Respondent Learning Lesson 4 Whats going to happen

Respondent Learning Lesson 4

What’s going to happen next? If we know…we can be prepared l Increases our chances for success n Predicting important events critical for survival l food & water l sex l danger ~ n

Associative Learning Events become associated l linked n Association via l Respondent Learning n – (AKA: Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning) uinvoluntary l behavior Operant Learning – (AKA: Instrumental) umotivated behavior ~

Associative Learning Respondent learning l Elicited (involuntary) behavior l Triggered by external events l Learned “reflexes” n Operant learning l Emitted (motivated) behavior l Attempt to change environment l Controlled by consequences ~ n

Motivation Will expend energy to achieve goal l Approach satisfiers /Avoid annoyers n What “motivates” operant behavior? l Physiological responses l Emotional responses l Cognitive response n Involuntary responses l Both innate & learned ~ n

Respondent Learning A. K. A. Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning l Ivan Pavlov l dog learned to salivate when bell rings n Throughout animal kingdom l cockroaches, sea slugs, dogs, humans ~ n

Learning Associations Signal--Important event n Based on reflexes l stimulus response l automatic (involuntary) n After association learned… l signal triggers response ~ n

Eye-blink Reflex Puff of air eye blinks l prevents injury to eye l “click” precedes puff of air n Reflex l inherited l stimulus response l automatic ~ n

Respondent Learning: Eye-blink signal stimulus response “Click” Air puff Eye blink

After Learning Occurs signal “Click” Eye blink Learned response Anticipatory response

What is learned? Relationship between events l Predicts biologically important events n What kind of responses can be learned (conditioned)? l Physiological Responses l Emotional Responses l Expectancies ~ n

Unconditional Stimulus (US) Part of reflex l automatically elicits a response n Biologically important l motivational significance l food, sex partner, drugs l physical trauma, toxins ~ n

Unconditional Response (UR) Response to US l Automatic response l Reflexive n Physiological & emotional responses l HR/temp. - sexual arousal/pleasure l Pain/nausea – fear/anxiety ~ n

Examples: US URs Good food in mouth salivation, chewing, swallowing, pleasure Bad food in mouth gagging, spitting, disgust Loud noise HR, flinch, orient, fear Dust in nose/throat sneeze/cough, anxiety Animal bite pain, withdrawal, fear

Reflexive Behavior Unconditional stimulus Bite Unconditional response Pain/fear

Conditional Stimulus (CS) Initially neutral stimulus (NS) l does not trigger UR of interest n Reliably precedes US l Cue or signal ~ n

Conditional Response Learned response l in response to CS only l usually similar to unconditional response l homogeneous n After many pairings of CS & US l learning is usually gradual l frequency important ~ n

Respondent Learning Conditional Stimulus See dog : US UR bite Pain/fear

After Respondent Learning Conditional Stimulus only See dog Fear Conditional Response Anticipatory response

Milk Let-down Response n Feeding reflex l baby suckling milk released US UR Potential CSs l crying, time of day, holding baby, etc l precede suckling predictably l act as CS trigger milk release (CR) n Generalization? l another baby crying ~ n

Extinction: Respondent Learning n CS no longer followed by US l Loses predictive value l Behavior becomes weaker : Fear

Conditioned Emotional Responses Affect l positive & negative n Depends on experiences l subjective interpretation of physiological responses n Expectations l Conditioned emotional response n u. CER ~

Conditioned Emotional Responses Classes of stimuli l appetitive l aversive n CS predicts important event (US) l CS+ US will occur n u l Positive contingency CS- US won’t occur u negative contingency ~

CER (affect) CS+ Positive Negative CS- Negative Positive Appetitive (satisfier) Aversive (annoyer) US

Likes & Dislikes Like l Cues associated w/ satisfying events n Dislike l Cues associated w/ annoying events n Expectation + Contingency + US l CS+/CS- and appetitive/aversive ~ n

CER (Likes/Dislikes) CS+ CS- Like Dislike Like Appetitive (satisfier) Aversive (annoyer) US

Food Preferences Genetic component l Taste receptors l Salty, sweet, bitter, sour, *savory l Or blend of these tastes n Learned component l Taste as CS l Nutrients as US n Preference for sweet/salty innate l Can be altered by experience ~ n

Thiamine & Open Eating Systems Thiamine (vitamin B 1) l Tasteless & odorless l Beri beri heart, neural disorder n Rats with B 1 deficiency l Prefer tastes of foods w/B 1 l Avoid tastes of foods w/o B 1 n Taste preferences learned l Associated w/ vital nutrients ~ n