LEARNING
by shirmeen ijaz
What is learning?
• According to Feldman,
“Learning is relatively a
permanent change in behavior
brought about by experience.”
Types of learning
1.
2.
3.
4.
Following are the types of learning
Learning by conditioning.
Learning by imitation/social learning.
Learning by insight/ intelligence.
Learning by trial and error.
Learning by conditioning.
It is learning by association or
formation of some link.
TYPES OF LEARNING
1. Classical learning.
2. Operant learning.
Classical learning
In classical conditioning, learning
takes place when a conditioned
stimulus is paired with an
unconditioned stimulus.
Work of Pavlov
• Ivan pavlov accidently discovered the
process of classical conditioning when he
was studying the process of stomach
acids and salivation in dogs.
Experiment
• Pavlov attached a tube to the salivary gland of a
dog, allowing him to measure precisely the amount
of salivation that occurred. He then sounded a
turning fork and just a few second later, presented
the dog with meat powder. This pairing, carefully
planned so that exactly the same amount of time
elapsed between the presentation of the sound and
the meat occurred repeatedly. At first the dog would
salivate only when the meat powder itself was
presented, but soon it began to salivate at the
sound of the turning fork. In fact, even when Pavlov
stopped presenting the meat powder, the dog still
salivated after hearing the sound. The dog had
been classically conditioned to salivate to the tone.
Elements or components of Pavlovian
conditioning.
1. Neutal stimulus:
neutral stimulus is a stimulus that,
before conditioning does not naturally
bring about the response of interest.
Example:
In pavlovian experiment the sound of
turning fork is the neutral stimulus
because before conditioning it has no
effect on the response of interest.
2. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS):
The unconditioned stimulus is one that
unconditionally, naturally and
automatically triggers a response.
Example:
Pavlov referred to the meat powder in his
salivary conditioning experiment as an
unconsitined stimulus (UCS).
3. Unconditioned response (UCR):
The unconditioned response is the
unlearned response that is natural and
needs no training. These responses are
natural and innate and are not associated
with previous learning.
• Example:
In pavlov’s experiment salivation on the
sight of food is unconditioned response.
4. Conditioned stimulus (CS)
• The Conditioned stimulus is previously
neutral stimulus that has been paired with
an unconditioned stimulus to bring about a
response formally caused only by the
unconditioned stimulus.
• Example:
In pavlovain experiment, the sound of
turning fork is the CS as after conditioning
it produces salivation which was formally
produced by UCS i.e food.
5. Conditioned response (CR).
The conditioned response is the learned
response to the previously neutral
stimulus.
Example:
In the experiment conducted by Pavlov ,
salivation that occurs as a response to the
conditioned stimulus is a conditioned
response.
Principles of classical conditioning
1. Acquisition:
• Is the initial stage of learning when a response is
first established and gradually strengthened.
Example:
imagine that you are conditioning a dog salivate
in response to the sound of a bell. You
repeatedly pair the presentation of food with the
sound of the bell. You can say the response has
been acquired as soon as the dog begins to
salivate in response to the bell tone. Once the
response has been acquired, you can gradually
reinforce the salivation response to make sure
the behavior is well learned.
2. Extinction:
• If a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly
presented without the unconditioned
stimulus, then the conditioned response
will disappear.
Example:
if a dog learns to associate the sound of a
bell with food then the bell is rung
repeatedly, but no food is presented, the
dog will soon stop salivating at the sound
of the bell.
3. Spontaneous recovery:
• Spontaneous recovery is the
reappearance of the conditioned response
after a rest period or period of lessened
response.
Example:
When Pavlov returned to his previously
conditioned dog a week after the
conditioned behavior had been
extinguished, if he sounded a tuning fork,
the dog once again salivate.
4. Stimulus generalization
Stimulus generalization is the extension of
the conditioned response from the original
stimulus to similar stimulus.
Example:
A dog who has been conditioned to
salivate to the sound of a bell of one tone,
may well salivate to a similar sounding bell
or a buzzer.
5. Discrimination
• An animal or a person can be taught to
discriminate between different stimuli.
Example:
If a dog is shown a red circle every time he is
fed, then he will salivate at the sight of the red
circle alone. But initially, the dog may generalize
and salivate at circles of any color. If the dog is
only fed when the red circle is presented and not
when other colors are shown, he will learn to
discrminate between red and the other colors.
Higher order conditioning
Refers to a situation in which a stimulus that was
previously neutral (e.g, ball) is paired with a
conditioned stimulus (e.g a tone that has been
conditioning with food to produce salivation) to
produce the same conditioned response as the
conditioned stimulus.
• Example:
Prior to high order conditioning, the dog did not
salivate when the ball was shown. When pavlov
paired the sound of bell with the ball, the dog
started salivating. After high order conditioning
occurred, the ball alone produced salivation.