2. What is Learning?
• Learning can be defined as any relatively permanent change
in behavior that occurs as a result of practice or experience
not through growth or maturation .
• Growth & maturation relates to species specific behavior not
learning.
• Both the behavior and environment interact to produce the
learned change.
• learning & performance are inter related but performance
can be affected by insufficient motivation, anxiety,
depression, though learning is non demonstrable.
• Learning is state dependant. It may occur when person is in
special internal state like under influence of drug or in special
environment. Such learning is best recalled when person is in
same internal state or same environment..
5. Habituation
• A simple form of learning in which the response to a
stimulus decreases after lengthy or repeated
presentation.
• The degree of habituation and the speed at which it
occurs is affected by several variables including the
intensity of the stimulus, the duration of the stimulus
and how many times the individual is exposed to the
stimulus over a given time period
• What happens before habituation ?
• Each time an organisms encounters a new or
unexpected object , there is a surprise reaction known
as orienting reflex.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
6. • This reflex is one of the physiological arousal in which
1. The eyebrows lift slightly
2. the eyes widen
3. heart beats faster
4. Muscle slightly tense
5. Skin resistance drops
• After habituation the same object causes no such
reflex.
• For instance, if you are working with a radio playing in
the background, the noise will distract you at first. But
after a while, you will gradually tune out the noise
and focus on your work.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
7. Sensitization
• is the increased reaction to a stimulus after repeated
exposure to that stimulus. In this instance, you become
more sensitive to the stimulus as time goes on. Here,
frequent exposure to a stimulus increases the strength
of the reaction to a stimulus.
• For example, if you
are walking down the hall right after watching a scary
movie and your friend pops out and says BOO! you will
startle more easily. The movie sensitized you. It
sensitized you to other stimuli and it did so in one
presentation!
8. Associative learning
• Learning a correlation between two events.
• It includes Classical & instrumental
conditioning.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
9. Classical conditioning
• It is also called respondent conditioning or
Pavlovian conditioning.
• It was actually discovered accidentally by Ivan
Pavlov, a Russian physiologist who discovered this
phenomenon while doing research on digestion.
• His research was aimed at better understanding
of digestive pattern of dogs.
• During his experiments he would put meat
powder in the mouth of dogs who had tubes
inserted into various organs to measure bodily
responses.
Kaplan and sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, Tenth Edition
10. • He discovered that the dogs began to salivate
before the meat powder was presented to
them.
• Then the dogs began to salivate as soon as the
person feeding them entered the room.
• Soon he began to gain interest in this
phenomenon and abandoned his study of
digestion.
• He started pairing a bell sound with the meat
powder and found that even if the meat
powder was not presented, the dog would
eventually salivate after hearing the bell.
Kaplan and sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, Tenth Edition
11. • Since the meat powder results in salivation,
these two variables are called the
unconditioned stimulus(UCS) and
unconditioned response(UCR),respectively.
• The bell and salivation are not naturally
occurring, the dog was conditioned to
respond to the bell.
• Therefore ,the bell is considered conditioned
stimulus(CS) and the salivation to the bell is
considered conditioned response(CR).
Kaplan and sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, Tenth Edition
12.
13. Effects of Conditioning on Behavior
• Food aversion: Through conditioning, humans and
other animals may learn to like or dislike different
foods
• For eg- chemotherapy can make cancer patients sick,
and can therefore cause the conditioning of an
aversion to a food that was eaten recently (or to the
clinic itself).
• Over Eating: On flip side Conditioning from external
Cues ( Fav. Restaurant, Flavors) can trigger food
consumption and craving, a potential influence on
overeating and obesity.
Kaplan and sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, Tenth Edition
14. Theories about classical conditioning
1. Stimulus substitution: an association (a link
or a bond) is formed between the CS and the
US so that the CS becomes the equivalent of
the US in eliciting a response.
2. Information and Expectation: It states that
when the CS is presented, the US is expected
and the learner response in accordance with
this expectation.
Introduction to Psychology, Seventh Edition, Morgan, King, Weisz, Schopler
15. Principles of classical conditioning
Acquisition:
• The process by which an organism learns an
association is known as acquisition.
