learning

1. © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Instructor name
Class Title, Term/Semester, Year
Institution
Learning
Introductory Psychology Concepts

2. © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Learning: A Relatively Permanent Change In Behavior
Caused By Experience Or Practice.
A man who carries a cat by the tail learns
something that he can learn in no other
way.
—Mark Twain

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Does the mere sight of the
golden arches in front of
McDonald’s make you feel
pangs of hunger and think
about hamburgers?
If it does, you are displaying an
elementary form of learning
called classical conditioning.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Classical Conditioning: The Association Of Two Stimuli
In The Environment.

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Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Ivan Pavlov
+ Russian physiologist, never intended to do psychological research.
+ Won the Nobel Prize for his work on digestion (1904).
+ Remembered for his experiments on basic learning process, not for
his experiments on physiology.
Ivan Pavlov (center)
developed the
principles of classical
conditioning.

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Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Pavlov’s Classic Experiment: Salivating Dogs (1927)
Before conditioning, the ringing of a bell does not bring about salivation—
making the bell a neutral stimulus.

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Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Pavlov’s Classic Experiment: Salivating Dogs (1927)
In contrast, meat naturally brings about salivation, making the meat an
unconditioned stimulus and salivation an unconditioned response.

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Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Pavlov’s Classic Experiment: Salivating Dogs (1927)
During conditioning, the bell is rung just before the presentation of the meat.

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Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Pavlov’s Classic Experiment: Salivating Dogs (1927)
Eventually, the ringing of the bell alone brings about salivation.

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Classical Conditioning Paradigm
UCS: Unconditioned Stimulus
A stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response
without having been learned.

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Classical Conditioning Paradigm
UCS: Unconditioned Stimulus
A stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response
without having been learned.
UCR: Unconditioned Response
A response that is natural and needs no training.

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Classical Conditioning Paradigm
UCS: Unconditioned Stimulus
A stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response
without having been learned.
UCR: Unconditioned Response
A response that is natural and needs no training.
CS: Conditioned Stimulus
A once-neutral stimulus that has been paired with an
unconditioned stimulus to bring about a response formerly
caused only by the unconditioned stimulus

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Classical Conditioning Paradigm
UCS: Unconditioned Stimulus
A stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response
without having been learned.
UCR: Unconditioned Response
A response that is natural and needs no training.
CS: Conditioned Stimulus
A once-neutral stimulus that has been paired with an
unconditioned stimulus to bring about a response formerly
caused only by the unconditioned stimulus
CR: Conditioned Response
A response that, after conditioning, follows a previously neutral
stimulus.

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Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Operant Conditioning: Behavior Followed By A
Consequence
The Skinner box is a chamber
with a highly controlled
environment, used to study
operant conditioning processes
with laboratory animals.
Animals press levers in response
to stimuli in order to receive
“rewards”.

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Reinforcement and Punishment:
Positive and negative types
Intended Results
Increase in behavior
(reinforcement)
When stimulus is added, the result is . . .
Positive Reinforcement
Example: Giving a raise for good
performance.
Results: INCREASE in response of good
performance.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning

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Decrease in behavior
(punishment)
When stimulus is added, the result is . . .
Positive Punishment
Example: Yelling at a teenager for
stealing a bracelet.
Results: DECREASE in frequency of
response of stealing.
Intended Results
Reinforcement and Punishment:
Positive and negative types
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning

16. © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Increase in behavior
(reinforcement)
When stimulus is removed, the result is . . .
Negative Reinforcement
Example: Applying ointment to relieve itchy rash
leads to higher future likelihood of applying ointment.
Results: INCREASE in response of using ointment
Intended Results
Reinforcement and Punishment:
Positive and negative types
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning

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Reinforcement and Punishment:
Positive and negative types
Decrease in behavior
(punishment)
When stimulus is removed, the result is . . .
Negative Punishment
Example: Teenager’s access to car restricted by
parents due to teenager’s breaking curfew.
Results: DECREASE in response of breaking
curfew.
Intended Results
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning

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Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Schedules of Reinforcement: Different Patterns Of
Frequency and Timing Of Reinforcement Following
Desired Behavior
Continuous Reinforcement Schedule:
 Reinforcing a behavior every time it occurs.
Prior experience has taught us that a candy machine delivers
reinforcement (candy) every time we put in the appropriate
amount of money.
If the candy machine were broken, it would not take very long
before we stopped depositing coins.

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Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Schedules of Reinforcement: Different Patterns Of
Frequency and Timing Of Reinforcement Following
Desired Behavior
Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement Schedule:
 Reinforcing a behavior some but not all of the time.
Prior experience with a slot machine has taught us that after
putting in our cash, most of the time we will not receive anything
in return. At the same time, we know that we will occasionally
win something.
In comparison with the candy machine—If the slot machine were
broken, we would drop in money for a considerably longer time,
even though there would be no payoff.

