PSY 2012 General Psychology

Chapter 6: Learning
Samuel R. Mathews, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
The Department of Psychology
The University of West Florida

Which is learned?
Sneezing when dust gets in your nose
Blinking your eye when a puff of air hits it
Drooling when you taste a lemon
Increasing heart rate when you see a
spider

What is NOT learning?

Instincts: behaviors that occur as a result
of the organisms genotype
Reflexes: behaviors that occur as a result
of an automatic reaction to some
environmental change or condition

Defining Learning
Relatively permanent change in behavior
or mental state based on experience
Relatively permanent change: Can be altered
with future learning
Behavior: Some response to a situation or
event
Mental state: knowledge, attitude, belief,
strategy

Theories of Learning
Behavioral or Environmental Theories:
Change in the individuals behavior or mental
state is in response to something in the
environment
By controlling the environment, ones learning
can be controlled
Only those behaviors we can directly observe
are worthy of study

Theories of Learning
Cognitive Theories of Learning:
Change in the individuals behavior or mental
state is based on internal mental processes
not directly observable
The environment only indirectly influences our
behaviors and mental states
Internal states and processes are legitimate
objects of study

Behavioral or Environmental Theories of

Learning
Habituation: after repeated exposures to a
stimulus, our response to it decreases
What did we discuss in Sensation/Perception
that is related to this?

Exposure Effect: preference for a stimulus

to which we have had previous exposures
Seeing a face in a crowd that belongs to
someone in the class who we do not know

Behavioral or Environmental Theories of

Learning: Classical Conditioning
Identify a stimulus response relationship that
occurs naturally (e.g. eye blink in response to a
puff of air)
Identify a stimulus that does not elicit the
response naturally (e.g. a tone)
Present the tone immediately prior to the puff of
several times
When the tone elicits the blink without the puff,
then Classical Conditioning has occurred

Classical Conditioning
The puff of air eye blink reflex did not
have to be taught or conditioned
The puff of air then, is the Unconditioned
Stimulus (UCS)
The eye blink is the Unconditioned Reflex
(UCR)
The UCSUCR reflex requires NO
LEARNING

Classical Conditioning
The tone did not initially elicit an eye blink.
The tone eye blink connection was neutral at the
onset of the conditioning

Following the conditioning trials, the tone was

conditioned to elicit the eye blink
The tone became the Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
and the eye blink the Conditioned Response
(CR).
CS (tone) CR (eye blink).

Classical Conditioning
Alex has a startled reaction to the sound
of a loud pop. immediately before the
loud pop, a light flashes. After several
times, Alex has a startled reaction to the
flash of light.
What is the UCS?
What is the UCR?
What is the CS?
What is the CR?

Classical Conditioning
Sam fed his dog, Olga, each morning. He
would pour food from the container into
her food bowl and Olga would smell the
food and come to the kitchen to eat. Soon,
the noise made by the food when Sam
poured it into the bowl would bring Olga to
the kitchen to eat her food.
What was the UCS?
What was the UCR?
What was the CS?
What was the CR?

Classical Conditioning
Terminating the behaviorExtinction
When the Conditioned Stimulus is presented
repeatedly without the Unconditioned
Stimulus, the Conditioned Response ceases
to occur.
If Sam made the sound of Olgas food being
poured into the bowl and did not put food into
the bowl Olga would stop running to the
kitchen when she heard the sound.

Classical Conditioning
Recovering the behaviorSpontaneous
Recovery
If the CS is withheld for some time and
reintroduced, the CR returns at some level
If Sam stops making the noise of Olgas food
dropping in her food bowl for some days and
they makes the noise again, Olga is likely to
come. She will most likely return more slowly
and perhaps only look into the kitchen to
check for food.

Classical Conditioning
Stimulus Generalization: the elicitation of
the Conditioned Response by similar but
different stimuli
In Alexs example above, if Alex had a startle
reaction to a different light he would be
demonstrating stimulus generalization.

Classical Conditioning
Stimulus Discrimination: the organism
produces the Conditioned Response to
one Conditioned Stimulus but not to a
similar but different stimulus.
Alex (see above) startles to a flash of red light
(CS) but not to another light of similar
intensity but different color.

Operant Conditioning: Learning New

Behaviors
B.F. Skinners Radical Behaviorism:
The factor controlling an organisms behavior
was the consequence of that behavior.
There was no need to hypothesize internal
processes.
The only appropriate object of study is overt,
observable behavior
The laws governing learning via operant
conditioning were the same for all organisms.

Operant Conditioning: Learning New

Behaviors
Key concepts in Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement: Any condition that follows and
strengthens a behavior. (Zimbardo, et al., 2006, pg.
236)
Positive Reinforcement: an event that occurs
after a response that increases the likelihood of
that response occurring again
Negative Reinforcement: removal of an aversive
condition that increases the likelihood of that
response occurring again
Extinction: similar to Extinction in Classical
Conditioningremoving the reinforcement tends to
terminate the behavior

Reinforcement
Jennifers father decided to give her a trip
to Paris if she made the deans list. She
made the deans list and received the trip
to Paris.
Is this positive or negative reinforcement?
Why do you think so?

Reinforcement
David had a habit of leaving his keys in his
car when he filled up with gasoline. Once
he locked his keys in his car. He had a
buzzer installed such that it sounded when
the keys were in the car and the engine
was turned off. When he removed the
keys, the buzzer stopped.
Is this positive or negative reinforcement?
Why do you think so?

