant
Conditionin
g
Observation
al Learning
dog drool & bell
Baby Albert
pigeon
reward &
punishment
BoBo Doll
learning by
watching
UNIT 6 OVERVIEW
 What
is Learning?
 Classical
 Operant
Conditioning
Conditioning
 Learning
by Observation
HOW DO WE LEARN?
INTRODUCTION
something learned
should have staying
power
“Learning
breeds hope.”
Learning
 relatively
permanent behavior
change due to experience
results from
direct or
indirect
experience
know learning
occurred b/c
behavior
changed
OBJECTIVE 1:
WHAT ARE SOME BASIC FORMS OF LEARNING?
Learn by association
-learn to anticipate events /
predict the immediate future
(associative learning)
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
HABITS
 Habits
form when we repeat
behaviors in a given context.
 As behavior is associated with the
context, our next experience
automatically triggers the behavior
 smoking
animals?
TWO MAIN FORMS OF LEARNING
Classical
conditioning
 learn
to link 2+ stimuli &
anticipated events
 Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
 John B. Watson (1913)
Operant Conditioning
 learn to associate a response
(our behavior ) with its
consequence
 repeat rewarded behavior
stimulus
–
anything
that
brings
about a
response
OBJECTIVE 2:
HOW DOES CLASSICAL CONDITIONING DEMONSTRATE
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING
Ivan
Pavlov
 Background
 Experimental
procedure
PAVLOV’S EXPERIMENTS
Parts
of Classical Conditioning
 Unconditioned
stimulus (US)
 Unconditioned response (UR)
 Conditioned stimulus (CS)
 Conditioned response (CR)
Pavlov’s Experiments
Pavlov’s Experiments
NS
Pavlov’s Experiments
Pavlov’s Experiments
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
OBJECTIVE 3:
ACQUISITION, EXTINCTION, SPONTANEOUS
RECOVERY, GENERALIZATION
Acquisition
The initial stage of
association between
NS & US
 NS presented ½ -1
sec BEFORE CS

& DISCRIMINATION
PAVLOV’S EXPERIMENTS
EXTINCTION AND SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY
Extinction

The lessening of a CR due to no longer pairing the US and CS
Spontaneous

recovery
Only happens after extinction has occurred
PAVLOV’S EXPERIMENTS
GENERALIZATION
Generalizatio
n
stimuli similar to CS
elicit same response
 happens quite
automatically
 adaptive

PAVLOV’S EXPERIMENTS
DISCRIMINATION
Discrimination
learned ability to distinguish between CS and other
irrelevant stimuli
 results from overtraining

The aroma of cookies baking makes your
mouth water.
Nurse says, “now this won’t hurt a bit” just before
stabbing you with a needle. The next time you
hear “this won’t hurt a bit” you cringe in fear
You have a meal at a fast food restaurant that
causes food poisoning. The next time you see a
sign for that restaurant, you feel nauseous.
NS=
US=
CS=
UR=
CR=
The aroma of cookies baking makes your mouth
water.
NS=
+
smell of
cookies
unlearned
unconditioned
natural
US=
CS=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwBQIhg6Cv
E
Cough & tickle – start at 30 secs.
taste of
cookies
smell of
cookies
UR=
CR=
mouth
water
mouth
water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE8pFWP5QDM
Conditioning Dwight
Nurse says, “now this won’t hurt a bit” just before
stabbing you with a needle. The next time you
hear “this won’t hurt a bit” you cringe in fear
+
NS= This won’t US=
hurt a bit
CS=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwBQIhg6Cv
E
Cough & tickle – start at 30 secs.
Needle
stabbing
This won’t
hurt a bit
UR=
CR=
cringe
cringe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE8pFWP5QDM
Conditioning Dwight
You have a meal at a fast food restaurant that
causes food poisoning. The next time you see a
sign for that restaurant, you feel nauseous.
NS=
+
sign
US=
CS=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwBQIhg6Cv
E
Cough & tickle – start at 30 secs.
Bad food
sign
UR=
CR=
nauseous
nauseous
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE8pFWP5QDM
Conditioning Dwight
CS
In classical conditioning, the _________
signals the
impending occurrence of the US
______.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
US UR
UR CR
CS US
CR UR
NS NR
food / drool
drool / drool
bell / food
drool / drool
no NR = eliminate
NS=
US=
CS=
UR=
CR=
EXTENDING PAVLOV’S UNDERSTANDING
OBJECTIVE 5: (P. 223)
DO COGNITION AND BIOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS AFFECT CLASSICAL
CONDITIONING

Rescorla & Wagner believed that
the predictability of the CS
determined whether classical
conditioning occurred.


Martin Seligman


Predictability (expectancy) is a cognitive
process requiring thought to occur
Learned Helplessness
John Garcia

Biological constraints


taste
Biologically prepared to
learn certain
responses that help aversion
us adapt
color red
secondary disgust
PAVLOV’S LEGACY
APPLICATIONS OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
John
Watson and Baby Albert
http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=FMnhyGoz
LyE
Little Albert
PAVLOV’S LEGACY
WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT DOGS DROOLING?
Classical
conditioning applies
to other organisms
Showed
how to study a topic
scientifically