LEARNING
Chapter 6
LEARNING
• A systematic, relatively permanent change in behavior
that occurs through experience.
• 2 types:
1. Associative learning: occurs when we make a
connection between two events.
• Classical and Operant Conditioning
• Conditioning: the process of learning
associations.
2. Observational learning: occurs when a person
observes and imitates another’s behavior.
TYPES OF LEARNING
•Classical Conditioning
•Operant Conditioning
•Observational Learning
•Latent Learning
•Insight Learning
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
• Learning process in which a neutral stimulus becomes
associated with a meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity
to elicit a similar response.
• Passive process; reflexive; it happens automatically; the
learner does NOT have to think
• Involuntary behavior
• Keywords: stimulus, response
• Important people:
• Pavlov
• Watson
• Garcia
• Ader & Cohen
GUIDE TO CLASSICAL
CONDITIONING
• Unconditioned Stimulus
(UCS)- something that
elicits a natural, reflexive
response.
• Unconditioned Response
(UCR)- an automatically
elicited response to the
UCS.
• Neutral stimulussomething that does not
elicit any response.
• Conditioned stimulus
(CS)- formerly the
neutral stimulus; elicits
the same response as the
UCS.
• Conditioned response
(CR)- formerly the UCR;
sometimes a milder
version of the UCR.
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
EQUATION
UCS
a UCR
NS + UCS a UCR
NS = CS and UCR = CR
CS
a
CR
IVAN PAVLOV
• Russian physiologist
• Studied digestion in dogs
• Noticed that dogs would salivate
before they were given food
(triggered by sights & sounds)
• Suggests that dogs must have
learned to salivate
• Uncovered classical conditioning
• In classical conditioning,
organisms learn to associate
two-unrelated stimuli; that then
produce the same response.
GUIDE TO PAVLOV’S DOGS
• Unconditioned Stimulus
(UCS)- FOOD
• Unconditioned Response
(UCR)- DROOLING
• Neutral stimulus- BELL
• Conditioned stimulus
(CS)- BELL
• Conditioned response
(CR)- DROOLING
CONTIGUITY &
CONTINGENCY
• Contiguity: means that the CS and UCS should be
presented very close together in time (a fraction of a
second apart)
• Contingency: means that the CS must serve as a
reliable indicator that the UCS is on its way.
ACQUISITION
• The initial learning of the association between the
UCS and the CS (previously neutral stimulus) when
these two stimuli are paired.
• In most cases, for conditioning to occur, the neutral
stimulus needs to come before the UCS.
• The time in between the two stimuli should be
about half a second.
• After a while, the body begins to associate the
neutral stimulus with the UCS.
GENERALIZATION &
DISCRIMINATION
Generalization:
Discrimination:
• The tendency of a new
stimulus, that is similar to
the original CS, to elicit a
response that is similar to
the CR.
• Something so similar to the
CS that you get the CR.
• Example:
• Turkey salad vs.
chicken salad
• The process of learning
to respond to certain
stimuli and not others.
• Something so different
to the CS that you don’t
get the CR.
• Example:
• Bell for class vs. bell
for announcements
EXTINCTION
• The weakening of the CR when the UCS is absent.
• Acquisition does not last forever. When the CS is
presented without the UCS the association is broken.
• When the CS is no longer associated with the UCS,
then the CS stops producing the CR.
SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY
& RENEWAL EFFECT
• Spontaneous Recovery: The process by which a CR
can recur after a time delay, without further
conditioning.
• After extinction, sometimes the CR still randomly
appears after the CS is presented.
• Renewal: The recovery of the CR when the organism
is placed in a novel (original or new) context.
• ABA, ABC, AAB
JOHN B. WATSON
•
•
•
•
American Psychologist
Father of behaviorism
Assistant Rosalie Rayner
Little Albert Experiment (1920)used classical conditioning to
teach little Albert to fear a white
rat
• In 2009, researchers identified
Little Albert as Douglas
Merritte. He died at the age of 6
of hydrocephalus.
GUIDE TO LITTLE ALBERT
• Unconditional Stimulus
(UCS)- LOUD NOISE
• Unconditional Response
(UCR)- CRYING
• Neutral stimulusWHITE RAT
• Conditioned stimulus
(CS)- WHITE RAT
• Conditioned response
(CR)- CRYING
COUNTERCONDITIONING &
AVERSIVE CONDITIONING
• Counter Conditioning: A classical conditioning
procedure for changing the relationship between a CS
and its CR.
• Aversive Conditioning: Consists of repeated pairings
of a stimulus with a very unpleasant stimulus to elicit
a negative response.
• Can be used as a form of treatment
TASTE AVERSION
• Studied by John Garcia and Robert Koelling
• Taste Aversion: A special kind of classical conditioning
involving the learned association between a particular taste and
nausea.
• Also known as the Garcia Effect & Sauce-Bearnaise Syndrome
• The association only needs to occur once
• When it comes to food being linked to sickness, the
conditioning is incredibly strong
• Even when the food and sickness are hours apart
• Even when the sickness has nothing to do with the food
• Evolutionary adaptation
IMMUNOSUPPRESSION
• Studied by Robert Ader and Nicholas Cohen (1975)
• While studying taste aversion in mice, they discovered that the
immune system could be conditioned.
• Mice prone to lupus are given a saccharin solution while injected
with an immune-suppressing drug to treat lupus. After acquisition,
the taste alone reduced lupus symptoms almost as much as the
drug.