Reinforcement Contingencies
Contingencies reflect conditions that must be
met in order for reinforcement to be dispensed;
The reinforcement must be meaningful to the
organism (e.g. food for a dog)
The reinforcement must follow the behavior;

Reinforcement Contingencies: Timing and

Schedules of Reinforcement
Continuous reinforcement: the reinforcement
is administered following each behavior;
Excellent for initial learning of new behaviors;
Problems:
Habituation to the reinforcer: the reinforcement
loses its reinforcing qualities
Satiation: the organism becomes glutted with the
reinforcer.

Reinforcement Contingencies: Timing and

Schedules of Reinforcement
Intermittent Reinforcement: periodic
administration of the reinforcement.
Maintains behaviors with fewer reinforcement
trials following initial learning;
More resistant to extinction

Reinforcement Contingencies: Timing and

Schedules of Reinforcement
Ratio Schedules: based on the number of responses
before a reinforcement is administered.
Fixed Ratio: reinforcement is contingent on a
certain number of responses and that number is
constant. As the number of responses approaches
the required number, the rate of response
increases
Variable Ratio: the number of responses for which
a behavior will be reinforces varies. Typically some
average number is maintained over trials. The rate
of responding tends to be consistent.

Reinforcement Contingencies: Timing and

Schedules of Reinforcement
Alexander works at a manufacturing plant and is
paid a certain amount for every 35 units he
produces.
Upon which schedule is his pay based on a fixed
or variable ratio?
Lucy likes to play the slot machines in the
casino. She never knows how many times she
will play before a payoff.
Is her winning based on a fixed or variable ratio?

Reinforcement Contingencies: Timing and

Schedules of Reinforcement
Interval Schedules: Based on the amount of time
between reinforcement. The first response following the
minimum time is reinforced.
Fixed Interval: reinforcement is contingent on the
first response following a set amount of time. Rate of
behavior increases slightly as the interval
approaches.
Variable Interval: the amount of time between
reinforcement is typically varied around some
average. In uncontrolled settings, the variance is not
controlled around an average.

Reinforcement Contingencies: Timing and

Schedules of Reinforcement
Damon receives $24.00 each hour he works and is paid
every week for 40 hours work.
Is this a fixed or variable interval schedule?
Elecia is a supervisor in a technology development firm.
She makes unscheduled visits to the office in which her
staff works. Her staff members never know when Elecia
will arrive.
Is this a fixed or variable interval schedule?

Food and Money: Primary and Secondary

Reinforcers
If the reinforcer is based on a natural
biological need or drive it is a primary
reinforcer
Food, Water, Sex, Oxygen

If the reinforcer is a related to but in reality

not based on a natural biological need, it
is a secondary or conditioned reinforcer
Money, Praise, Grades

Doing what I like for Doing what I Do Not

Like to Do
The Premack Principle:
Using a desired or high frequency behavior to
reinforce a less desirable or lower frequency
behavior;
If you do your chores, you can go to the movies
with your friends;
If you complete your paper assignment early, you
can enjoy the weekend before it is due.

Using the Stick instead of the Carrot:

Punishment
Punishment: any condition that follows and
reduces the likelihood of a behavior
Positive Punishment: a condition that occurs
following a behavior and reduces the likelihood of that
behavior
Negative Punishment: removal of a desirable
condition following a behavior that reduces the
likelihood of that behavior.

Using the Stick instead of the Carrot:

Punishment
Alisons parents take away her instant
messaging service to get her to study and
improve her grades.
Is this positive or negative punishment?

Simone was placed on restriction for

violating her parents curfew.
Is this positive or negative punishment?

Punishment vs. Reinforcement

Punishment does not usually result in long
term behavioral change;
Punishment does not provide a vehicle for
building a more desirable behavior;
Reinforcement gives the reinforcing
individual more control over others
behavior;
Punishment typically leads to escape
behavior;

Something to help you remember:

Reinforcement always increases the
likelihood of the behavior;
Punishment always decreases the
likelihood of the behavior;
Positive means doing or giving something
following the behavior
Negative means stopping or taking
something away.

Problems for thought:

Jamal wanted his dog to learn to walk on a
leash. In order to train the dog Jamal bought a
choke collar that constricted the dogs neck
when the dog ran too fast.
Is this an example of positive reinforcement,
negative reinforcement, positive punishment, or
negative punishment?
Why?

Problems for thought

Aarons parents wanted him to improve his
grades. They decided they would allow him to
stay out an extra hour on Saturday night if he
made the A-B honor roll.
Is this an example of positive reinforcement,
negative reinforcement, positive punishment, or
negative punishment?
Why?

The Cognitive Revolution

Two events marked the transition from a radical
behavioral or environmental perspective on
learning to one that involved cognition
Noam Chomsky published a critique of Skinners
perspective on language development:
Skinner proposed that all language was learned through
conditioning;
Chomsky proposed that the high degree of creativity,
diversity, and inconsistency in any individuals language
negated a strictly behavioral approach

The Cognitive Revolution

The development of the computer as a way to
process information:
Led to the recognition that information can be
transformed in representation, processed, and
reproduced in the original form;
Researchers and scholars used the computer as a
metaphor for conducting research on the mental
processes viewed as inaccessible by behaviorists.

The Cognitive Revolution

Gestalt Psychology (Kohler):
Saw problem solving as the culmination of mental
processes that created representations of the
problem situation;
Behaviorists lacked explanations of insight learning;

Social Learning Theory (Bandura)

Individuals could learn a behavior by observing others
engaging in the behavior and being reinforced;
Individuals form a mental representation of the
behavior prior to practicing the behavior.

Cognitive Psychology: Learning and Mental

Processes
Cognitive Psychology covers much:
Memory
Problem Solving
Decision Making
Intellectual Skills
These aspects of the human condition will
follow in the next chapters.