• The conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned
stimulus are paired; the experimenter waits a
short time, then presents the CS-UCS pairing
again.
• Each pairing is called a trial.
• As the CS and UCS are repeatedly paired
response to the CS become stronger and quicker.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
16. Second order conditioning:
• The form of learning in which a CS become
associated with a second neutral stimulus that
precedes it , which then evokes conditioned
response itself
• ex. If Pavlov's bell to which dog is already
conditioned is repeatedly paired with a
second neutral stimulus (flashing light ) , the
second stimulus become associated with first (
the bell ) ,and new CS ( the light ) soon begins
to elicit the CR (salivation )
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
17. Extinction
• The gradual decline and disappearance of the
conditioned response when it no longer is reinforced .
When CS is presented without US repeatedly over
period of time it leads to disappearance of CR over the
time.
• Extinction has to do with dissociating two stimuli.
• The process of extinction is used by therapist to help
people overcome phobias or irrational fear (this
extinction technique is known as systemic
desensitization)
• Flooding – Another extinction technique in which
phobic person is encouraged to remain in the presence
of the feared stimulus despite the overwhelming flood
of terror.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
18. Spontaneous recovery
• The reappearance of an extinguished response
upon returning to the familiar situation and the
conditioned stimulus.
• The organism apparently learns that one event
will not follow another.
• however, after complete extinction, if the UCS is
once again paired with the old CS, the
extinguished response will be quickly relearned.
This learning of a conditioned the then
extinguished response is called reconditioning
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
19. Stimulus Generalization: A tendency to
respond to stimuli that are similar, but not
identical, to a conditioned stimulus (e.g.,
responding to a buzzer banging when the
conditioning stimulus was a bell)
• If you have an extremely warm relationship
with an aunt, for eg, you may find that your
affection extends to people who resemble her.
You may begin your acquaitance with such
people already expecting to look them simply
because they look like your aunt.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
20. • Stimulus Discrimination: The ability to
respond differently to various stimuli (e.g., a
child responds differently to various bells
(alarms, school, timer)
• A dog quickly learns to discriminate its
owner’s whistle (which is followed by dinner,
an unconditioned stimulus) from the whistle
of others who don’t feed it.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
21. Critical factors in Classical Conditioning
• Information value of conditioned stimulus: it
means that the CS must communicate
relevant information. The CS must serve as a
signal or predictor of UCS, but for that to
happen, the absence of CS must also predict
the absence of UCS.
• Biological constraints on conditioning: Genetic
factors play a role, since species seem to be
genetically prepared to make some kinds of
associations more readily than others.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
22. when a CS signals a positive
US, the CS will evoke approach behaviors—called sign tracking. For
example, an organism will approach a signal for food. Analogously, when a
CS signals a negative US, it will evoke behaviors that tend to move the
organism away from the CS.
23. Instrumental /operant conditioning
• The form of learning in which a voluntary
behavioral response is strengthened or
diminished by its consequences.
• In this form of conditioning, our behavioral
response operates on the environment and is
instrumental in producing or affecting the
consequences.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
24. SKINNER’S :TWO TYPES OF BEHAVIOR
• 1) Respondent Behavior: Which results from
known stimuli. (eg: knee jerk behavior to
patellar stimulation, pupillary constriction to
light)
• 2) Operant Behavior: independent of
stimulus.( eg: infant aimless movement, rats
purposeless movement in cage).
• Skinner took advantage of operant behavior in
his experimentation.
25.
26.
27. Four kinds of Operant & Instrumental
Conditioning
• Primary Reward Conditioning: The learned response is
associated with biologically significant reward. Eg pellet
of food.
• Secondary Reward Conditioning:This kind of learning in
which instrumental behavior is no longer associated
with biologically significant reward as it was in the past.
For eg Chimpanzee learn to press lever to obtain poker
chips which they insert into a slot to secure grapes.
Later they work to accumulate poker chips even when
they are not interested in grapes.
