LEARNING“Under carefully controlled experimental circumstances, an animal will behave as it damn well pleases.”

Harvard Law of Animal Behavior

Learning - a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that occurs as a result of experience3 features of this definition:

1. Relatively permanent

2. Change in behavior or knowledge3. That occurs as a result of experience Who studies learning? THE

BEHAVIORSTS!!!Radical behaviorists believe the entire human experience can be explained as

a series of learned behaviors• John Watson founded Behaviorist Psychology

in the first decade of the 20th century.

3 Major Types of Learning:1. Classical Conditioning

2. Operant Conditioning

3. Social (Observational) Learning

Watson said, “Forget the mind” and psychology did.Behaviorists believe that if it can’t be observed and measured, it is not scientific & not worth studying

The “classic” work of Ivan Pavlov is the basis of Classical Conditioning:Pavlov – Nobel Prize (1904) winning physiologist – studied the digestive system in dogs

NOT A PSYCHOLOGIST!!

•Work with dogs & digestion led to frustration with all of the dog saliva

•He became interested in the phenomena he observed in the dogs as they salivated to stimuli not food-related

•Why did the dogs salivate at foot-steps? Or the sight of his assistant Boris, but not Uri?

Could he could create a new association for the dogs – food with the sound of a bell, then tuning fork, then metronome? Several times he

rang the bell, then gave the dog food

+ =

IT WORKED!

Classical Conditioning begins…

These 4 features are ALWAYS present in CC•Unconditioned Stimulus – stimulus that automatically elicits a response

UCS = the food•Unconditioned Response – automatic response to a natural stimulus

UCR = salivation•Conditioned Stimulus – the previously neutral stimulus now associated with a natural stimulusCS = bell•Conditioned response – new learned response to conditioned stimulus

CR = salivation

Conditioned = learned Unconditioned=unlearned (natural)

Classical Conditioning is INVOLUNTARY

Pets are classically conditioned

You are classically conditionedPavlov studied these principles for

the next 30 years

• Behaviorist John Watson would take these principles and dominate

psychology for the first ½ of the 20th century

Other classical conditioning concepts:

•Acquisition – the process of learning the behavior as the CS and UCS are paired

This pairing usually must occur in rapid succession for the association to be

made*But John Garcia* discovered that rats can be classically conditioned by with a UCS that only appears hours later

•Extinction – decline of the CR in the absence of the UCS

Ex. – ring bell, no food given, after a time the CR of salivation will (usually) decline, then stop•Spontaneous recovery – after

extinction, the CR returns with NO pairing of the UCS & CS•Reacquisition – the CR returns after a pairing of the UCS and CS + =

•Generalization – tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the original CS

•Discrimination – responding to/distinguishing only the learned stimuli

Another famous conditioning example:

John Watson set out to prove that what we call emotions are just learned behaviors

He decides to prove that fear is learned

•Watson & his grad. assistant Rosalie Raynor show Albert a rat, which he does not fear

He conducts his work on an infant named Albert

•Then he smashes to metal bars together – which frightens the baby, he cries

•Several times the rat is presented, then the loud noise is made

After several pairings of rat & loud noise, ??

Baby Albert is frightened, cries at the sight of the rat

*Watson believes that he has proven emotions are learnedUCS – loud

noiseUCR – fear/cry

CS - rat CR – fear/cry

Now, will he generalize Watson wonders..Yes, to a white rabbit, a fur coat, a

fuzzy santa mask beard

Watson feels he has proven 2 things:

1. Emotions are learned

2. Learned emotions can be generalized

BUT*His research has never been replicated

This implies

association and

THINKING!

Another, more complex type of CC – higher order conditioning.Conditioning occurs to a 2nd level of stimulus (not a direct

pairing of CS & UCS, but a 2nd CS comes between CS & UCS)

bell black square

+= the

n=salivat

e black sq.alone

sal.

=

+

2. Robert Rescorla – believes that conditioning involves expectancy: an understanding/or anticipation of the UCS when CS occurs

1. Garcia’s work contradicts a basic behaviorist tenet – timing (1/2 second or less) of pairing of CS & UCS

Detractors of radical behaviorism say :

Stimulus always comes first, response second in CC

Second type of learning: Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened by reinforcement or diminished by punishment Early research in OC was conducted by Edward

ThorndikeHe developed his Law of Effect based on his work with cats in his “puzzle box”Law of Effect – rewarded behavior is likely to recur

•His cats were rewarded by freedom from the box AFTER they performed the desired behavior – figuring their way out

Response comes first, THEN stimulus (reinforcer) is achieved

•B.F. Skinner takes over the helm of behaviorism after Watson is tossed out•His work with rats and pigeons takes him to the top of psychology – he will advocate behaviorism until his dying day.

Operant conditioning is a VOLUNTARY activity

In operant conditioning the RESPONSE comes first, then the STIMULUS (a reinforcer) is given

Shake (response)

Then treat (stimulus)

No shake = no treat

How to get the desired behavior? Shaping

Give reinforcer as the behavior gets closer and closer to the desired behavior

Skinner becomes an icon in psychology

“Skinnerian” becomes a term

“Law of Successive Approximations”

Once individual behaviors are learned, chaining can link them together

Types of Reinforcers:

Principles of reinforcement & punishment

Primary – satisfies a biological need

Food, water, relief from pain, sleep, warmthSecondary – non-essential reinforcers, they may

represent a primary reinforcer (also highly reinforcing)

Money, praise, grades, stickers

Behaviorists see both reinforcement & punishment as positive or negative

*But, a level of deprivation is required for conditioning to occur

•May cause fear of the punisher

Reinforcer

Punishment

Positive + Negative -

Add good

Praise, money, a car!

Take away bad

Pick up baby when it cries, take aspirin for pain

Add badSpanking, lecture, screaming

Take away goodGrounding: from

phone, car, going out

In general, behaviorists do not believe in punishment:

The only thing punishment teaches is how to avoid it

•Correlates with aggressiveness

Schedules of reinforcement:

1. Fixed-ratio schedule: reinforcer is given after a set number of responses

Reinforcement could be continuous

But is more likely to be intermittant

Especially in early training during acquisition (for both animals & people)

Garment workers, maids, migrant workers

2. Variable-ratio schedule: reinforcers are given after an unpredictable number of responses

Training with intermittant reinforce. Is slower but results are longer lasting

3. Fixed-interval schedule: reinforcer is given after a set amount of time

Test, congress, lazy pigeons4. Variable-interval schedule:

reinforcer is given after an unpredictable amount of time

Conditions which dispute radical behaviorism’s ideas:1. Latent learning – E.C.

Tolman’s cognitive map•Latent learning takes place as we experience our world, is displayed later

•Humans & other animals create cognitive maps

With no reinforcers!!RAT A- 5.4

SECONDSRAT B- 6.9 SECONDS

2. Overjustification Effect – reinforcers can actually make one enjoy a task LESS

3. Premack’s Principle

4. Limitations of biology

Third type of learning is Social Learning

Albert Bandura – develops this type of learning theory based on observing and imitating others in one’s life

His famous experiment:

REINFORCERS ARE RELATIVE

*Involves thinking!

*Involves thinking!

He placed children in a room with a blow-up Bobo

An adult came in, attacked Bobo, NO interaction with childThen frustration was created in the child by

taking away all toys except BoboThe kids laid into Bobo!

He called this behavior modeling

Social/Obser-vational Learning is born