Learning

Learning

Warm Up: From the test, what type of learner are you? Was this accurate about how you learn? How can you use that knowledge to perform better in

school?Standards

IVA-1.1 Discuss learning from a psychological viewpoint.

IVA-2.1 Describe the classical conditioning paradigm.

IVA-3.1 Describe the operant conditioning paradigm.

Objective Students will be able to

compare the differences between classical and operant conditioning through a compare and contrast chart.

Learning Definition: a relatively permanent change in organism

behavior due to experience. Three forms of learning

Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning Observational learning

We repeat certain actions through habitual behaviors Examples – whenever I go to the movies, I eat popcorn, I

take the same way to school everyday Associative Learning

Learning that certain events occur together. Conditioning is the process of learning associations.

From your knowledge, explain what is happening to Snoopy in

this comic strip.

Classical ConditioningDefinition: a type of learning in which one learns to link

two or more stimuli and anticipate events.Created by Ivan PavlovLaid the foundations for John B. Watson’s behaviorism

The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes.Most psychologist believe in the former (objective science) but

reject the latter (without mental processes)

Watson and Pavlov did not believe in the human consciousness, believed that all animals learned in the same fashion.

Classical Condition Explained

Hypothesis – If he was to ring a bell, the dog would salivate regardless if the dog saw or smelled the food.

Method They put a dog in an isolated room on a leash so that

there were no external variables. They would slide food from another room to the dog and

let him eat, later replacing the food with meat powder and blowing the powder in his vicinity.

He added a bell to this event to see if the dog would learn

The dog would originally salivate with food in its mouth

Predication! Hypothesize!How do you think the bell affects the dog in

Pavlov’s experiment? Explain it in as much detail as possible.

Also! List the different parts of Pavlov’s experiment.For example: The Dog! (what else was in the

experiment?)

Stimulus and Response Neutral Stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning Unconditioned stimulus (US)

A stimulus that unconditionally, naturally and automatically, triggers a response.

Unconditioned response (UR) The unlearned, naturally occurring response to the

unconditioned stimulus Conditioned stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus, that after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response

Conditioned response (CR) The learned response to a preciously neutral but now

conditioned stimulus

Retrace! Label!Go back to recalling Pavlov’s experiment. Label

what the different stimulus and responses were for each of the different steps.

Forgot the steps? Here they are belowDog sees food, salivatesBell is rungBell is rung when dog sees food, salivatesBell is rung, dog salivates

The Office ClipDissect the clip of Jim and Dwight, what are the

neutral stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus, the unconditioned response, the conditioned stimulus, and the conditioned response?

Warm Up: List and describe the different types of stimuli and response in a classical conditioning experiment.

Standards IVA-1.1 Discuss learning

from a psychological viewpoint.





Check For UnderstandingQ: How does a neutral stimulus become a conditioned stimulus?A: First the neutral stimulus, a tone, is paired with an unconditioned stimulus such as food which is already paired with an unconditioned response, salivation. Over time, the neutral response becomes associated with the unconditioned response and eventually is taken over becoming the conditioned stimulus. Now that the tone is taken over as the conditioned response, the subject has learned that whenever it hears the tone, he/she/it will exhibit the associated conditioned response, salivating without food.

5 Major conditioning processes

AcquisitionExtinctionSpontaneous RecoveryGeneralizationdiscrimination

AcquisitionDefinition: the initial stage in classical

conditioning, the phase associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit the conditioned response.

Main question: how much time should elapse between presenting the NS and the US?Would conditioning occur if the US appears before

the CS?This can be done with most things such as

emotions, attitudes, or any of the senses

Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery

Definition- the diminishing of a conditioned response, occurs when an US does not follow the CS Example – bell rings, teacher does not say or do anything

for weeks. Bell rings, student gets up.Spontaneous recovery – the appearance of an

extinguished CR after a duration of timeExtinction does not eliminate the CR but rather

represses it (reconditioning back to the UR)Through extinction, memories of the once CR can be

remembered. Example: the smell of her perfume sexually arouse you,

now when you smell the same scent, you are not aroused, but recall the times that we you were aroused.

GeneralizationDefinition – the tendency, once a response has

been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.

This can be learned to be adaptive.Example: toddler told to watch out for cars, thus they

are afraid of anything that moves fast on wheels (trucks and motorcycles)

Emotion is tied into generalization of a certain stimuli. Something that may be in the form of something naturally disgusting (dog poo and poo shaped fudge) will illicit similar response.

DiscriminationDefinition – the learned ability to distinguish

between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal the unconditioned stimulus

Basically the opposite of generalization.Example: seeing a pit bull will make your heart

race, but seeing a Chihuahua will make you laugh.

Check for Understanding!Q: Name the 5 different forms of classical conditioning processes, explain each form and give an example of each.A: AcquisitionExtinctionSpontaneous RecoveryGeneralizationDiscrimination

Understanding Pavlov’s Findings

J. Garcia creates a test and dispels the notion that the US must be immediately followed by a CS. Example – you eat seafood, get food poisoning, you smell

seafood, you will avoid it.Conditioning be limited to a certain sense or emotion but

not others. Drinking water which gets you sick because of the way it

tastes may not get a response from the sight of water, but only taste.

Darwin’s principle that natural selection favors traits that aid in our survival. Learn not to do things that harm our physical body.

Applications of Classical Conditioning

Conditioning feeble minded high school psychology students to doing whatever their teacher wants them to do, like write down this slide.

