Chapter 8 Learning and Conditioning and Learning
Pages 292-328
Key idea: Principles of learning can be used to:
- Understand behavior
- Manage behavior
What is a basic definition conditioning?
What is a basic definition of learning?
Define:
Reinforcement
Antecedent
Response
Consequence
Outline everything in this chapter dealing with:
Classical Conditioning
Role of association in conditioning
Pavlov
Neutral stimulus (NS)
Unconditioned stimulus (US)
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Unconditioned Response (UR)
Conditioned Response (CR)
How does Classical Conditioning occur?
Acquisition
Higher Orders Conditioning- learning by association
Expectancies
Extinction and Spontaneous recovery
Generalization
Discrimination
Stimulus Discrimination
Conditioned Emotional Response
Learned Fears and Phobias
Operant Conditioning
How are responses reinforced?
Thorndike – Law of Effect
Summarize what is meant by Voluntary responses
Positive Reinforcement
Operant Reinforcer
Skinner Box
Shaping and approximations
How does Operant Extinction work?
Negative Attention Seeking
Positive Reinforcement
Negative Reinforcement
Punishment
Operant Reinforcers- Primary Reinforcers, Secondary Reinforcers, Token Reinforcers
Social Reinforcers
Schedules of Partial Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio
Variable Ratio
Fixed interval
Variable interval
Punishment and variables affecting punishment
Read and identify the 3 most important considerations to “If you must punish here’s how?”pg 315
Side effects of punishment
Summarize issues related to Escape Avoidance and Aggression
Define the following aspects of Cognitive Learning:
Cognitive Maps
Latent Learning
Discovery Learning
Modeling (Bandura)
Observational Learning
Imitating Models
Modeling and Television and Aggression
Forty Studies that Changed Psychology:
“It’s Not Just About Salivating Dogs”
Pavlov, I.P
What are the significant aspects of Pavlov’s Study?
What were some of Pavlov’s findings?
Reflexes
Science
How did Pavlov explain a salivation response due to a stimuli that was seemingly un-related to digestion?
Pairing of stimuli
Sequence
Expectancy
Classical Conditioning Theory of learning
Pavlov (originally a physiologist studying digestion in dogs) was important in advancement of psychology as a science.
Began with the study of Reflexes (a response that occurs automatically to a specific stimulus with out the need for any learning)
Found that the reflex of salivation was triggered by outside, forces, seemingly unrelated
Unconditioned reflexes are inborn and automatic and require no learning.
Conditioned reflexes are acquired through experience or learning (behaviors not under voluntary control)
Unconditioned Stimulus
Condition Reflexes are not inborn
They are created by association within the brain
Used the metronome to trigger the response
Combined stimulus and repetition caused the conditioned response
Found there was a sequence to the conditioning, both stimuli must be introduced at the same time or the NS must be delivered directly before the Unconditioned response.
Phobias are associated classical conditioning
Source of emotions are linked to conditioning
Findings- any reflex can be conditioned
Conditioning works in advertising-Try to pair a product that produces a positive response.
Little Emotional Albert
Watson, J.B. (1920) Conditioned Emotional Response
Study is a contrast to Psycho-dynamic school of psychology:
We are motivated by unconscious instincts and repressed conflicts from early childhood.
“Behavior thoughts and emotions are generated internally through biological and instinctual processes”
Watson was a behaviorist
“Behavior is generated outside the person through various environmental or situational stimuli”
Found emotions could be shown to be a product of the environment. “We learn our emotional reactions.”
“Emotional responses exist because we have been conditioned to respond emotionally to certain stimuli.”
Said behavior is generated outside the person through various environmental or situational stimuli.
Theorized: emotional responses exist in us because we have been conditioned to respond emotionally to certain stimuli in the environment.
Associations are important
“We learn our emotional reactions.”
Believed that all human behavior is the product of learning
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well informed, and my own special world to bring them up in, and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select, doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant…”
Watson tried to demonstrate that emotions could be experimentally conditioned.
Idea was to pair a stimuli with and emotion to create a learned behavior.
Albert is given Neutral Stimuli, fuzzy animals and cotton…
Ethical violations- no reconditioning took place after the experiment
Unethical-to treat humans/children
Research methods- didn’t recondition
Phobias-
Skinner “Knock Wood”: Superstition in the pigeon (1948)
Most influential and widely known
B.F. Skinner 1904-1990
Author of 200 Books
Skinner Box invention
Radical Behaviorists -
Believed all behaviors including Public or external behavior and private and internal feelings and thoughts are -- learned and controlled by the situation that precedes the behavior and the consequences that directly follow it.