• Escape
• Avoidance Conditioning
28. Principles of Instrumental conditioning
• B.F. Skinner established basic principles of
instrumental conditioning which are:
1. Reinforcement
2. Punishment
3. Acquisition
4. Extinction
5. Recovery
6. Generalization
7. Discrimination
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
29. Skinner’s experiment
• Working with Thorndike’s law of
effect as his foundation, Skinner
began conducting scientific
experiments on animals (mainly
rats and pigeons) to determine
how organisms learn through
operant conditioning.
• He placed these animals inside
an operant conditioning
chamber, which has come to be
known as a “Skinner box”.
• A Skinner box contains a lever
(for rats) or disk (for pigeons)
that the animal can press or
peck for a food reward via the
dispenser.
• The rate at which the rat first
presses the bar is the baseline
level.
30. • After establishing the baseline level, the
experimenter activates a food magazine located
outside the box.
• Now, every time the rat presses the bar, a small
food pellet is released into the dish. The rat eats
the food pellet and soon presses the bar again.
• The food reinforces bar pressing, and the rate of
pressing increases dramatically.
• If the food magazine is disconnected and pressing
the bar no longer delivers food, the rate of bar
pressing diminishes. An instrumental response
that is not reinforced undergoes extinction, just
as a classically conditioned response does.
Atkinson & Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology, 15th Edition
31. Reinforcement Theory: BF SKINNER
1938 (PROCESS THEORY)
• Reinforcement theory is a psychological
principle suggesting that behaviors are shaped
by their consequences, and that individual
behaviors can be changed through
reinforcement, punishment and extinction.
Behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner was
instrumental in developing modern ideas
about reinforcement theory.
32.
33. Reinforcement: Strengthening the Behavior Response
by producing Desirable Consequence
• Positive Reinforcement: Strengthening the behaviour
by rewarding it.
• Example: A father gives candy to his daughter when
she tidies up her toys. If the frequency of picking up
the toys increases, the candy is a positive reinforcer
(to reinforce the behavior of cleaning up).
• Example: A company enacts a rewards program in
which employees earn prizes dependent on the
number of items sold. The prizes the employees
receive are the positive reinforcement if they increase
sales.
34. • Negative Reinforcement: Strengthening the the
behaviour response that leads to removal of
Aversive stimulus.
• Negative reinforcement occurs out of a negative
feedback loop.
• Negative Reinforcement is not
Punishment.(addition of Aversive stimulus)
• Example: A child cleans their room, and this
behavior is followed by the parent stopping
"nagging" or asking the child repeatedly to do so.
Here, the nagging serves to negatively reinforce
the behavior of cleaning because the child wants
to remove that aversive stimulus of nagging.
35. PUNISHMENT: Weakening or suppressing a response by producing an aversive
consequence
• In operant conditioning, punishment is any change in a
human or animal's surroundings which, occurring after a
given behavior or response, reduces the likelihood of that
behavior occurring again in the future.
• There are two types of punishment, positive and negative.
Positive punishment involves the introduction of a stimulus
to decrease behavior while negative punishment involves
the removal of a stimulus to decrease behavior.
• There are also two types of punishers. There are primary
punishers which directly affect the individual such as pain
and are a natural response and then there are secondary
punishers which are things that are learned to be negative
like a buzzing sound when getting an answer wrong on a
game show
36. • Positive Punishment
• Example: A mother yells at a child when he or she
runs into the street. If the child stops running into
the street, the yelling ceases. The yelling acts as
positive punishment because the mother
presents (adds) an unpleasant stimulus in the
form of yelling.
• Negative Punishment.
• Example: A child throws a temper tantrum
because they want ice cream. Their mother
subsequently ignores them, making it less likely
the child will throw a temper tantrum in the
future when they want something. The removal
of attention from his mother is a negative
punishment because a pleasant stimulus
(attention) is taken away.
38. Uses of Punishment
• Punishment has been used in a lot of different applications.
• Punishment has been used in applied behavioral analysis,
specifically in situations to try and punish dangerous behaviors like
head banging.
• Punishment has also been used to psychologically
manipulate individuals to gain control over victims.
• It has also been used in scenarios where an abuser may try
punishment in order to traumatically bond their victim with them.
• Stuttering therapy has also seen the use of punishment with
effective results.
