Learning

Definitions

Learning is the relatively permanent change in behaviour brought

about by experience.

Habituation is the decrease in response to a stimulus that occurs after repeated

presentations of the same stimulus.

Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning - experiments, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalisation,
discrimination, higher order conditioning.

Ivan Pavlov - 20th century - Russian

Accidentally discovered classical conditioning.

Classical conditioning is 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.

Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a conditioned

stimulus becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus in order to
elicit a behaviour known as the conditioned response.

Experiment

Learning 1
 💡 “Studying the secretion of stomach acids and salivation in dogs in response to the
ingestion of varying amounts and kinds of food. Observed a curious phenomenon:
Sometimes stomach secretions and salivation would begin in the dogs when they
had not yet eaten any food. The mere sight of the experimenter who normally
brought the food, or even the sound of the experimenter’s footsteps, was enough
to produce salivation in the dogs. “ - Feldman
dogs were responding not only on the basis of a biological need (hunger), but also
as a result of learning—or, as it came to be called, classical conditioning.

Pavlov (1927)

1. attached a tube to the salivary gland of a dog, allowing him to measure precisely the
dog’s salivation.

2. He then rang a bell and, just a few seconds later, presented the dog with meat.

3. 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.

4. At first the dog would salivate only when the meat was presented, but soon it began to
salivate at the sound of the bell.

5. In fact, even when Pavlov stopped presenting the meat, the dog still salivated after
hearing the sound.

6. The dog had been classically conditioned to salivate to the bell.

Neutral stimulus is a stimulus that, before conditioning, does not

naturally brings about a response of interest.
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is a stimulus that naturally brings about
a particular response of interest without being learnt.
Unconditioned response (UCR) is a response elicited after the UCS
that is natural and needs no learning.
Conditioned stimulus (CS) is once- neutral stimulus that has been
paired with an unconditioned stimulus to bring about a response
formerly caused only by the unconditioned stimulus.
Conditioned response (CR) is a response elicited after the CS as a
result of learning from repeated associations.

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 💡 Summary from the textbook [Feldman]

Conditioned → learned.

Unconditioned → not learned.

An unconditioned stimulus leads to an unconditioned response.

Unconditioned stimulus–unconditioned response pairings are unlearned and

untrained.

During conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus is transformed into the

conditioned stimulus.

A conditioned stimulus leads to a conditioned response, and a conditioned

stimulus–conditioned response pairing is a consequence of learning and
training.

An unconditioned response and a conditioned response are similar, but the

unconditioned response occurs naturally, whereas the conditioned response is
learned.

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 Other experiment;

Little Albert Experiment

John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner (1920)

11-month old infant

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 NS → The presence of rats (white furry substances)

UCS → The noise

UCR → Fear of the noise

CS → The presence of white furry rat

CR → Fear of rats (white furry substances)

Applications
CC can lead to

Phobias are intense, irrational fears.

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Pleasant experiences

Clinical applications of CC are;

Aversion therapy

Systematic desensitisation

Extinction

Extinction is a phenomenon of learning where a previously conditioned

response decreases in frequency and eventually disappears.

End the association between UCS and CS.

Extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the
unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous recovery is the reemergence of an extinguished

conditioned response after a period of rest and with no further
conditioning.

SR explains why it is hard to get over drug addictions.

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 Stimulus Generalisation and Discrimination

Stimulus generalisation is the process that occurs when a conditioned

response follows a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned
stimulus.

The more similar the two stimuli are, the more likely generalisation is to occur.

Stimulus discrimination is the process that occurs if two stimuli are

sufficiently distinct from one another that one evokes a conditioned
response but the other does not. It is the ability to differentiate between
stimuli.

Higher Order Conditioning

Higher order conditioning (Second order conditioning) is a process in

which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus by being
paired with an existing conditioned stimulus, rather than being directly
paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

The second conditioned stimulus is not directly associated with an unconditioned stimulus.
Instead, it acquires its conditioned response by virtue of its association with the first
conditioned stimulus.

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 💡 For example, if a bell (conditioned stimulus) has been paired with food
(unconditioned stimulus) to elicit salivation (conditioned response), and then a
light (neutral stimulus) is repeatedly paired with the bell without the presence of
food, the light can become a conditioned stimulus that also elicits salivation.

Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning – Thorndike’s law of effect, basics of operant conditioning,
Reinforcement and Punishment, Schedules of reinforcement;

Operant conditioning is the learning in which a voluntary response is

strengthened or weakened, depending on its favorable or unfavourable
consequences.

Thorndike’s Law of Effect

Edward L. Thorndike (1932)

Thorndike’s law of effect states that responses that lead to satisfying

consequences are more likely to be repeated.

Operates automatically

Thorndike believed, over time and through experience the organism would make a
direct connection between the stimulus and the response without any awareness that
the connection existed.

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 Basics of Operant Conditioning
B. F. Skinner’s Skinner box.

a chamber with a highly controlled environment that was used to study operant
conditioning processes with laboratory animals.

Animals in a Skinner box learn to obtain food by operating on their environment within the
box.

Skinner became interested in specifying how behavior varies as a result of alterations in

the environment.

