UNIT 1 Chapter 7 Learning Learning Fundamental topic

UNIT 1 Chapter 7 Learning

Learning • Fundamental topic in psychology – How do we learn that people who look small from a distance are far away and not simply tiny? (perception) – How do babies learn to distinguish their mothers from other people? (development) – Why do some people learn to be afraid when they see a spider? (disorders) – How can we teach people coping skills? (therapy) – Why do I cry every time I see a sad movie? (emotions)

What is Learning? • The cessation of thumb sucking by an infant. • A worm is placed in a T maze. The left arm of the maze is brightly lit and dry; the right arm is dim and moist. On the first 10 trials, the worm turn right 7 times. On the next 10 trials, the worm turns right all 10 times. • A lanky zinnia plant is pinched back and begins to grow denser foliage and flowers. • Josh stays up late the night before the October GRE test and gets wasted. His combined score (verbal + quantitative) is 410. The night before the December GRE he goes to bed early and drinks a glass of milk. His scores changes to 1210. Is the change in scores due to learning? Is the change in pretest regimen due to learning? • After 30 years of smoking 2 packs a day, Mackenzie throws away her cigarettes and never smokes again.

What is Learning • Not what you might think! • Learning is the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Overview: Topics in this Chapter § Definitions § Classical conditioning § Operant conditioning § Biological and cognitive components of learning § Observational learning What do we mean by “learning”? Learning is the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors.

How does learning happen other than through language/words? We learn from experience: We learn by association: 1. when two stimuli 1. when we learn to (events or predict events we sensations) tend to already like or don’t occur together or in like by noticing other sequence. events or sensations that happen first. 2. when actions become associated with 2. when our actions pleasant or aversive have consequences. results. 3. when we watch what 3. when two pieces of other people do. information are linked.

Types of Learning Classical conditioning: Operant learning to link two conditioning: stimuli in a way changing behavior that helps us choices in anticipate an event response to to which we have a consequences reaction Cognitive learning: acquiring new behaviors and information through observation and information, rather than by direct experience

Associative Learning: Classical Conditioning How it works: after repeated exposure to two stimuli occurring in sequence, we associate those stimuli with each other. Result: our natural response to one stimulus now can be triggered by the new, predictive stimulus. After Repetition Stimulus: See lightning Response: Cover ears to avoid sound Stimulus 1: See lightning Stimulus 2: Hear thunder Here, our response to thunder becomes associated with lightning.

Associative Learning: Operant Conditioning § Child associates his “response” (behavior) with consequences. § Child learns to repeat behaviors (saying “please”) which were followed by desirable results (cookie). § Child learns to avoid behaviors (yelling “gimme!”) which were followed by undesirable results (scolding or loss of dessert).

Cognitive Learning Cognitive learning refers to acquiring new behaviors and information mentally, rather than by direct experience. Cognitive learning occurs: 1. by observing events and the behavior of others. 2. by using language to acquire information about events experienced by others.

Classical Conditioning Sovfoto Stimulus that produces an innate reflex becomes associated with a previously neutral stimulus, which then acquires the power to elicit essentially the same response. Ivan Pavlov (1849 -1936)

Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning • Ivan Pavlov – 1849 -1936 – Russian physician/ neurophysiologist – Nobel Prize in 1904 – studied digestive secretions

Pavlov's Discovery of Classical Conditioning: Introduction • Ivan Pavlov was a pioneer of research on learning. His early research focused on digestive processes in dogs, but upon discovering that the dogs began to salivate in response to stimuli associated with receiving food, he shifted his research to a study of the mechanisms by which seemingly arbitrary stimuli become associated with biological reflexes. • The learning exhibited by Pavlov's dogs is a type of associative learning called classical (or Pavlovian) conditioning. • Pavlov was the first person to apply scientific method to the study of learning by association.

Pavlov's Discovery of Classical Conditioning: Questions 1. What did Pavlov mean by a "conditioned reflex"? 2. Distinguish between a stimulus and a response; between an unconditioned and conditioned stimulus. 3. In the experiments shown here, identify the unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, and conditioned response. 4. Discuss some examples of classical conditioning in humans.

