This document provides an overview of learning concepts including classical and operant conditioning. Classical conditioning involves associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a response. Operant conditioning explains how behaviors are shaped by their consequences, such as reinforcement. Major figures who studied these concepts include Pavlov, Thorndike, Watson, and Skinner. Contemporary views acknowledge cognitive and biological factors in learning. Learning principles have applications in behavior modification, education, sports, and business.

1. Lecture Slides
Chapter Five
Learning
By Glenn Meyer
Trinity University

2. Introduction: What Is
Learning?
Conditioning is the process of
learning associations between
environmental events and
behavioral responses.
• Classical conditioning explains
how certain stimuli can trigger an
automatic response.
• Operant conditioning is useful in
understanding how we acquire
new, voluntary actions.
• Observational learning is when
we acquire new behaviors by
observing the actions of others.
Learning refers to a
relatively enduring
change in behavior or
knowledge as a result
of experience.

3. Classical Conditioning
Discovered by Ivan Pavlov while
studying digestion
Classical conditioning:
the basic learning
process that involves
repeatedly pairing a
neutral stimulus with a
response-producing
stimulus until the
neutral stimulus elicits
the same response

4. Principles of
Classical
Conditioning
Two stimuli are
repeatedly
paired.
Basic
Principles of
Classical
Conditioning
Involve…
Click here
After repeated
pairings, neutral
stimulus elicits
same basic
reflexive response
as the natural
stimulus.
This occurs in the
absence of the natural
stimulus.
Pairing a neutral
stimulus with an
unlearned, natural
stimulus that
automatically elicits
a reflexive
response.

6. Unconditioned
stimulus (UCS):
natural Unconditioned
stimulus that
reflexively Stimulus
elicits a
response without
need for Click prior
here
learning. Meat
Unconditioned
response (UCR):
unlearned, Unconditioned
reflexive
response Response
that is
elicited by an
unconditioned
Click here
stimulus. Salivating
to meat
Conditioned
stimulus (CS): a
formerly Conditioned
neutral
stimulus Stimulus
that acquires
the capacity to elicit a
reflexive Click response.
here
Bell presented
before meat
Conditioned
response learned, Conditioned
(CR):
reflexive
response Response
to a
conditioned Click here
stimulus.
Salivating to bell
alone

7. Factors that
Affect
Conditioning
The occurrence of a learned response not only to the original
stimulus but to other, similar stimuli as well
Example: Conditioned to salivate to a low-pitched tone, a
dog will also salivate to a slightly higher-pitched tone.
Stimulus
generalization
CLICK HERE
The occurrence of a learned response to a specific stimulus but not to
other, similar stimuli
Example: Give a dog some food following a high-pitched tone but
don’t give the dog any food following a low-pitched tone. The dog
learns to salivate to the high-pitched tone but not to the low-pitched
tone.
Stimulus discrimination
CLICK HERE
Procedure in which a conditioned stimulus from one learning trial
functions as the unconditioned stimulus in a new conditioning trial;
second conditioned stimulus comes to elicit the conditioned response,
even though it has never been directly paired with unconditioned
stimulus.
Example: Pairing a metronome and a shock causes a dog to be
scared of the metronome. Then pairing a bell with the metronome
makes the dog fear the bell.
Higher order
conditioning
CLICK HERE
Timing
• Conditioning most effective when conditioned
stimulus is presented immediately before
unconditioned stimulus
• Usually ½ second to a few seconds

8. Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
Extinction
• Gradual
weakening and
apparent
disappearance of
conditioned
behavior
• In classical
conditioning,
extinction occurs
when conditioned
stimulus is
repeatedly
presented without
unconditioned
stimulus
Spontaneous
Recovery
Reappearance of a
previously
extinguished
conditioned response
after a period without
exposure to
conditioned stimulus

9. From Pavlov to
Watson
The Founding of Behaviorism
Behaviorism was founded
by John Watson, who
redefined psychology as the
scientific study of behavior
Behaviorism
School of psychology and
theoretical viewpoint that
emphasizes the scientific study
of observable behaviors,
especially as they pertain to the
process of learning
I should like to go one step further now and
say, “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
Psychology as the behaviorist
views it is a purely objective
experimental branch of natural
science. Its theoretical goal is
the prediction and control of
behavior. Introspection forms no
essential part of its methods, nor
is the scientific value of its data
dependent upon the readiness
with which they lend themselves
to interpretation in terms of
consciousness.
Let us limit ourselves to things
that can be observed, and
formulate laws concerning only
those things. Now what can we
observe? We can observe
behavior—what the organism
does or says.
and yes, even beggar-man and
thief— regardless of his talents, penchants,
tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of
his ancestors.” I am going beyond my facts
and I admit it, but so have the advocates of
the contrary and they have been doing it
for many thousands of years.

