Learning Chapter 7 Meyers Learning v Learning A

Learning Chapter 7, Meyers

Learning v Learning: A relatively permanent change of an organism’s behavior due to experience. ülearning is inferred from a change in behavior/performance ülearning results in an inferred change in memory ülearning is the result of experience ü learning is relatively permanent v Associative Learning: learning that certain events occur together. v Cognitive Learning: acquisition of mental information through observation of others, watching events, and/or through language.

Associative Learning v Conditioning: the process of learning associations. üClassical conditioning: we learn to associate two stimuli and to anticipate events.

Associative Learning (cont’d) v Operant Conditioning: Conditioning we learn to associate our response (behavior) and its consequence and, as a result, to repeat acts followed by good results and to avoid acts followed by bad results.

Behaviorism v Coined by John B. Watson. Also supported by Ivan Pavlov. v The perspective that psychology: üShould be an objective science üStudy behavior without reference to mental processes. v Most research psychologists believe in the first statement but do not agree with the second.

Ivan Pavlov v Ivan Pavlov (1849 -1936) üRussian physician/neurophysiologist üStudied digestive secretions üHis work gave rise to understanding classical conditioning. üWon the Nobel prize (1904) Contiguity Model: believed in a temporal association between two events that occur closely together in time. • The more closely in in time two events occurred, the more likely they were to become associated.

Pavlov’s Experiment

Classical Conditioning Definitions v. UCS (unconditioned stimulus): a stimulus that naturally & unconditionally triggers a response. v. UCR (unconditioned response): an unlearned naturally occurring response to the US). ü UCS = food UCR = salivation v. NS (Neutral Stimulus) does not elicit a UCR from the subject v. CS (Conditioned stimulus): originally the NS, but after associating the NS with the UCS, it becomes a trigger for the CR (conditioned response). v. CR (Conditioned response): a learned response to the CS after conditioning has occurred.

Practice I v Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment building, the shower becomes very hot and causes the person to jump back. Over time, the person begins to jump back automatically after hearing the flush, before the water temperature changes. Identify the following: üUCS, UCR, NS, CR UCS : hot water UCR: jumping back NS: toilet flush CR: jumping back to flush alone

Practice II v You eat a new food and then get sick because of the flu. However, you develop a dislike for the food and feel nauseated whenever you smell it. v Identify the following: üUCS, UCR, NS, CR UCS : flu UCR: nausea NS: food CR: nausea from the smell of the food

Classical Conditioning (cont’d) Acquisition: in classical conditioning, when NS is paired and elicits a CR v Extinction: the diminishing of a conditioned response (CR). üIn classical conditioning, repeatedly presenting the CS without the UCS leads to the return of the NS. v Spontaneous Recovery: occurs after extinction, without training, the CS(NS) again elicits the CR temporarily. v Generalization: stimuli similar to the CS also elicit the CR without training. v Discrimination: the ability to tell the difference between stimuli so that only the CS elicits the CR. v

Classical Conditioning Learning Curve

Higher-Order Conditioning v A well learned CS is paired with another NS to produce a conditioned response (CR) to the new NS.

Classical Conditioning (cont’d) v Delayed Conditioning: NS is presented just before the UCS, with a brief overlap between the two üEx - a bell begins to ring and continues to ring until food is presented. üGenerally produces the strongest conditioning v Trace Conditioning: when the NS is presented & then disappears just before the UCS appears. üex - a bell begins ringing and ends just before the food is presented. üProduces moderately strong conditioning

Classical Conditioning (cont’d) v Simultaneous Conditioning: occurs when the US and NS are paired together at the same time. üex - the bell begins to ring at the same time the food is presented. Both begin, continue, and end at the same time. üProduces weak conditioning v Backward Conditioning: the US comes before the NS. üex - the food is presented, then the bell rings. üProduces no conditioning except in rare cases