Pavlov’s Classic Experiment Before Conditioning UCS (food in mouth) UCR (salivation) During Conditioning Neutral stimulus (tone) No salivation After Conditioning UCS (food in mouth) Neutral stimulus (tone) UCR (salivation) CS (tone) CR (salivation)

Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning • Pavlov’s device for recording salivation

Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning • Classical Conditioning – organism comes to associate two stimuli • lightning and thunder • tone and food – begins with a reflex – a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that evokes the reflex – neutral stimulus eventually comes to evoke the reflex

Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning • Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) – effective stimulus that unconditionallyautomatically and naturally- triggers a response • Unconditioned Response (UCR) – unlearned, naturally occurring automatic response to the unconditioned stimulus • salivation when food is in the mouth

Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning • Conditioned Stimulus (CS) – previously neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response • Conditioned Response (CR) – learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus

Acquisition is the initial stage in classical conditioning in which an association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus takes place. 1. In most cases, for conditioning to occur, the neutral stimulus needs to come before the unconditioned stimulus. 2. The time in between the two stimuli should be about half a second.

Acquisition The CS needs to come half a second before the US for acquisition to occur.

Conditioning • Extinction – diminishing of a CR – in classical conditioning, when a UCS does not follow a CS – in operant conditioning, when a response is no longer reinforced • Spontaneous Recovery – reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished CR

Stimulus Generalization -tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS. Pavlov conditioned the dog’s salivation (CR) by using miniature vibrators (CS) on the thigh. When he subsequently stimulated other parts of the dog’s body, salivation dropped.

Stimulus Discrimination is the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.

Experimental Neurosis • How many have had a teacher who has tested you over things they didn’t emphasize? • Pavlov’s discrimination tasks to distinguish between a circle and an oval. • Pattern of erratic behavior resulting from a demanding discrimination learning task, typically involves aversive conditioning. Another way of stating concept of learned helplessness. FOOD Shock

Condition a Dog • http: //www. uwm. edu/~johnchay/cc. htm

Watson’s Little Albert: Introduction • John B. Watson was one of the first psychologists to argue that human behavior is a collection of conditioned responses. He described human learning terms in Pavlovian terms. • Watson demonstrated that fear can be conditioned in infants. He found that a loud sound is a potent unconditioned stimuli for fear in infants. In this clip, he successfully conditions an 11 -month-old baby named Albert to fear laboratory rats by making a loud sound when Albert was paying attention to the rat. • Albert is first shown playing happily with the rat, then he is exposed to 6 stimulations with a loud sound. After Albert is conditioned to fear the rat, he exhibits generalization by crying at the sight of other furry creatures including a rabbit.

Watson’s Little Albert: Questions • In Watson’s experiment, what was the UCS? The UCR? The CS? The CR? 2. Would it be ethically permissible to repeat Watson’s experiment today? 3. How have your emotions been classically conditioned?

• • • Pairing a popular music together with the products in advertisements to generate positive feelings and liking towards the products Christmas music played in store may trigger the sweet memories and the habits of giving and sharing in a consumer's mind and thus will persuade he or she to enter the store Political candidates try to appear in TV with patriotic background music to elicit the patriotic feelings of the voters Consistently advertising a product on exciting game shows may result in the product itself generating an excitement response. Guys tend to associate themselves with anything that the girls like in order to create a good impression in their mind and eventually win their hearts. Girls may tend to symbolize themselves as a "sex symbol" to instantly attract the guys to approach them to start a relationship. People who receives chemotherapy often vomit during or shortly after the procedure. After several chemotherapy sessions, people begin feeling sick at the sight of the treatment room. The sight of food will make you hungry. Soon every time you go into the kitchen, you will feel hungry too. Whenever you see a scary movie, you will always eat a box of thin mints. Now you will find that just seeing thin mints makes you feel scared. If you met a new person who is an excellent cook, after a few superb meals you will find yourself liking that person very much Article Source: http: //Ezine. Articles. com/2883783

Examples of C. C. 1) Learning to feel upset at the sight of flashing police lights in your rearview mirror 2) Learning to feel anxiety when you hear the sounds at the dentist’s office 3) Learning sexual arousal to objects that have been associated with sexual arousal in the past (e. g. , items of clothing) 4) Feeling tender emotions when you hear a song that was associated with your first romance 5) A new mother whose breasts start to produce milk when she hears her baby’s cry 6) Learning to feel emotional arousal to certain words (4 -letter words, bigoted labels) 7) The famous case of “little Albert” – learning fear

Extending Pavlov’s Understanding Pavlov and Watson considered consciousness, or mind, unfit for the scientific study of psychology. However, they underestimated the importance of cognitive processes and biological constraints.

