The Learning Approach

(Behaviourism)

Watson (1878-1958)

"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select-- doctor, lawyer, merchant-chief, and yes, even beggarman and thief, regardless of histalents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors."(Watson, 1930)

What is it all about?

All behaviour is learned from the environment

We are born as “blank slates” (tabula rasa) All we have at birth is the

capacity to learn

Focus of the approach: observable behaviour

Some definitions....

Stimulus : Any change in the environment that an organism registers.

Response : Any behaviour that the organism emits as a consequence of a stimulus.

Reflex: A consistent connection between a stimulus and a response.

Classical conditioning

Learning by association

Ivan Pavlov: 1849-1946 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1904

Pavlov’s Dog

This famous experiment made the concept of the conditioned reflex widespread. Pavlov examined the rate of salivation among dogs when presented with food. He noticed the dogs would salivate upon seeing their food, so he began ringing a bell every time the food was presented to the dogs. Over time, the dogs began to associate the ringing of the bell with food and would salivate upon hearing the bell, demonstrating that reflexes can be learned.

That’s a reflex

Dog hears the lab technician

What’s going on?

Bell: Neutral stimulus (NS)

Salivation: unconditioned Response (UCR)

Bell: Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Salivation: Conditioned response (CR)

Food: unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Before conditioning

During conditioning

After conditioning

PairingBell: Neutral stimulus (NS)

Food: unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Salivation: unconditioned Response (UCR)

How does it work?

Work it out....A child is afraid of spiders. One day he is in a lift

and notices a spider. Now he is afraid of lifts.

Neutral stimulus (NS)? Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?

Unconditioned response (UCR)?

Conditioned stimulus (CS)?

Conditioned response(CR)?

Inducing a phobia: Little Albert

Little AlbertThe Little Albert experiment is like the human equivalent of Pavlov’s dogs. Probably one of the most unethical psychological studies of all time, this experiment conducted in 1920 by John B. Watson and his partner Rosalie Rayner at Johns Hopkins University conditioned a nine-month-old boy to develop irrational fears. Watson began by placing a white rat in front of the infant, who showed no fear at first. He then produced a loud sound by striking a steel bar with a hammer every time little Albert touched the rat. After a while, the boy began to cry and exhibit signs of fear every time the rat appeared in the room. Watson also created similar conditioned reflexes with other common animals and objects until Albert feared them all, proving that classical conditioning works on humans.

Operant conditioning

Learning by consequences

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990)

RatatouilleRatatouille is hungry and perform various exploratory behaviours

By chance he presses the lever

A pellet of food appears!

I’ll do that again

Some definitions....

Reinforcement : Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated

Positive reinforcement :

Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are pleasant when they happen i.e. food for Ratatouille

Negative reinforcement :

Anything which has the effect of increasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are pleasant when they stop

Punishment : Anything which has the effect of decreasing the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using consequences that are unpleasant when happen

Schedules of reinforcement• When and how often we reinforce a behaviour

can have a significant impact on the strength and rate of the response.

2 types of schedules• Continuous reinforcement: the desired behaviour is

reinforced every single time it occurs.• Partial reinforcement: the response is reinforced

only part of the time.

1. Fixed ratio schedules: the response is reinforced only after a specified number of responses.

2. Variable-ratio schedules occur when a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses.

3. Fixed-interval schedules the first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has elapsed

4. Variable-interval schedules occur when a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed.

Which schedule of reinforcement produces the fastest learning?

Social learningLearning by andobservation imitation

Bandura (1977) believed that four criteria need too be met for

imitation to occur

1. Attention to the role model

2. Retention of the observed behaviour

3. Reproduction of the target behaviour

4. Motivation to imitate the observed behaviour

Who makes an effective role model?

Same gender Same age

Higher status

Admired or/and respected

Why do we imitate?

What???

Observe behaviour being reinforced in

other people

Vicarious reinforcements

Bandura (1961)

The Bobo Doll Experiment

During the 1960s, much debate arose about how genetics, environmental factors, or social learning shaped children’s development. Albert Bandura conducted the Bobo Doll Experiment in 1961 to prove that human behavior stemmed from social imitation rather than inherited genetic factors. He set up three groups: one was exposed to adults showing aggressive behavior towards a Bobo doll, another was exposed to a passive adult playing with the Bobo doll, and the third formed a control group. The results showed that children exposed to the aggressive model were more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior towards the doll themselves, while the other groups showed little imitative aggressive behavior.

And now lets think!• Does this account for the way you learn?• Does this explain gender development?• Can this be applied to everyday life? i.e. Some

of your behaviour and your teacher’s behaviour?

• Tomorrow bring to class in writing one way you have learned by; Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, imitation, Vicarious Reinforcement.