Learning theories
Presented by Mr OZ Mukwawaya
Learning about theories
• What is learning
– “a persisting change in human performance or
performance potential . . . (brought) about as a
result of the learner’s interaction with the
environment”
– “the relatively permanent change in a person’s
knowledge or behavior due to experience”
– “an enduring change in behavior, or in the
capacity to behave in a given fashion, which
results from practice or other forms of
experience
• Learning is any relatively durable
change in behaviour or knowledge
that is due to experience
• Models of psychology explain how
individuals learn and how information
is comprehended and retained.
How do people learn?
Main theories in learning
• Behaviorism
• Social Learning Theory
Behaviourism
• All behavior is learned. Consequently it can be
unlearned
• Learning is defined by the outward expression of new
behaviors
• Focuses solely on observable behaviors
• A biological basis for learning
• Learning is context-independent
• Classical & Operant Conditioning
• Reflexes (Pavlov’s Dogs)
• Feedback/Reinforcement (Skinner’s Pigeon
Box)
• The individual’s behavior is modified through
positive reinforcement or negative
reinforcement to persuade the correct
decision making.
Learning conti..
• “You often
learn when you
don’t intend to
learn, and you
often teach
when you don’t
intend to
teach”
Ivan Pavlov
• Born in Ryazon 1849
• Son of a priest
• Went to school at Theological
Seminary
• Attended Petersburg University
• Imperial Medical-surgical school(
received MD in 1883)
• His work on physiology of digestion
glands let to him winning the nobel
price in 1904
• He was known for his work in
physiology when he translated his
psychological work
• He aimed to work out the principles
that govern the working of cerebral
cortex “ seat of the brain”
• He used animals (dogs) as his subjects
and conditioned reflex as the main
agent to communication with the brain
• Wanted to study digestion in dogs
Interaction between salivation and
digestion Dogs salivate when they eat
and smell food This is known as a
reflex (it is not learned; it is
involuntary)
• What did he discover??
– Dogs salivate without proper stimulus
– Stimulus is an environmental condition
that evokes a response from an
organism
• His ideas where influenced by Sir Charles
Sherrington’s famous work on mechanisms
of the spinal cord which guided much of
Pavlov’s work
• Sherrington emphasized the importance of
excitation and inhibition in the working of
spinal cord and Pavlov attempted to show
that excitement and inhibition were likewise
evident in the workings of the brain
Classical Conditioning
• Classical conditioning is a type of
leaning in which a stimulus acquires
the capacity to evoke a response that
was originally evoked by another
stimulus.
• A stimulus comes to elicit a response that it does not
normally elicit
• Antecedents shape behavior, not consequences.
–
–
–
–
•
•
Unconditioned stimulus----------------Unconditioned Response
(food)
(salivation)
Conditioned stimulus (bell)
Paired with unconditioned stimulus----Unconditioned Response
(salivation)
Conditioned Stimulus (Bell)-----------------Conditioned Response
(salivation)
Antecedents -A prompt of cue that comes before a behavior that
results in the correct behavior being elicited
• Unconditioned Stimulus (US)–
stimulus that evokes an unconditioned
response without previous conditioning
Giving dog food
Doctor hitting our knee
• Unconditioned Response (UR)–
unlearned reaction to an
unconditioned stimulus that occurs
without previous conditioning
Salivation is the UR
Food in front of the dog is the US
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS)– Previously
neutral stimulus that has, through
conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke
a conditioned response
Bell tone paired with food to elicit
conditioned response
• Conditioned Response (CR)–Learned reaction
to conditioned stimulus that occurs because
of previous conditioning
Salivating after only the bell is ringing
Classical conditioning
S
US
UR
CS
US
CR
• So, in the classical conditioning model,
behavior is learned from the pairing of
stimuli before a response occurs.
• E.g. Pain (US) leads to fear (UR). We don't
need to learn this. A child is not afraid of
dogs (NS). But if a dog bites a child leading
to pain, just the sight of a dog (CS) will lead
to fear (CR). The child has learned to
associate dogs with pain. This is how people
develop phobias
• Acquisition: the initial stage of learning
something. Acquisition of a conditioned
response depends on stimulus contiguity, or the
occurrences of stimuli together in time and
space.
