Learning

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Learning

• Learning is not attained by chance it
  must be sought for with ardor and attended to
  with diligence.
• Abigail Adams

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Learning

• Relatively permanent change in knowledge or
  behavior resulting from experience
• 4 types of learning
• Habituation
• Classical conditioning
• Operant conditioning
• Observational learning
• They all operate under the same principle
  learning by association

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Habituation

• Tendency to become familiar with a stimulus
  merely as a result of repeated exposure
• Orienting reflex
• Eyes widen, eyebrows rise, muscles tighten, heart
  beats faster, brain-waves indicate heightened
  physiological arousal
• Effect weakens with continued presentation of
  stimulus we habituate
• Primitive form of learning
• Found in all organisms
• Decreases the power of reward to motivate

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PRINCIPLES
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Classical Conditioning
Pavlov
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Classical Conditioning (Ivan Pavlov)
Stimulus elicits a Response S ? R
EXAMPLE Bell rings, students leave!
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THE FORMULA
IN OTHER WORDS
UCS ? UCR
An unconditioned stimulus elicits an
unconditioned response
NS UCS ? UCR
A neutral stimulus paired with an unconditioned
stimulus elicits an unconditioned response
A conditioned stimulus elicits a conditioned
response
CS ? CR
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Loud Noise
Startle
_____ ? _____ UCS UCR _____
_____ ? _____ NS UCS UCR _____
? _____ CS CR
Loud Noise
Startle
Balloon
Startle
Balloon
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Classical Conditioning

• A tendency to connect events that occur together
  in time and space
• Pavlov (1849-1936)
• Psychic secretions led to classical conditioning,
  though unintentionally
• A stimulus comes to elicit a response that it
  doesnt normally elicit
• How does this come about?
• Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
• Unconditioned response (UCR)
• Conditioned stimulus (CS)
• Conditioned response (CR)

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Basic Principles of Classical Conditioning

• Acquisition
• It takes some number of paired trials for the
  learning (or acquisition) of a CR
• Key factors order and timing of presentation
• Extinction
• The elimination of a learned response by removal
  of the US or reinforcement
• Stimulus Generalization
• The tendency to respond to a stimulus that is
  similar to the CS

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Basic Principles of Classical Conditioning

• Acquisition
• It takes some number of paired trials for the
  learning (or acquisition) of a CR
• Key factors order and timing of presentation
• Extinction
• The elimination of a learned response by removal
  of the US or reinforcement
• Generalization
• The tendency to respond to a stimulus that is
  similar to the CS
• Discrimination
• The ability to distinguish between different
  stimuli

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1. Acquisition

• The process of developing a learned response

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2. Extinction

• The diminishing of a learned response
• Continuously presenting the CS without the UCS

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3. Generalization

• Producing the same response to two similar
  stimuli
• The more similar the substitute stimulus is to
  the original used in conditioning, the stronger
  the generalized response
• Example Little Albert

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4. Discrimination

• Producing different responses to two similar
  stimuli

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Little Albert Before Conditioning
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Little Albert During Conditioning
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Little Albert After Conditioning
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Little Albert - Generalization
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Things to keep in mind

• Classical associate 2 things, thus anticipate
  events
• Lightening . . . . Thunder!
• Unconditioned means unlearned
• Associations should be natural
• Response can be the same, but isnt always
• Contingency CS should precede UCS
• Simultaneous pairing takes longer and isnt as
  powerful
• Backwards pairing rarely works

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Things to keep in mind

• Single-trial (or minimal-trial) learning
• Phobias
• Little Albert
• Taste aversions
• Cancer patients chemotherapy

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Applying Classical Conditioning

• Conditioned Fears
• We have preferences for some fears
• They are learned more quickly and the
  associations last longer, even during the
  extinction phase
• Social Behaviors
• People form strong positive and negative
  attitudes toward neutral objects by virtue of
  their links to emotionally charged stimuli
• Immune System
• Preliminary research shows that we can
  slow/bolster the immune system through classical
  conditioning

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Operant Conditioning

• Operant conditioning
• Associate response with its consequence
• Behavior becomes more or less probable depending
  on its consequences
• Law of effect
• Responses followed by positive outcomes are
  repeated whereas those followed by negative
  outcomes are not

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Operant Conditioning

• Skinner boxes
• Behavioral contingencies
• Positive reinforcement
• Negative reinforcement
• Extinction
• Punishment

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Reinforcement

• Reinforcer
• A consequence that increases the likelihood that
  behavior will occur again
• Positive reinforcement
• Providing a positive stimulus
• Studying earns you a good grade
• Premack principle
• More probable behavior can be used as a
  reinforcer for less probable behavior
• Negative reinforcement
• Removing an aversive stimulus
• Fastening our seatbelts to turn of the buzzer

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Punishment

• Punishment
• A consequence that decreases the likelihood that
  behavior will occur again
• Positive punisher
• Providing an aversive stimulus
• Scolding a child, shocking a lab rat for pressing
  the response lever
• Negative punisher
• Removing a positive stimulus
• Taking food away from a hungry rat

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Shaping and Extinction

• Shaping
• Encouraging a new behavior by reinforcing
  successive approximations
• This is how trainers get animals to do new tricks
• Extinction
• As in classical conditioning, failure to reward
  the learned behavior will eventually lead to a
  cessation of that behavior
• If a vending machine stops giving you a Coke,
  youll stop putting your money into it

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Things to keep in mind . . .

• Primary vs. secondary reinforcers
• Primary stimuli that are innately reinforcing
• Secondary stimuli that are rewarding because of
  their association with primary reinforcers
• Why dont the behaviors
• just keep occurring?
• Discriminative stimulus
• Relative degree of satiation

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Reinforcement Schedules

• Continuous
• Learning occurs rapidly
• Subject to rapid extinction when discontinued
• Partial
• Fixed-Interval (FI)
• Variable-Interval (VI)
• Fixed-Ratio (FR)
• Variable-Ratio (VR)

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Behavioral Contingencies
Type Consequence Prob. of behavior Example
Positive reinforce Add desirable Increase Study and get an A
Negative reinforce Remove undesirable Increase Go to dentist filling removes pain
Extinction Fail to add desirable Decrease Say hi. No response. Stop saying hi
Positive Punishment Add undesirable Decrease Hangover
Negative Punishment Remove desirable Decrease Get benched for fighting
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Observational Learning

• Not all learning comes from direct experience!
• Sometimes we watch others see what happens
• Older siblings, peers, parents
• Vicarious rewards punishments
• Also intrinsic rewards punishments

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Albert Bandura

• Bobo doll studies
• 2 stages of observational learning
• Acquisition
• Performance
• 4 steps of observational learning
• Attention
• Retention
• Reproduction
• Motivation