• Certain punishment techniques have been effective in children
with disabilities, such as autism and intellectual disabilities.
39. • Extinction involves a behavior that requires no
contingent consequence. If something (good or bad) is
not reinforced, it should in theory disappear.
• Extinction can be intentional or unintentional and
happens when an undesired behavior is ignored,
hoping it will go away overtime if there is no reaction.
Behavior after extinction spikes first and then declines
over time.
• Example (Intended): A young child ignores bullies
making fun of them. The bullies do not get a reaction
from the child and lose interest in bullying them.
• Example (Unintended): A worker has not received any
recognition for their above and beyond hard work.
They then stop working as hard.
40.
41. Shaping
• Instead of rewarding only the target behavior, in
shaping, we reward successive approximations of a
target behavior.
• Shaping is needed because it is extremely unlikely
that an organism will display anything but the
simplest of behaviors spontaneously.
• In shaping, behaviors are broken down into many
small, achievable steps.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
42. • The specific steps used in the process are the
following:
1. Reinforce any response that resembles the desired
behavior.
2. Then reinforce the response that more closely
resembles the desired behavior. You will no longer
reinforce the previously reinforced response.
3. Next, begin to reinforce the response that even
more closely resembles the desired behavior.
4. Continue to reinforce closer and closer
approximations of the desired behavior.
5. Finally, only reinforce the desired behavior.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
43. Aspects of Reinforcement
• Primary Reinforcers: Any stimuli or events that reduce
basic drives or needs. (food for a hungry animal,
escape from pain)
• Secondary Reinforcer: A secondary reinforcer has no
inherent value and only has reinforcing qualities when
linked with a primary reinforcer. (money, is only worth
something when you can use it to buy other basic
needs (food, water, shelter—all primary reinforcers) or
other secondary reinforcers. If you were on a remote
island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and you had
stacks of money, the money would not be useful if you
could not spend it.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
44.
45. REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES
• When an organism receives a reinforcer each time it
displays a behavior, it is called continuous
reinforcement
• In partial reinforcement (intermittent
reinforcement), the person or animal does not get
reinforced every time they perform the desired
behavior.
• There are several different types of partial
reinforcement schedules.
47. Variable schedules produce higher rates and greater
resistance to extinction than most fixed schedules. This is
also known as the Partial Reinforcement Extinction Effect
(PREE).
The variable ratio schedule produces both the highest
rate of responding and the greatest resistance to
extinction (for example, the behavior of gamblers at slot
machines).
The PRP "post-reinforcement pauses" of a fixed interval
schedule is frequently followed by a "scallop-shaped"
accelerating rate of response, while fixed ratio schedules
produce a more "angular" response
48. • The Premack principle is a special case of
reinforcement elaborated by David Premack,
which states that a highly preferred activity
can be used effectively as a reinforcer for a
less-preferred activity.
49. • In one experiment Premack observed that children
spent more time playing with pinball machine than
eating candy when both are freely available. When he
made playing pin ball machine contingent on eating a
certain amount of candy, the children increased the
amount of candy they ate.
• In therapeutic application of this principle patients with
Schizophrenia were observed to spend more time in
rehabilitation centre sitting down nothing than they
did working at a simple task.
• When 5 minutes sitting down was made contingent on
certain amount of work,the work output was certainly
increased, as was skill acquisition. This principle is also
known as Grandma’s rule.(if you eat your spinach, you
can have your desert)
50. • The Premack principle has been refined over
years that even a less preferred behaviour can
reinforce a more preferred behaviour. If
organism is deprived of doing less preferred
behaviour over a long time.
51. Adventitious Reinforcement
• Responses accidentally reinforced by
coincidental pairing of response &
reinforcement are adventitious.
• Have clinical Implication in development of
Phobia and other Behavior.
