Learning:

1
Learning

• A relatively permanent change in behavior caused
  by experience

2
OVERVIEW

• CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
• learning by association
• OPERANT CONDITIONING
• learning by consequences of behavior
• SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
• learning by watching others

3
Ivan Pavlov

• Studied digestion in dogs
• Noticed dogs salivated upon seeing feeder
• Realized instinct could be modified by learning
• Dogs had learned paired association

4
Conditions

• Presentation of the stimuli must occur at almost
  the same time.
• What makes an UCS?
• Something we do not need to be trained to like or
  dislike (e.g. food, sex, pain)
• Generally an involuntary response

5
Stimulus Discrimination

• CR is given to stimuli which are similar to the
  original one
• Does not need to be paired w/ UCS
• Many people react to white lab coats

6
Stimulus Discrimination

• By repeated pairings can also learn to
  distinguish between similar stimuli
• Animals can be trained to tones, lights, signals

7
What happened to Baby Albert?

• Watson Raynor 1920
• Poor thing learned to be a nervous wreck around
  rats, cried as he saw rat
• Generalized to other white things-beards, fur
  coats etc.

8
Little Albert

• Was conditioned to fear rats
• Clanged metal behind his head when rat was
  presented
• UCS (loud noise)gtgtgtUCR (fear)
• 7 pairings and Rat (CS) resulted in CR of Fear

9
Ethics

• We also know that W R had some serious ethical
  problems
• And we seriously do not know what happened to
  Little Albert after this
• Do you know any 84 year old men very afraid of
  white things?

10
Good news about Fears

• Now known that we can also remove fears the same
  way
• Mary Cover Jones 1924
• Presented UCS that elicited UCR incompatible with
  fear
• Called counter conditioning

11
Taste Aversions

• Can learn these from a single experience
• If we eat and get sick, tend not to eat whatever
  again, or at least for a long time
• However, if there were positive pairings first,
  we may not learn the
• lesson as fast

12
Garcias Coyotes Sheep

• Infected sheep carcasses with a drug
• Coyotes ate the sheep and got sick
• In CC terms UCS nausea drug, UCR vomiting CS
  sheep CR nausea just by looking at them

13
Sexual Fetishes

• May result from classical conditioning
• A previously NS (e.g. a red high heel) becomes
  associated with UCS (woman) that causes arousal
  UCR leading to
• Shoe becoming a CS that elicits arousal
• CR.

14
Evaluative Conditioning Not in book

• CC in advertising
• Pair previously NS with something we like (car
  with babe draped over it)
• Men rated the car as faster, better-designed, and
  more appealing (Cialdini)

15
Operant Conditioning

• .
• Skinner we learn by the consequences of our
  behavior.

16
Consequences

• REINFORCEMENT (positive negative)
• increases frequency of behaviors
• -PUNISHMENT
• decreases frequency of behaviors

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What if punishment fails to decrease the beh?

• Then it was NOT punishment
• Ex child so attention starved, they accept neg
  attention

18
Positive reinforcement

• When the behavior occurs, pleasant event follows
• dog rolls over, dog gets treat
• Behavior increases in frequency

19
2 types of positive reinforcers

• Primary-have inherent value. Food Water Shelter
  Sex.
• Secondary reinforcers-have value based on
  experience. Money, Jaguars, Nice clothes.

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Negative Reinforcement

• When behavior occurs, an unpleasant event ends.
• buckle your seat belt so buzzer stops.
• Appear on time to Psy 1001 so you dont get the
  evil eye.
• NOT PUNISHMENT! Behavior
• increases.

21
Neg Rf

• Can be the removal of something you did not want
• Pay attention today, no homework for weekend

22
Punishment

• gtwhen the behavior occurs, an unpleasant event
  follows
• -touch hot stove, feel pain
• gtbehavior is less likely to occur

23
Conditions

• O.C. works best when there is a short delay
  between behavior and RF
• Continuous reinforcement-every occurence is
  rewarded.
• Partial reinforcement-response is sometimes
  followed by a reinforcer.
• Partial works better in the long run.

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4 Reinforcement Schedules

• Fixed Ratio
• Variable Ratio
• Fixed Interval
• Variable Interval

25
Examples of Schedules

• Fixed ratio worker is paid for every 10 calls
  made.
• Variable ratio fly fishing-you can not tell how
  many times you have to cast to get a bite.
• Fixed interval can do well on the test after an
  interval of time passes.
• Variable interval redialing a friends telephone
  number.

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Shaping Behaviors

• Behaviors cant be reinforced until they occur
• What if he never cleans his room?
• Shaping method of successive approximations. RF
  behaviors similar to the target behavior.

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Learned Helplessness

• Seligman Study
• dogs couldnt escape shocks
• later, when they could, they didnt even try
• Thought to be big factor in
• depression domestic violence

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Classical Condition

• CC occurs when 2 stimuli are paired
• Nature of response involuntary, elicited by
  stimulus
• Stimuli precede behavior
• Model CSgtCR

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Operant Conditioning

• Response followed by consequence
• Voluntary behavior
• Stimuli follow behavior
• Response gtreinforcement/punishment

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Observational Learning

• Social Learning Theory
• Albert Bandura

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4 Principles of Observational Learning

• People can learn by observing the behavior of
  others the outcomes of those behaviors.
• Lrn can occur without an observed change in
  behavior.

32
Continued

• Reinforcement plays a role in learning.
• Cognitive processes play a role in learning.

33
Bandura the Bobo doll

• Children watch film of adults hitting and kicking
  a large doll.
• These children were more aggressive with the doll
  than children who didnt see the film.

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4 Processes for Modeling

• Attention
• Retention
• Motor reproduction
• motivation

35
The Power Rangers

• children watched the mighty Morphin rangers
• counted the number of aggressive acts on the
  playground
• Morphin watchers 7 acts of aggression an hour
  vs. 1 for those who did not.

36
Characteristics of Effective Models

• 1. Competent person or image (need NOT be human).
  
• 2. Model has prestige and power.
• 3. Model behaves stereotypically for gender.
• 4. Modeled behavior is relevant to the observers
  situation.

37
Research conclusions on TV

• gtgtTV reduces restraints over aggression-violence
  is portrayed as legit solution to conflict.
• gtgtTV desensitizes reactions to cruelty.
• gtgtTV shapes images of reality (distorts viewers
  notions of the world.)

38
What National TV study concluded

• 1. TV can influence aggressive behavior.
• 2. findings generalize to adults, adolescents,
  and children.
• 3. Believe that TVs effect on
• aggressive behavior is 5-15.

39
Prosocial Behavior

• Banduras study Preschool children can overcome
  fear of dogs.
• Bandura study Shy children can learn to interact
  with others.
• Children will donate more after seeing adult
  model do it.