Reinforcement

Reinforcement is the process by which a stimulus increases the

probability that a preceding behavior will be repeated.

Reinforcer is any stimulus that increases the probability that a

preceding behavior will occur again.

The only way we can know if a stimulus is a reinforcer for a particular organism is to
observe whether the frequency of a previously occurring behavior increases after the
presentation of the stimulus.

Reinforcement

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 A stimulus added to the environment that brings about an increase in a preceding
Positive
response.

An unpleasant stimulus whose removal leads to an increase in the probability that

Negative
a preceding response will be repeated in the future.

Punishment
Punishment is a stimulus that decreases the probability that a previous
behavior will occur again.

Punishment

Positive punishment weakens a response through the application of an unpleasant

Positive
stimulus.

Negative Negative punishment consists of the removal of something pleasant.

Schedules of Reinforcement

Schedules of reinforcement are the different patterns of frequency and

timing of reinforcement following desired behavior.

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 Continuous reinforcement schedule is reinforcing of a behavior every
time it occurs. [Better for learning]
Partial (or intermittent) reinforcement schedule is reinforcing of a
behavior some but not all of the time. [Better for behaviour]

Partial reinforcement schedules maintain performance longer than continuous reinforcement

schedules before extinction occurs.

Partial Reinforcement Schedule

On the basis of number of responses

1. Fixed-ratio schedules

A schedule by which reinforcement is given only after a specific number of

responses are made.

2. Variable-ratio schedules

A schedule by which reinforcement occurs after a varying number of responses

rather than after a fixed number.

On the basis of amount time

1. Fixed-interval schedules

A schedule that provides reinforcement for a response only if a fixed time period has
elapsed, making overall rates of response relatively low.

2. Variable-interval schedules

A schedule by which the time between reinforcements varies around some average
rather than being fixed.

Generalisation and Discrimination

The process by which people learn to discriminate stimuli is known as stimulus control
training.
A discriminative stimulus signals the likelihood that reinforcement will follow a response.

Shaping

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 Shaping is the process of teaching a complex behavior by rewarding
closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.

Classical Conditioning v/s Operant

Conditioning

Behavior Modification

Behavior modification is a formalised technique for promoting the

frequency of desirable behaviors and decreasing the incidence of
unwanted ones.

They include reinforcement scheduling, shaping, generalisation training, discrimination

training, and extinction.

Cognitive Approaches to Learning

Cognitive learning: Latent learning, Observational learning and Insight learning

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 Cognitive learning theory is an approach to the study of learning that
focuses on the thought processes that underlie learning.

Latent Learning

Latent learning is a form of learning in which a new behavior is

acquired but is not demonstrated until some incentive is provided for
displaying it.

Occurs without reinforcement

Experiment
In an experiment, rats were observed in a maze.

Group 1: Rats wandered the maze daily for 17 days without receiving a reward.
Group 2: Rats received food at the end of the maze.

Group 3: Rats were initially unrewarded for 10 days, then received food for completing
the maze.
The previously unrewarded rats showed improved performance once reinforcement was
introduced.

Cognitive theorists concluded that the unrewarded rats had learned the maze layout but did
not display their learning until reinforcement was offered.
They developed a cognitive map of the maze.

A cognitive map is a mental representation of spatial locations and directions.

Observational Learning [Social-Cognitive Approach to

Learning]
Albert Bandura

Observational learning is a form of learning by observing the

behaviour of another person, or model.

behavior of models who are rewarded for a given behavior is more likely to be imitated
than behavior in which the model is punished for the behavior.

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 Observing the punishment of a model, however, does not necessarily stop observers
from learning the behavior. Observers can still describe the model’s behavior—they
are just less apt to perform it

💡 In the study, young children saw a film of an adult wildly hitting a five-foot-tall
inflatable punching toy called a Bobo doll. Later the children were given the
opportunity to play with the Bobo doll themselves, and, sure enough, most
displayed the same kind of behavior, in some cases mimicking the aggressive
behavior almost identically.

Children who were afraid of dogs were exposed to a model— dubbed the Fearless
Peer—playing with a dog. After exposure, observers were considerably more
likely to approach a strange dog than were children who had not viewed the
Fearless Peer.

Mirror Neurons
Mirror neurons fire when we observe another person carrying out a behavior suggests that the
capacity to imitate others may be innate.

Factors that affect observational learning

1. Attention

The extent to which we observe others behavior.

2. Retention

The extent to which we are able to retain the representation of others behavior from
our memory.

3. Production

Our ability to act on these memory representation.

4. Motivation

Usefulness of the acquired information to us.

Instinct Learning

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 Instinct learning refers to a type of learning that is innate and
instinctive.

It involves the acquisition of behaviors that are genetically programmed and do not require
explicit instruction or experience.

genetically determined and are passed down from generation to generation.

innate behaviors are essential for survival and are typically related to basic needs such as
feeding, mating, and self-defense.

In humans, instinct learning is less prevalent, as we rely more on cognitive and social
learning processes. However, some basic instinctual behaviors, such as reflexes and innate
emotional responses, are still present in humans.

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