LearningHow does experience affect behaviors and/or attitudes?

By Association!!

• Our minds naturally connect events that occur in sequence.– Affects Behaviors

By Association!!

• Our minds naturally connect events that occur in sequence.– Affects Attitudes

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Pavlov and Classical Conditioning

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Classical Conditioning

• Unconditioned Stimulus (US)– A stimulus (an event) that triggers an

unconditioned (involuntary) response.• Examples: food, loud noises, painful stimuli, bursts of

air

Classical Conditioning

• Unconditioned response (UR)– An unlearned response to an unconditioned

stimulus.• Examples: hunger -> food, jumping ->horror flick,

blinking -> flying objects near eye

Classical Conditioning

• Conditioned stimulus (CS)– A neutral stimulus (an event) that comes to evoke

a learned response due to being presented shortly before the US.

• Ex: Bell ringing in high school, Fridays!!, Cologne

Classical Conditioning

• Conditioned response (CR)– A learned response to a classically conditioned

stimulus (CS)• Ex: Salivation of Pavlov’s dog just to the bell, your

mouth watering when you smell warm cookies, smiling when you hear a song that reminds you of someone (or frowning…depending)

CC Check

• Every time someone flushes a toilet in the apartment building, the shower becomes very hot and causes the person to jump back. Over time, the person begins to jump back automatically after hearing the flush, before the water temperature changes.– What is the:– UCS– UCR– Neutral Stimulus/CS– CR?

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Acquisition

The initial stage in classical conditioning. during which association between a

neutral stimulus and a US takes place.

1. Neutral stimulus needs to come before the US for conditioning to occur (most cases).

2. The time between the two stimuli should be about half a second.

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Acquisition

The CS needs to come half a second before

the US to cause acquisition.

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Extinction

When a US (food) does not follow a CS (tone) CR (salivation) starts to decrease

and at some point goes extinct.

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Reinstatement

After a rest period an extinguished CR (salivation) spontaneously recovers and if CS (tone) persists alone becomes extinct

again.

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Stimulus Generalization

Tendency to respond to stimuli similar to CS is called generalization. • “Little Albert”

– Conditioned to fear a white lab rat

– Fear generalized to anything white and furry

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Stimulus Discrimination

Discrimination is the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other

stimuli that do not signal a US.

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1. Alcoholics can be conditioned (aversively) partly reversing their positive-associations with alcohol.

2. A drug (plus its taste) that affects the immune response, can lead the taste to invoke the immune response through classical conditioning.

Applications of Classical Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

Tilikum Attacks!!

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Operant & Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning forms associations between stimuli (CS and US).

Operant conditioning on the other hand forms association between behaviors and resulting events.

Operant Conditioning

• Cats in puzzle boxes– Time to escape decreased with practice– Thorndike’s “Law of Effect”

• Responses followed by positive outcomes are repeated, whereas those followed by negative outcomes are not

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Shaping

Operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior closer towards

target behavior through successive approximations.

Method used in training schools

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Types of Reinforcers

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1. Primary Reinforcer: Innately reinforcing stimulus like food, drink, sex (depending).

2. Conditioned Reinforcer: Is a learned reinforcer. It gets its reinforcing power through its association with primary reinforcer. Ex. Money, praise, good grades, awards, gold stars

Primary & Secondary Reinforcers

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1. Immediate Reinforcer: A reinforcer that occurs closely to a behavior in time. Rat gets a food pellet for a bar press.

2. Delayed Reinforcer: A reinforcer that is delayed in time for a certain behavior. A paycheck that comes at the end of a week.

Immediate & Delayed Reinforcers

We may be more inclined to engage in small immediate reinforcers (watching TV) than large

delayed reinforcers (Getting A in a course) which requires consistent study.

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Reinforcement Schedules

1. Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforcing the desired response each time it occurs.

2. Partial Reinforcement: Reinforcing a response only part of the time. Though results in slower acquisition in the beginning, shows greater resistance to extinction later on.

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Ratio Schedules

1. Fixed-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses e.g., like piecework pay, “I’m going to count to three.”

2. Variable-ratio schedule: Reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses. Hard to extinguish because of unpredictability, e.g., behaviors like gambling, fishing.

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Interval Schedules

1. Fixed-interval schedule: Reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed e.g., preparing for an exam only when the exam draws close, getting a raise every year and not in between.

2. Variable-interval schedule: Reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals. produces slow steady responding, e.g., pop quiz, boss checking on you

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Punishment

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Motivation

Intrinsic Motivation: The desire to perform a behavior for its own sake.

Extrinsic Motivation: The desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishments.

How “rewarding” is it for an orca to leap in the air for [already] dead fish from a bucket?