• Extinction: the gradual weakening and
disappearance of a conditioned response
tendency. Extinction occurs in classical
conditioning when conditioned stimulus is
consistently presented alone, without the
unconditional stimulus
• E.g. After a while, Pavlov kept ringing
the bell and didn't bring food out.
Eventually the dogs stopped salivating
to the bell. It's as if the dogs figured
out, "Hey, there's no food coming." And
stopped responding. This is known as
extinction. After a while of not pairing
the neutral stimulus with the
unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned
response will weaken
• Spontaneous recovery: the
reappearance of an extinguished
response after a period of nonexposure
to the conditioned stimulus.
• E.g. After Pavlov's dogs no longer
responded to the bell, he left them
alone. Then a month later, he rang the
bell and they salivated
John Watson
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Born January 9 1878 in Greenville, SC
Was the fourth of six children
Father left family
Arrested twice
Was aggressive and violent until after his arrest
Introduced to psychology at Furman
Went to Johns Hopkins
Taught at Chicago and Johns Hopkins
Became associate professor at Johns Hopkins
• John Watson thought that behavior was all your reactions
but not what you do or say.
• Watson believed in promoting good behavior and
discouraging bad.
• Watson thought making agreements in teaching was
important as well as consequences, reinforcements and
behavior modifications.
• Watson believed that the teacher lead the classroom not
the students.
• Watson thought work had to be broken down into smaller
pieces.
• Watson saw psychology as the study of people's actions
with the ability to predict and control those actions.
• Watson’s views of behaviorism were considered radical
and was known for its extreme anti-mentalism.
• Watson began studying the behavior of children, as
well, concluding that humans were simply more
complicated than animals but operated on the same
principles.
• Another method was extinction which is removing the
reactions to whatever the child did.
• Children have three basic emotional reactions: fear,
rage and love.
• Ivan Pavlov influenced Watson about his theory.
Little Albert Experiment
•
Watson wanted to establish whether the reflex response of fear produced in
infants by loud noises could be conditioned to take place in response to other
previously neutral stimuli.
•
Children are only born with two fears: loud noises and falling. That's it. Every
other fear is learned.
•
So he took an 11-month-old baby, named Albert, and conducted the famous
"Little Albert" experiment (which has been said to be very unethical). Little
Albert had no fears other than loud noises and falling.
•
If Watson made a loud noise (US), Little Albert would cry (UR). This is an
unconditioned stimulus-response pair.
Then they showed Albert animals - rats, rabbits, etc. and he was not afraid. He
wanted to play with them. They are neutral stimuli (NS).
•
• Then Watson showed Albert a white rat (NS) and made a
loud noise (US) and what did Little Albert do? He cried
(UR).
• After a few trials of this, Watson showed Albert the white
rat and didn't make the loud noise. And what did Albert
do? He cried.
• So now the white rat is the conditioned stimulus and the
crying is the conditioned response.
US
Loud noise
>
UR
crying
• Stimulus generalization: occurs when an
organism that has learned a response to a
specific stimulus responds in the same way
to new stimuli that are similar to the
original stimulus
• Stimulus discrimination:occurs when an
organism that has learned a response to a
specific stimulus does not respond in the
same way to new stimuli that are similar to
original stimulus
Higher order conditioning: after a classically conditioned
response has been acquired, the learner is taught to make a
new association between the conditioned stimulus and a new
and different neutral stimulus.
• Example: in Pavlov’s study, after conditioning or learning to
salivate in response to the bell, the dogs are taught to make
a new association between the bell and a light.
bell + light = salivation
• Eventually, the light alone will be able to cause the dogs to
salivate. This is higher order conditioning.
light = salivation
• The salivation response to the light will be weaker than the
salivation response to the bell. Why?