He did not view thoughts and emotions as causes of behavior
But rather as part of the mix of environment and behavior he wanted to explain.
Idea:
Your behavior is followed by consequencessome consequences make it more likely to be repeated in future. These consequences are called reinforcers-
Other consequences ---injuries, feelings of embarrassment--- that to make the behavior less likely to be repeated in similar situations these consequences are called punishers.
Reinforcement = Leraning
Situatoin------ Behavior ------ Consequences Punishment= No Learning
Learned behaviors can be decreased and eventually disappear
Behavior that has been reinforced then reinforcement is withdrawn, the likelihood of the behavior reoccurring will slowly decrease = extinction
Reinforcers create and maintain behavior.
Theoretical Proposition:
Supersticuious behavior
People believe in certain settings… a connection exists between the superstitious behavior in a certain setting and a reinforcing consequence, even though, in reality it does not.
This connection exists because the behavior (rolling dice...__) was accidentally reinforced once twice or several times. (Non-contingent Reinforcement) – a reward that is not contingent on any particular behavior. “you believe that there is a casual relationship.”
Method:
Skinner Box = conditioning chamber, cage with disch for food to be dispensed into-
Researcher has control over when animal receives reinforcement.
Example lever is pushed and food is dispensed.
The researcher could take control of the dispenser and reinforce with food only when a specific behavior occurred.
Pigeons- experiment- designed to dispense food every second regardless of what animal was doing. Reward not contingent on a particular behavior. A few days of this conditioning.
Result
Pigeons’ behaved in specific manner “behaved as if certain action would produce the food.
Skinner delayed the reinforcement and found that the birds continued the superstitious behavior in anticipation it would cause the food to be dispensed.
Then- reinforcement was discontinued. (extinction) eventually the superstitious behavior ended when no food was delivered. (10,000 movements recorded by one bird)
Discussion
Bird behavior was determined to have a relationship to the food presentation- but there was no relation.
When any behavior is only reinforced once in awhile in given situation (called partial reinforcement) it is difficult to extinguish.
Because the expectation stays high that the superstiuos behavior might work to produce the reinforcing consequences.
It behavior is reinforced each time then stopped the behavior would stop quickly.
Criticism-
Carl Rogers- founder of Humanistic school of psychology
“See Aggression Do Aggression”
Bandura, (1961) “Transmission of aggression through limitation of aggressive models.”
Aggression is a major problem.
Problem of defining aggressive behavior
Explanations of Aggressive behavior:
- Biological pre-programmed for aggression- violent urges build up over time
- Situational factors- caused by repeated frustration
- Aggression is learned- Bandura
Issue of social learning theory: the source of human aggression may be modeled behavior
Bandura demonstrated how children learn to be aggressive
“Learning occurs through interaction with others… people reinforce certain behaviors and ignore or punish others.
The Modeling Effect “Bandura said behavior can be shaped through simply observing and imitating…”
Early study said: “Children imitate adult behavior when adults are present.
Bandura tried to determine if modeled behavior generalize to situations in which the model was not present.
Study:
See handout for the hypotheses
Average age 4 years and 4 months
48 subjects
Groups exposed to aggressive models and non aggressive models
Male/female groups,
Adults modeled violent behavior
Verbal and aggressive
Contrast with the non-aggressive conditioning
Model played quietly with the doll
Variable- some kids- had anger created by telling them that they could not play with some toys in one room but could play with toys in another room.
Combination of toys was displayed-aggressive and non-aggressive
Measure of aggression- only key modeled and imitatedbehavior was recorded. (See other behaviors)
Results:
Children exposed to violent models exhibited the violent behaviors.
38 behaviors of aggression boys
12 behaviors of aggression for girls
Non-aggressive group and control group results were not conclusive-
More findings:
Boys exhibit violent behaviors more with male models (more physical)
Girls exhibit violent behaviors more with females (more verbal aggression)
Discussion:
Bandura suggests that through observation and imitation aggression is learned.
Children observing this aggressive behavior means… “Sends the message to the child that this kind of behavior is permissible…” consequently, “There is an increased probability that a child will respond to future frustration will result in aggression.”