Chapter 7 What is Learning What Learning is

Chapter 7 What is Learning?

What Learning is and is Not �________: Can be defined as a relatively permanent influence on behavior, knowledge, and thinking skills which comes about through experience. ex of learning = driving a car ex of inherited capabilities =blinking, swallowing �Learning takes place inside and outside of school

Approaches to Learning 1. Behavioral � � � Behaviorism: view that behavior should be explained by observable experiences not by mental processes _________: thoughts, feelings, and motives that each of us experience but that can not be observed by others ______________ learning that two events are connected � Emphasized in operant and classical conditioning

Approaches to learning cont. 1. Cognitive �Means “thought” � 4 main approaches 1. Social Cognitive 2. Information processing 3. Cognitive Constructivist 4. Social Constructivist

Behavioral Approaches to Learning �_____________ �Type of learning in which an organism learns to connect, or associate, stimuli �First theorized by Ivan Pavlov in 1927 �Pavlov developed unconditioned responses, unconditioned stimulus, and conditioned stimulus

Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning

Generalization, Discrimination, and Extinction in Classical Conditioning �_______________involves the tendency of a new stimulus similar to the original conditioned stimulus to produce a similar response Ex) The dog also responded to other sounds similar to the bell �_________occurs when the organism responds to certain stimuli but not others Ex) Pavlov gave the dog food after the bell, not other sounds �___________involves the weakening of the conditioned response in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus Ex) Pavlov rang the bell repeatedly but did not give the dog food

Systematic Desensitization �_______________is a method based on classical conditioning that reduces anxiety by getting the individual to associate deep relaxation with successive visualizations of increasingly anxietyproducing situations �Involves a type of counter conditioning, the relaxing feeling that is imagined is the unconditioned stimulus which produces the unconditioned response of relaxation �Very Successful in helping with fears of public speaking

Evaluating Classical Conditioning �Helps understand some aspects of learning better than others �Excels in explaining how neutral stimuli become associated with ______, _______responses �Especially helpful in understanding students’ _______ and _________ �Not as effective in explaining voluntary behaviors like why a student likes history better than geography

Operant Conditioning �A form of learning in which the consequences of behavior produce changes in the probability that the behavior will occur �More relevant in explaining students preferred subjects in school �Most important in B. F. Skinner’s behavioral view that consequences-rewards and punishments-are contingent on the organism’s behavior �Can also be called _______________

Reinforcement and Punishment �Reinforcement (reward) is a consequence that increases the ________________ �Punishment is a consequence that ________ the probability that a behavior will occur Ex) “Congratulations” or frowning � Two forms or reinforcement are positive and negative reinforcement � In positive reinforcement, the frequency of a response increases because it is followed by a rewarding stimulus � In negative reinforcement, the frequency of a response increases because it is followed by the removal of a aversive stimulus � It is easy to confuse negative reinforcement and punishment, the difference being negative reinforcement increases the probability a response will occur whereas punishment decreases that probability

Generalization, Discrimination, and Extinction in Operant Conditioning �______________ means giving the same response to similar stimuli Ex) If a teacher praises a student for a question in English, this will generalize to work harder in other subjects �__________ involves differentiating among stimuli or environmental events Ex) A student knows to put math work in a tray on the teachers desk labeled math �___________ occurs when a previously reinforced response is no longer reinforced and the response decreases Ex) A teacher withdraws attention from a student that is disrupting the class