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Partial Reinforcement Schedules:Cumulativefrequencyofresponses
Time
Fixed-Ratio Schedule:
A schedule by which
reinforcement is given only
after a specific number of
responses are made.
Typical Outcome:
Short pauses occur after each
response. Because the more
responses, the more
reinforcement, fixed-ratio
schedules produce a high rate
of responding.
There are short
pauses after
each response.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning

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Partial Reinforcement Schedules:Cumulativefrequencyofresponses
Time
Variable-Ratio Schedule:
A schedule by which
reinforcement occurs after a
varying number of responses
rather than after a fixed
number.
Typical Outcome:
Responding occurs at a high
rate.
Responding occurs
at a high, steady
rate.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning

22. © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Partial Reinforcement Schedules:Cumulativefrequencyofresponses
Time
Fixed-Interval Schedule:
Reinforcement for a response
occurs only if a fixed time
period has elapsed, making
overall rates of response
relatively low.
Typical Outcome:
Produces lower rates of
responding, especially just
after reinforcement has been
presented. (The organism
learns that a specified time
period must elapse between
reinforcements.)
There are typically long
pauses after each
response.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning

23. © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Partial Reinforcement Schedules:
Variable-Interval Schedule:
A schedule by which the time
between reinforcements varies
around some average rather
than being fixed.
Typical Outcome:
Produces a fairly steady
stream of responses.
Cumulativefrequencyofresponses
Time
Responding occurs
at a steady rate.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning

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Laws of Learning
Acquisition
(conditioned response and
unconditioned response
presented together)
Training CS alone Pause Spontaneous recovery
STRONG
WEAK
StrengthofConditioned
Response(CR)
TIME
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning

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Laws of Learning
TIME
Training CS alone Pause Spontaneous recovery
Extinction (conditioned stimulus by itself)
A basic phenomenon of learning that occurs
when a previously conditioned response
decreases in frequency and eventually
disappears.Acquisition
STRONG
WEAK
StrengthofConditioned
Response(CR)
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning

26. © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Laws of Learning
TIME
Training CS alone Pause Spontaneous recovery
Spontaneous Recovery
The reemergence of an
extinguished conditioned
response after a period of rest
and with no further
conditioning.Acquisition Extinction
Spontaneous recovery
of conditioned response
Extinction follows
(conditioned
stimulus alone)
STRONG
WEAK
StrengthofConditioned
Response(CR)
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning

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Stimulus Generalization
• Occurs when a conditioned response follows a stimulus that is
similar to the original conditioned stimulus
• The more similar the two stimuli are, the more likely generalization
is to occur.
Stimulus Discrimination
• The process that occurs if two stimuli are sufficiently distinct from
one another that one evokes a conditioned response but the other
does not;
• The ability to differentiate between stimuli.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Laws of Learning

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Cognitive Learning Theory
• An approach to the study of learning that focuses on the thought
processes that underlie learning.
• Challenges the stimulus-response (S-R) model,
• Argues that in between stimulus and response there is the
organism’s (O) view of the world (S-O-R).
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Cognitive Learning: Learning That Requires Cognition
And Thought Processes

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Tolman’s Demonstration
+ Rats were allowed to roam
through a maze once a day for
seventeen days.
+ One group was reinforced with
food every time they reached the
end of the maze
+ One group never received
reinforcement.
+ The experimental group
received food reinforcement on
day 11.
Feldman 208a
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Tolman and Latent Learning: Learning That Remains
Hidden Until It Becomes Useful

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Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Tolman and Latent Learning: Learning That Remains
Hidden Until It Becomes Useful
Tolman’s Results
+ Unrewarded control group
consistently made the most
errors.
+ Rewarded control group made
far fewer errors.
+ Experimental group showed
immediate reduction in errors
after they began receiving
reward. This suggests that the
experimental group had learned
the maze prior to the
introduction of reinforcement.

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In the 1920’s, German
psychologist Wolfgang
Kohler exposed
chimpanzees to novel
learning tasks and
concluded that they were
able to learn by insight.
Sultan the chimpanzee
seems to study the hanging
bananas that are out of
reach.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Kohler and Insight:
Sudden Perceptions of Relationships Allowing For Rapid
Problem Solving

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After looking around, Sultan
suddenly grabs some crates,
and stacks them . . .
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Kohler and Insight:
Sudden Perceptions of Relationships Allowing For Rapid
Problem Solving

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Sultan obtains his tasty reward.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Kohler and Insight:
Sudden Perceptions of Relationships Allowing For Rapid
Problem Solving

34. © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
In Bandura’s (1965) experiment, most children who watched an
aggressive model attack a Bobo doll later imitated that behavior.
Introductory Psychology Concepts : Learning
Observational Learning: learning through watching
others