LEARNING

Definition: Learning is a process by which behaviour or knowledge changes as a result of

experience.

Classical Conditioning: Ivan Pavlov

Definition: A type of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to bring about a response
after it is paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about that response.

To demonstrate classical conditioning, Pavlov (1927) attached a tube to the salivary gland of
a dog, allowing him to measure precisely the dog’s salivation. He then rang a bell and, just a
few seconds later, presented the dog with meat. This pairing occurred repeatedly and was
carefully planned so that, each time, exactly the same amount of time elapsed between the
presentation of the bell and the meat. At first the dog would salivate only when the meat was
presented, but soon it began to salivate at the sound of the bell. In fact, even when Pavlov
stopped presenting the meat, the dog still salivated after hearing the sound. The dog had been
classically conditioned to salivate to the bell.

Basic Steps

Before conditioning:

Bell No salivation

(Neutral stimulus, NS)

Meat powder Salivation

(Unconditional stimulus, US) (Unconditioned

response, UR)

During conditioning:

Bell : Meat powder Salivation

(NS) (US) (UR)

After conditioning:

Bell Salivation

(CS) (CR)
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): In classical conditioning, a stimulus that can
evoke an unconditioned response the first time it is presented.

Unconditioned Response (UCR): In classical conditioning, the response

evoked by an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS): In classical conditioning, the stimulus that is

repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Response (CR): In classical conditioning, the response to the

conditioned stimulus.

Basic Principles:

1. Acquisition: The process by which a conditioned stimulus acquires the

ability to elicit a conditioned response through repeated pairings of an
unconditioned stimulus with the conditioned stimulus.

Factors that influence conditioning:

I. temporal arrangement of the CS–UCS pairings

II. the conditioned stimulus–unconditioned stimulus interval

III. familiarity

Temporal arrangement of the CS–UCS pairings:

Temporal means time-related: the extent to which a conditioned stimulus

precedes or follows the presentation of an unconditioned stimulus.

A) Delayed conditioning: A form of forward conditioning in which the

presentation of the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) begins while the
conditioned stimulus (CS) is still present.

B) Trace conditioning: A form of forward conditioning in which the onset

of the conditioned stimulus (CS) precedes the onset of the unconditioned
stimulus (UCS) and the CS and UCS do not overlap.

C) Simultaneous conditioning: A form of conditioning in which the

conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) begin
and end at the same time.
 D) Backward conditioning: A type of conditioning in which the
presentation of the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) precedes the presentation
of the conditioned stimulus (CS).

Research suggests that delayed conditioning is generally the most effective

method for establishing a conditioned response. This is because the conditioned
stimulus often plays an important role in predicting forthcoming presentations
of the unconditioned stimulus (Lieberman, 1990).

II .the conditioned stimulus–unconditioned stimulus interval: the time interval

between presentations of the two stimuli. Extremely short intervals—less than
0.2 second—rarely produce conditioning. In animal research, the optimal CS–
UCS interval seems to be between 0.2 and 2 seconds; longer intervals make it
difficult for animals to recognize the conditioned stimulus as a signal for some
future event.

III. Familiarity can greatly affect conditioning. In contrast to stimuli selected

for study in the laboratory, which are often novel, many of the potential
conditioning stimuli found in the environment are familiar to us. Thus, our day-
to-day experiences often teach us that certain stimuli, such as the background
noise usually present in an office setting or the odors ordinarily present in our
homes, do not predict anything unusual. In other words, we learn that these
stimuli are largely irrelevant, which makes it highly unlikely that these stimuli
will come to act as conditional stimuli in the future

2. Extinction : The process through which a conditioned stimulus gradually

loses the ability to evoke conditioned responses when it is no longer followed
by the unconditioned stimulus. After many presentations of a bell (conditioned
stimulus) in the absence of meat powder (unconditioned stimulus), the dog no
longer salivates in response to the bell. In other words, extinction has occurred.
But if the CS (the bell) and the UCS (the meat powder) are again paired after
the conditioned response of salivation has been extinguished, salivation will
return very quickly—a process termed reconditioning.

3. Spontaneous recovery : Following extinction, return of a conditioned

response upon reinstatement of CS–UCS pairings. (Suppose that after
extinction, the experiment is interrupted: Pavlov is caught up in another project
that keeps him away from his laboratory and the dog for several weeks. Now
will the sound of the bell, the conditioned stimulus, elicit salivation? The
answer is yes, but the reaction will be in a weakened form. The reappearance of
the reaction after a time interval is referred to as spontaneous recovery

4. Stimulus generalization (refer to Watson & Rayner’s, Little Albert)

The tendency of stimuli similar to a conditioned stimulus to evoke conditioned

responses. The tendency for a CR to occur in the presence of a stimulus that is
similar to the CS.

