Learning

Learning

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OverviewClassical conditioningClassical conditioning in real lifeOperant conditioningOperant conditioning in real lifeLearning and the mind

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Watson’s extreme environmentalism

“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own special world to bring them up in, and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to be any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and yes, beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.”

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DefinitionsLearningA relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience

BehaviorismAn approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of the environment as a determinant of behavior

ConditioningThe association between environmental stimuli and the organism’s responses

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objectives

• Describe learning and compare and contrast behavior and cognitive learning

• Summarize who Ivan PAVLOV IS • Create Pavlov's experiment using acronyms• List (4) principals of Classical conditioning

Learning definition

• A process through which experience produces a lasting change in behavior or mental process.

• First- needs a lasting change• See a needle then get injection. • Next time you see a needle, expect pain=

learned• Second how can you tell mental process?

Behavioral Learning vs. Cognitive Learning

• Behavioral Focus only on observable stimuli and responses

• Cognitive- Hidden mental processes with behavior

Ivan Pavlov 1849-1936

Pavlov info

• Does not like structuralism and functionalists• Nobel Prize winner, dietician before training• Was working on digestion then began

researching salivation• Found dogs would salivate BEFORE food got to

their mouths. Or just hearing footsteps of lab assistants bringing food

Essentials of Classical Conditioning

• Pavlov focused on reflexes; blinking, salvation• Reflexive responses can be associated with

new stimuli• FOR EXAMPLE: Pavlov rang a dinner bell then

gave dog a bit of food• After a while dog would salivate from the bell

Pavlov's first factor

• Neutral stimulus- Light or bell• Paired with natural reflex-producing stimulus

(food) Will produce a learned response

Classical conditioningThe process by which a previously neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a response through association with a stimulus that already elicits a similar response

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New reflexes from oldUnconditioned stimulus (US)Elicits a response in the absence of learning

Unconditioned response (UR)The reflexive response to a stimulus in the absence of learning

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Acquisition- Initial learning phase

• Unconditioned Stimulus (US) stimulus that automatically provokes a reflexive response- Food

• Unconditioned response ( UR)- Saliva • US-UR= Not learned

New reflexes from oldA neutral stimulus is then regularly paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

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New reflexes from oldConditioned stimulus (CS)An initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulusConditioned response (CR)A response that is elicited by the conditioned stimulusOccurs after the CS has been associated with the USIs usually similar to the US

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Classical Conditioning

• Conditioned stimulus- (CS) Formally neutral stimulus. ( Tone or sound)

• Salivation now a conditioned response (CR)

Your turnYou are visiting a house to see if you want to buy it. When you step through the front door, you are met with the smell of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies—just like your grandmother used to make. Suddenly you find yourself feeling that this house is a warm and friendly place. In this scenario, what is the CS?1. The smell of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies2. The new house3. Your grandma4. The feeling of warmth and friendliness

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Your turnYou are visiting a house to see if you want to buy it. When you step through the front door, you are met with the smell of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies—just like your grandmother used to make. Suddenly you find yourself feeling that this house is a warm and friendly place. In this scenario, what is the CS?1. The smell of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies2. The new house3. Your grandma4. The feeling of warmth and friendliness

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Principles of classical conditioning

ExtinctionHigher-order conditioningStimulus generalizationStimulus discrimination

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ExtinctionThe weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response

In classical conditioning, it occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

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1st principal of classical conditioning

• Extinction- Occurs when a conditioned response is eliminated by repeated presentations of the CS (bell) without the UCS (food)

• For example- you ring the bell then withhold the food. After time you stop salivating

Higher-order conditioning

A neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus by being paired with an existing conditioned stimulus.

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Stimulus Generalization

• If you fear spiders, you probably respond the same way to spiders of all sizes and markings

• Pavlov’s dogs responded the same to different sounding bells

Discrimination Learning

• Occurs when an organism learns to respond to one stimulus but not the stimuli that are similar

• For example you salivate when you hear Ice Cream Truck bell. HOWEVER you do not salivate at the door bell ringing.

• Pavlov used tones with different frequencies

Stimulus discrimination

The tendency to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli

In classical conditioning, occurs when a stimulus similar to the conditioned stimulus fails to evoke a conditioned response

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What is learned in classical conditioning?

For classical conditioning to be most effective, the stimulus to be conditioned should precede the unconditioned stimulus.

We learn that the first stimulus predicts the second.

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Summary

• Learning terms• Pavlov• Experiments• Principals