Practical Implication of Behaviorism

1. Behavioral Views of
Learning
“We are by nature observers
and thereby learners. That
is our permanent state.”

2. Definition of Learning
 Learning
– a relatively permanent change in behavior
brought about by experience
– distinguishes between maturation and
experience
– distinguishes between short-term changes
in performance and actual learning

5. Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Observation
John B. Watson
“Forget the mind…”
Psychology should be based on
observable behavior
Behaviorism
(Richardson, 1999)

7. How do we learn? Association
We connect events that occur in
sequence… like a dog hearing his
master say “Sit,” his sitting then
receiving a biscuit from the master…
Learning

8. Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov
•1904 Nobel Prize in Medicine
•20 years studying digestive system
•30 years studying learning
Pavlov noticed that dogs would
drool in anticipation
of food.
What were dogs thinking or
feeling? How did they know he was
going to feed them? Did they see,
smell or associate him with food?
Ivan Pavlov
(Richardson, 1999)

9. Classical Conditioning
Examines the phenomenon
objectively using
Experiments!
(Richardson, 1999)

10. Classical Conditioning
 Classical Conditioning
– a type of learning in which an organism responds
to a neutral stimulus that normally does not bring
about that response; associative learning
– Thunder = Rain = Lightning = get umbrella
– “Sit” = biscuit
 Neutral stimulus
– prior to conditioning, has no effect on the desired
response
– Until you experience thunder with rain & lightning,
you don’t think about getting your umbrella
– Until you pair “Sit” with the behavior of sitting and
the reward of biscuit…. “Sit” had no meaning

11. Classical Conditioning
 Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
– a stimulus that brings about a response
without having been learned (smell of food
causes salivation)
 Unconditioned Response (UCR)
– a response that is natural and needs no
training (e.g. salivation at the smell of food)

12. Classical Conditioning
 Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
– a once-neutral stimulus that has been
paired with a UCS to bring about a
response formerly caused only by the UCS
(bell rings, dog salivates because he has
paired the bell with food due to condioning)
 Conditioned Response (CR)
– a response that, after conditioning, follows
a previously neutral stimulus (salivation
caused by bell ringing)

13. (Feldman, 1999)

14. (Feldman, 1999)

15. (Feldman, 1999)

16. Classical Conditioning
 Extinction
– a previously conditioned response
decreases in frequency and eventually
disappears
 Spontaneous Recovery
– the reappearance of a previously
extinguished response after time has
elapsed without exposure to the
conditioned stimulus

17. Classical Conditioning
 Stimulus Generalization
– conditioned response follows a stimulus
that is similar to the original conditioned
stimulus
 Stimulus Discrimination
– organism learns to differentiate among
stimuli
 Higher-Order Conditioning
– pairing a previously conditioned stimulus
with a neutral stimulus

18.  For example, a baby is uncomfortable
and begins to cry. The mother picks the
baby up to comfort it. The baby learns
to associate crying with being picked up
and will therefore cry whenever it wants
to be picked up even if there is no
discomfort. This is called learning by
stimulus-response (S-R) association. …


19.  Dates
 An effective way to memorize dates is to
associate them with dates that are already
significant for you such as your birthday, or
a major holiday. This can also be used for
remembering general times such as I have
to get my oil changed around the first day
of summer.

20.  Numbers
 Memorizing numbers can be made easier if they can be
associated with numerical information you already know.
 The following example is an extension of using dates as
described above.
 If I need to remember the street address '29' and your
birthday happens to be on the 29th you can associate the
street address with your birthday.
 Other numbers that you likely already know include your
phone number, important dates, your street address, or
your PIN number for your bank card.

21.  Environmental conditioning adds a
positive or negative consequence to the
learning that stamps it in: You run,
expecting a 100 yards of open field,
when you suddenly smack into a tree
you hadn't noticed. You will be more
careful in the future!

22.  For a social animal, much of this
learning comes from others - i.e. it is
social conditioning, also known as
rewards and punishments.
 So, instead of learning not to run across
streets by getting run-over, you learn by
getting punished as you begin to run
across the street.

23. Operant Conditioning
 Operant Conditioning
– learning in which a voluntary response is
strengthened or weakened, depending on
its positive or negative consequences
 Law of Effect
– responses that are satisfying are more
likely to be repeated, and those that are
not satisfying are less likely to be repeated

24. Operant Conditioning
 Reinforcement
– the process by which a stimulus increases
the probability that a preceding behavior
will be repeated
 Reinforcer
– any stimulus that increases the probability
that a preceding behavior will occur again

25. (Feldman, 1999)

26. Operant Conditioning
 Primary Reinforcer
– satisfies some biological need and works
naturally, regardless of a person’s prior
experience
 Secondary Reinforcer
– a stimulus that becomes reinforcing
because of its association with a primary
reinforcer

27. Positive Reinforcers, Negative
Reinforcers, and Punishment
 Positive Reinforcer
– added to the environment that brings about
an increase in a preceding response
 Negative Reinforcer
– unpleasant stimulus whose removal leads
to an increase in the probability that a
preceding response will occur again in the
future

