Factors Influencing
Respondent &
Operant Learning:
Part 1
Lesson 9
Associative Learning & Language
Language acquisition
 Interaction of nature & nurture
 Respondent & operant
 Respondent
 Association of sounds & symbols
 English: “deh” = d;
“err” = r
 Russian: “deh” = д; “err” = р ~

Respondent Learning & Language
Associatе sounds/symbols with
objects/actions
 English:
dog;
woman;
speak
 Spanish: perro;
mujer;
hablar
 Russian: собака; женщина, говорить
 Words/ideas
 Conditional stimuli
 Conditional responses ~

Operant Learning & Language
Babies start off babbling sounds
 Inherited behavior
 Certain sounds are reinforced
 Directly by parents, etc.
 Also by consequences



words are understood  consequences
Mother ~
Respondent & Operant Together
SD :
B
CS :
SR
US
CR
UR
Respondent vs Operant
Both associative
 Involuntary vs voluntary
 Biologically important events
R
 US vs S
 Signals/cues
D
 CS vs S
 Contingency
R
~
 CS : US vs B  S

Factors Influencing Acquisition
Frequency
 # learning trials
 Predictivity
 contingency & probability
 Contiguity
 timing
 Salience
 Intensity / novelty ~

Acquisition: Frequency
Gradual
 usually requires many pairings
 Respondent:
CS : US  UR
 Operant:
SD : B  SR
 Measuring the learned response
 magnitude
 latency / probability / frequency
 Asymptote
 limit to how much can be learned ~

Respondent
Acquisition
CS : US  UR
CR
Hi
Asymptote
CR
Strength
Lo
CS : US pairings
Operant
Acquisition
SD : B  SR
Hi
Asymptote
Bar
Press
Rate
(B)
Lo
B  SR Trials
Detour
Learning Task
Acquisition: Detour Learning
Chicks performance on detour learning task
FIGURE 1
Males
Mean Latency to Social Contact
350
300
Strangers
Cagemates
250
200
150
100
50
0
1
2
3
Detour Learning Trial
4
Acquisition: Predictivity
Contingency
 CS+ / CSD
∆
 S / S
 Probability
 Usefulness of cues
 Hi  faster learning
 Low  slower learning ~

Contiguity: Respondent Learning

Order & Timing
 Anticipate important event
  strongest to weakest CR
CS
Delayed
US
CS
Trace
US
Contiguity: Respondent Learning
Simultaneous
Backward
CS
US
CS
US
Contiguity: Respondent Learning
CS-US interval
 In general...
 shorter interval  more effective
 longer interval  less effective
 Depends on response system
 Fast: .5 - 2 seconds)

e.g.,

Slow: 2-3 min
e.g.,

eye blink, skeletal muscle reflexes
CERs, physiological responses
Nausea (CTA): hours ~
Contiguity: Operant Learning
Delay of Reinforcement
 Immediate consequences most effective
 temporal contiguity
 reinforcement & punishment
 longer delays:
 probability of other behaviors being
reinforced
 instead of intended behavior ~

Delay of Reinforcement
20
Bar presses
per minute
15
10
5
0
0
20
40
60
Delay between B and SR (sec)