Example: Suppose that because of several painful experiences, a child has

acquired a strong conditioned fear of hornets—whenever she sees one or hears
one buzzing, she shows strong emotional reactions and heads for the hills. She
certainly would experience similar reactions to other flying insects because of
stimulus generalization,

. Stimulus generalization often serves a useful function. In this example, it may

indeed save the girl from additional stings. Many other species also turn the
existence of stimulus generalization to their advantage. For example, some
totally harmless insects resemble more dangerous species in coloring and so
ward off would-be predators. Similarly, some frogs that would make a tasty
mouthful for birds show markings highly similar to those of poisonous species,
increasing their chances of survival.

5. Stimulus discrimination: The process by which organisms learn to respond

to certain stimuli but not to others. Although stimulus generalization can serve
an important adaptive function, it is not always beneficial and in some cases can
be dangerous. For example, because of many pleasant experiences with parents
and other adult relatives, a young child may become trusting of all adults
through stimulus generalization; but this process will not be beneficial if it
extends to certain strangers. You can understand why stimulus generalization
can be maladaptive— even deadly. Fortunately, most of us avoid such potential
problems through stimulus discrimination—a process of learning to respond to
certain stimuli but not to others

Applications

• Systematic Desensitization:Developed by Wolpe.

1. Training in relaxation
2. Creation of hierarchy of imaginary scenes that elicit progressively intense
levels of fears
 3. Pairing of each item in the hierarchy with relaxation
• Flooding

The client is exposed to fear evoking stimulus until fear is extinguished -uses
in vivo exposure, actual exposure to the feared stimulus

Psychiatrist Joseph Wolpe (19700900 ) carried out an experiment which

demonstrated flooding. He took a girl who was scared of cars, and drove her
around for hours.Initially the girl was hysterical but she eventually calmed
down when she realized that her situation was safe.

• Aversion therapy

Aversion therapy is type of behavioral therapy that involves repeating

pairing an unwanted behavior with discomfort. For example, a person
undergoing aversion therapy to stop smoking might receive an electrical
shock every time they view an image of a cigarette. The goal of the
conditioning process is to make the individual associate the stimulus with
unpleasant or uncomfortable sensations.

OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which the future probability of a

behavior is affected by its consequences.

Skinner’s operant conditioning bears a striking resemblance to Darwin’s

principle of natural selection. According to the principle of natural selection,
members of a species that inherit certain adaptive characteristics are more likely
to survive and propagate. Similarly according to the principle of Operant
conditioning behaviors that lead to favorable outcomes are more likely to be
repeated than those that do not lead to favorable outcomes. Thus Operant
conditioning is sort of mini-evolution of an organism’s behaviors, in which
behaviors that are adaptive become more frequent while behaviors that are non-
adaptive becomes less frequent.

Definition: Operant conditioning is a form of learning in which behavior is

maintained, or changed, through consequences. A process through which
organisms learn to repeat behaviors that yield positive outcomes or permit them
to avoid or escape from negative outcomes.

Procedures that strengthen behavior are termed

reinforcement, whereas those that suppress behavior are termed punishment.

Four types of Contingencies:

There are two main types of consequences in operant

conditioning: reinforcers and punishers. If the response is followed by a
reinforcer, then we say that a contingency of reinforcement exist (meaning that
delivery of the reinforcer is contingent upon the response); if the response is
followed by a punisher, then a contingency of punishment exists. However,
contingencies of reinforcement and punishment can be further divided into two
subtypes: positive and negative. This result in four basic types of contingencies
(response-consequence relationships): positive reinforcement, negative
reinforcement, positive punishment and negative punishment.

Reinforcement: The application or removal of a stimulus to increase the

strength of a specific behavior.

Positive Reinforcement: consist of presentation of a stimulus (one that is

pleasant or rewarding) following a response, which then leads to an increase in
the future strength of that response. Example: the standard rat procedure in
which lever pressing produces food is an example of positive reinforcement
because the consequence of food leads to an increase in lever pressing. Other
examples:

Smile at a person the person smiles at you

Order coffee receive coffe

Negative reinforcement : the removal of a stimulus (one that is considered

unpleasant or aversive) following a response, which then leads to an increase in
the future strenght of that response. For example , if by pressing a lever a rat
terminates an electric shock that it is receiving, it will become more likely to
press the lever the next time it receives an electric shock. This is an example of
reinforcement because the behavior increases in strength ; it is negative
reinforcement because the consequence consist of taking something away.