THIS is how orca’s feed:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5M3gs76fzA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3xmqbNsRSk

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Applications of Operant Conditioning

Skinner introduced the concept of teaching machines that would shape learning in small steps and provide reinforcements for correct rewards.

In School

LWA

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Applications of Operant Conditioning

Reinforcement principles can enhance athletic performance.

In Sports

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Applications of Operant Conditioning

Reinforcers affect productivity. Many companies now enable employees to share

profits and participate in company ownership.

At work

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Operant Conditioning & Token Economy:“Warden, I’ve been good…my cigarettes

please!”Person exchanges a token of some sort,

earned for exhibiting the desired behavior, for

various privileges or treats.

Imitation Onset-Learning via Observation

This 14-month-old child imitates the

adult on TV in pulling a toy apart.

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Bandura's Experiments

Bandura's Bobo doll study (1961)

indicated that individuals (children)

learn through imitating others who receive rewards and

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Negative Observational Learning

Bandura’s studies show that antisocial

models (family, neighborhood or

TV) may have antisocial effects.

Positive Observational Learning

Prosocial (positive, helpful) models may have prosocial effects.

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Television and Observational Learning

Gentile et al., (2004) shows that children in elementary school who are exposed to violent television, videos, and video

games express increased

aggression.

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Modeling Violence

Research shows that viewing media violence leads to an increased expression

of aggression.

Children modeling after pro wrestlers

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Latent Learning

Such cognitive maps are based on latent learning, which becomes apparent only when an incentive is given (Tolman &

Honzik, 1930).

Biological Predisposition

Biological constraints predispose

organisms to learn associations that are naturally adaptive.

Breland and Breland (1961) showed that

animals drift towards their biologically

predisposed instinctive behaviors. Marian Breland Bailey

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Skinner’s Legacy

Skinner argued that behaviors were shaped by external influences instead of

inner thoughts and feelings. Critics argued that Skinner dehumanized people by

neglecting their free will.

Falk/ Photo Researchers, Inc.

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Motivation

Motivation is a need or desire that energizes behavior

and directs it towards a goal.

Aron Ralston was motivated to cut his arm in order to free himself from a rock

that pinned him down. Aron Ralston

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Perspectives on Motivation

Four perspectives used to explain motivation include the following:

1. Instinct Theory (replaced by the evolutionary perspective)

2. Drive-Reduction Theory3. Arousal Theory4. Hierarchy of Motives

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Instincts & Evolutionary Psychology

Instincts are complex behaviors that have fixed patterns throughout different

species and are not learned (Tinbergen, 1951).

Where the woman builds different kinds of housesthe bird builds only one kind of nest.

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Drives and Incentives

When the instinct theory of motivation failed, it was replaced by the drive-

reduction theory. A physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the

need.

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Incentive

Where our needs push, incentives (positive or negative stimuli) pull us in reducing our

drives.

A food-deprived person who smells baking bread(incentive) feels a strong hunger drive.

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Optimum Arousal

Human motivation aims to seek optimum levels of arousal, not to eliminate it.

Young monkeys and children are known to explore the environment in the

absence of a need-based drive.

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isconsin

Randy F

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A Hierarchy of Motives

Abraham Maslow (1970) suggested that

certain needs have priority over others. Physiological needs

like breathing, thirst, and hunger come

before psychological needs such as

achievement, self-esteem, and the need

for recognition. (1908-1970)

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Hierarchy of Needs

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Hunger

When are we hungry?

When do we eat?

When there is no food in our stomach.

When we are hungry.

How do we know when our stomach is empty?

Our stomach growls. These are also called hunger pangs.

The Physiology of Hunger

Stomach contractions (pangs) send signals to the brain making us aware of

our hunger.

Stomachs Removed

Tsang (1938) removed rat stomachs, connected the esophagus to the small

intestines, and the rats still felt hungry (and ate food).

Body Chemistry & the Brain

Levels of glucose in the blood are monitored by

receptors (neurons) in the stomach,

liver, and intestines. They send signals

to the hypothalamus in

the brain.

Rat Hypothalamus

Hypothalamic Centers

The lateral hypothalamus (LH) brings on hunger (stimulation). Destroy the LH, and the animal has no interest in eating. The

reduction of blood glucose stimulates orexin in the LH, which leads rats to eat

ravenously.

Hypothalamic Centers

The ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) depresses hunger (stimulation). Destroy the

VMH, and the animal eats excessively.

Richard H

oward

Hypothalamus & Hormones

The hypothalamus monitors a number of hormones thatare related to hunger.

Hormone Tissue Response

Orexin increase

Hypothalamus

Increases hunger

Ghrelin increase Stomach

Increases hunger

Insulin increase Pancreas

Increases hunger

Leptin increase Fat cells

Decreases hunger

PPY increaseDigestive tract

Decreases hunger