/17/015 General Psychology PSYC 00 Outline 0) Definition of Learning 1) Habituation ) Classical Conditioning ) Operant Conditioning Learning Definition Learning = change in behavior or thought as a result of experience relatively long-lasting 1 Habituation We are Change Detectors 1 Habituation we respond less strongly over time to repeated stimuli highly adaptive but not really very impressive amoeba and sea slugs Classical Conditioning New things can trigger reflexes Other examples? 1
/17/015 Classical Conditioning When a neutral stimulus evokes a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally evokes a response simple passive; reactive automatic Classical Conditioning Pavlov s Accidental Discovery Studied digestion Nobel Prize Complication: Dogs began salivating before meat powder Unconditioned stimulus (US) - > unconditioned response (UR) Food saliva CS US UR CR Classical Conditioning neutral stimulus is paired with another stimulus that elicits an automatic response eventually the neutral stimulus alone produces a similar response Conditioned stimulus (CS) pair with US Then CS can elicit conditioned response (CR) Think, Pair, Share US? UR? CS? CR? US = shark UR = fear CS = music CR = fear
/17/015 Terminology Acquisition learning phase Extinction gradual elimination Spontaneous Recovery sudden reemergence Generalization similar Discrimination different Learning Fears Little Albert fear of white rats generalized to rabbits, a white dog, a white furry coat, a Santa Claus mask, and even Watson s hair Phobias or overcoming phobias Little Peter Biological Preparedness we learn some associations more easily than others phobias dark, heights, snakes, spiders, water, blood food aversions one trial learning Disgust/ Food Aversions Acquired easily biologically important dirty; poisonous Food aversions? Taco Bell Cheesy Double Beef Burritos stuffed inside a sausage log wrapped in bacon. http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/ International Delicacies American Eel jelly Delicacies Denny s Introduces Just a Humongous Bucket of Eggs and Meat - The Onion
/17/015 Question Bob has contracted a stomach virus and will be extremely sick in 6 hours. At the moment, however, Bob is completely unaware of his condition. In fact, he is starving for his favorite food, pizza. His roommate wants anchovies on the pizza; although Bob never has eaten anchovies, he agrees. Bob eats six slices of pizza and likes the taste of the anchovies. A few hours later, Bob becomes extremely sick to his stomach. Describe the likely taste aversion that Bob will experience. Be sure to identify the US, CS, UR, and CR. Finally, discuss how the conditioning process might differ if Bob was a pigeon in Central Park instead of a college student. Operant Conditioning Learning can happen with actions other than reflexes Operant Conditioning Skinner s Rats and Pigeons What about more complex and voluntary behaviors? dolphins at Sea World kids behaving properly (or improperly) studying for a test Skinner Box = Operant Chamber operant conditioning is learning that is controlled by the consequences of behavior more active Skinner trained pigeons to: walk in a figure 8 play ping pong maintain quality control even keep a guided missile on course! Operant Conditioning 4
/17/015 Hero Rats Shaping Bart Weetjens land mines tuberculosis rewarding gradual, successive approximations to a desired behavior Professor example Opportunity NYC program designed to reduce poverty by providing cash incentives for doing things that will ultimately help people help themselves out of poverty attend parent-teacher conferences -- $5 get a library card -- $50 take the PSAT -- $50 complete job training or educational courses -- $00 year testing phase But what about intrinsic motivation? Sometimes extrinsic rewards decrease intrinsic motivation 5
/17/015 Future of Gaming? Important Terminology Jesse Schell game designer Talks about future of games after facebook Games creeping into reality 1 minutes in reinforcement increases or strengthens a response punishment - decreases or weakens a response http://g4tv.com/videos/4477/dice-010-design-outside-the-box-presentation/ Reinforcement and Punishment Reinforcement and Punishment Positive reinforcement: Adding something good, to increase desired behavior Negative reinforcement: Taking away something bad, to increase desired behavior Positive punishment: Adding something bad, to reduce undesired behavior Negative punishment: Taking away something good, to reduce undesired behavior Positive reinforcement: Adding something good, to increase desired behavior Negative reinforcement: Taking away something bad, to increase desired behavior Positive punishment: Adding something bad, to reduce undesired behavior Negative punishment: Taking away something good, to reduce undesired behavior Positive Reinforcement Negative Reinforcement 6
/17/015 Positive Punishment Negative Punishment Reinforcement? Punishment? MIT prank Watch out negative reinforcement taking an aspirin to relieve a headache smoking to relieve anxiety saying uncle to stop a beating Positive punishment spanking a child to stop them from hitting kicking a dog after it pees on the rug hangovers after drinking too much Reinforcement or Punishment? Positive or Negative? The employee of the month gets a reserved parking space A basketball player is suspended for committing a flagrant foul A teenager is grounded until his homework is finished Schedules of Reinforcement reinforced by ratio (# responses) or interval (time) reinforced on fixed or variable schedule Which schedules yield higher rates of responding ratio or interval? Which schedules yield more consistent rates of responding variable or fixed? Show Skinner movie 7
/17/015 Group Discussion 1 A child does not reliably make his bed every morning. His parents want to use monetary positive reinforcement to increase bedmaking. Describe how the following schedules of reinforcement would operate: Continuous reinforcement, fixed ratio (FR) 7, variable ratio (VR) 7, fixed interval (FI) 7 days, variable interval (VI) 7 days. If you were the parent, which schedule of reinforcement would you employ? Why? Casinos FR, VR, FI, or VI? getting a paycheck every other week pop quizzes casting and reeling back several times before catching a fish while fly fishing frequent flyer programs that give you free trips after flying 10,000 miles watching for shooting stars 8