PSYCHOLOGY

Chapter 5

Learning

Learning
Learning
relatively permanent change in an organisms behavior due to experience experience (nurture) is the key to learning

Behaviorism
John B. Watson
viewed psychology as objective science
generally agreed-upon consensus today

recommended study of behavior without reference to unobservable mental processes

not universally accepted by all schools of thought today

Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning

Two related events: Stimulus 1 Lightning Stimulus 2

Thunder

We learn to associate two stimuli

Result after repetition Stimulus We see lightning

Response We wince anticipating thunder

Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning

Pavlovs device for recording salivation

Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning

Classical Conditioning
organism comes to associate two stimuli
lightning and thunder tone and food

begins with a reflex a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that evokes the reflex neutral stimulus eventually comes to evoke the reflex

Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
effective stimulus that unconditionallyautomatically and naturally- triggers a response

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

unlearned, naturally occurring automatic response to the unconditioned stimulus
salivation when food is in the mouth

Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
previously neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response

Conditioned Response (CR)

learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus

Operant Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment

Operant Conditioning
We learn to associate a response and its consequence

Operant Conditioning
Operant Behavior
complex or voluntary behaviors
push button, perform complex task

operates (acts) on environment produces consequences

Respondent Behavior
occurs as an automatic response to stimulus behavior learned through classical conditioning

Operant Conditioning
B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
elaborated Thorndikes Law of Effect developed behavioral technology

Operant Conditioning
Skinner Box
soundproof chamber with a bar or key that an animal presses or pecks to release a food or water reward contains a device to record responses

Operant Conditioning
Reinforcer
any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Shaping
conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer approximations of a desired goal

Successive Approximations
reward behaviors that increasingly resemble desired behavior

Reinforcement
The term reinforce means to strengthen, and is used in psychology to refer to anything stimulus which strengthens or increases the probability of a specific response.
Example: If you want your dog to sit on command, you may give him a treat every time he sits for you, the dog eventually come to understand that sitting when told to will result in a treat. This treat is reinforcing because he likes it and will result in him sitting when instructed to do so.

Positive reinforcement
the frequency of a response increases because it is followed by a rewarding stimulus Example: You gave a good comment to a student, this became an inspiration for him to further excel in his class. Your comment reinforced the student to strive harder. In the same manner that we feel motivated when we are promised a promotion at work.

Negative Reinforcement
The frequency of a response increase because it is followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus. Example: Your mother keeps on nagging at you to clean the house. you got irritated of her nagging you finally cleaned the house for her to stop nagging. The response of cleaning the house removed the unpleasant stimulus of nagging

Punishment
Punishment aversive event that decreases the behavior that it follows powerful controller of unwanted behavior

Extinction
When you remove something in order to decrease a behavior. You are talking something away so that a response Is decreased.

Schedules of Reinforcement
Continuous Reinforcement
reinforcing the desired response each time it occurs learning occurs rapidly extinction occurs rapidly

Partial Reinforcement
reinforcing a response only part of the time results in slower acquisition greater resistance to extinction

Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Ratio (FR)
reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses faster you respond the more rewards you get different ratios very high rate of responding like piecework pay

Schedules of Reinforcement
Variable Ratio (VR)
reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses average ratios like gambling, fishing very hard to extinguish because of unpredictability

Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed Interval (FI)
reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

response occurs more frequently as the anticipated time for reward draws near

Schedules of Reinforcement
Variable Interval (VI)
reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals produces slow steady responding like pop quiz

Thorndikes Law of Effects

Edward thorndike, in a similar methodological vein, proposed that psychology may be, at least in part, as independent of introspection as physics pursued experimental investigations of animal intelligence. In experimental investigations of puzzle-solving by cats and other animals, he established that speed of solution increased gradual as a result of previous puzzle exposure. Such results, he maintained, support the hypothesis that learning is a result of habits formed through trial and error, and thorndikes formulated laws of behavior describing habit information processes, based on these results. Most notable among thorndikes laws (presaging Skinnerian operant conditioning) in his Law of effect

 Of several responses made to the same situation, those which are accompanied or closely followed by satisfaction to the animal will, other things being equal, be more firmly connected with the situation, so that, when it recurs they will be more likely to recur; those which are accompanied or closely followed by discomfort to the animal will, other things being equal, have their connections with that situation weakened, so that, when it recurs they will be less likely to occur. The greater the satisfaction or discomfort, the greater the strengthening or weakening of the bond. Therefore, rewarded response tend to be reinforced and punish responses eliminated. His methodological innovations facilitated objective quantitative data collection and provided a paradigm for behaviorist research methods to follow.

The Law of Effect

Responses to a situation that are followed by satisfaction are strengthened and Responses that are followed by discomfort are weakened.

Thorndikes Law of exercise continued this line of thought:

Stimulus-response connections that are repeated are strengthened and Stimulus-response connections that are not used are weakened.

4 General dimensions of abstract intelligence:

Altitude: the complexity or difficulty of tasks one can perform (most important) Width: the variety of task of a give difficulty Area: a function of width and altitude Speed: the number of task one can complete in a given time.