Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, and Observational Learning

Learning Conditioning Watson ThorndikeBehavior Reinforcement Skinner OperantsClassical cond. Punishment Bandura PavlovUCS/UCR Pos/Neg Extinction CS/CR Bobo-doll exp. Token Economy NS Schedules of Reinf. Spontaneous RecoveryOperant cond. Interval ResponseModeling Ratio DiscriminationInstinctive drift Tollman GeneralizationLittle Albert Theories of Learning PhobiasLatent learning Biological preparedness

2

Primary Reinforcer: An innately reinforcing stimulus like food or drink.

Conditioned Reinforcer: A learned reinforcer that gets its reinforcing power through association with

the primary reinforcer.

Primary & Conditioned Reinforcers

• • A _____________ is the specific stimulus in the presence of which a

particular operant is more likely to be reinforced

• _________ is reinforcing successful approximations of a behavior until the correct behavior is displayed; acquisition is the beginning process of learning a behavior

• Shaping• ______________ reinforcement, a pattern of reinforcement in which • every occurrence of a particular response is reinforced

• Partial reinforcement is a pattern of reinforcement in which• the occurrence of a particular response is only intermittently reinforced• Extinction is the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned

behavior and occurs because of the disappearance of reinforcement• The _____ is the phenomenon in which behaviors that are conditioned

using partial reinforcement are more resistant to extinction than behaviors that are conditioned using continuous reinforcement

• Schedules of reinforcement are specific preset arrangements of partial reinforcement that produce different patterns and rates of responding

• With a ___________schedule, reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of responses

• With a variable-ratio schedule reinforcement occurs after ____________ number of responses

• With a fixed-interval schedule, a reinforcer is delivered for the ___________after the preset time interval has elapsed

• With a __________ schedule, reinforcement occurs for the first response emitted after an average amount of time has elapsed…but the interval varies from trial to trial

5

Schedules of Reinforcement

• A primary reinforcer is one that is naturally reinforcing for a given species

• A conditioned reinforcer or secondary reinforcer, is one that has acquired reinforcing values by being associated with a primary reinforcer.

• ________ is a process in which a behavior is followed by an aversive consequence that decreases the likelihood of the behavior being repeated

• Positive punishment decreases the response and decreases the frequency of the behavior by adding something _______

• Negative punishment decreases the response and decreases the frequency of the behavior by ___________ something pleasurable

• Punishment is more effective if it immediately and consistently follows a response

8

Punishment

1. Punished behavior is suppressed, not forgotten.

2. Punishment teaches discrimination.

3. Punishment can teach fear.

4. Physical punishment may increase aggressiveness by modeling aggression as a way to cope with problems.

In relation to parenting and physical punishment of children, these four drawbacks have been found.

• Disadvantages…• It doesn’t teach a more appropriate

response• It may have undesirable results such as

passivity, fear, aggression, or hostility

• Behavioral modification is the application of learning principles to help people develop more effective or adaptive behaviors

• Edward C. Tolman, an American psychologist, did not believe that you needed reinforcers to learn

• Even in the absence of a reward, latent learning or learning that is not immediately demonstrated in overt behavior can occur

• ____________________ is the phenomenon in which exposure to inescapable and uncontrollable aversive events produces passive behavior

• Learned helplessness

• Cognition & Operant Conditioning

Evidence of cognitive processes during operant learning comes from rats

during a maze exploration in which they navigate the maze without an

obvious reward. Rats seem to develop cognitive maps, or mental

representations, of the layout of the maze (environment).

Such cognitive maps are based on latent learning, which becomes apparent

only when an incentive is given (Tolman & Honzik, 1930).

Reinforcement or Punishment?Positive or Negative?

• 1. Johnny talks back to mom. Mom takes away game boy.

• _________________• 2. Johnny talks back to

mom. Mom slaps him.• __________________• 3. Johnny talks back to

mom. When mom sees Johnny, she cries.

• _________________

• 4. Johnny talks back to mom. Mom ignores Johnny. Johnny talks back even more.

• ________________• 5. Johnny talks back to

mom. Mom yells at Johnny. Johnny talks back even more.

• __________________

12

Biological Predispositions

John Garcia

Garcia showed that the duration between the CS and the US may be long (hours), but yet result in conditioning. A biologically adaptive CS (taste) led to conditioning but other stimuli (sight or sound) did not.

Courtesy of John G

arcia

• The instinctive drift interferes with the animal’s ability to learn a new behavior

• Observational learning is learning that occurs through observing the actions of others

• Which theorist is associated with observational learning?• Albert Bandura• In observational learning, it is the _________ of a reward or

reinforcement that affects the performance of what has been learned

• observation• What major psychological perspective is associated with

observational learning?• Social learning theory• • Remember the Bobo Doll experiment…

Observational Learning

Recap…

• Sally did not enjoy going with her mother to the grocery store. One day when Sally and her mother went to the grocery store, a new baker was working in the bakery department and the baker gave Sally a cookie. Sally loves cookies. Every time Sally sees the baker at the grocery store, the baker gives Sally a cookie. Now whenever Sally sees the baker, she gets excited…and Sally has begun to enjoy going to the grocery store.

• Classical Conditioning or Operant conditioning? Explain.