Conditioning and Learning Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning Social

Conditioning and Learning Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning Social Learning Cognitive Learning

Law of Effect • Responses that produce satisfying effects • • become more likely Responses that produce discomforting effects becomes less likely Piano Stairs

Conditioning – association made between two events • 4 types § § Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning Social learning Cognitive Learning

Classical Conditioning • Associations made between a natural stimulus and a learned stimulus

• Stimulus – any change in an organism’s • environment that causes an organism to react Response – how the organism reacts to a stimulus and results in a change of behavior Stimulus and response = Cause and effect

Unconditioned stimulus • Automatically causes a response

Unconditioned response • Automatic response to a particular unconditioned stimulus UCS

Conditioned stimulus • A previously neutral stimulus that has been associated with an UCS (video)

Conditioned response • A response to a stimulus brought about by learning

Extinction • The gradual loss of an association over time

Operant Conditioning • Operant conditioning - results from the individual’s actions and the consequences they cause • Reinforcement - something that follows a response and strengthens the tendency to repeat that response • Primary reinforcement - something necessary for psychological or physical survival that is used as a reward • Secondary reinforcement - anything that comes to represent a primary reinforcer

Operant Conditioning • Positive reinforcement - involves strengthening the tendency to repeat a response by following it with the addition of something pleasant • Negative reinforcement - involves strengthening a response by following it with removal of something unpleasant • Punishment - weakening a response by following it with unpleasant consequences

Conditioning Tools • Generalization - a behavior that spreads from one • situation to a similar one § Ex. expectations, biases, racism, stereotypes Discrimination learning - learning to tell the difference between one event or object and another, the reverse of gen. § Ex. individualizing, compare and contrast

Conditioning Tools • Shaping - gradually refining a response by successively • reinforcing closer approximations of it § Ex. training animals to do elaborate tricks, short term goals Chaining - reinforcing the connection between the parts of a sequence § Ex. dance, drills

Schedules of Reinforcement • Schedules of reinforcement - different methods of • • reinforcing 1. Continuous reinforcement - reinforcement given each time a behavior occurs 2. Partial reinforcement schedule - reinforcement not given each time an act is performed a) b) c) d) Fixed-Ratio Schedules Variable-Ratio Schedules Fixed-Interval Schedules Variable-Interval Schedules

Schedules of Reinforcement • Fixed ratio schedule - reinforcement occurs after a desired act is performed • a fixed number of times. Know when the reward is coming Ex. commission, magazine sales • Variable ratio schedule - reinforcement occurs after a desired act is performed a specific but variable number of times. Don’t know when the reward is coming § Ex. slot machines, math homework checks, lottery tickets

• Fixed interval schedule - reinforcement occurs after a desired act is performed following a fixed amount of time. Know when the reward is coming. § Ex. hourly salary, detention/QST • Variable interval schedule - reinforcement occurs after desired act is performed following a variable amount of time. Don’t know when the reward is coming. § Ex. fishing, surprises

Skinner box

Social Learning • Social learning - learning from the behavior of others • Observational learning - form of social learning in which the organism observes and imitates the behavior or others

Cognitive psychology and learning - E. C. Tolman • Cognitive approach (to learning) - study of learning that • emphasizes abstract mental processes and previous knowledge Latent learning - learning that is not obvious but goes on under the surface

Cognitive psychology and learning - E. C. Tolman • Cognitive approach (to learning) - study of learning that • • • emphasizes abstract mental processes and previous knowledge Latent learning - learning that is not obvious but goes on under the surface Expectancies - beliefs about our ability to perform an action and to get the desired reward Reinforcement value - the preference for certain types of reinforcement over other types

Cognitive psychology and learning - E. C. Tolman • Cognitive approach (to learning) - study of learning that • • • emphasizes abstract mental processes and previous knowledge Latent learning - learning that is not obvious but goes on under the surface (expressed when presented an incentive) Expectancies - beliefs about our ability to perform an action and to get the desired reward Reinforcement value - the preference for certain types of reinforcement over other types Cognitive map - a mental image of where one is located in space Strategies - methods for solving problems