Learning Chapter 7 (Part 1) Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning Observational Learning Learning *Learning: experience that results in a relatively

permanent change in the state of the learner *There are two main approaches to learning: *Classical conditioning: a reflexive or automatice type of learning in which a stimulus evokes a response that was orignially evoked by another stimulus. *Operant conditioning. *Other types of learning also include observational learning and learning outside of awareness (implicit learning). Ivan Pavlov Interested in the way behavior is conditioned by association. Conducted experiments to test behavioral responses to stimuli. The Development of Classical Conditioning: Pavlovs Experiments *Classical conditioning: when a neutral stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response; first studied by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) *Unconditioned stimulus (US): something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism *Unconditioned response (UR): a reflexive reaction that is reliably produced by an unconditioned stimulus *Conditioned stimulus (CS): a stimulus that is initially neutral and produces no reliable response in an organism *Conditioned response (CR): a reaction that resembles an unconditioned response but is produced by a conditioned stimulus Pavlovs Apparatus for Studying Classical Conditioning
Pavlovs experiment FOOD (US) Food paired with a BELL (CS) Salivation (CR) Salivation (UR)

The Elements of Classical Conditioning Classical Conditioning Examples *Before you go in for a chemotherapy treatment, they often give you a distinctive food to eat. After treatment, you can't stand that food. *You always do your homework on your desk. After a very hard semester, you find that sitting at your desk depresses you. *You have a friend who is very boring and seldom has anything important to say. they take a course in conversational English and start to become very interesting. For some reason, every else notices the change much faster than you. The Basic Principles of Classical Conditioning *Acquisition: the phase of classical conditioning when the CS and the US are presented together *Second-order conditioning: conditioning where the US is a stimulus that acquired its ability to produce learning from an earlier procedure in which it was used as a CS *Extinction: the gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the US is no longer presented *Spontaneous recovery: the tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period *Generalization: a process by which the CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different from the original one used during acquisition *Discrimination: the capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli Generalization and Discrimination *Generalization: the CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different. *Discrimination: the capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli. The Real World: Understanding Drug Overdoses *The sudden deaths of drug addicts are sometimes puzzling: addicts are experienced, dosages are common, and event occurs in unusual place *Setting functions as the CS, and the brain works to counteract effects (CR) prior to the actual administration of the drug *The CR (as a protective function) in new locations either is reduced or does not occur at all *Cue exposure therapies as treatment Conditioned Emotional Responses: The Case of Little Albert *Watson and Rayner (1920) conditioned a 9-month-old baby (Albert) to fear a white rat (by striking a steel bar whenever he was presented with the

rat). *Little Albert also showed stimulus generalization. *Positive emotions can also become associated. Conditioned Emotional Responses: The Case of Little Albert Classical Condition *Cognitive *Neural *Evolutionary Elements Cognitive Elements of Classical Conditioning *Rescorla-Wagner model suggests that classical conditioning only occurs when the organism has learned to set up an expectation. *Eyeblink conditioning research argues that classical conditioning draws upon implicit but not explicit memory (based on the awareness of the CS and US) *Delay and trace conditioning in amnesics *Impaired reality testing in schizophrenics Cognitive: Expectation in Classical Conditioning Cognitive: Consciousness Delay and Trace Conditioning Neural Elements of Classical Conditioning *Experiments with rabbits in eyeblink conditioning implicate the cerebellum in delay and trace conditioning. *The hippocampus is also implicated in trace conditioning, but not as much in delay conditioning. *The amygdala (central nucleus) is responsible for fear conditioning. *Behavioral and physiological (autonomic nervous system) responses Evolutionary Elements of Classical Conditioning *Adaptive behaviors allow us to survive. *Taste aversions are learned: *Rapidly in few trials *Over long conditioning periods *Because of perceptual qualities, such as smell or taste (not the act of ingestion itself) *More often with novel foods *Research with cancer patients who experience nausea *Biological preparedness: a propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others Evolutionary Elements of Classical Conditioning *Taste Aversion Culture and Community *Is it possible that humans have an innate ability to understand geometry? *In a study of the Munduruku (an isolated indigenous tribe in the Amazon), children and adults were compared to American children and adults in