10. Conditioned
Emotional
Reactions
The Famous Case
of Little Albert –
Was It Ethical?

11. Other Classically
Conditioned Responses
The Smell of Coffee
Drug Responses
 Regular use may produce “placebo
response” where user associates
sight, smell, taste with the drug
effect
 Conditioned compensatory response
(CCR)—classically conditioned
response in which stimuli that
reliably precede the administration of
a drug elicit physiological reaction
that is opposite to the drug’s effects;
may be one explanation for the
characteristics of withdrawal and
tolerance

12. Contemporary Views of
Classical Conditioning
Cognitive Aspects of Classical
Conditioning
Rescorla’s view
Pavlovian conditioning is a
sophisticated and sensible
mechanism by which organisms
represent the world. Pavlovian
conditioning leads to its
characterization as a mechanism
by which the organism encodes
relationships between events in
the world. The conditioned
stimulus and the unconditioned
stimulus are simply two events,
and the organism can be seen as
trying to determine the
relationship between them.
Contemporary learning
researchers
acknowledge the
importance of both
cognitive factors and
evolutionary influences
in classical conditioning.
Reliable and unreliable signals
need processing:
• Conditioned stimulus must be
a reliable signal that predicts
presentations of unconditioned
stimulus.
• Active processing of
information: animals assess
the predictive value of stimuli.

13. Evolutionary Aspects of Classical
Conditioning
• Behaviorists originally argued that
learning principles applied to all species
in the 1960s.
• Conditioned taste aversions
demonstrated the importance of natural
behavior patterns influenced by
evolution.
• Discovered by John Garcia: A classically
conditioned dislike for and avoidance of
a particular food that develops when an
organism becomes ill after eating the
food.
• Violates standard conditioning model
• Only needs one pairing
• Time between CS and UCS can be
several hours
• Particular conditioned stimulus that is
used makes a difference in classical
conditioning

14. Evolution,
Biological
Preparedness, and
Conditioned Fears
What Gives You the Creeps?
Seligman
• Phobias seem to be quite
Bregman
Unable to produce a
conditioned fear response to
wooden blocks and curtains.
Biological
preparedness—the
idea that an organism
is innately predisposed
to form associations
between certain stimuli
and responses.
selective. Extreme,
irrational fears of snakes,
spiders, heights, and small
enclosed places are
relatively common.
Öhman and Mineka
Because poisonous snakes,
reptiles, and insects have
been associated with danger
throughout the evolution of
mammals, there is an evolved
“fear module” in the brain that
is highly sensitized to such
evolutionarily relevant stimuli.
• Humans biologically
prepared to develop fears
of objects or situations
such as snakes, spiders,
and heights—that may
once have posed a threat
to humans’ evolutionary
ancestors.

15. Operant Conditioning—Associating
Behaviors and Consequences
Operant conditioning deals with the learning of active, voluntary
behaviors that are shaped and maintained by their
consequences.
Major Figures:
Edward Lee
Thorndike (left)
Burrhus
Frederic
Skinner
(right)

16. Thorndike and the Law of Effect
• Cats had to escape from
a “puzzle” box
• Process was by trial and
error
• Observation led to Law of
Effect
Responses followed by a
“satisfying state of affairs” are
“strengthened” and more likely to
occur again in the same situation.
Conversely, responses followed
by an unpleasant or “annoying
state of affairs” are “weakened”
and less likely to occur again.
Scratch at bars
Push at ceiling
Situation: Dig at floor
stimuli
inside of
Howl
puzzle box
Etc.
Etc.
Press lever
First Trial
in Box
Scratch at bars
Push at ceiling
Situation: Dig at floor
stimuli
inside of
Howl
puzzle box
Etc.
Etc.
Press lever
After Many
Trials in Box

