Behavior Learning & Classical

Conditioning

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How do we learn behavior?Learning: a relatively permanent change in behavior

brought about by experience.

Remember the nature vs. nurture debate? Learning is what results from nurturing.

!Behavior is not 100% the result of nurture. For example, you might get better at soccer as you grow older not only because you have learned

to improve your skills, but also because your body is becoming

physically stronger.

How do we learn behavior?5 Approaches to Studying Behavior in Psychology

Biological Approach Psychodynamic Approach

Behavioral Approach Cognitive Approach

Humanistic Approach

So far, we’ve touched on the biological approach,

and the cognitive approach.

For a review of the 5 approaches, view the assignment called “Approaches to Psychology”

Biological/Neuroscience Approach

The Neuroscience perspective considers how people function biologically, and how the functioning of the body shapes our

behavior, hopes, and fears.

Is psychopathic behavior due to a malfunction of the brain?

!Is my friend’s irritable

behavior due to stress and lack of sleep?

How do the genetic, medical, and neurological components of a person affect behavior?

Cognitive ApproachHow does sensation, perception, and our understanding of reality

affect our behavior?

Someone using drugs may not process information well. This may cause them to act in harmful ways.

!If I sense movement in the grass and I

perceive a threat, my behavior will reflect these mental processes.

The Cognitive perspective focuses on how people think, understand, and know about the world. Cognitive theorists

believe that a person's difficulties often stem from false perceptions of reality, and that people develop ideas of the world

and base their judgements upon these perceptions.

Behavioral ApproachHow do rewards and punishments throughout a person’s life affect

their behavior?

We learn to associate certain acts with the responses they produce… so if my parents want me to stop sucking my thumb, they can cover my thumb in

something that tastes bad! Thus, sucking my thumb produces a negative response,

and I will eventually stop doing it.

The Behavioral perspective focuses on observable behaviors that can be measured objectively. Behaviorists believe that our behavior

is related to our environment, and we can modify behavior by modifying the environment.

The Psychodynamic perspective is about understanding the inner person. It is based on the theory that behavior is motivated by

inner forces and conflicts over which we have little awareness or control.

Psychodynamic ApproachHow do primal instincts, desires, and the experiences of early

childhood affect behavior?

Is the cruel behavior of a child due to the fact that he was

raised by cruel parents? !

Does a hidden desire to cut up bodies lead someone to

become a surgeon?

Humanistic ApproachHow does my own ambition and desire to be the best version of

myself affect my behavior?

The Humanistic perspective argues that what ultimately drives human behavior is individual choice. All humans naturally strive to grow, develop, and be in control of their own lives and behavior.

After I satisfy my basic needs (like food and safety), I can begin to satisfy enriching needs

(like romance and social prestige!)

Classical ConditioningA type of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes

to bring about a response after it is paired with a stimulus that naturally brings that response.

Neutral Stimulus: This stimulus does not

naturally cause the subject to respond in a certain way.

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Unconditioned Stimulus: A stimulus that naturally (no learning involved) causes a

particular response. !

The “Pavlov’s Dog” ExperimentIn the 1890s, Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov was studying

aspects of the digestive process by observing salivation in dogs, when he made the observation that dogs began to

salivate before the food arrived…for example, at the sight of the food tray or sound of the assistant’s footsteps.

This work became the foundation for classical conditioning and the

behavioral approach to psychology.

1. Before Conditioning 2. Before Conditioning

3. During Conditioning 4. After Conditioning

Neutral Stimulus

Ear Movement (Unconditioned

response unrelated to meat.)

Unconditioned Stimulus

Salivation (Unconditioned

Response)

Salivation (Unconditioned

Response)

Salivation (Conditioned

Response)

Conditioned Stimulus

Classical ConditioningDo you think you have been classically conditioned

to respond to anything in a certain way?

If I hear the sound of an alarm clock, my body becomes tense

and my mood becomes unhappy. It’s not really the alarm that I

hate…it’s waking up!

Classical ConditioningAnother example: you need to get a series of shots. The

nurse always says, “this won’t hurt a bit” before giving you the shots, but the nurse is inexperienced and always gives

really painful shots! Later before having your teeth cleaned, the dentist says, “this won’t hurt a bit,” and it

causes you to experience feelings of terror.

Pair-Share: !

What do you think would happen if a dog that had

been classically conditioned to salivate at the ringing of a bell never received food again when the bell was rung? In other words, if you keep ringing the bell

without giving the dog food, what will result?

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“Extinction”When a previously conditioned response decreases

in frequency and eventually disappears.

Where is my food?

Stimulus GeneralizationAfter a stimulus has been conditioned to produce a

particular response, stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus may produce the same response. The greater

the similarity between two stimuli, the greater the likelihood that stimulus generalization will occur.

Video

The “Little Albert Experiment”In the 1920s, John B. Watson classically conditioned a human baby to experience fear at the sight of white rats, and as a result of stimulus generalization, at the

sight of other small furry animals.

He achieved this by creating loud, painful

noises whenever Albert touched the rat. Albert began to associate small animals with the

trauma of the noise.

Stimulus GeneralizationThe greater the similarity between two stimuli, the greater

the likelihood that stimulus generalization will occur.

Albert became afraid of small furry animals.

The big black dog used in the

experiment did not scare him.

Spontaneous RecoveryAfter a conditioned response becomes “extinct,” the response can sometimes reemerge after a period of

time has passed with no further conditioning.

People often wondered if Little Albert might still occasionally experience fear of animals as an adult…but sadly, he died of disease at age 6.

Note This!

Classical conditioning relates to involuntary, automatic reactions we have to a stimulus. (These are usually emotional and biological reactions).

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You cannot be classically conditioned to perform a voluntary action (there is a

different concept called operant conditioning that refers to the ability to make us more or less

likely to perform a certain voluntary action).