Learning Theories

• Pavlov's (1927) experiment involved at least 35 dogs individually situated in a room in a harness
• Pavlov: A device was used to gauge the frequency of the dogs' salivary gland secretions
• Pavlov presented a neutral stimulus, like the sound of a bell, along with the unconditioned stimulus of food, causing the dogs to salivate (unconditioned response)
• Pavlov: Over time, through repeated pairings of the bell and food, the dogs began to associate the bell with the arrival of food
• Pavlov: The bell then evoked a response similar to the salivation triggered by food, known as the conditioned response
• Strengths of Pavlov's experiment:

  • Reliable outcomes with all dogs
  • Highly controlled environment
  • Easy to measure results
• Weaknesses of Pavlov's experiment:

  • Not generalizable to humans due to the different complexities between humans and dogs
• Discrimination: Learning only occurs in response to a specific stimulus over a period of time
• Stimulus generalization in learning:

  • The stimulus triggering a reaction (Conditioned Stimulus) does not have to be the exact one involved in the learning process
  • The more similar the stimulus is to the original, the more likely it will produce a conditioned response
• Spontaneous recovery: If the Conditioned Stimulus is once again paired with the Unconditioned Stimulus following extinction, then the behaviour will be quickly learned again
• Extinction: The removal of a behaviour. This happen when the Conditioned Stimulus is continually presented without the Unconditioned Stimulus, hence gradually learning to disassociate the two stimuli
• Classical Conditioning: Learning by association and refers to the conditioning of reflexes
• Strength of Classical Conditioning: It is a scientific method that can be replicated and controlled.
• Strength of Classical Conditioning: There is research evidence which is highly controlled, For example, Pavlov found that Dogs learned an association between the bell and food and therefore produced a reflex (salivation) at the sound of the bell. This supports the idea that behaviours can be learnt through the association of a learned stimulus
• Weakness of Classical Conditioning: Pavlov and other studies looking at Classical Conditioning, use animals, this can be problematic because animals have less higher order thinking and a less developed cerebral cortex. Therefore it may be hard to generalise behaviours learnt through association
• Weakness of Classical Conditioning: It only explains one aspect of how we might learn and could be too simplistic by not taking into account our thought processes and motivation, for example Social Learning Theory suggests that learning occurs through observing role models. This is a weakness as Classical conditioning may not be the best explanation of how we learn more complex behaviours which do not simply occur due to a stimulus and response
• Watson and Rayner Aim: To demonstrate that simple emotional responses such as fear can be acquired through a process of classical conditioning
• Dependant Variable of Watson and Rayner: Albert's response, the number of fearful behaviours Albert shows when presented with the stimuli
• Watson and Rayner

  UCS = loud noise

  UCR = crying

  NS = white fluffy objects e.g. white rat

  CR = fear response
• Conclusion of Watson and Rayner: They  successfully conditioned Albert to fear the white rat and that his fear response generalised to other white, furry things (with a stronger response the more closely they resembled the rat) and transferred to other situations
• Strengths of Watson and Rayner:

  Generalisability - selected for his normalcy, fearless and emotionally stable

  Reliability - standardised procedures carefully documented

  Reliability - can be replicated easily

  Application

  Validity - careful controls (hiding when creating the noise so that it would be associated to the rat)

  Validity - tested before and after conditioning
• Weaknesses of Watson and Rayner:

  Generalisability - only one child, unrepresentative

  Ethics - caused distress to an infant

  Ecological validity - albert was away from his playroom
• Operant Conditioning: Learning through reinforcement and punishment
• Operant Conditioning:

  Positive reinforcement - Rewarding the subject by adding something that it likes
• Operant Conditioning:

  Negative reinforcement - Rewarding the subject by removing some aversive stimulus
• Operant Conditioning:

  Positive punishment - Punishing the subject by adding an aversive/unpleasant stimulus
• Operant Conditioning:

  Negative punishment - Punishing the subject by removing a liked/desirable stimulus
• A reward which makes a good situation even better is called a Positive Reinforcer
• A reward which takes away an unpleasant situation is called a Negative Reinforcer
• Operant Conditioning:

  
  

  Primary Reinforcement – Stimuli which are naturally reinforcing because they satisfy a need (e.g. Food)
• Operant Conditioning:

  Secondary Reinforcement – Stimuli that are reinforcing through their association with a primary reinforcer i.e. Does not directly satisfy a need but may be the means to do so (e.g. money)
• Operant Conditioning:

  Token Economy -- Token economy is a system in which targeted behaviours are reinforced with tokens (secondary reinforcers) and later exchanged for rewards (primary reinforcers)
• Behaviour shaping – is the step by step process through which ‘the method of successive approximations’ is used to change behaviour. In Skinners system, at the start of a behaviour-shaping exercise, very general desired behaviours related to what you want to see are rewarded. Once this behaviour has been shown, the rewards become more selective so that only behaviours a little closer to the exact desired behaviour you wish to see are reinforced.
• Strength of Operant Conditioning

  Research Evidence - Skinner’s (1948) animal studies showed that rats would press a lever to receive a reward, Therefore this supports the idea behaviour can be learned through reward and consequences.
• Strength of Operant Conditioning

  Useful applications - Mestel and Concar (1994) found a token economy programme to be successful in treating cocaine addicts who were given shopping vouchers as rewards for staying “clean”.  Therefore the principles of OC can be useful
• Operant Conditioning:

  Reinforcement Schedules:

  Fixed Interval - time between reinforcement is kept the same
• Operant Conditioning:

  Reinforcement Schedules:

  Fixed Ration - Reinforcement is given after a specific number of desired behaviours
• Operant Conditioning:

  Reinforcement Schedules:

  Variable interval - Reinforcement is given at varying length of times
• Operant Conditioning:

  Reinforcement Schedules:

  Variable ration - Reinforcement is given after an unpredictable number of desired behaviours
• Social Learning Theory: Learning through observation and imitation of others.