The Case of Little Albert v Aversive Conditioning: Conditioning learning that involves an unpleasant of harmful unconditioned stimulus üAlso known as counterconditioning v John B. Watson & Rosalie Raynor studied children’s behaviors in the 1920 s. üConditioned 9 month old Little Albert to fear a rat. His fear generalized to other animals as well. v Although unethical, this study demonstrated how phobias or other human emotions might develop through classical conditioning. John Watson - Little Albert - You. Tube

Biological Factors Conditioned Taste Aversion: an intense dislike & avoidance of a food because of its association with an unpleasant or painful stimulus through backward conditioning. v Preparedness: through evolution, animals are biologically disposed to easily learn behaviors related to their survival & that behaviors contrary to an animal’s natural tendencies are learned slowly or not at all. üGarcia Effect: when rats were exposed to a tastes (NS) and then exposed them to radiation or drugs (UCS) that led to nausea and vomiting (CR). The rats developed aversions for those tastes, even if they did not get sick for hours after the initial exposure. (John Garcia, v 1981)

Nausea Conditioning in Cancer Patients

The Contingency Model Cognitivist Robert Rescorla challenged Pavlov’s contiguity model. v The contingency model states that the CS tells the organism that the US will follow. v Blocking Effect: another challenge to Pavlov’s model. ü rats that were classically conditioned to fear (CR) the sound of a tone (CS) using electric shock (UCS) could not be conditioned to also fear a light alone (after paired with the tone). üSince they already associated the tone with the impending electric shock, the light alone offered no new information, so the conditioning effect of the light was blocked. v

Operant Conditioning v Operant Conditioning: Conditioning learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforce or diminished if followed by a punisher. v Respondent Behavior: behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus. üTerm Skinner used for behavior learned through classical conditioning. v Operant Behavior: behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.

Instrumental Learning v Instrumental Learning: a form of associative learning in which a behavior becomes more or less probable depending on its consequences. v E. L. Thorndike: research with hungry cats using fish as a reward to entice cats to find their way out of a puzzle box. üThe cats’ behavior tended to improve with successive trials, illustrating Thorndike’s Law of Effect that rewarded behavior is likely to recur.

B. F. Skinner (1904 -1990) Skinner termed Thorndike’s instrumental learning – operant conditioning because subjects operate on their own environment in order to produce desired outcomes. v Operant Chamber (Skinner Box): contained a bar or key that an animal could manipulate to obtain food or water reinforcer with attached devices in record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking. üUsing the Skinner box and similar devices, behaviorists have shown that extinction, stimulus generalization, and stimulus discrimination occur in operant as well as in classical conditioning. v Developed four different training procedures working with rats, pigeons and other animals. v

The Skinner Box Also known as the OPERANT CHAMBER

Positive Reinforcement v Reinforcer: Reinforcer any event that strengthens the behavior that follows. v Positive Reinforcement (reward training): v increasing behaviors by presenting positive rewards such as food. v Premack Principle: a more probable behavior can be used as a reinforcer for a less probable one.

Negative Reinforcement v Negative Reinforcement: increases behaviors by stopping or reducing the aversive stimulus v Negative Reinforcer: any stimulus that, when REMOVED after a response, strengthens the response.

Negative Reinforcement (cont’d) Two types of negative reinforcement: ü Avoidance behavior takes away the unpleasant stimulus before it begins üEscape behavior takes away the unpleasant stimulus after it has already started. v Learned Helplessness: feelings of futility & passive resignation that result from the inability to avoid repeated aversive events. üLater, even if it becomes possible to avoid or escape the aversive stimuli, it is unlikely that the learner will respond. v

Punishment v In punishment, punishment a learner’s response is followed by an aversive consequence which is unwanted, so the learner stops exhibiting the behavior. v Punishment should be immediate so that the consequence is associated with the misbehavior, strong enough to stop the undesirable behavior, and consistent. v Punishment should not be overused. ü It does not teach the learner what should be done ü It suppresses rather than extinguishes behavior ü It may evoke hostility or passivity.

