Psych of Learning

• Learning


  An enduring change in behavior resulting from experience
• Learning must come from some type of experience
• Learning serves a purpose to help us better respond to the world around us and predict certain outcomes
• Types of learning


  • Classical or Pavlovian conditioning
  • Operant or instrumental conditioning
  • Observational learning
• Classical conditioning


  1. Unconditioned Response (UR)

  2. Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

  3. Neutral stimulus

  4. Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

  5. Conditioned Response (CR)

  
• Classical conditioning example


  • US = bowl full of meat
  • UR = salivation
  • CS = the bell
  • CR = salivation
• Contiguity


  • Stimuli must occur together in time for learning to occur
• Contingency


  • The probability that the US will follow the CS
• Extinction


  CS is extinguished when it no longer predicts the US
• Extinction is not unlearning, but new learning that the CS no longer predicts the US
• Spontaneous recovery - the previously learned association of CS-US is still there, even after extinction
• Stimulus generalization


  • Learning to respond to stimuli similar to the original stimulus
• Stimulus discrimination


  • Learning to discriminate between similar stimuli
• Second-order conditioning


  • Stimuli associated with the CS alone can become a CS in itself
• Some associations are more easily learned for biological/adaptive reasons
• Operant conditioning


  Active learning where animals operate on their environment to produce certain effects
• Reinforcer


  Any stimulus that comes after a response and increases the likelihood that the response will occur again
• Shaping


  Reinforcing behaviors that are increasingly similar to the one you want to ultimately reinforce
• Reinforcer


  Any stimulus that increases the probability that the behavior will occur again
• Punisher


  Any stimulus that decreases the probability that the behavior will occur again
• Positive


  When something is added or given
• Negative


  When something is removed or taken away
• Positive reinforcement


  When a behavior is performed, a stimulus is added that increases the probability of the animal performing that behavior in the future
• Positive reinforcement


  • Dog sits down- you give her a treat
  • You perform well at your job- you get a bonus check
  • You come to class- you get points on in-class activity
• Negative reinforcement


  When a behavior is performed, a stimulus is taken away that increases the probability of the animal performing that behavior in the future
• Negative reinforcement


  • Child doesn't like a certain place- child cries- parents take her away
  • Alarm goes off in the morning- hit snooze- alarm goes away
  • I don't like peas- I scream- parents take peas away
• Positive punishment


  When a behavior is performed, a stimulus is added that decreases the probability of the animal performing that behavior in the future
• Positive punishment


  • Spanking
  • Getting a ticket for speeding
  • Getting called out in class for talking
• Negative punishment


  When a behavior is performed, a stimulus is taken away that decreases the probability that the animal will perform the behavior in the future
• Negative punishment


  • Lose phone privileges for talking back to your mother
  • Getting grounded (freedom removed) for coming home after curfew
  • Time-out for hitting another child
• Continuous reinforcement


  • Reinforcer given every time the behavior occurs, leads to quick learning but not how it happens in the "real world"
• Partial reinforcement


  • Reinforcer given only some of the time, leads to slower learning but more persistent behavior
• Reinforcement schedules


  • Ratio schedules (based on number of responses)
  • Interval schedules (based on time)
• Reinforcement schedules


  • Fixed schedules (consistent)
  • Variable schedules (random)
• Variable reinforcement schedules produce the most responding
• Learning can occur without reinforcement, as shown in the Tolman maze study
• Latent learning


  Learning that occurs without reinforcement, may be a performance issue rather than a learning issue
• Behavioral principles of reinforcement and punishment may explain why people persist in behaviors that seem harmful or unhelpful
• Learned helplessness


  When an organism learns that its behavior has no effect on an aversive stimulus, leading to passivity and failure to learn escape behaviors even when possible
• Learned helplessness is not a failure to learn, but a belief that behavior is not associated with stopping the aversive stimulus