Open umbrella Escape rain (escape)

Claim illensss Avoid writing an exam (avoidance)

Negative reinforcement involves two types of behavior: escape and avoidance.

Escape behavior results in the the termination (stopping) of an aversive
stimulus. In the example of the person getting rained on, by opening the
umbrella the person stops this from happening. Likewise , taking aspirin
removes a headache, and turning on the heater allows one to escape the cold.

Avoidance is similare to escape except that avoidance

behavior occurs before the aversive stimulus is presneted and therefore prevents
its delivery. For example, if the umbrella were opened before stepping out into
rain , the person would avoid getting rained on. And by pretending to be ill, a
student avoids having to write an exam.

Punishment: The application or removal of a stimulus so as to decrease the

strength of a behavior.

Positive punishment : the presentation of a stimulus (one that is usually

considered unpleasant or rewarding) following a response , which then leads to
a decrease in future strenght of that response. For example , if a rat received a
shock when it pressed the lever, it would stop pressing the lever. This is an
example of punishment because the behavior decreases in strength , and it is
positive punishment because the consequence involves the presentation of
something(shock).

Negative Punishment : consist of removal of a stimulus( one that is usually

considered pleasant or rewarding) following a response, which then leads to
decrease in the future strenght of that response.

Example:

Argue with boss Lose job

Tease sister Sent to room( loss of social contact)

In the example , it is punishment because the behavior decreases in strength

and it is negative punishment because the consequence consists of the removal
of something.

Positive reinforcement types:

Immediate Vs Delayed
Primary and Secondary

Intrinsic and extrinsic

Schedules of Reinfocement :

Rules determining when and how reinforcements will be delivered.

Types:Continuous and intermittant schedule

Continuous : A schedule of reinforcement in which every occurrence

of a particular behavior is reinforced. For example, each time a rat presses the
lever, it obtains a food pellet. Continuous reinforcement schedule is very useful
when a behavior is first being shaped.

Shaping refers to process of learning a complex response by first learning a no.

of simple responses leading up to the complex one. Each step is given +ve
reinforcement – Builds on previous one -This is done till the final response
occurs and is reinforced. Shaping also known as method of successive
approximations- since steps are approximations of final response.

Example: Teaching child to write

First- holding pen- reinforced

Then- scribbling on paper- reinforced

Later – writing simple letters- reinforced

Intermittant /partial :one in which some responses are reinforced, helps in

maintaning a behavior.

Fixed-Interval Schedule: A schedule of reinforcement in which a specific

interval of time must elapse before a response will yield reinforcement.

Variable-Interval Schedule:

A schedule of reinforcement in which a variable amount of time must elapse

before a response will yield reinforcement.

Fixed-Ratio Schedule: A schedule of reinforcement in which reinforcement

occurs only after a fixed number of responses has been emitted.
Variable-Ratio Schedule: A schedule of reinforcement in which reinforcement
is delivered after a variable number of responses have been emitted.

Applications:

1. Token Economy: A secondary reinforcer (a token) is given for good

behavior. Learner turns the token in for something more primary. Used in
rehabilitation centers, prison to modify behavior.

2. Time Out : When a learner misbehaves, his/her positive reinforcement is

removed.Must have been giving positive reinforcement, so that you can remove
it when the learner misbehaves.

3. Shaping : Shaping refers to process of learning a complex response by first

learning a no. of simple responses leading up to the complex one .Each step is
given +ve reinforcement. Builds on previous one . This is done till the final
response occurs and is reinforced.
Shaping also known as METHOD OF SUCCESSIVE APPROXIMATIONS-
since steps are approximations of final response
Eg- Teaching child to write
First- holding pen- reinforced;Then- scribbling on paper- reinforced; Later –
writing simple letters- reinforced/
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

The acquisition of new forms of behavior, information, or concepts through

exposure to others and the consequences they experience. In his famous Bobo
doll experiment, Bandura demonstrated that children learn and imitate behaviors
they have observed in other people. The children in Bandura’s studies observed
an adult acting violently toward a Bobo doll. When the children were later
allowed to play in a room with the Bobo doll, they began to imitate the
aggressive actions they had previously observed.

According to Bandura (1986 four factors are most important.

1.Attention : The extent to which we focus on others'behavior
2.Retention : Our ability to retain a representation of others' behavior in
memory
3.Production process: Our ability to act on these memory representations.
4.Motivation : The usefulness to use of the information acquired.
Observational learning, also called social learning theory, occurs when an
observer’s behavior changes after viewing the behavior of a model. An
observer’s behavior can be affected by the positive or negative consequences–
called vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment– of a model’s behavior