Cognitive Processes Early behaviorists believed that learned behaviors of various animals could be reduced to mindless mechanisms. However, later behaviorists suggested that animals learn the predictability of a stimulus, meaning they learn expectancy or awareness of a stimulus (Rescorla, 1988).

Biological Predispositions Pavlov and Watson believed that laws of learning were similar for all animals. Therefore, a pigeon and a person do not differ in their learning. However, behaviorists later suggested that learning is constrained by an animal’s biology.

Biological Predispositions Courtesy of John Garcia • Garcia showed that the duration between the CS and the US may be long (hours), but yet result in conditioning. • A biologically adaptive CS (taste) led to conditioning and not to others (light or sound). John Garcia & Robert Koelling

Biological Predispositions Even humans can develop classically to conditioned nausea.

Pavlov’s Legacy Pavlov’s greatest contribution to psychology is isolating elementary behaviors from more complex ones through objective scientific procedures. Ivan Pavlov (1849 -1936)

Applications of Classical Conditioning Watson used classical conditioning procedures to develop advertising campaigns for a number of organizations, including Maxwell House, making the “coffee break”. Brown Brothers John B. Watson

Applications of Classical Conditioning 2 • For each of the following ads, identify the HUMAN EMOTION the advertiser is associating with their product. • UCS UCR • CS CR

Applications of Classical Conditioning 1. Alcoholics may be conditioned (aversively) by reversing their positiveassociations with alcohol. 2. Through classical conditioning, a drug (plus its taste) that affects the immune response may cause the taste of the drug to invoke the immune response.

• To ensure Jackson & Kaden make good decisions as teenagers regarding drugs and alcohol I will classically condition them to stay away from them. I will sit them down (when Sara is gone ) and force them to drink and drink; to the point where they throw up and throw up. We will drink until they have been conditioned to stay away from alcohol and say “NO!” to their friends when offered it later in life. Describe the process in Pavlov's terms, identifying the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR.

UCS, UCR, CS, CR? • UCS – beer, liquor and smokes • UCR – puking all over • CS – the opportunity to drink & smoke later on in life or smell of liquor • CR – Feeling nauseas

• Powerful advertising agencies make use of psychological research on learning and routinely employ psychologists in their research division because they want to devise advertisements that sell products. Explain in Pavlov's terms how attitudes toward certain products (for example, beer) are created through advertising campaigns (for example, bikini-clad women), identifying the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR.

• UCS – sex (beautiful women) • UCR -- mildly aroused feeling • CS – product (Coors Light) • CR – by pairing the CS with the UCS consumers will experience a mildly aroused feeling

Critical Thinking – Work in small groups to come up with answers • Most pets become classically conditioned to a variety of stimuli associated with their feeding. If you have a pet now, see if you can identify examples of its conditioned responding to food and other Pavlovian stimuli. Be specific in using the terminology of conditioning (conditioned stimuli, unconditioned and conditioned responses, et cetera).

EVERYDAY CLASSICAL CONDITIONING • If you have pets and you feed them with canned food, what happens when you hit the can opener? Sure, the animals come running even if you are opening a can of green beans. They have associated the sound of the opener with their food.

EVERYDAY CLASSICAL CONDITIONING • Classical conditioning works with people, too. Go to K-Mart and watch what happens when the blue light turns on. Cost conscious shoppers will make a beeline to that table because they associate a good sale with the blue light. (And, the research proves that people are more likely to buy the sale item under the blue light even if the item isn't a good value. )

EVERYDAY CLASSICAL CONDITIONING • And classical conditioning works with advertising. For example, many beer ads prominently feature attractive young women wearing bikinis. The young women (Unconditioned Stimulus) naturally elicit a favorable, mildly aroused feeling (Unconditioned Response) in most men. The beer is simply associated with this effect. The same thing applies with the jingles and music that accompany many advertisements.

EVERYDAY CLASSICAL CONDITIONING • Perhaps the strongest application of classical conditioning involves emotion. Common experience and careful research both confirm that human emotion conditions very rapidly and easily. Particularly when the emotion is intensely felt or negative in direction, it will condition quickly.