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Principles of Learning

Learning IntroductionLearning a relatively permanent change in an organisms behavior due to experience.Several types of learning exist. We will look at four types of learning in Chpt 7:Classical Conditioning; INVOLUNTARY behavior is determined by what PRECEDES it Operant Conditioning; VOLUNTARY behavior is determined by the anticipation of something that FOLLOWS it. Social Learning; OBSERVING othersCognitive Approach; Emphasizes thought processes

Classical ConditioningIvan PavlovEarly 1900sPhysiologist interested in how the digestive system works.Began to study psychological processes.His research on conditioning laid the groundwork for types of behavior therapy that would become important decades later.

Classical ConditioningAssociative learningmaking a new association between events and/or objects in the environment. Stimulusanything that causes some type of reaction.Responsethis reaction caused by the stimulus.Neutral Stimulushas no effect on a particular response.

Classical Conditioning:The Elements of Associative Learning

Ivan Pavlov

SalivationConditioning Trial:Test Trial:

Salivation

Classical Conditioning:Definitions

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that has the ability to produce a specified response before conditioning begins.

(FOOD)Unconditioned Response (UCR): the response produced by the UCS. (SALIVATION PRODUCED BY FOOD)Conditioned Stimulus (CS): an initially neutral stimulus that comes to produce a new response because it is associated with the UCS.

(BELL)(SALIVATION PRODUCED BY THE BELL)Conditioned Response (CR): the response produced by the CS.

Classical ConditioningPavlovs Dog ExperimentNS + UCS UCRBell + Food SalivationCS CRBell Salivation

Classical ConditioningPersonal Experiences and ExamplesNumber in your notebook 1 & 2Brainstorm with your partner to come up with two examples and write them in your notes.Share with classPractical ExamplesThere's someone you dislike who wears a certain perfume. Generally you wouldn't have a problem with smelling this perfume, although whenever you see this person, you smell it, and so your mind starts associating it with this unpleasant feeling. So from then on out, whenever you smell it, you immediately get this unpleasant feeling without any seemingly rational reason.

My cat comes running every time she hears a can being opened, because shes been classically conditioned (She's learned over time through her experiences) that a can being opened often means that she's about to get fed some fancy feast! If a cat who had never experienced the two stimuli paired together (opening can, getting food) they would not respond in the same way as my cat had.

When my boys were younger and got hurt, I would speak calmly and soothingly and give them a popsicle while I bandaged whatever injury they had incurred. When I took my son to our family doctor for his mandatory kindergarten check-up, he needed some immunizations as well. After the nurse gave him his first shot, he looked up at me and said, Wheres my popsicle? Classical ConditioningWrite this in your notes:

_________ + ________ ___________ NS UCS UCR

__________ __________ CS CRClassical Conditioning

Classical Conditioning computer + altoid mint wants/needs mint NS UCS UCR

computer wants/needs mint CS CRClassical ConditioningFamous Quote by John B. Watson"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select--doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and, yes, even beggarman and thief

Classical ConditioningJohn B. WatsonPsychologistStudies classical conditioning in infantsEmotional Conditioning; emotions can be conditioned with associative learning principles (series of stimulus and response).

Little Albert Experiment

Classical Conditioning:Additional Principles

Stimulus Generalization

After a CR has been trained to a CS, that same CR will tend to occur with similar stimuli without further training;The greater the similarity, the stronger the response will be.Conditioning:Test for Generalization:Classical Conditioning

A subject responds to the CS but not to a similar stimulus because the CS was paired with a UCS but the similar stimulus was presented without the UCS.

XStimulus DiscriminationClassical Conditioning:Basic Principles

After conditioning has taken place, repeatedly presenting the CS without the UCS will make the CR weaker and eventually make it disappear.Extinction

X

Following extinction, the CR reappears at reduced strength if the CS is presented again after a rest period.Hand out worksheet

Little Albert ExperimentCheck Your Answers

Applying New Vocab. to Little Albert Experiment If Little Albert practiced stimulus generalization, what would we expect to happen? He might cry at the sight of similar objects (he did rabbit, dog, sealskin coat, some rumors Santas beard)

2. How could we teach Little Albert to practice stimulus discrimination?

Continually expose him to stimuli similar to the rat, but only make the loud noise when exposing him to the rat

How could we help Little Alberts conditioning reach extinction?

Continually expose him to a white rat without making the loud noise (unfortunately, this was never done because as soon as Little Alberts Mom discovered what was happening, she took him and left.)

If Little Albert were still alive, his fear of white rats is likely to have been extinguished (no loud noise when he sees a rat). However, occasionally, when he sees a rat, he may find that his heart races for a second or two. What is this called? Spontaneous recovery Test Your Understanding