Learning Chapter 6 Definition Learning Learning is defined

Learning Chapter 6

Definition: Learning • “Learning” is defined in psychology as ‘a relatively permanent behavior change as a result of experience.

Classical Conditioning This woman has now been conditioned to have a negative response to the flash of light, even before or without the loud noise.

Operant Conditioning • Classical conditioning involves respondent behavior, an automatic response to a stimulus • It involves operant behavior, which operates on the environment, producing consequences • Consequences: Reinforcers following a behavior strengthen it (make that behavior more likely to happen again), and Punishments following a behavior weaken that response (make it less likely to recur).

Operant Conditioning (a) Response: Balancing a ball (b) Consequence: Receiving Food (c) Behavior stregthened

B. F. Skinner’s Experiments • Skinner designed an operant chamber (aka Skinner Box) – a box with a recording device to track how often an animal presses a bar to obtain reinforcement – any event or other consequence that strengthens the behavior it follows.

Reinforcement for the Individual • What is reinforcing to one individual? • Can vary by situation – a cold drink is reinforcing if you are hot, but not if you are cold

Shaping Behavior • Shaping: gradually guiding actions closer and closer toward a desired behavior, using reinforcement. • Using successive approximations, one rewards responses that are ever-closer to the desired behavior. • Through continued shaping we can find the limits of animals’ ability to discriminate among colors, smells, sounds.

Types of Reinforcers • Positive reinforcement: (+, adding) anything that strengthens a response when presented after the response (e. g. , a food reward) • Negative reinforcement: (-, taking away) anything that, when removed, strengthens a response (e. g. , stopping a shock). Note: NOT a punishment • Big Bang Theory

Ways to Increase Behavior

Reinforcement Schedules • Continuous reinforcement – reinforcing desired response every time it occurs – Learning occurs rapidly, but so does extinction • Partial (intermittent) reinforcement – reinforcing a response only part of the time – Learning is slower but increased resistance to extinction

Partial Reinforcement Schedules for Operant Conditioning • Fixed-ratio schedule – reinforces response only after fixed number of responses • Variable-ratio schedule – reinforces response after an unpredictable number of responses – Produces high rates of responding • Fixed-interval schedule – reinforces response only after a specified time has elapsed – Produces choppy start-stop pattern • Variable-interval schedule – reinforces response at variable time intervals – Produces slow, steady responding

Schedules of Reinforcement

Punishment • A punishment is an event that decreases the frequency of the behavior it follows • Two Types of punishment: – Positive (+, adding something) Punishment – Negative (-, taking something away) Punishment. ”

Punishment

Skinner’s Legacy: Controversy Skinner argued that behaviors were shaped by external influences instead of inner thoughts and feelings. Critics argued that Skinner dehumanized people by neglecting their free will.

Applications of Operant Conditioning • In school: use individualized shaping to reinforce students starting with their current level of performance. • At work: reinforce, even with verbal acknowledgement, specific behaviors and achievements • At home: be careful not to reward tantrums and not to be negatively reinforced by giving in.

Contrasting Classical and Operant Conditioning

Biological Constraints on Conditioning • Natural selection favors traits that aid survival. • This applies to conditioning: Each species comes prepared to learn those things crucial to its survival.

Cognitive Processes and Classical Conditioning • Behaviorism: The view that (1) psychology should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes – Founded by Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner – Most psychologists today agree with (1) but not (2) • Underestimates two important sets of influences: – Biological predispositions limit our learning – The effect of our cognitive processes on learning

Cognitive Processes and Operant Conditioning • B. F. Skinner tried to downplay the role of cognitive processes. However, they cannot be ignored – Rats exploring a maze develop a cognitive map, a mental representation of the maze. – Rats with experience in the maze exhibit latent learning of the maze’s layout

Cognitive Processes and Operant Conditioning • Excess rewards can destroy intrinsic motivation, the desire to perform a behavior for its own sake. • This is in contrast to extrinsic motivation, in which behavior is performed to gain reward or avoid punishment.

Learning By Observation • Cognition is a factor in observational learning, in which humans and some other animals learn without direct experience – by watching and imitating • Bobo doll