17. B. F. Skinner
and the
Search for
“Order in
Behavior”
• Believed that
psychology should
restrict itself to
studying only
phenomena that
could be objectively
measured and
verified—outwardly
observable behavior
and environmental
events
• Believed that internal
thoughts, beliefs,
emotions, or motives
could not be used to
explain behavior
• Coined the term
operant to describe
any “active behavior
that operates upon
the environment to
generate
consequences
• Invented the Skinner
box

18. Reinforcement
Operant Positive conditioning reinforcement involves
explains learning as a process in which
behavior following is an shaped operant with and the maintained addition of a
by its consequences. One
possible reinforcing consequence stimulus. In positive
of a behavior is reinforcement.
reinforcement situations, a response is
Reinforcement strengthened because is said something to occur is
when a stimulus or an event
follows added an or presented.
operant and increases the likelihood of the operant
being repeated.
Negative reinforcement involves an
operant that is followed by the removal of
an aversive stimulus. In negative
reinforcement situations, a response is
strengthened because something is being
subtracted or removed.
Aversive stimuli involve physical
or psychological discomfort that
an organism seeks to escape or
avoid. Behaviors are said to be
negatively reinforced when they
let you either
(1) Escape aversive stimuli
that are already present,
or
(2) Avoid aversive stimuli
before they occur.

19. Primary and Conditioned Reinforcers
Primary reinforcer: a
stimulus that is inherently
reinforcing for a species
(biological necessities)
Examples: food, water,
comfort, pain relief,
sexual contact
Conditioned
(or secondary) reinforcer:
a stimulus that has
acquired reinforcing value
by being associated with a
primary reinforcer
Classic example:
money

20. Punishment
• Process in which a behavior is followed by an aversive consequence that
decreases the likelihood of behavior’s being repeated
• Many people confuse punishment and negative reinforcement.
• Two types of punishment identified by Skinner
• Punishment by application: a situation in which an operant is followed
by presentation or addition of an aversive stimulus; also called
positive punishment
• Punishment by removal: a situation in which an operant is followed by
the removal or subtraction of a reinforcing stimulus; also called
negative punishment

21. Problems with
Punishment
Click here
• Must be applied immediately
• Does not teach or promote
alternative, acceptable
behavior
• May produce undesirable
results such as hostility,
passivity, fear
• Results likely to be temporary
• May model aggression
Alternatives to
Punishment
Click here
Strategy 1: Reinforce an
incompatible behavior
Strategy 2: Stop reinforcing the
problem behavior
Strategy 3: Reinforce the
nonoccurrence of the problem
behavior
Strategy 4: Remove the
opportunity to obtain positive
reinforcement

22. Operant Conditioning Terms
Shaping
Discriminative
Stimuli
Extinction
Schedules of
Reinforcement

23. Discriminative Stimuli – Components of
Operant Conditioning
Discriminative stimulus: Specific stimulus
in the presence of which a particular operant
is more likely to be reinforced
Discriminative
Stimuli
Click here

24. • Operant conditioning procedure of selectively
reinforcing successively closer approximations of a
goal behavior until goal behavior is displayed
Example: training an animal to perform a
complex trick
• Skinner believed that shaping could explain how
people acquire a wide variety of abilities and skills
Shaping
Click here
Extinction (in operant conditioning)
• Gradual weakening and disappearance of
conditioned behavior
• In operant conditioning, extinction occurs when an
emitted behavior is no longer followed by a
reinforcer
Extinction
Click here

25. The Partial Reinforcement Effect and
Schedules of Reinforcement
• Early work by Skinner used continuous reinforcement:
a schedule of reinforcement in which every occurrence of
a particular response is reinforced.
• Running out of food for his rats – Skinner stretched out
the pellets by not rewarding every trial and discovered
the partial reinforcement effect.
• Partial reinforcement effect: Behaviors that are
conditioned using partial reinforcement are more
resistant to extinction than behaviors that are
conditioned using continuous reinforcement.

