LEARNING OUTCOMES

After exploring Chapter 6, students should:

1. Describe the learning process according to classical conditioning.
2. Describe the learning process according to operant conditioning.
3. Describe cognitive factors in learning.

LECTURE OUTLINE

I. Classical Conditioning: Learning What Is Linked to What
A. Definition:

1. Learning as defined by psychology is a relatively permanent change in behavior that arises from practice or experience.
   a. Cognitive psychologists define learning as a mental change that may or may not be associated with changes in behavior.
2. Classical conditioning is a simple form of associative learning that enables organisms to anticipate events.
   B. Ivan Pavlov
3. Was studying salivation in dogs and accidently discovered classical conditioning.
4. Reflexes: simple automatic responses to stimuli which are unlearned.
5. Stimulus: an environmental condition that evokes a response from an organism.
6. Pavlov discovered that reflexes can also be learned through association or the repeated pairing of stimuli.
7. These learned reflexes are referred to as conditioned responses (CR).
   C. Why did Pavlov’s dogs learn to salivate in response to the tone?
8. Organisms form associations between stimuli because the stimuli are contiguous—that is, they occur at about the same time.
9. They also learn because the stimuli are paired repeatedly.
10. Cognitive psychologists view classical conditioning as the learning of relationships among events.
    a. The focus is on the information gained by the organism, which is not how the behaviorists see it (Stimulus leads to response).
    D. Stimuli and Responses in Classical Conditioning
11. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is unlearned: Pavlov’s meat powder elicits salivation, an unconditioned response (UCR).
12. Orienting reflex: in this case an automatic response the dogs had to look in the direction of the sound (a new and novel stimulus).
13. When the dogs learned to salivate to the sound of a bell (previously neutral) the bell became the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the salivation in response to the bell is a conditioned response (CR).
    E. Taste Aversion
14. Taste aversions are examples of classical conditioning.
    a. Taste aversions are adaptive to the organism as they motivate them to avoid potentially harmful food.
    b. Different than classical conditioning because:
    i. Only one association may be required.
    ii. The UCS and CS do not have to be contiguous.
15. The Evolution of Taste Aversion
    a. The evolutionary perspective suggests that animals and humans would be biologically predisposed to develop aversions that are adaptive in their environmental settings thus ensuring survival.
    F. Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
16. Extinction: the process by which a CS lose the ability to elicit CRs because the CS is no longer paired with the UCS.
17. Spontaneous Recovery: recovery of a CR after extinction. A function of the passage of time. The response is still there, just waiting for the right “time.”
    a. Spontaneous recovery, like extinction, is adaptive.
    G. Generalization and Discrimination
18. Generalization is the tendency for a conditioned response to be evoked by stimuli similar to the stimulus to which the response was conditioned.
19. Discrimination: organisms must learn that:
    a. Many stimuli perceived as being similar are functionally different.
    b. The organism must respond adaptively to each.
    H. Higher Order Conditioning
20. In Higher Order Conditioning a previously neutral stimulus comes to serve as a learned or CS after being paired repeatedly with a stimulus that has already become learned.
21. Pavlov did this by getting the dogs to salivate to the shining of light which was paired with the tone.
    I. Applications of Classical Conditioning
22. Little Albert: a child conditioned to fear a rat demonstrating that fears can be acquired through the principles of classical conditioning.
23. Counterconditioning
    a. Used to reduce fears by introducing pleasant experiences instead of negative in the pairing, thus the initial response is extinguished.
24. Flooding and Systematic Desensitization
    a. Flooding is exposing the client with the feared object until the fear response is extinguished.
    b. Systematic Desensitization is gradually exposing the client to the feared object under circumstances where they remain relaxed.
    II. Operant Conditioning: Learning What Does What to What
    A. Operant conditioning is learning based on consequences of that behavior.
    B. Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990) and Reinforcement.
25. Historical contributions: Skinner believed that pigeons could be trained to guide missiles to their targets. The project, for the military, ended up being scrapped, the pigeon equipment was too bulky.
26. Organisms learn to do something because of the effects or consequences of that behavior.
27. Operant behavior is behavior that operates on, or manipulates the environment.
28. Operant conditioning is a simple form of learning in which an organism learns to engage in certain behavior because of the effects of that behavior.
    C. Methods of Operant Conditioning
29. Focus on what people (organisms) do.
30. Skinner devised an operant chamber (Skinner Box); a cage for animals used to study operant conditioning. The chambers had a lever that the animals could press to obtain reinforcements and a turning drum or cumulative recorder to measure behavior (lever presses).
31. It matters little how the first response that is reinforced is made. It could be random or guided.
    a. People can be verbally guided into the desired response.
    D. Types of Reinforcers
32. Any stimulus, which increases the probability that responses preceding it will be repeated, serves as a reinforcer.
33. Positive Reinforcers: increase the probability that the behavior will occur when they are applied (ex: food and approval).
34. Negative Reinforcers: increase the probability of a behavior when the reinforcer is removed (ex: Planning ahead so you don’t have to fear that things will go wrong).
35. Immediate Versus Delayed Reinforcers
    a. Immediate reinforcers are more effective than delayed reinforcers.
    i. Short term consequences often provide better incentive than long term consequences.
36. Primary and Secondary Reinforcers
    a. Primary reinforcers are effective because of an organism’s biological makeup (e.g. food and water).
    b. Secondary reinforcers acquire their value through being associated with established reinforcers. Sometimes called conditioned reinforcers.
    E. Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery in Operant Conditioning
37. Extinction occurs as a result of repeated performance of operant behavior without reinforcement.
38. Spontaneous recovery occurs in operant conditioning. The reward returns and the behavior increases.
    F. Reinforcers Versus Rewards and Punishments
39. Reinforcers are known by their effects, if the frequency of the behavior increases then the behavior was reinforced.
40. Rewards and punishments are known by how they feel.
41. Punishments are aversive events that suppress or decrease the frequency of behavior they follow.
    a. They can rapidly suppress the frequency of the behavior they follow.
    G. Discriminative Stimuli
42. Discriminative stimuli act as cues by providing information about when an operant will be reinforced.
    a. Behaviors that are not reinforced will be extinguished.
    b. Behaviors that are engaged in after the discriminative stimulus will be reinforced and continued.
    H. Schedules of Reinforcement
43. Some responses are maintained by means of continuous reinforcement; reinforcement after every response. New behaviors are acquired more rapidly through continuous reinforcement.
44. Partial reinforcement can also maintain behavior, reinforce behavior part of the time.
    a. Behavior is more resistant to extinction when partial reinforcement is used.
45. Interval Schedules
    a. Fixed Interval: a fixed amount of time must elapse between the previous and subsequent times when reinforcement occurs.
    b. Variable Interval: a variable amount of time occurs between reinforcements.
46. Ratio schedules
    a. Fixed ratio: reinforcement is provided after a fixed number of correct responses have been made.
    b. Variable ratio: Reinforcement is provided after a variable number of correct responses.
    c. Both ratio schedules maintain high rates of responding.
    I. Shaping
47. Reinforces progressive steps toward the behavioral goal.
    a. Reinforce successive approximations of the goal getting closer to the desired behavior.
    J. Applications of Operant Conditioning
48. Biofeedback Training
    a. Based on the principles of operant conditioning.
    b. Organisms can gain control over autonomic functions.
49. Behavior Modification in the Classroom: Accentuating the Positive
    a. Ironic conditioning of undesirable behavior sometimes happens, this needs to change.
    b. Using peer approval as reinforcement.
    c. Time out.
50. Programmed Learning: Step-by-Step
    a. Complex tasks can be broken down into a number of smaller steps.
    b. Do not punish errors, reward correct responses.