Practice A lion in a circus learns to stand up on a chair and jump through a hoop to receive a food treat. operant conditioning - standing on a chair and jumping through a hoop are voluntary behaviors. Consequence is positive reinforcement - food is given which increases the behavior. Your hands are cold so you put your gloves on. In the future, you are more likely to put gloves on when it’s cold. operant conditioning - putting gloves on is a voluntary behavior. Consequence is negative reinforcement - the coldness is taken away ; the behavior of putting on gloves increases. Your car has a red, flashing light that blinks annoyingly if you start the car without buckling the seat belt. You become less likely to start the car without buckling the seat belt. operant conditioning - buckling a seat belt is voluntary. The flashing light is a positive punishment; put seat belt on to remove annoying flashing (consequence).

Omission Training: A response by a learner is followed by taking away something of value from the learner. v By changing his/her behavior, the learner can get back the positive reinforcer. v ex: Time-out v Key to success – knowing exactly what is rewarding and what isn’t for each individual. v

Reinforcers Primary Reinforcer: something that is biologically important, so it is rewarding, such as food & drink. v Secondary (Conditioned) Reinforcer: some neutral that when associated with a primary reiforcer, becomes rewarding such as gold stars, money, & tokens. v Generalized Reinforcer: a secondary reinforcer that can be associated with a number of different primary reinforcers, such as money, which can buy food. v Token Economy: operant training system used extensively in institutions (mental hospitals, jails) where tokens (secondary reinforcers) are used to increase a list of acceptable behaviors. Learner accumulates tokens & then exchanges them for privileges. v

Teaching New Behaviors Shaping: procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer & closer approximations of the desired behavior. v Chaining: used to establish a specific sequence of behaviors by initially positively reinforcing each behavior in a desired sequence & then later rewarding only the completed sequence. üOften used to teach animals a complex series of behaviors üIn general, reinforcement or punishment that occurs immediately after a behavior has a stronger effect than when it is delayed v

Reinforcement Schedules v Continuous Reinforcement: reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs. üProblem: not reinforcing the behavior even once or twice could result in the extinction of the behavior. v Partial Reinforcement (intermittent schedule): reinforcing the behavior only some of the time. üResults in slower acquisition of the behavior but greater resistance to extinction. üFixed Ratio schedule: reinforces only after a fixed number of responses. The learner will pause briefly after a reinforcement & then will return to a high rate of responding.

Reinforcement Schedules (cont’d) üVariable Ratio Schedule: reinforces a behavior after an unpredictable number of responses. Ex. Slot machines – gamblers will pull the level hundreds of times as the anticipation of the next reward gets stronger. üFixed Interval Schedule: reinforces behaviors only after a specified time has elapsed. Results in lots of behavior as the time for reinforcement approaches, but little behavior until the next time for reinforcement approaches. Ex. Cramming for an exam. üVariable Interval: reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals Ex. Studying every night because the teacher gives pop quizzes.

More on Skinner accounted for the development of superstitious behaviors in partial reinforcement schedules he performed with pigeons. v If food pellets were delivered when a pigeon was performing some idiosyncratic behavior, the pigeon would tend to repeat the behavior to get more food. v If food pellets were again delivered when the pigeon repeated this behavior, the pigeon would repeat the behavior over and over, resulting in the development of superstitious behavior. v There is a correlation between the idiosyncratic behavior and the food, but there is NO causal relationship between the two. v Humans – lucky numbers or lucky jeans, or even lucky charms. v skinner

More on Skinner (cont’d) v Skinner emphasized external controls on behavior. v Encouraged the use of operant conditioning principles at school, work, & at home. v He was criticized for dehumanizing people by neglecting their personal freedom & by seeking to control their actions. v He was criticized for deemphasizing the importance of cognition and biological constraints on learning, particularly among humans.

