Conditioning & Social Learning Classic Conditioning Operant Conditioning Social Learning

Make appointments with your classmates. You have 5 minutes.

Classical Conditioning

Purple pens and green pens. 1982 experiment

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

Classical ConditioningClassical conditioning: a learning procedure in which associations are made between a natural stimulus and a neutral stimulus

Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is a type of learning. When something makes you react in a certain way,

it is called a stimulus. People and animals learn to respond to a new

stimulus the same way that they respond to one they already know.

A person’s or animal’s old response becomes attached to a new stimulus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6LEcM0E0io

Neutral Stimulus The tuning fork (or bell) was a neutral

stimulus–it had nothing to do with the response to meat (salivation) prior to conditioning.

neutral stimulusa stimulus that does not initially elicit a response

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): an event that elicits a certain predictable response without previous training <FOOD>

Unconditioned response (UCR): an organism’s automatic (or natural) reaction to a stimulus <SALIVATION>

Conditioned stimulus (CS): a once-neutral event that elicits a given response after a period of training in which it has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus <BELL>

Conditioned response (CR): the learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus <SALIVATION>

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Classical Conditioning (cont.)

Generalization and Discrimination

Generalization occurs when an animal responds to a second stimulus similar to the original CS, without prior training with the second stimulus.

When Pavlov conditioned a dog to salivate at the sight of a circle, he found that the dog would salivate when it saw an oval as well.

generalizationresponding similarly to a range of similar stimuli

Pavlov also taught the dog discrimination–to respond only to the circle, not the oval.

Generalization and discrimination are complementary processes and are part of your everyday life.

discriminationthe ability to respond differently to similar but distinct stimuli

Dentist’s Drill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s860ckJgPak

Is classical conditioning permanent?Not always. If the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are not given together for a long time, the conditioned stimulus stops working and the conditioned response stops.

This is called extinction.

Extinction: the gradual disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus

Jaws theme song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9QTSyLwd4w

Spontaneous Recovery Even though a classically conditioned

response may be extinguished, this does not mean that the CR has been completely unlearned.

Spontaneous recovery does not bring it back in full strength, however.

With your 3 o’clock appointment: If you strongly dislike broccoli, green beans

and spinach, what is your reaction likely to be if you are served green peas?

Which process of classical conditioning would you be using?

You would likely react negatively to being served peas because you have generalized your dislike for green vegetables.

Taste Aversion

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/pavlovian-reactions-aren-t-just-for-dogs-benjamin-n-witts

A person can be conditioned on purpose or by accident. A taste aversion is an example of

accidental classical conditioning. Suppose you eat snails for the first time.

Later in the evening, you feel sick. You will probably think the snails made you sick and you will note like the smell or thought of them next time someone serves them.

With your 6 o’clock appointment:If you develop a taste aversion, what can you do to overcome it?

You could use classical conditioning to pair the food you dislike with something enjoyable or rewarding. If the food is paired with something enjoyable, you can eventually learn to overcome your distaste for the particular food.

Operant Conditioning Have you ever touched a hot iron and immediately pulled your hand away? Would you touch the iron again without testing it?

We learn not to repeat behaviors that are harmful to us. This is operant conditioning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6LEcM0E0io (start at 2:25)

Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning: learning in which a

certain action is reinforced or punished, resulting in corresponding increases or decreases in occurrence

Reinforcement: stimulus or event that follows a response and increases the likelihood that the response will be repeated Positive (good) and negative (bad)

Positive reinforcement occurs when something the animal wants is added after an action.

Negative reinforcement occurs when something unpleasant is taken away if the animal performs an action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt4N9GSBoMI

Operant Conditioning

1. Always a specific stimulus (UCS) that elicits the desired response

1. No stimulus; learner must first respond appropriately, then behavior is reinforced

Classical ConditioningOperant Conditioning

2. UCS does not depend on learner’s response

3. Learner responds to its environment

2. Reinforcement depends upon learner’s behavior

3. Learner actively operates on its environment

B.F. Skinner

B.F. Skinner has been the psychologist most closely associated with operant conditioning.

