How the environment influences our behavior.

Ch 5 learning

learningMore than just picking up knowledge or a skill:

A semi-permanent change in behavior brought by experience or practice

The four pillars of learningClassical Conditioning – gaining automatic

connectionsOperant Conditioning – repeating what works,

avoiding what doesn’tSocial Learning – being influenced by those we

admire

Classical Conditioning

Learning to make an involuntary (reflex) respond to a stimulus other than the original natural stimulusReflex- involuntary responseUnconditioned stimulus UCS- a naturally occurring stimulus that leads to a reflex

Unconditioned response UCR- an involuntary (reflex) response to a naturally occurring or UCS

Classical Conditioning Neutral Stimulus NS- Stimulus that has no affect

on the desired responseConditioned Stimulus CS- Stimulus that becomes

able to produce a learned reflex response paired with the original unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned Response CR-Learned reflex response to a conditioned stimulus

backgroundIt all started with Ivan Pavlov and his study

of the digestive systemResearch based on work with animalsStudied the automatic connection between

food (meat) in the mouth and the flow of digestive juices

UCS (meat in mouth) > UCR (saliva)

The big ideaStart with an unconditioned reflex – an

automatic connection between a stimulus and a response (meat>saliva)

Big idea part 2Develop new automatic responses by

repetitively pairing an originally neutral stimulus with an UCS

Let’s say that a different wayAn air puff in the eye (UCS) will always make us blink (UCR)

Flashing a red card won’t

But if we repetitively flash the red card, shortly followed by the air puff, eventually,

Just flashing the red card will make us blink !

examplesThat particular corner at your high schoolThe torturer’s black shoesThe whistling of a V1 “shrieker”The song from that certain summer that

reminds you of …..Smell of food your grandma made

Stimulus GeneralizationOther stimuli that is similar can lead to the

same responseStimulus Discrimination

When a person/animal is able to learn to respond different stimuli in different ways

Extinction and RecoveryWhen the response “Dies Out”

Remove the reinforcement CS and the CR will weaken and disappear

Spontaneous RecoveryThe CR can briefly reappear when the

original CS returnsWill be weak and short lived

Unraveling the connectionIn CC, extinction takes place when we

repeatedly present the CS without the UCS following it

More perspectivesCC prepares us for significant events by

identifying events that commonly predict them

Gives us advance warning of upcoming threats and opportunities

The more unfamiliar the CS or the more powerful the UCS the faster the CR takes

Other aspectsThe process that establishes or strengthens a CR is called acquisition

A CS can even be a thought

All together nowFirst we build the CS>CR connection through acquisition,

Then we unravel it through extinction,

If we then stop presenting the CS for a while, once we resume its use,

The CR will return, but not for long, unless it is again paired with the UCS

Extending the connectionThe CR can occur even without

presentation of the exact CS which formed it, if the new CS is similar enough

Stimulus generalization – the extension or broadening of a CR from the original CS to another, similar stimulus

The more similar the entire setting is, the more likely the new connection will form

Narrowing connectionsIf differing stimuli, although quite similar to the CS, are never, or rarely, followed by the UCS, then the CR will not emerge

Stimulus discrimination – differing responses to differing stimuli that have been followed by differing events

Is it just timing?The concept of blocking

If a CS/CR link has been established, pairing a new CS will not work no matter how hard you may try

Conditioned taste aversion

The power of predictionIt’s reliability that counts, the CS’ ability to accurately and consistently predict the UCS.

The UCS must be more likely to occur after the CS.

The big pictureCC involves visceral reactions involving the sympathetic nervous system – you feel it in your gut.

It prepares us for important challenges and threats.

But it does not tell us what to do.

The next stepFor how we learn voluntary, planned behaviors, we turn to operant conditioning.