52. STIMULUS GENERALIZATION
• As in classic conditioning stimulus
generalization occurs in Instrumental and
Operant Conditioning, responses learned in
presence of one stimulus will also be made in
presence of other similar stimulus. The
amount of generalization depends on the
similarity of stimuli
53. STIMULUS DISCRIMINATION
• Discriminations are developed in instrumental or
Operant Conditioning when differences in
reinforcement accompany different stimuli. For
eg: a person or animal may learn to respond to a
positive stimulus present when responses are
being reinforced and not on a negative stimulus
present when responses are not being reinforced
that is during Extinction. Stimulus discrimination
in Operant conditioning is also being referred to
as stimulus control of behavior.
54. Aversive conditioning: The Organism change its
behavior to avoid a painful, noxious or aversive
stimulus
• Eg: the electric shock is most common aversive
stimulus in lab experiments. Any behavior that
avoids aversive stimulus is reinforced.
• The form of learning based on aversive stimuli.
• It includes:-
1. Escape Learning
2. Avoidance Learning
3. Punishment Learning
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
55. • Escape Learning: learning of a response which produces relief, or escape, from an
aversive situation. (for example, we may leave a room if there is a painfully loud
noise there).
• Avoidance Learning: The organism learns to make a certain response to prevent an
aversive event from even starting( we pay our bills on time to avoid late charges,
we carry an umbrella to avoid getting wet when it rains).
• To move from escape to avoidance learning it needs a Anticipatory response.It is a
two factor learning or two process theory i.e. pavlovian learning co occur and
motivates behavior during operant learning.
• Eg In case of anxiety and fear Pavlovian fear conditioning motivates and allow
reinforcement of instrumental action(avoidance response) to mitigate and reduce
aversive event and fearful consequence before it happens.
• Escape and avoidance learning response behavior plays a significant role in various
anxiety disorders like
• OCD : Patient continuously check and rechecks to avoid anxiety.
• Agarophobic patients stays home to escape from places to avoid panic attacks.
• Bullimic patients: continues to vomit afer a meal to reduce learned anxiety evoked
by eating meal.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
56. Spatial learning
• Understanding of the location of objects in
space and our own orientation in the physical
environment.
• Cognitive maps: an integrated internal
representation of the way objects and
landmarks are arranged in the environment.
• Organism learn a cognitive map of an
environment by exploring it, noting the
landmarks along their route.
Psychology Today, an Introduction, Seventh Edition, Bootzin, Bower, Crocker, Hall
57. Cognitive learning
• The word Cognition is derived from a Greek word that means to
know, to reason or to conceptualize.
• It’s a mental act or process of acquiring knowledge and
understanding through thoughts, experiences and senses.
• A change in the way Information is processed as a experience a
person has had
• It involves the forming of new associations and the perceiving of
new relationships among events.
• It is not responses to particular stimuli that are learned; instead
links are made among stimuli so called stimulus-stimulus
associations are learned.
• It implies association between cause & affect, between action
action & consequences.
• It helps in making cognitive strategies to form mental plans that
persons used to understand themselves and environment.
Introduction to Psychology, Seventh Edition, Morgan, King, Weisz, Schopler
58. Why is this form of Learning called
Cognitive?
• Cognitive learning processes involves obtaining,
organizing & using intellectual knowledge for
processing of information received from environment
through senses in step by step ways as mentioned
below:
1. Selection of information
2. Making of alterations in the selected information
3. Association of items of information with each other
4. Elaborations of information in thought
5. Storage of information in the Memory
6. Retrieval of stored information
Introduction to Psychology, Seventh Edition, Morgan, King, Weisz, Schopler
59. Observational learning
• The form of learning was
proposed by Albert Bandura in
his Social learning Theory by
watching others and noting the
consequences of their
behavior.
• Model: a person from whom
behavior is learned by
observation.
• Many of us imitate parents,
teachers or friends and some
of us imitate prestigious people
we will never meet- movie
stars, fictional characters,
athletes.
Models don’t have to be
present for learning to
occur: through symbolic
modeling, this child can
learn a behavior by
watching someone
demonstrate it on
television.
60. PSYCHIATRIC APPLICATION OF
LEARNING THEORY
• The key insight from learning theory is that
most behavior is learned behavior, for animals
as well as human beings. If behavior can be
learned, it can also be unlearned, so long as
the right steps are followed (as described by
the learning theory), and the right
reinforcements or punishments are applied