BF Skinner
• B. F. Skinner
• (1904-1990)
• Predetermined, lawful, and orderly
•
A product of past reinforcements
•
Hamilton College (NY): degree in
English, no
courses in psychology
•
Read about Pavlov’s and Watson’s
experimental work
•
1931: Ph.D. from Harvard
• Introduced behaviorism theory.
• Learning occurs by experiencing and
engaging in repeated trial and error.
• He described classical conditioning as
emotional reaction to a stimulus.
• Operant conditioning is a response to
a stimulus that is reinforced
positively, negatively, or by
punishment
Operant conditioning
• Form of learning in which responses come to
be controlled by their consequences
– learning to perform a voluntary behavior based
upon the consequences
• Organisms tend to repeat those responses
that are followed by favorable consequences
• Reinforcement: occurs when an event
following a response increase an organism’s
tendency to make that response.
• Reinforcement:
There are two types of reinforcers:
– primary reinforcers – events that are inherently
reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs (food,
water, safety). These work especially well with animals
but can also work with humans.
– Secondary reinforcers – events that acquire reinforcing
qualities by being associated with primary reinforcers
(less tangible rewards such as praise, money, acceptance,
affection)
• The most effective reinforcements are attention
getting and out of the ordinary.
• Reinforcer- a stimulus that
strengthens or weakens the behavior
that produced it
• a stimulus (as a reward or the
removal of an electric shock) that
increases the probability of a desired
response in operant conditioning by
being applied or effected following
the desired response
• Reinforcement - refer to anything that increases
the likelihood that a response will occur. Note
that reinforcement is defined by the effect that
it has on behavior - it increases or strengthens
the behavior.
• For example, reinforcement might involve
presenting praise (the reinforcer) immediately
after a child puts away her toys (the response).
By reinforcing the desired behavior with praise,
the girl will be more likely to perform the same
actions again.
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Shaping - method of teaching complex behaviors by reinforcing
each step of the behavior until the complex behavior is achieved.
For example, when a child is learning to tie their shoelaces,
parents don't usually wait until the child ties a perfect bow to
praise him. He get praised the first time he tries, the first time
he crosses the laces, the first time he makes the loops, etc.
Just like school. Imagine if you never received any reinforcements
until you got handed your degree. Where would your motivation
come from? But you get grades, honors, awards, etc. all along the
way.
Patterns of
reinforcement
• Scheduled reinforcement: determines
which occurrences of a specific
response result in presentation of
reinforcer
• Continuous reinforcement: when every instance
of designated response is reinforced
• – a schedule of reinforcement in which every
occurrence of the instrumental response (desired
response) is followed by the reinforcer.
– Lab example: each time a rat presses a bar it
gets a pellet of food.
– Real world example: each time a dog defecates
outside its owner gives it a treat; each time a
person puts R1 in a candy machine and presses
the buttons he receives a candy bar.
• Intermittent reinforcement: occurs
when designated response is
reinforced only some of the time
Reinforcement and Punishment
Reinforcement or rewards always increase a behavior.
Punishment always decreases a behavior.
If you remember that, you won't get confused.
TYPE
POSITIVE
REINFORCEMENT
NEGATIVE
REINFORCEMENT
PUNISHMENT
WHAT YOU DO
ADD SOMETHING
PLEASANT
REMOVE SOMETHING
UNPLEASANT
EITHER ADD
SOMETHING
UNPLEASANT OR
REMOVE SOMETHING
PLEASANT
WHAT HAPPENS
BEHAVIOR INCREASES
BEHAVIOR INCREASES
BEHAVIOR DECREASES
EXAMPLE
PRAISE, MONEY,
AFFECTION
TAKE AWAY PAIN, SAVE
MONEY, NO HOMEWORK
NO TV, GROUNDING,
FINES, PRISON,
PHYSICAL DISCIPLINE
• Positive reinforcement involves the addition of
something to increase a response, such as giving a
bit of candy to a child after she cleans up her
room.
• Example: Whenever a rat presses a button, it gets
a treat. If the rat starts pressing the button more
often, the treat serves to positively reinforce this
behavior.