Latent Learning v v Latent Learning: Learning learning without rewards Maze experiment with rats: ü The first group of rats were given a reward each time they navigated a maze correctly. This trial was repeated over 10 days. üThe second group were not given a reward for going through the maze – they made significantly more errors than the rats in the rewarded group. üOn the 11 th day both groups were rewarded for completing the maze correctly. üOn the 12 th day the second group navigated the maze as well as the first group demonstrating latent learning. üIt was hypothesized that the rats had made a mental picture of the maze during the previous unrewarded trials – when they were rewarded, they were motivated to improve.

Latent Learning

Instinctive Drift Sometimes operantly conditioned animals fail to behave as expected. v Sometimes Skinner box trained rats reverted to scratching and biting the lever. v Instinctive Drift: a conditioned response that drifts back toward the natural or instinctive behavior of the organism. v For example, wild animal trainers must be vigilant after training animals because the animals may revert to dangerous behaviors v

Observational Learning v Observational Learning: learning by observation v Modeling: the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior. v Mirror Neurons: frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or observing another doing so. üThese neurons transform the sight of someone else’s actions into the motor program you would use to do the same thing ü may enable imitation, language training, & üempathy

Albert Bandura v v v Pioneer in research on observational learning Social Learning Theory: proposed that direct reinforcement could not account for all types of learning. üThere are three core concepts to social learning theory: -- people can learn through observation. -- internal mental states are an essential part of this process. -- just because something has been learned, it does not mean that it will result in a change in behavior. Asserted that Intrinsic Motivation was another important factor to learning.

The Modeling Process v v v Attention Retention: The ability to store information Reproduction: perform the observed behavior. Further practice leads to improvement and skill advancement. Motivation: must be motivated to imitate the behavior that has been modeled ü Reinforcers play an important role in motivation. While experiencing these motivators can be highly effective, so can observing these reinforcers with individuals exhibiting similar behavior. ü Ex: if you see another student rewarded with extra credit for being to class on time, you might start to show up a few minutes early each day. Prosocial Modeling: positive, constructive, helpful behavior. ü Children tend to imitate what a model does & says, whether the behavior is prosocial or antisocial. ü If the model’s actions are inconsistent, they may model the hypocracy they see.

The Bo. Bo Experiment Bandura demonstrated that children learn and imitate behaviors they have observed in other people. v The children in Bandura’s studies observed an adult acting violently toward a Bobo doll. v When the children were later allowed to play in a room with the Bobo doll, they began to imitate the aggressive actions they had previously observed. v It was also found that boys engaged in twice as many acts of aggression to the Bo. Bo doll than girls & that boys were more prone to imitate physical acts of violence where girls tended to imitate verbal aggression. v Bandura - bobo doll experiment - You. Tube

Bo. Bo Experiment Criticisms v A lab setting experiment may not be indicative of what takes place in reality. v Selection bias: All participants were drawn from a narrow pool of students who share the same racial and socioeconomic background. Was there a long-term impact? v Acting violently toward a doll is a lot different that displaying aggression or violence against another. v v Unethical study: Manipulating children into behaving aggressively was essentially teaching children to be violent.

Insight v v Insight: the sudden appearance of an answer or solution to a problem. Wolfgang Kohler (1988 -1967) üKohler attempted to demonstrate that animals can arrive at a solution through insight rather than trial and error. üHe placed chimps (Chica, Grande, Konsul, and Sultan) in an enclosed area and presenting them with a reward that was out of reach, such as bananas. üKohler placed bananas outside Sultan's cage and two bamboo sticks inside his cage. Neither stick was long enough to reach the bananas. Sultan put the two sticks together and created a stick long enough to reach the bananas outside his cage.

Insight (cont’d) üAnother study involved bananas suspended from the roof. The chimps first tried to knock them down by using a stick. Then, the chimps learned to stack boxes on top of one to reach the bananas. üKohler described three properties of insight learning. --Based on the animal perceiving the solution to the problem. -- Is not dependent on rewards. -- Once a problem has been solved, it is easier to solve a similar problem (Hothersall, 1995). insight learning