5 th edition copyright © prentice hall 20075-1 psychology stephen f. davis emporia state university...

Copyright © Prentice Hall 2007 5-1

5th Edition

PsychologyStephen F. Davis

Emporia State University Joseph J. Palladino

University of Southern IndianaPowerPoint Presentation by

Cynthia K. Shinabarger ReedTarrant County College

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5th Edition

Learning

Chapter 5


What is Learning?

• Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior or the potential to make a response that occurs as a result of experience.


Classical Conditioning

• Classical conditioning is a form of learning that occurs when two stimuli—a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus—that are paired (presented together) become associated with each other.



• A neutral stimulus (NS) is a stimulus that, before conditioning, does not elicit a particular response.

• An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is a stimulus that automatically produces a response without any previous training.



• A conditioned stimulus (CS) is a neutral stimulus that acquires the ability to elicit a conditioned response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

• An unconditioned response (UCR) is a reaction that is automatically produced when an unconditioned stimulus is presented.



• A conditioned response (CR) is a response elicited by a conditioned stimulus that has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus; it is similar to the unconditioned response.

• Several pairings of the NS and UCS during an acquisition phase lead to a situation in which the CS presented by itself elicits a CR.



• Acquisition is the training stage during which a particular response is learned (occurs after a CS is presented).

• Several factors influence the acquisition of CRs.

• Among them are the order in which the CS and UCS are presented, the intensity of the UCS, and the number of times the CS and UCS are paired.



• The optimum sequence is for the CS to precede the UCS (by about .50 second).

• The stronger the UCS, the stronger the conditioning.

• The more times the CS and UCS are presented together, the stronger the CR becomes.



Acquisition patterns in classical conditioning when the UCS is presented at different percentages on trials (a series of presentations of stimuli).



• Extinction is a general term for a reduction and eventual disappearance of a behavior; in the case of classical conditioning, extinction occurs when repeated presentation of the CS alone leads to a decrease in the strength of the CR.


Classical Conditioning• Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of

an extinguished CR after the passage of time.



• Generalization is the occurrence of responses to stimuli that are similar to a CS.

• Discrimination is the occurrence of responses only to a specific CS.



• John Watson and Rosalie Rayner demonstrated that emotions can be learned by classically conditioning 9-month-old Little Albert to fear a white rat.



• Conditioning Little Albert to fear a white rat. • The research conducted by Watson and Rayner

would not be considered ethical by present-day standards.



• Many of our fears and anxieties may have been classically conditioned.

• A phobia is an irrational fear of an activity, object, or situation that is out of proportion to the actual danger it poses.



• If a potential attitude object (CS) such as a particular make of car is repeatedly paired with a UCS that is either positive or negative, an attitude is likely to form.

• Motives that are acquired through the process of classical conditioning are called learned motives.

• Many of the goals and incentives that motivate our behavior are learned through classical conditioning; hence they are termed learned goals (incentives).



• Our understanding of classical conditioning has been subject to revision since Pavlov introduced the basic processes.

• One principle that has emerged from this continued research is that the better the CS predicts the occurrence of the UCS, the stronger the conditioning will be.

• Blocking is a situation in which the conditionability of a CS is weakened when it is paired with a UCS that has previously been paired with another CS.



• Previous trials of a CS-UCS pairing can serve to block the effectiveness of a second CS.



• Taste-aversion learning refers to the development of a dislike or aversion to a flavor or food that has been paired with illness.

• Preparedness is the theory that organisms are biologically ready or prepared to associate certain CSs with certain UCSs.


Operant Conditioning

• In operant conditioning, also known as instrumental conditioning, an organism operates on its environment to produce a change.

• Edward Thorndike studied the behavior of hungry animals by placing them in a small chamber he called a puzzle box.

• The law of effect is Thorndike’s view that reinforcers promote learning, whereas punishers lead to the unlearning of responses.



• B.F. Skinner was strongly influenced by Edward Thorndike, as well as by John B. Watson’s behavioral view of psychology.

• Watson believed that if we could understand how to predict and control behavior, we would know all there was to know about psychology.

• Skinner therefore began to look for the stimuli that control behavior.



• To isolate those effects, he developed a special testing environment called an operant conditioning chamber, which is usually referred to as a Skinner box.



• A reinforcer is an event or stimulus that increases the frequency of the response that it follows.

• Positive reinforcers are events or stimuli such as food, water, money, and praise that are presented after the target response occurs.

• Negative reinforcers are events or stimuli that are removed because a response has occurred.



• A primary reinforcer is an event or stimulus that has innate (that is, biological) reinforcing properties; you do not have to learn that such stimuli are reinforcers.

• A secondary reinforcer is a stimulus that acquires reinforcing properties by being associated with a primary reinforcer.