28. Positive Reinforcers, Negative
Reinforcers, and Punishment
 Negative Reinforcer (cont.)
– Escape conditioning
– Avoidance conditioning
 Punishment
– unpleasant or painful stimuli that decrease
the probability that a preceding behavior
will occur again

29. Examples of Reinforcement
Positive when stimuli is added
– getting a promotion or raise for good
performance at work
– increases frequency of good work
Punishment when stimuli is added
– getting a demotion or pay cut for poor work
– getting a spanking for misbehavior
– decreases frequency of poor work or
misbehavior

30. Examples of Reinforcement
Punishment by removing positive stimuli
– removal of television or video games for
getting bad grades
– decrease in frequency of bad grades
Negative reinforcement when stimuli is
added
– getting rid of pain by taking medication
– increase in frequency of taking medication

31. Schedules of Reinforcement
 Continuous Reinforcement
– behavior that is reinforced every time it
occurs
 Partial Reinforcement
– behavior that is reinforced some but not all
of the time

32. Schedules of Reinforcement
 Fixed-Ratio Schedule
– reinforcement is given only after a certain
number of responses are made
 Variable-Ratio Schedule
– reinforcement occurs after a varying
number of responses rather than after a
fixed number

33. Schedules of Reinforcement
 Fixed-Interval Schedule
– provides reinforcement for a response only
if a fixed time period has elapsed, making
overall rates of response relatively low
 Variable-Interval Schedule
– time between reinforcements caries around
some average rather than being fixed

34. Discrimination and Generalization
in Operant Conditioning
 Stimulus Control Training
– behavior is reinforced in the presence of a
specific stimulus, but not in its absence
 Discriminative Stimulus
– signals the likelihood that reinforcement
will follow a response

35. Shaping: Reinforcing What
Doesn’t Come Naturally
 Shaping
– the process of teaching a complex
behavior by rewarding closer and closer
approximations of the desired behavior
 Biological constraints
– built-in limitations in the ability of animals to
learn particular behaviors

36. Cognitive-Social Approaches to
Learning
 Latent Learning
– learning in which a new behavior is
acquired but is not demonstrated until
reinforcement is provided
 Observational Learning
– learning through observing the behavior of
another person (a “model”)

37. Model modeling
 Technique emphasized :Modeling is an
instructional strategy in which the
teacher demonstrates a new concept or
approach to learning and students learn
by observing.

38. Model: Shaping
 Sara never does her math homework. You would like
to have her complete her homework on a daily
basis. You realize that if you wait for her to complete
her homework before you reinforce her in some way,
you may never (or infrequently) have the opportunity to
administer a positive consequence. Therefore, you
decide to break down the desired behavior into
substeps that are progressively more demanding.
 These steps might be:
 1. Sara will write his name at the top of the worksheet.
2. Sara will complete one problem of his choice.
3. Sara will complete five problems of his choice.
4. Sara will complete either all the odd numbered
problems or all the even numbered problems.
5. Sara will complete all problems except one.
6. Sara will complete all problems.

39.  Positive reinforcement
 Jane cleans her room.
 Jane's parents praise her.
 Jane will continue to clean her room.

40.  Positive reinforcement
 Sana brushes her teeth after meals.
 Sana receives a nickel each time.
 Sana will continue to brush her teeth
after meals.

41.  Positive reinforcement
 Rabia works quietly at her seat.
 The teacher praises and rewards Rabia.
 Rabia will continue to work quietly at his
seat.

42.  Negative reinforcement
 Ali complains that older boys
consistently beat him up, and he
refuses to attend school.
 Ali’s parents allow him to remain at
home because of his complaints.
 Ali will continue to miss school.
 It works in the short run but in the long
run is likely to strengthen rather than
weaken the undesirable behavior.

45.  Negative reinforcement
 Jason complains that older boys
consistently beat him up, and he
refuses to attend school.
 Jason's parents allow him to remain at
home because of his complaints.
 Jason will continue to miss school.
 It works in the short run but in the long
run is likely to strengthen rather than
weaken the undesirable behavior.

46.  Negative reinforcement
 Bali complains of headaches when it is
time to do homework.
 Bali is allowed to go to bed without
doing his homework.
 Bali will have headaches whenever
there is homework to do.

47.  Extinction
 Jim washes his father's car.
 Jim's car washing behavior is ignored.
 Jim will stop washing his father's car.

48.  Extinction
 Karim puts glue on Jamil's seat.
 Karim is ignored.
Karim will stop putting glue on Jamil's
seat.

49.  Punishment
 Maria sits on the arm of the chair.
 Maria is spanked each time she sits on
the arm of the chair.
 Maria will not sit on the arm of the chair.

50.  Punishment
 Taki puts Mona's pigtails in the paint.
 The teacher administers the paddle to
Mona's posterior.
 Taki will not put Mona’s pigtail in the
paint.