26. The Schedules of Reinforcement
Skinner (1956) found that specific preset
arrangements of partial reinforcement produced
different patterns and rates of responding and delaying
of extinction.
Ratio schedules are
based on number of
responses emitted
• Fixed ratio (FR)—a
reinforcer is delivered
after a certain (fixed)
number of correct
responses.
• Variable ratio (VR)—a
reinforcer is delivered
after an average
number of responses,
but varies from trial to
trial.
Interval schedules are
based on time
• Fixed interval (FI)—
reinforcer is delivered
for the first response
after a fixed period
has elapsed.
• Variable interval (VI)—
reinforcer is delivered
for the first response
after an average time
has elapsed; differs
between trials.

27. Behavior
modification
Application of learning
principles to help
people develop more
effective or adaptive
behavior

28. Business –
increasing
productivity
Applications
of Operant
Conditioning
Click here
Clinical
Psychology –
dealing with
counterproductive
behaviors
Sports Training –
aiding
performance
Education and
Working with
Students –
improving grades
and study habits

29. Contemporary Views of Operant
Conditioning
Cognitive Aspects of Operant Conditioning
Today
psychologists
acknowledge the
importance of
Cognitive
factors
Evolutionary
factors

30. Cognitive Factors –
Tolman’s Work
Cognitive Maps and Latent Learning
Demonstrated that animals learn a
cognitive map of a maze instead of a series
of responses.
• Cognitive map—term for a mental
representation of the layout of a familiar
environment.
• Latent learning—learning that occurs in
the absence of reinforcement, but is not
demonstrated until a reinforcer is
available.
Tolman
believed and
demonstrated
that operant
conditioning
involves
cognitive
representation
of the
relationship
between a
behavior and its
consequence.

31. Cognitive Aspects Continued
Learned Helplessness (Seligman)
• Learned helplessness—
phenomenon in which exposure to
inescapable and uncontrollable
aversive events produces passive
behavior
• The cognitive expectation that
behavior would have no effect on
the environment causes a person or
animal to become passive
• Can be seen in studying behavior,
athletic performance, and
psychological disorders such as
depression management

32. Operant Conditioning and Biological
Predispositions
Skinner and other behaviorists firmly
believed that general laws of operant
conditioning applied to all animal
species.
Others (like Brelands) found that an
animal’s natural behavior patterns
could influence the learning of new
behaviors based on biological and
evolutionary predispositions
The principle of instinctive drift
(naturally occurring behaviors that
interfere with operant responses)
prevented the animals from engaging
in the learned behaviors that would
result in reinforcement

33. Review of Classical
Conditioning Versus
Operant Conditioning

34. Observational Learning
Learning through
watching and imitating
the behaviors of others
Albert Bandura strongly identified with observational
learning
The Bobo Doll Study
• Bandura demonstrated the influence of
observational learning in a series of experiments
conducted in the early 1960s. Children watching a
violent video clip seemed to imitate aggressive
behavior.
• Demonstrated the principle that expectation of
reinforcement (by watching someone being
rewarded) can act to reinforce a behavior.

35. Mirror Neurons:
Imitation in the Brain?
Giacomo Rizzolatti—The major discovery:
• Record from monkey motor cortex cells as monkey
watched a lab assistant pick up a peanut, a neuron fired
in the monkey’s brain—the same neuron that fired when
monkey itself picked up a peanut.
• Mirror neurons have been found in many brain regions.
• MRI and direct recording indicate the existence of mirror
neurons in people.
A type of neuron that
activates both when an action
is performed and when the
same action is perceived

36. Observational Learning in
Animals
Demonstrated in
• Puppies learning how to detect
drugs from German shepherd
mothers
• Hamsters, crows, lemurs, guppies
• Rats learn food preferences from
others
• Chimps and apes
• Macaques learn how to order photos
through observing others

37. Applications of
Observational
Learning
 Adolescents may engage in
sexual behavior earlier if
they watch shows with
sexual contact.
 Adolescents who view
pornographic sites may
have more sexual partners
and engage in substance
abuse.
 TV shows about literacy in
Mexico increased
enrollment in literacy
groups.
Do you remember
the difference
between correlation
and causality?
Does media violence
promote violence?
 Some studies and major
medical and
psychological
organizations say it
does.
 Other researchers argue
the data is correlational
and lab research does
not address the complex
causes of violence in
society.