PSY 1101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, Learning
21 Jun 2018
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CHAPTER 7: LEARNING
7.1 BASIC LEARNING CONCEPTS AND CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
HOW DO WE LEARN
Learning: the process of acquiring through experience new information or behaviours
oLearning allows us to adapt to our environment
John Locke and David Hume believed Aristotle's conclusion that we learn by association
Learned associations also feed our habitual behaviours
oSleeping in a certain posture
When willpower is depleted (mentally fatigued) we fall back on our habits
Takes 66 days to form a new habit
Associative learning: learning that certain events occur together
oEvents may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning)
oEvents may be a response and its consequence (as in operant conditioning)
Stimulus: any event or situation that evokes a response
Respondent behaviour: behaviour that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus
oAssociate stimuli that we do not control
Operant behaviours: behaviour that operates on the environment, producing consequences
oLearn to associate a response (our behaviour) and its consequence
Cognitive learning: the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by
watching others, or through language
oObservational learning: lets us learn from others’ experience
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Classical conditioning: a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli
and anticipate events
Pavlov’s work laid the foundation for Watson’s ideas
Behaviourism: the view that psychology:
oShould be an objective science
oStudies behaviour without reference to mental processes
oMost research psychologists agree with the first point but not the second
PAVLOV’S EXPERIMENTS
Isolated a dog in a small room
Secured it in a harness
Attached a device to divert its saliva to a measuring instrument
Presented food first by sliding in a food bowl, then by blowing meat powder into the
dog’s mouth at a precise moment
Neutral stimuli (NS): in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before
conditioning
Paired various NS - events the dog could see or hear but didn’t associate with food -
with food in the dog’s mouth
Just before placing food in dog’s mouth, Pavlov sounded a tone
Dog learned to associate the two and began salivating when hearing the tone even if
food wasn’t presented
Unconditioned response (UR): in classical conditioning, an unlearned naturally
occurring response (such as salivation) to a unconditioned stimulus (such as food in the
mouth)
Unconditioned stimulus (US): in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally
- naturally and automatically - triggers an unconditioned response (UR)
Conditioned response: in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously
neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)
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Conditioned stimulus: in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that,
after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned
response (CR)
ACQUISITION
Acquisition: in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus
and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the
conditioned response
oIn operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response
In most cases, half a second is enough to make the NS and US connect
Conditioning would likely not occur if the NS followed the US
Conditioning helps an animal survive and reproduce
oResponding to cues that help it gain food, avoid dangers, locate mates, and
produce offspring
High-order conditioning: a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one
conditioning experience is paired with a neutral stimulus, created a second (often
weaker) conditioned stimulus
oFor example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then
learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone
oAlso called second-order conditioning
EXTINCTION AND SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY
Extinction: the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning
when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS)
oOccurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced
Spontaneous recovery: the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished
conditioned response
GENERALIZATION
Generalization: the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar
to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses
Generalization can be adaptive
Generalized fears can linger
DISCRIMINATION
Discrimination: in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a
conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal unconditioned stimulus
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PAVLOV’S LEGACY
Many other responses to many other stimuli can be classically conditioned in many other
organisms
Showed us how a process such as learning can be studied objectively
oSuggested a scientific model for how psychology may proceed
By isolating the basic building blocks of complex behaviours and studying
them with objective laboratory procedures
APPLICATIONS OF CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Former drug users often feel a craving when they are again in the drug-using context—
with people or in places they associate with previous highs. Thus, drug counselors
advise addicts to steer clear of people and settings that may trigger these cravings
Classical conditioning even works on the body’s disease-fighting immune system. When
a particular taste accompanies a drug that influences immune responses, the taste by
itself may come to produce an immune response
Provided a basis for Watson’s idea that human emotions and behaviours are mainly a
bundle of conditioned responses
oLittle Albert
Watson and Rayner presented a white rat, and as LA reached to touch it,
W&R struck a hammer against a steel bar just behind is head
After repeating this process 7 times LA would cry at the sight of the rat
5 days later he generalized his fear to other animals
Experiment would be unacceptable today as it is unethical
Classical conditioning can be used to rid individuals of their fears and phobias
7.2 OPERANT CONDITIONING
Operant conditioning: a type of learning in which behaviour is strengthened if followed
by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher
SKINNER’S EXPERIMENTS
Law of effect: Edward L. Thorndike’s principle that behaviours followed by favorable
consequences become more likely, and behaviours followed by unfavorable
consequences become less likely
Operant chamber: in operant conditioning research, a chamber (also known as Skinner
box) containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water
reinforcer; attached devices record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking
Reinforcement: in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behaviour it
follows
SHAPING BEHAVIOUR
Shaping: an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behaviour
toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behaviour
oSuccessive approximations: reward responses that are ever closer to the final
desired behaviour, and ignore all other behaviour
Shaping can help us understand what nonverbal organisms perceive
oIf we shape them to respond to one stimulus and not to another, then we know
they can perceive the difference
Discriminative stimulus: a stimulus in the presence of which a particular response will be
reinforced
TYPES OF REINFORCERS
Positive reinforcement: increasing behaviours by presenting positive reinforcers
oA positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response,
strengthens that response
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Document Summary
Learning: the process of acquiring through experience new information or behaviours o. Learning allows us to adapt to our environment. John locke and david hume believed aristotle"s conclusion that we learn by association. Learned associations also feed our habitual behaviours: sleeping in a certain posture. When willpower is depleted (mentally fatigued) we fall back on our habits. Takes 66 days to form a new habit. Associative learning: learning that certain events occur together: events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning, events may be a response and its consequence (as in operant conditioning) Stimulus: any event or situation that evokes a response. Respondent behaviour: behaviour that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus: associate stimuli that we do not control. Operant behaviours: behaviour that operates on the environment, producing consequences o. Learn to associate a response (our behaviour) and its consequence.
