Chapter 4 - Approaches to understanding learning

• Learning

  A relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience
• Types of learning

  • Intentional (e.g. taking lessons)
  • Unintentional (e.g. learning a song)
  • Active (reciting time tables)
  • Passive (e.g. knowing what gender Khloe Kardashian's baby will be?)
• Behaviourist approaches to learning

  • Classical conditioning as a three-phase process (before conditioning, during conditioning and after conditioning) that results in the involuntary association between a neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response
  • Operant conditioning as a three-phase process (antecedent, behaviour and consequence) involving reinforcement (positive and negative) and punishment (positive and negative)
• Conditioning

  The process of learning associations between a stimulus (or event) in the environment and a behavioural response
• Common types of conditioning

  • Classical conditioning
  • Operant conditioning
• Classical conditioning


  A type of learning that occurs through repeated association of 2 (or more) different stimuli (things)
• Learning is occurring when linking one stimulus to another to automatically produce a response
• Classical conditioning is only said to have occurred when a particular stimulus consistently produces a particular response that it did not previously produce
• Neutral stimulus (NS)


  An item/object/action that fails to produce a response prior to being conditioned
• Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)


  Any stimulus that consistently produces a particular naturally occurring automatic response
• Unconditioned response (UCR)


  The response that occurs automatically when the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is presented
• Conditioned stimulus (CS)


  The stimulus that is neutral at the start of the conditioning process and does not normally produce the unconditioned response on its own
• Conditioned response (CR)


  The learned response that has been learned and produced by the conditioned stimulus (CS)
• Classical conditioning: three phase process

  1. Neutral stimulus (NS) - No relevant response

  2. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) - Conditioned stimulus (CS) - Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

  3. Unconditioned response (UCR) - Unconditioned response (UCR) - Conditioned response (CR)
• Classical conditioning: balloon example

  • Lifting a ruler (NS) - No relevant response
  • Popping balloons (UCS) - Lifting a ruler (CS) - Popping balloons (UCS)
  • Flinching to pop (UCR) - Flinching to pop (UCR) - Flinching to a ruler (CR)
• Pavlov became famous for his experiment with dogs, measuring natural saliva amounts from the role of digestion as a dog eats. He then measured the amount of saliva when food was placed in a bowl or on the dog's tongue. Pavlov noticed that after time the dog would salivate not only when food was near, but then when they heard the food being prepared, and later when the dog heard a certain sound. He won a noble prize in 1904 for his work! and is considered to be a learning founder.
• Pavlov's experiment provided clear evidence of a type of learning that was based on the repeated association of 2 different stimuli
• A stimulus is any event that elicits (produces) a response from an organism
• A response is a reaction by an organism to a stimulus
• Factors that influence classical conditioning


  • Nature of the response
  • Association of Stimuli
  • Timing of the NS and UCS pairing
• Observational learning


  The acquisition of learning of information, skills or behaviour through watching the performance of others, either directly or indirectly via some form of media or other means
• Observational learning


  • Involves watching models
  • Models can be live models (real life person demonstrating, acting out, describing or explaining a behaviour) or symbolic models (real or fictional character e.g. movie and book characters)
  • We tend to model our behavior on significant models (close to us, important, respected, admired or have required knowledge)
  • The environment or the context in which learning occurs is important (Albert Bandura's social learning theory)
• Observational learning (Bandura)


  • Behaviour does not need to be carried out or the consequences experienced in order to learn (as with operant conditioning)
  • Simply watching (observing) the behaviour & consequences of someone else is just as effective
  • We are more likely to model the behaviour of someone else if it is observed to be desirable & reinforcing
• Vicarious learning


  Learning can occur indirectly within classical and operant conditioning by observing others' behavior and their consequences rather than performing the behavior ourselves
• Processes of observational learning

  1. Attention

  2. Retention

  3. Reproduction

  4. Motivation

  5. Reinforcement
• Attention


  • The learner pays attention in order to observe the modelled behaviour
  • Attention may be influenced by factors like motivation, interest, personality of model, attractiveness, similarities, familiarity, visibility of model's behaviour, perception that behaviour is worth imitating
• Retention


  • The learner mentally retains what has been observed
  • Linking visual image with verbal description of model's action assists memory
• Reproduction


  • The learner is capable of reproducing the behaviour (putting into practice what has been observed)
  • Ability to reproduce may be restricted by physical limitations
• Motivation


  • The learner has to be motivated to perform the behaviour
  • Motivation is influenced by prospect of reinforcement
• Reinforcement


  • External reinforcement (praise, money)
  • Vicarious reinforcement (observing model's behaviour being reinforced)
  • Self-reinforcement (meeting own standards)
• Prospect of positive result (reward)

  Increases likelihood learner will imitate behaviour
• Prospect of punishment

  Decreases likelihood learner will imitate behaviour
• Reinforcement influences the likelihood that a learner will imitate an observed model's behaviour
• The expectation of reinforcement or punishment influences the cognitive processes of the observer and affects how well the learner pays attention to and retains the memory of the model's behaviour
• Operant conditioning


  A learning process where the likelihood of a particular behaviour occurring again is determined by its consequences
• Operant


  A response (or set or responses) that occurs (operates) on the environment to produce some kind of effect
• Operant conditioning

  A VOLUNTARY process
• Three-phase model of Operant Conditioning

  1. Antecedent (A): a stimulus that occurs before the behaviour

  2. Behaviour (B): that occurs due to the antecedent

  3. Consequence (C): to the behaviour
• Three-phase model of Operant Conditioning


  • A: Doing something Sheldon wants
  • B: Penny behaviour is helpful/modified
  • C: Penny receives a chocolate
• Three-phase model of Operant Conditioning

  1. Antecedent

  2. Behaviour

  3. Consequence