Learning

Table of Contents-71. Chapter 6 Concepts72. Classical Conditioning Practice

Homework- Review Chapter 6 Concepts- Quiz Thursday!

Conditioning

• Type of learning that involves stimulus-response connections

• Two types:– Classical Conditioning– Operant Conditioning

Pavlov -Pavlov set out to discover how learning occurred

-Created a study using dogs where he tried to condition the dogs to have a biological response (salivation) to a neutral stimulus. (ringing a bell)

1. UcS- Unconditioned Stimulus- food given to dogsUcR- Unconditioned Response- dog salivates and eats2. Introduce NS- Neutral Stimulus (ring bell when placing food down)3. CS- Conditioned Stimulus- bellCR- Conditioned Response- salivate when hearing bell

Little Albert experiment- John Watson

• Watson wanted to apply Pavlov’s study to humans• Believed that human behavior (even things we thought were instinct) were a

result of the environment (could be LEARNED) • Emotionally and physically healthy 9-month old male raised in a hospital

environment• Seeks to condition this baby to have an extreme fear (response) to a small white rate (stimulus)

Anybody have issues with his experiment…

Watson

Methodology?Ethics?Data?

• One of the First American Psychologist to apply Pavlov’s work to humans (emotions)

• Brought the study of behavior (Psych) into a more “scientific” and observable discipline

• Little Albert in every Psych Textbook

•Convinced other Psychologist that there was an alternative to Freudian Psychoanalysis

•Neurotic symptoms (Phobias could be controlled via CC)…Major applied significance

Watson’s Contributions

Contributions to Psychology

• Generalization of fears

• Showed that emotions can be learned

Use Classical Conditioning to explain behavior:Scenarios (group discussions)

1. Sound of drill, dentist visit2. Hospital smell, visiting the hospital

3. Band-aids, visiting the doctor

Neutral Stimulus (NS)Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)Unconditioned Response (UCR)

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)Conditioned Response (CR)

Real-Life Examples of Classical Conditioning

-Child sleeps on a pad (a wire mesh that is connected to a bell - has been sewn)- Child wets the bed electrical circuit causes bell to ring (UCS) -Child wakes up (UCR)

After several repetitions of this cycle (bed-wetting causes him to be awakened by the bell), the child begins to associate the sensation of pressure in his bladder (a previously neutral stimulus) with waking up

-In a short time, the need to urinate (now a CS) becomes sufficient in itself to awaken the child (now a CR) so he or she can get up and go to the bathroom - no need for PAD with Bell

Mowrer & Mowrer (1938) Treatment for enuresis (bed-wetting)

In A Clockwork Orange, a brutal sociopath, a mass murderer, is strapped to a chair and forced to watch violent movies while he is injected with a drug that nauseates him. So he sits and gags and retches as he watches the movies. After hundreds of repetitions of this, he associates violence with nausea, and it limits his ability to be violent.

Operant Conditioning- Skinner Box

Operant Conditioning- People and animals can learn to do certain things (and not do

others) by learning from the results of their behavior- VOLUNTARY responses

• B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)– elaborated Thorndike’s

Law of Effect <people keep doing things that feel good>

– developed behavioral technology

Thorndike’s Law of Effect

Rewarded behavior is likely to recur.

Behavior followed by a negative consequence is less likely to recur.

Operant Conditioning

• Operant Chamber (“Skinner Box”)– soundproof chamber

with a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer

– contains a device to record responses

Skinner Box

Reinforcer Increases the Probability

of the Behavior It Follows • The fundamental principle of behaviorism is that rewarded behavior is likely to be repeated.

• This is known as a positive reinforcement in operant conditioning.

ex: Your teacher praises you when you get an “A”

• A negative reinforcement is when you want a bad feeling/thing to stop so you exhibit a behavior– Ex: You put on your seat belt to make the ringing

sound stop. OR You take an aspirin to make a headache stop.

Punishment

• When you get a consequence for a negative behavior so you stop doing the negative behavior– Ex: You get grounded for coming home after

curfew.

Positive and Negative Reinforcement, Positive and Negative Punishment

Social Learning Theory

Social Learning

• Aka Observational Learning• learning by observing and imitating the behavior

of others– The others whom we observe and imitate are called models.

– They teach us by modeling behavior Observational learning helps children learn how to

behave in their families and in their cultures without requiring direct experience

Children Can Learn Aggressive Behavior through Observation • Albert Bandura• Bobo doll studies: the first set of experiments

demonstrating the power of observational learning in eliciting aggression.

• Research demonstrates that children are less likely to imitate the actions of punished aggressors.

Children Can Learn Aggressive Behavior through Observation

– Bandura believes children observe and learn aggression through many avenues, but the three principal ones are:

• Families: where adults use violence

• Communities: where aggression is considered to be a sign of manhood, especially among males

• Media: principally television and the movies