Chapter 6:Learning

Essential Question:What are the principles of

classical conditioning?

Thoughts on Learning“Learning is not compulsory.

Neither is survival.”W. Edwards Demming

“Education is what survives when what has been learned has been

forgotten.”B.F. Skinner

“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn

how to do it.”Pablo Picasso

What is Learning?

A relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience

Why do grades matter?• Why does a letter or number mean

something to you? • Why do we try to avoid certain numbers

and letters? • When you listen to old songs, do you

have certain “rushes” of emotion from the time period that that song was popular?

• The song, the letters, the numbers all have associations with certain amount of experiences.

StimulusStimulusSomething that produces a

reaction

ResponseResponseReaction to a stimulus

ConditioningConditioningLearning

Classical ConditioningClassical ConditioningSimple form of learning, in which one stimulus comes to call forth the response usually called forth

by another stimulus.

Types of Learning• Classical conditioning• Operant conditioning• Cognitive Factors in

Learning–Latent Learning–Observational Learning

Ivan Pavlov• Russian Scientist• Studied the

digestive tracks of dogs

• Noticed that dogs began to salivate when they heard the people coming with their supper

• Decided to investigate further into this reaction

Letters of Learning• (US) Unconditioned Stimulus -a

stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response without any prior conditioning (no learning needed for the response to occur).

• (UR) Unconditioned Response -an unlearned reaction/response to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs without prior conditioning.

Letters of Learning• (CS) Conditioned Stimulus - a

previously neutral stimulus that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a conditioned response.

• (CR) Conditioned Response - a learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of prior conditioning.

Adapting to the environment

• Have you ever eaten something and gotten sick on it and you cannot eat this again because of this bad experience?

• This is an example of taste aversion• Taste Aversion is defined as learned

avoidance of a particular food

Food Aversion

• US is the food • UR is nausea• Through pairing (maybe only

once)• CS is the food• CR is nausea

• Food-grade taste Food-grade taste aversion agent aversion agent made from bitter, made from bitter, smelly part of smelly part of concord grapes concord grapes (active ingredient (active ingredient methyl anthranilate), methyl anthranilate), renders fruit and renders fruit and foliage unpalatable foliage unpalatable to birds.to birds.

What would happen if Pavlov kept ringing the bell and not giving the dog the food? (that is after the dog was conditioned to the bell)

ExtinctionExtinction

What if Pavlov’s dog was fed normally (without the bell) and in a month later, he hears the bell…what

would he do?

Spontaneous Recovery

What if Pavlov’s dog was conditioned to the tuning fork (CS) and then Pavlov switched to a hand held

bell?

Generalization

What if the tuning fork (CS) was switched with

a doorbell?

Discrimination

Little Albert (call DFACS)pg 134• Let us read….• Now write a quick write

on “My childhood fears: How extinction changed these fears. Discuss the fact that as we mature, changing circumstances, recondition us. How does this relate to classical conditioning.