If addicted to drugs and are trying to get clean, to stay away from areas which the person will associate with the highs

A drug which tastes like something else, the body might think it is getting the drug, and produce an immune response.

Can partially explain trauma in victims and why they response certain ways.

Operant ConditioningDefinition – a type of learning in which behavior is

strengthen if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punishment.

Includes acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization and discrimination just like classical conditioning.

Difference is that classical conditioning associates through the stimulus while operant conditioning is through operant behaviorBehavior that operates on the environment, producing

consequences

B.F. Skinner and His Experiment

One of the most influential and controversial Behaviorist

Law of effect (created by Edward Thorndike)Thorndikes’ principle that behaviors followed by a

reward are become more likely to be repeated than ones followed by punishments

Skinner creates the Operant chamberBetter know as Skinner boxA small box which has a lever where the subject

receives a reward when the lever is pulledBasis of learning (refer to notes on classical

conditioning)

Skinner Shapes BehaviorShaping

An operant conditioning procedure which reinforcers (a reward or punishment) guide behavior toward close and close approximation of desired behavior

example: a student who is failing the class says a good answer, teacher compliments him/her. Next time the teacher will want them to add more to their answer or receive a passing grade before the compliment occurs again.

This can be applied to animals not just humans.

Question: How is whining shaping and how as adults do we deal with people who whine?

Types of Reinforcers Reinforcement

Any event that strengthens or increases the frequency of preceding response.

Positive Reinforcement Increasing behaviors by

presenting positive stimuli, such as food or compliments. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that strengthens the response.

Negative Reinforcement Increasing behaviors by stopping

or reducing negative stimuli, such as a smoking a cigarette. This is not a punishment.

Primary Reinforcer A naturally reinforcing stimulus

such as one that satisfies a biological need

Conditioned Reinforcer A stimulus that gains its

reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer (a.k.a secondary reinforcer)

Immediate Reinforcer An immediate response to

the desired behavior (press a lever, food immediate delivered)

Delayed Reinforcer A delay in the response

but still the behavior is reinforced

Would have a 1 dollar now or 20 dollars in a week?

Marshmallows and Milgram

Watch the clip on Milgram’s experiment. How is operant conditioning applied to this video? Explain.

Watch the marshmallow clip. What type of reinforcement is shown? Explain.

Check For UnderstandingQ: What is the difference between positive and negative reinforcement. Provide an example of each to illustrate the difference.A: A positive reinforcement is a reinforcer which positively affects the subject, such as a reward or food. A negative reinforcement is a reinforcer which deals with a negative response, such as a smoker who has a craving (the negative stimuli) so they smoke.

Reinforcement Schedules Continuous Reinforcement

Reinforcing the desired response every time behavior occurs Partial (intermittent) reinforcement

Reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction that does continuous reinforcement

Fixed-ratio schedules A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified

number of times

Variable-ratio schedules A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable

number of responses

Fixed-interval schedule A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified

amount of time

Variable interval schedule A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.

The Big Bang Theory ClipWatch the clip on the Big Bang Theory. Write

down all the different reinforcement Sheldon uses on Penny to condition her. Also, list any that he uses on Leonard. Does any one else use conditioning in the clip? Explain.

Warm Up: Read the handout on punishment. What do you believe is the best form of punishment? Why do you believe that way is the best? Remember, if you state that you have been physically abused, by CA state law, I must report it.

Standards IVA-1.1 Discuss learning

from a psychological viewpoint.





Cognition and Operant Conditioning

Latent Learning Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an

incentive to demonstrate it. In rats learning a maze, they develop a cognitive map of the

course, learning where there are dead ends A mental representation of the layout of one’s environment. Give 1 example of a cognitive map from your own experience.

Motivation Intrinsic

Desire to perform a behavior for your own sake. Extrinsic

Desire to perform a behavior due to a promised reward or threat of punishment.

Applications of Operant Conditioning

State your goal – when you have a goal, you can obtain something rather than to just go life with no goal

Monitor yourself – see how many times you are doing the desired behavior (log it to see if you are wasting time or using it wisely)

Reinforce the desired behavior – giving yourself occasional rewards as you progress through to your goal.

Reduce incentives gradually – stop giving yourself a physical reward and make the drive more mental.

Observational LearningDefinition – learning by observing others and imitating

them as well. Example – you see your mom cut herself with a knife

chopping vegetables, you will probably not make the same mistake

This is done usually through modeling The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

Can you name some ways in which we model in society?

Mirror Neurons in the frontal lobe can explain why we exhibit modeling Frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions

when observing others doing the activity. Can explain imitation, language learning, and empathy This also helps us explain the Theory of Mind

Bandura’s ExperimentAlbert Bandura is consider the father of observational

learningChildren are more likely to imitate those they trust

(adults)Watch the video on Bandura’s Experiment. What are

your thoughts about it, do you believe that people are more likely to follow what we see? Why was it ok for the child to do what the adult did?

Why do we follow these models? We see whether they are reinforced or punished and act

accordingly.

Applications of Observational Learning

Positive observation learning Prosocial models can have a positive effect

Positive, constructive, helpful behavior Parents who exhibit prosocial behavior are more likely to have

children who do the same.Example – European Christians who promoted good family values

were more likely to save the Jews from the Nazis. How to be the most positive? Be consistent.

Television Learning about life and what is ok and not from TV programs

(such as Sesame Street or prime time TV shows) Is there a correlation between watching violent acts and the

act of violent behavior?

Documents

Learning