• Skinner coined the term operant conditioning because the behaviors we emit voluntarily operate on the environment around us in some way.

• The resulting changes in the environment determine what happens to a given target behavior (response).



• Positive reinforcement occurs when a target behavior (response) is followed by presentation of a positive reinforcer, which has the effect of making the behavior more likely to occur in the future.



• Shaping is a form of operant conditioning in which a desired response is taught by reinforcement of successive responses that more closely resemble the target response. “Successive Approximation”

• The Premack Principle refers to an operant conditioning technique in which the opportunity to participate in a preferred activity reinforces a less preferred activity.



• Negative reinforcement occurs when a target behavior (response) is followed by removal or reduction of a negative reinforcer, which leads to an increase in the frequency of the target behavior.



• Escape conditioning occurs when certain stimuli, whose removal immediately after the occurrence of a response, increase the likelihood of that response.

• Avoidance conditioning occurs when a behavior increases in frequency if it prevents an aversive stimulus from occurring.



• Extinction is a general term for the reduction and elimination of behaviors.

• In classical conditioning, extinction occurs when repeated presentation of the CS alone leads to a reduction in the strength of the CR.

• In operant conditioning, extinction occurs when a behavior is no longer followed by a reinforcer.


Operant Conditioning• Extinction burst means that a behavior

often increases once extinction begins before it is finally eliminated.

• Bringing a behavior under stimulus control means that a particular stimulus or signal tells the participant that its responses will be reinforced.

• A discriminative stimulus is a stimulus or signal telling the participant that responding will be reinforced.



• A preset pattern or plan for delivering reinforcement, a schedule of reinforcement, is an important determinant of behavior.

• Once a target response has been shaped, the experimenter can arrange to have the reinforcer delivered according to a specific schedule.



• The most basic schedule of reinforcement is continuous reinforcement, in which the participant is given a reinforcer after each target response occurs.

• In schedules of reinforcement that do not involve the use of continuous reinforcement, some responses are not reinforced.



• The term intermittent (or partial) reinforcement describes these noncontinuous patterns of delivering reinforcement.

• There are two main types of intermittent schedules: ratio and interval.



• When a ratio schedule is in effect, the number of responses determines whether the participant receives reinforcement.

• When an interval schedule is in effect, responses are reinforced only after a certain interval of time has passed.



• Fixed-ratio (FR) schedules require that a set number of responses be made before a reinforcer is delivered.

• Variable-ratio (VR) schedules require that the participant perform differing numbers of responses to obtain a reinforcer.



• With a fixed-interval (FI) schedule, the time interval is constant.

• The time interval changes after each reinforcer is delivered when a variable-interval (VI) schedule is used.

• Ratio schedules generally produce higher rates of responding than interval schedules.



• Operant responses that are not reinforced each time during training take much longer to extinguish than ones that have received continuous reinforcement.

• This phenomenon is known as the partial reinforcement effect.



• A punisher is a stimulus that produces a decrease in responding and may take the form of presentation of a stimulus or termination of a stimulus.



• Punishment is the process of using a punisher to decrease the response rate.

• Punishment is not an especially effective means of altering behavior.


Cognitive and Social Perspectives On Learning

• Insight learning is a form of operant conditioning in which we restructure our perceptual stimuli (we see things in a different way), make an instrumental (operant) response, and generalize this behavior to other situations.

• It is the “aha!” experience we have when we suddenly solve a problem.



• Latent learning occurs when learning has taken place, but is not demonstrated.



• Observational learning (modeling) is learning that occurs through watching and imitating the behaviors of others.

• For almost five decades, researchers have been accumulating correlational and experimental evidence on the relation between exposure to media violence and real-life aggression.



• The general conclusion from the accumulated evidence is: violent media is causally related to short-term and long-term expressions of aggression.

• One of the consequences of this exposure to media violence is desensitization, which is a reduction in distress-related physiological reactivity to observations or thoughts of violence.



• Although there are major differences between songs and visual media, such as television, research has established that aggressive words can prime aggressive thoughts, perceptions, and behavior, hence the concern for the potential effects of violent lyrics in songs.



• One of the keys to observational learning appears to be that the participant identifies with the person being observed.

• If we put ourselves in the other person’s place for a moment, we are better able to imagine the effects of the reinforcer or punisher.

• This phenomenon is called vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment.


Burt Raven: Influence Power

Psychological bases of Influence POWER • Expert Power• Referent Power• Legitimate Power• Reward Power• Coercive Power• Informational Power• Connection Power



• Attempts to influence behavior through observational learning occur every day (along with efforts based on classical conditioning).

• Observational learning has been used to reduce or eliminate phobias.



• Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, observational learning, and punishment are not mutually exclusive.

• They can, and do, occur simultaneously.