Learning

Learning and Memory

Learning

Relatively permanent change in the immediate or potential behavior or mental process that results from past experiences or practice

Acquiring knowledge or developing the ability to perform new behaviors

5 Processes of Learning

HabituationClassical ConditioningOperant ConditioningSocial LearningCognitive Processes in learning

1. Habituation

Simplest kind of learningAccounts for learning to ignore a

stimulus that has become a familiar and has no serious consequences

The tendency to become familiar with a stimulus after repeated exposure to it

Example: Children playing in the school playground

2. Classical Conditioning

An individual learns that one follows another

Gives emphasis on the association of the stimulus with the response

Also called as Pavlonian Conditioning

Basic Terms

Unconditioned-unlearned, untaughtConditioned- learned, taughtStimulus-something that elicits a

responseResponse- a reaction

caused by a stimulus

Terms

1. Neutral Stimulus- a stimulus that doesn’t produce an reflexive response until it is paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

2. UCS (unconditioned stimulus) - produces a response with no prior learning.

-an unconditioned stimulus that always elicits an reflexive or unconditioned response.

UCS - food (triggers drool reflex)

3. UCR(unconditioned response)-is an unlearned response or reflexive response automatically elicited by the UCS.

UCR - drool in response to food (not learned)

Terms 4. CS (conditioned stimulus) – is a previously neutral

stimulus that acquires the capacity to elicit a reflexive response ( or eventually elicits the CR after being associated with the UCS).

CS - sound of bell (triggers drool reflex)

5. CR (conditioned response)- is a learned response to the CS that occurs after CS-UCS pairing.

CR - drool in response to sound of bell (learned)

Sample Situation:

Sarah has always felt calm and relaxed when listening to classical music. Lately, she’s been lighting a candle just before she listens to classical music. Now, she doesn’t feel the need to listen to classical music to feel relaxed.

Terms

NS- candleUCS- classical musicUCR- calm/relax feelingCR-calm/relax feeling at the

sight of lighted candleCS- sight of lighted candle while

hearing classical music

Basic Processes

a. AcquisitionA neutral stimulus and an

unconditioned stimulus (UCS) are paired (Initial learning of the stimulus link).Example: A child learns to fear (CR) the

Dental Clinic (CS) by associating it with the reflexive emotional reaction(UCR) to a painful tooth extraction (UCS)

Basic Processes

b. Stimulus GeneralizationIndividual’s ability to react to novel stimuli

that are similar to familiar ones.A conditioned response (CR) is elicited not

only by the conditioned stimulus (CS) but also by the stimulus similar to the conditioned stimulus(CS)Example: A child fears (Conditioned Response) all

Dental clinic (Conditioned Stimulus) and other places that smells like them (Similar CS)

Basic Processes

c. Stimulus DiscriminationA process complimentary to generalizationDiscrimination is a reaction to differencesLimited in such that some stimulus similar to

the CS do not elicit the CRExample: A child learns that his mother’s Dental

Clinic is not associated only with Tooth Extraction UCS

Basic Process

d. ExtinctionThe CS is presented alone with the UCS.

Gradually, the CS no longer elicits the CRUsed to describe the elimination of the CR by

repeatedly presenting the CS without the unconditioned stimulusExample: A child visits the dentist several times

for prophylaxis. Fear gradually decreases

3. Operant Conditioning-B. F. Skinner

An organism learns a response by operating on its environment.A response an individual makes will be followed by a particular

consequencePrimary aim: To analyze how

behavior is changed by its consequences

 The Consequences of Behavior

Reinforcement: The process by which a stimulus or event strengthens or increases the probability of the response that it follows.

Punishment: The process by which a stimulus or event weakens or reduces the probability of the response that it follows.

Reinforcement

1. Positive Reinforcement: The frequency of the response increases because the behavior is followed by a rewarding stimulus.

2. Negative Reinforcement: The response is followed by removal, delay, or decrease in intensity of, an unpleasant stimulus.

Punishment

1. Positive Punishment: The behavior decreases when it is followed by an unpleasant stimulus.

2. Negative Punishment: A behavior decreases because a positive stimulus is removed.

4. Social Learning

Learning from the experiences of othersExample: A girl always says “thank you”

whenever she receives something because she observes this from her mother, who serves as her model

Bandura came up with several processes of learning

Vicarious conditioning

Observational learning

Processes of Learning

a. Vicarious ConditioningLearning by seeing or hearing

about the consequences of other people’s actionExample: An IT student who has

heard a batch mate being sent to the Office of Student Affairs for going to class drunk

Processes of Learning

b. Observational LearningLearning by watching what others are doingModel – the person being watched.

Requirements to determine whether observational learning has occurredAttentionRetention Ability to reproduce the behavior Motivation

5. Cognitive Learning

Learning is not simply an automatic process

Learning results from thinking and other mental processes

All organisms, including animals are capable of thinking and this capacity must be considered in any explanation of learning

Memory

The ability to recover information about past events or knowledge.

The ability to store information so that it can be used at a later time

Types of Memory

Episodic MemoryA memory of specific event that happened while

you were present

Semantic MemoryContains generalized knowledge of the world

that does not involve memory of a specific event

Procedural MemoryAlso called skill memory because it involves on

how to do things

Consists of a complicated sequence of movements that cannot be described adequately in words

Steps of Memory Storage

EncodingPutting Information into memory.

StoringRefers to how a system maintains or

remembers information.

RetrievingGetting the stored information out of memory

ForgettingInability to recall a particular piece of

information accurately

3 Causes of forgetting (Ebbinghaus, 1985)

Retrieval Failure

Due to the inability to recall the information

Decay Theory

This suggests that if people do not use information stored in long term memory, it gradually fades until it is lost

Interference theory

Forgetting of information in long term memory is due to the influences of other learning

Stages of Memory

Sensory MemoryFirst stage wherein the on information from

the senses – sight, sound or smell is held in the sensory register.

Stages of Memory

Short-term MemoryAllows one to recall

something from several seconds to as long as a minute without rehearsal.

Stages of Memory

Long-term MemoryCan store much larger quantities

of information for potentially unlimited duration (sometimes a whole life span).