basic comprehension of geometric shapes. *Very few differences between groups were found (only American adults performed significantly better), arguing that geometric comprehension may be universal. Operant Conditioning *A voluntary response strengthened or weakened by favorable or unfavorable consequences. The Development of Operant Conditioning: The Law of Effect *Operant conditioning: a type of learning in which the consequences of an organisms behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future *Edward Thorndike (1874-1949) focused on instrumental behaviors and created a puzzle box to show the law of effect. *Law of effect: the principle that behaviors that are followed by a satisfying state of affairs tend to be repeated and those that produce an unpleasant state of affairs are less likely to be repeated Thorndikes Puzzle Box The Law of Effect B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) Described operant conditioning. Investigated reward schedules. Skinner Box B.F. Skinner: The Role of Reinforcement and Punishment *Operant behavior: behavior that an organism produces that has some impact on the environment; coined by B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) *Demonstrated using the operant chamber or Skinner Box *Reinforcer: any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it; more effective than punishment in promoting learning *Positive reinforcement (added) *Negative reinforcement (taken away) *Punisher: any stimulus or event that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behavior that led to it *Positive punishment and negative punishment *Primary reinforcers satisfy biological needs and secondary reinforcers are associated with primary reinforcers Types of Reward * Positive Reinforcement Bringing good things to an organism Examples: Money, Praise, Food * Negative Reinforcement Taking bad things from an organism Examples: removing pain, toothache, hunger

The Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning *Learning takes place in contexts; behavior is under stimulus control. *Three-term contingency: discriminative stimulus, response, reinforcer. *Schedules of reinforcement: *Fixed interval schedule (FI): reinforcements are presented at fixed time periods, provided the appropriate response is made *Variable interval scheduled (VI): behavior is reinforced based on an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement *Fixed ratio schedule (FR): reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been made *Variable ratio schedule (VR): the delivery of reinforcement is based on a particular average number of responses *Intermittent reinforcement: when only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement; produce slightly higher rates of responding and are more resistant to extinction (intermittentreinforcement effect) Shaping and Superstitious Behavior *Shaping: learning that results from the reinforcement of successive steps to a final desired behavior *Superstitions: rare or odd behaviors may be repeated if they are accidentally reinforced, which may lead to mistaken beliefs regarding causal relationships B.F. Skinner Shaping a Dog Cognitive Elements of Operant Conditioning *Edward Tolman (1886-1959) saw operant conditioning as a means-ends relationship. *Latent learning: a condition in which something is learned but it is not manifested as a behavioral change until sometime in the future *Cognitive map: a mental representation of the physical features of the environment *Trust game examining learning and brain activity (fMRI)

Cognitive: Latent Learning Cognitive Maps Hot Science: Control of Learning: From the Laboratory to the Classroom *Research has shown that peoples judgments about what they have learned (JOLs) play a critical role in guiding further study and learning.

*Experiment using word pairs showed that people study information more if they feel they have not learned well. *They may have felt more familiar with other material, but that doesnt mean it is learned well. *Testing oneself is the best way to assess ones learning. Neural Elements of Operant Conditioning *Pleasure centers of the brain are located in the limbic system. *Structures and pathways in the brain that deliver rewards through stimulation. *Medial forebrain bundle, hypothalamus, nucleus accumbens *Behaviors that involve pleasure include eating, drinking, and sexual activity. *Neurons involved in the reward center are dopaminergic (DA). Pleasure Centers in the Brain Evolutionary Elements of Operant Conditioning *Foraging animals explore their environment (even places that are not reinforcing). *Rats behavior in a T maze *Each species (including humans) is biologically predisposed to learn some things more readily than others in ways consistent with evolutionary history. A Simple T Maze A Complex T Maze Classical vs. Operant Conditioning *classical conditioning is centered on involuntary, automatic behaviors *Pairing of two things: bell and salivating *Automatic nervous system *operant conditioning is focused on voluntary behaviors. *Motivation for future behaviors *Voluntary motor system