LEARNING MEYERS AND DEWALL CHAPTER 6
LEARNING OVERVIEW HOW DO WE LEARN? CLASSICAL CONDITIONING OPERANT CONDITIONING BIOLOGY, COGNITION, AND LEARNING LEARNING BY OBSERVATION
LEARNING Learning the process of acquiring new information or behaviors through experience Associative Learning - Our brain s tendency to automatically notice and connect sequential or co-occurring events Habits can be acquired behaviors linked to a specific context Conditioning process by which we learn associations
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Classical Conditioning (Pavlovian) learning to associate two or more stimuli Dr. Ivan Pavlov developed classical conditioning when dogs in his research would drool before they were given food Unconditioned Stimulus (US) a stimulus that automatically triggers a response Unconditioned Response (UR) an automatic unlearned reflexive response to a US
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Acquisition Stage repeatedly pair the US with a neutral stimulus (NS) Conditioned Stimulus (CS) a previously neutral stimulus that becomes associated with US Conditioned Response (CR) a LEARNED response to a conditioned stimulus Classical conditioning helps animals learn skills to survive and reproduce
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Extinction weakening of conditioned response (CR) when unconditioned stimulus (US) doesn t follow the conditioned Stimulus (CS) Stimulus Generalization expressing a conditioned response when presented with a similar CS Stimulus Discrimination learning to distinguish between similar condition stimuli
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Pavlov discovered that almost all animals can be classically conditioned and how to study it objectively Classical Conditioning in Everyday Life? John B. Watson s Little Albert study
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING OPERANT CONDITIONING E.L. Thorndike s Law of Effect a behavior followed by a reward is likely to be repeated Classical conditioning involves automatic behaviors, operant conditioning involves behaviors you control B.F. Skinner used Thorndike s law to teach animals skills Operant Conditioning learning that occurs when we associate favorable or unfavorable consequences with our actions Operant Chamber (Skinner Box) a box with a mechanism that provides food/water when pressed
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING OPERANT CONDITIONING How to INCREASE a behavior Reinforcer any event that increases/strengthens a preceding response Shaping gradually reinforcing behaviors that are close to the desired response successive approximations Shaping can be used in our everyday interactions
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING OPERANT CONDITIONING Types of Reinforcers Positive Reinforcement increasing/strengthening a behavior by PRESENTING a positive stimuli Negative Reinforcement increasing/strengthening a behavior by REMOVING a negative stimuli Primary Reinforcers satisfy basic needs, secondary reinforcers are associated with primary reinforcers Humans respond to both immediate and delayed reinforcers
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING OPERANT CONDITIONING Reinforcement Schedules the frequency/timing of reinforcement can affect behavior Continuous Reinforcement a behavior is reinforces after every desired response
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING OPERANT CONDITIONING Partial/Intermittent Reinforcement responses are sometimes reinforced based on rate or timing Fixed Ratio Schedule behavior is reinforced after a set number of responses Variable-Ratio Schedule behavior is reinforced after a random/unpredictable number of responses Fixed-Interval Schedule behavior is reinforced only after a set time period/interval Variable-Interval Schedule behavior is reinforced after a random/unpredictable period/interval
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING OPERANT CONDITIONING
ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING OPERANT CONDITIONING How to DECREASE a Behavior? Punishment any consequence that WEAKENS/DECREASES the frequency of a response Positive Punishment an undesired stimulus/event that occurs following a behavior Negative Punishment removing a desired stimulus/event following a behavior Physical Punishment models aggression as a tool, teaches fear, and only suppresses the response in certain situations Conditioning QUIZ
BIOLOGY, COGNITION, AND LEARNING Behaviorism Skinner and Watson felt that psychology should be limited only to observable behaviors, not mental processes What Did They Miss? Biological Predispositions organisms are better able to learn responses that help them survive and reproduce Cognitive Factors our thoughts, beliefs, and expectations influence learning Latent Learning acquiring knowledge without awareness Overjustification - rewarding people for doing things they enjoy decreases intrinsic motion
BIOLOGY, COGNITION, AND LEARNING Observational Learning (Albert Bandura) learning by observing the behaviors of others and its consequences Modeling process of imitating an observed response Mirror Neurons neurons that activate when we engage in behaviors or observe other engaging in behaviors