III. Cognitive Factors in Learning
A. Terms:

1. Cognitive psychologists use concepts such as mental structures, schemas, templates, and information processing.
   B. Latent Learning: Forming Cognitive Maps
2. Tolman showed that rats learn about their environment in the absence of reinforcement.
   a. This knowledge can be used later.
   i. Learning might remain hidden or latent until they were motivated to behave.
   ii. Distinguish between learning and performance.
   C. Contingency Theory
3. Contingency theory: suggests that learning occurs only when the conditioned stimulus provides information about the unconditioned stimulus.
4. Rescorla concluded that the co-appearance of two events cannot in itself explain classical conditioning. Instead, learning occurs only when the conditioned stimulus provides information about the unconditioned stimulus.
5. Learning theory occurs because a conditioned stimulus indicates that the unconditioned stimulus is likely to follow.
   D. Observational Learning
6. Albert Bandura proposed that we can acquire operants by observing the behavior of others not actually experiencing the event.
   a. Some of this learning can be exhibited immediately where others may be dormant.
   b. A person who engages in a response to be imitated is a model.
   c. Observers are said to be vicariously reinforced.
   E. Violence in the Media and Aggression
7. Statistics
   a. If a child watches 2 to 4 hours of TV a day, they will have seen 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence by the time they finish elementary school.
   b. Even G-rated movies, on average, have scenes of violence lasting 9-10 minutes per film.
8. Bandura: Effects of Violence in the Media
   a. Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1963) conducted a study using a Bobo doll. They found that children who had observed the aggressive model showed significantly more aggressive behavior toward the doll themselves.
9. Violence is often shown to have only temporary or minimal effects if at all.
10. Consensus on the Effects of Violence in the Media
    a. Observational learning: children learn from observation.
    b. Disinhibition: punishment inhibits behavior.
    c. Increased arousal: likely to be aggressive when aroused.
    d. Priming of aggressive thoughts and memories.
    e. Habituation: we become habituated to repeated stimuli decreasing sensitivity.
    f. May lead to real-life violence especially when viewers can identify more with the characters and when the violence is realistic.
    g. Playing violent video games increases aggressive thoughts and behavior.
    i. Males are more likely than females to act aggressively after playing violent video games.
11. There tends to be a circular relationship between exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior, feeding each other.
12. Family constellations may also contribute to the imitation of violence including:
    a. Parental substance abuse.
    b. Paternal physical punishments.
    c. Single motherhood.
    d. Parental rejection.
    e. If children believe that violence is inappropriate for them, they will be less likely to act aggressively.