–Skinner trained rats to respond to lights and sounds in a special enclosure called a Skinner box. –A rat, placed in the Skinner box, must learn how to solve the problem of how to get food to appear in a cup.

The food that appears in the cup is a positive reinforcer in this experiment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ctJqjlrHA

With your 9 o’clock appointment: Using the principles of operant

conditioning, design a plan to teach a puppy a new trick.

Shaping One type of operant conditioning that is

good for teaching skills is called shaping. Shaping teaches a new behavior step by

step. At first you are given a reward for behavior

similar to the skill you are learning. To keep getting rewards, you must get better at the skill. Rewards shape your behavior.

Shaping: technique in which the desired behavior is “modeled” by first rewarding any act similar to that behavior and then requiring ever-closer approximations to the desired behavior before giving the reward

Chaining

If you want to learn a complex skill, you need to learn several different behaviors. You also have to learn how to put the behaviors together in the right order. For example, if you want to learn how to

swim, you have to learn several behaviors like kicking your feet, stroking your arms and breathing.

Then you have to link the behaviors together.

Response chain: learned reactions that follow one another in sequence, each reaction producing the signal for the rest.

With your 12 o’clock appointment: Brainstorm typical daily activities

that are the result of some sort of conditioning. Make a list of your ideas.

Social Learning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmBqwWlJg8U

Social Learning Social learning – a form of learning in

which the organism observes and imitates the behavior of others

There are two types of social learning: Cognitive Modeling

Cognitive learning Cognitive learning - a form of

learning that involves mental processes and may result from observation or imitation. Concerned with the mental processes

involved in learning

Psychologists look at how we get information, how we organize it and how we use it.

Latent learningLatent learning – alternation of a behavioral tendency that is not demonstrated by an immediate, observable change in behavior.

Example: You need to get to a store that you have been to only once before. You are not sure how to get there. As you drive, you see signs and landmarks that you remember from the first trip. You did not try to learn the signs and landmarks on your first trip, but you were still able to remember what they looked like when you needed them.

Cognitive maps Latent learning is possible because we

create cognitive maps. Cognitive map – a mental picture of

spatial relationship or relationships between events We create them naturally as we explore

our surroundings. They help us remember how things relate

to one another.

Cognitive mapsA rat in a maze will explore the maze to find the shortest route to the food. If the shortest route is blocked, the rat will switch to the next shortest route. He doesn’t need to explore the maze again because he has a mental picture of it.

Learned helplessness Learned helplessness – a condition in

which repeated attempts to control or influence a situation fail, resulting in the belief that the situation in uncontrollable and that any effort to cope will fail.

They no longer even try. They become convinced they are helpless.

Learned helplessness has three elements. Stability – You believe you can never

change a situation. Globility – You believe that because

you cannot change one situation, you cannot change anything.

Internality- You blame yourself for your own failures, not your circumstances.

Learned helplessness can lead to depression, guilt and self-blame.

Modeling The second type of social learning is

called modeling. Modeling – learning by imitating

others, copying behavior When you watch other people and copy their behavior, you are using modeling. There are three kinds of modeling: simple modeling, observational modeling and disinhibition.

Modeling

Simple modeling – copying the exact behavior or others. If other people look up, you do too. Simple modeling does not involve

learning. You already know the skill. You simply copy

the behavior of people around you.

Modeling Observational learning- You use

observational learning when you copy another person to learn a new skill. You may watch someone perform a dance

step. By watching, you are able to learn the step then do it yourself.

Modeling Disinhibition – This type of modeling

helps people do things that they are afraid of doing. When you watch someone do something you fear, and not get hurt, you are more willing to try it for yourself. Used to treat phobias.

Behavior Modification

It is possible to use classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning to deliberately change someone’s behavior.

Behavior modification – a systematic application of learning principles to change people’s actions and feelings It begins by clearly defining a problem. A

plan is then developed using different learning techniques.

Example:

With a partner, come up with a school example for each of the types of learning below:

Classical conditioning Operant Conditioning Cognitive mapping Latent learning Learned helplessness Modeling Behavior modification