Learning/Conditioning Lecture Notes

  1. Introduction to learning concepts
    1. Learning – any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs due to experience
    2. Behaviorism – school of psychology that occurs for behavior in terms of observable events
    3. Conditioning – involves forming associations between environmental stimuli and responses
      1. Classical conditioning
      2. Operant conditioning
    4. Other theories reject the idea of omitting mental processes from explanations of human behavior
      1. Social learning theories
      2. Cognitive theories
  2. Classical Conditioning
    1. New reflexes from old
    2. Pavlov was the first to describe and document the form of learning we now call classical conditioning
    3. Classical conditioning
      1. Terminology
        1. Unconditioned stimulus (US)-stimulus eliciting an automatic or reflexive response
        2. Unconditioned response (UR)-response that is automatically produced
        3. Conditioned stimulus (CS)-an originally neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being paired with a US
        4. Conditioned response (CR)-response that is elicited by a CS
      2. Learning occurs when a neutral stimulus is regularly paired with a US and the neutral stimulus becomes a CS that elicits a CR that is similar to the original, unlearned one
      3. Classical conditioning is also called Pavlovian or respond conditioning
    4. What is really learned in classical conditioning?
      1. For effective conditioning to occur, it is not enough to pair the stimuli, the neutral stimulus must reliably signal the unconditioned one
      2. Many psychologists contend that what is really learned is the information that is conveyed by one stimulus (the neutral stimulus) about another (the US); therefore, the neutral stimulus must reliably predict the US if it is to become a CS
    5. Principles of classical conditioning
      1. Extinction – when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus the conditioned response eventually disappears
      2. Spontaneous recovery – After a response that has been extinguished, it may spontaneously reappear after the passage of time with exposure to the conditioned stimulus
      3. Higher-order-conditioning – a neutral stimulus can become a conditioned stimulus by being paired with an already established conditioned stimulus
      4. Stimulus generalization – After a stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus for some response, similar stimuli may produce the same reaction
      5. Stimulus discrimination – different responses are triggered by stimuli that resemble the conditioned stimulus in some way
  3. Classical conditioning in real life
    1. Examples of behaviors learned through classical conditioning include taste preferences, likes and dislikes and fears and phobias (little Albert example)
    2. Therapy techniques that have developed to reverse classically conditioned fears include counterconditioning and systematic desensitization
    3. Drug reaction can be explained through the principles of classical conditioning
      1. The drug causes a compensatory (oppositional) bodily response
      2. Environmental cues become condition stimuli for this response, increasing craving
      3. This compensatory response may be responsible for drug tolerance and overdosing
    4. Some things may be more easily learned because of a biological predisposition based on evolutionary considerations
  4. Operant Conditioning
    1. Thorndike’s law of effect – behavior is controlled by consequences (free will on the individual’s part)
    2. BF Skinner – behavior is determined by the environment (no free will)
    3. Reinforcement and punishment – the carrot and the stick
      1. Behavior becomes more or less likely depending on its consequences
        1. Reinforcers – try to increase the likelihood of a response
          1. Positive reinforcement – something pleasurable is presented (also called rewards)
          2. Negative reinforcement – something unpleasant is removed
        2. Punishment – try to decrease the likelihood of a response
          1. Positive punishment – something unpleasant occurs
          2. Negative punishment – something pleasant is removed
      2. Primary reinforcers/punishers –satisfy biological needs
      3. Secondary reinforcers/punishers – reinforce through association with other reinforcers/punishers
    4. Principles of operant conditioning
      1. Extinction – a previously learned response stops because it is no longer reinforced
      2. Spontaneous recovery – Return of a response that has been extinguished
      3. Immediate consequences are more effective than delayed consequences
      4. Stimulus generalization – Stimuli similar to that in the initial learning may produce the same reaction
      5. Stimulus discrimination – the ability to distinguish between similar stimuli and to respond only to the one that results in the reinforcers
    5. Schedules of reinforcement
      1. The pattern of delivery of reinforcements; can have powerful effects on rate, form, and timing of behavior
      2. Continuous reinforcement – reinforcing a response each time it occurs; most effective for initial learning
      3. Partial, intermittent, or variable schedules – reinforcement occurs only after a certain amount of time has passed or after a certain (sometimes random) number of responses have been made; these schedules make responses more resistant to extinction when reinforcement is discontinued
      4. Shaping – Method of getting a response to occur by reinforcing successive approximations to the desired response
  5. Social Learning Theories
    1. General characteristics
      1. Emphasize the importance of learning by observing people in social contexts
      2. Similarities to behaviorism
        1. Agree with laws of conditioning
        2. Recognize importance of reinforcers and the environment
      3. Differences from behaviorism
        1. Include the importance of higher-level mental processes
        2. Emphasize the role of attitudes, beliefs, and expectations
        3. Regard the environment, behavior, and a person’s internalized motives and cognitions as forming a circle in which all elements mutually affect each other
    2. Observational learning
      1. Vicarious conditioning that occurs through the process of observing a model
      2. Supported by Bandura’s theories
    3. Cognitive processes
      1. Tolman’s experiment with rats demonstrated latent learning
      2. Latent learning is learning that is not immediately revealed through a change in behavior and occurs without obvious reinforcement
      3. Formation of cognitive maps is a form of latent learning
    4. Insight
      1. Learning that appears to occur in a flash
      2. Behaviorists – explanation is in terms of prior reinforcement history
      3. Cognitive theorists – requires mentally combining previously learned responses in new ways