• Example: A father gives candy to his daughter
when she picks up her toys. If the frequency of
picking up the toys increases, the candy is a
positive reinforcer (to reinforce the behavior of
cleaning up).
• Negative reinforcement involves removing
something in order to increase a response, such as
canceling a quiz if students turn in all of their
homework for the week. By removing the aversive
stimulus (the quiz), the teacher hopes to increase
the occurrence of the desired behavior (completing
all homework).
• "nagging" or asking the child repeatedly to do so.
Here, the nagging serves to negatively reinforce
the behavior of cleaning because the child wants to
remove that aversive stimulus of nagging.
• Example: A person puts ointment on a bug bite to
soothe an itch. If the ointment works, the person
will likely increase the usage of the ointment
because it resulted in removing the itch, which is
the negative reinforcer.
• Punishment
• Positive punishment occurs when a response produces a
stimulus and that responses decreases in probability in the
future in similar circumstances.
• Example: A mother yells at a child when he or she runs into
the street. If the child stops running into the street, the
yelling acts as positive punishment because the mother
presents (adds) an unpleasant stimulus in the form of yelling.
• Negative punishment occurs when a response produces the
removal of a stimulus and that response decreases in
probability in the future in similar circumstances.
• Example: A teenager comes home after curfew and the
parents take away a privilege, such as cell phone usage. If
the frequency of the child coming home late decreases, the
removal of the phone is negative punishment because the
parents are taking away a pleasant stimulus (the phone) and
motivating the child to return home earlier.
Albert Bandura
• Albert Bandura was born December 4, 1925.
• 1949 – Graduated from the University of British
Columbia with a degree in Psychology.
• 1952 – Received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from
the University of Iowa.
• 1953 – Began teaching at Stanford University.
• 1974 – Served as President of the APA.
• 1980 – Received the APA’s Award for Distinguished
Scientific Contributions.
• 2004 - Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to
Psychology, American Psychological Association
What is Social Learning
Theory?
• The social learning theory proposed by Albert Bandura
has become perhaps the most influential theory of
learning and development. While rooted in many of the
basic concepts of traditional learning theory, Bandura
believed that direct reinforcement could not account
for all types of learning.
• His theory added a social element, arguing that people
can learn new information and behaviors by watching
other people. Known as observational learning (or
modeling), this type of learning can be used to explain
a wide variety of behaviors.
• WHO IS YOURE ROLE
MODEL?????????
Observational learning
• Occurs when an organism responding is influenced by
the observation of others, who are called models.
• In his famous "Bobo doll" studies, Bandura
demonstrated that children learn and imitate
behaviors they have observed in other people. The
children in Bandura’s studies observed an adult acting
violently toward a Bobo doll. When the children were
later allowed to play in a room with the Bobo doll, they
began to imitate the aggressive actions they had
previously
•
observed.
Basic processes
• The Modeling Process
– Not all observed behaviors are
effectively learned. Factors involving
both the model and the learner can play
a role in whether social learning is
successful. Certain requirements and
steps must also be followed. The
following steps are involved in the
observational learning and modeling
process: Attention, retention,
reproduction and motivation
Attention
• In order to learn, you need to be
paying attention. Anything that
detracts your attention is going to
have a negative effect on
observational learning. If the model
is interesting or there is a novel
aspect to the situation, you are far
more likely to dedicate your full
attention to learning.
Retention
• The ability to store information is
also an important part of the learning
process. Retention can be affected
by a number of factors, but the
ability to pull up information later
and act on it is vital to observational
learning.
Reproduction
• Once you have paid attention to the
model and retained the information,
it is time to actually perform the
behavior you observed. Further
practice of the learned behavior
leads to improvement and skill
advancement.
Motivation
• Finally, in order for observational
learning to be successful, you have to
be motivated to imitate the behavior
that has been modeled.
Reinforcement and punishment play
an important role in motivation. While
experiencing these motivators can be
highly effective, so can observing
others experience some type of
reinforcement or punishment.
• Thank you!!!