Behaviorism and Classical Conditioning

Basic Assumptions in Behaviorism

• Behaviors or responses can be observed and studied.
• Behaviorism reacted against introspection, claiming it forms no essential part of human psychological methods.
• Learning is represented by the stimulus-response relationship.
• Equipotentiality suggests animals and humans learn similarly.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

• The founder of classical conditioning
• Pavlov was a physiologist.
• The discovery of classical conditioning occurred by accident.

Classical Conditioning

• Classical conditioning is learning by association.
• A neutral stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus through repeated pairings.

Elements of Classical Conditioning

• It starts with what is already known, the responses do not need to be learned.
• Unconditioned stimulus is the stimulus that evokes automatic response without any prior learning.
• Unconditioned response is the automatic response that occurs at the unconditioned stimulus.
• Unconditioned responses can be called reflexes.
• Conditioned stimulus is a neutral stimulus that when paired with natural stimulus will elicit a response.
• Conditioned response is a learned response that occurs towards a conditioned stimulus, and must be learned through association.

Classical Conditioning Today

• Classical conditioning extends beyond just drooling and extends to physiological responses.
• Other responses that can be classically conditioned include eyeblinks, skin conductance response, conditioned taste aversion, and emotions.

Conditioning

• Contiguity, timing and repetition of pairings, and reinforcement are necessary for conditioning to occur
• Close in time is connection
• Reinforcement changes behavior through consequences of a behavior; specifically through operant conditioning.

Stages of Classical Conditioning Experiment

• The first stage, the trial, involves the pairing of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.
• In Acquisition stage, trials build an association of the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus
• Learning curves are affected by the number of trials and strength of the unconditioned stimulus.
• The strength of the conditioned response increases rapidly, and then levels off.
• Extinction is a gradual decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the conditioned stimulus.
• The strength of the conditioned response is less following each extinction period, gradually fewer trials are required for extinction.
• Spontaneous recovery occurs if the conditioned stimulus is re-presented after a time lapse following extinction will result in the conditioned response occurring again.

Taste Aversion

• Taste aversion involves a powerful disinclination to eat or drink something.
• Taste aversion involves single trial learning.
• A big delay between onset of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimuli can occur with classical conditioning.

Conditioned Emotional Response

• Emotional responses are reflexive and can be classically conditioned.

Generalisation

• Similar responses can be related back to the original stimuli.

Higher-Order Conditioning

• Pairing a new neutral stimuli with an already established one.

Behavior Modification

• Classical conditioning can be applied in learning and unlearning behaviors and associations.
• Counterconditioning is a technique of behavior modification.
• Systematic desensitization uses slow controlled exposure.
• Systematic desensitization is similar to counterconditioning.
• This therapeutic technique is used in the removal of phobias.
• Relaxation techniques can be used with systematic desensitization.

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• Advertisers appreciate associative learning

Skinner's Basic Assumptions

• Causes of behavior can be directly observed, outside the person.
• Human behavior follows certain laws.
• Laws can be discovered by scientific experiments.
• Independent variables can be directly manipulated experimentally; for example, reinforcement or punishment, and schedules of reinforcement
• Dependent variables are measurements of behaviors; for example, rate of responding, rate of acquisition, and rate of extinction.
• Applied behavior science can solve social ills.

Operant Learning

• Behavior is more important than the stimulus.
• Reinforcement is dependent on some type of response from the tested subject; where reinforcement is dependent on the test subject response.
• Classical conditioning is a response to involuntary stimuli; operant behaviors are voluntary behaviours that act on the tested environment.
• Classical conditioning involves reflexive behavior, and association; operant learning involves more complex behaviors and consequences of the behavior.

Prevalence of Operant Behavior

• Most behaviors are operant: consequences matter, and stimulus does not matter.

###Positive and Negative Reinforcement

• Reinforcement increases the probability of a response occurring.
• Positive reinforcement means a desirable event or stimulus is presented as a consequence of behavior, thereby increasing the behavior.
• Negative reinforcement means an undesirable event or stimulus is removed or prevented from happening as a consequence of a behavior, thereby increasing the behavior.

Punishment

• Punishment decreases the probability of a response occurring.
• Positive punishment: an undesirable event or stimulus is presented as a consequence of a behavior resulting in the behavior decreasing.
• Negative punishment removes a desirable event or stimulus, removing or preventing from happening as a consequence of a behavior with it decreasing.

Good and Bad

• Think about the behavior changes as more or less - high and low, pluses and minuses.
• Reinforcements increase behavior, and punishments decrease behavior

Potential Effective Forms of Punishment

• Verbal Reprimands
• Restitutional Overcorrection, or making things better
• Positive-Practice Overcorrection, or Repeating the desired and appropriate action
• Time outs
• In-school suspension
• Response costs

Ineffective Forms of Punishment

• Physical Punishments and Psychological Punishments
• Extra work
• Out-of-school suspension and expulsion
• Missing recess

Focus

• When using punishment focus on the BEHAVIOR, not the person!

Applying Operant Conditioning

• Can be done through Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA.
• ABC's of Behavior include Antecedents, Behavior, and Consequences.
• Antecedents include time of day, physical setting, other people, and even activity.

Habits

• Habit construction follows the rule "cue, routine, reward, crave"

Applying Operant Conditioning

• Can be done through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
• CBT includes cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive restructuring, and exposure therapy.

Reinforcement

• Reinforcement Schedules applies only to reinforcement.

Laws Of Behavior

• Human behavior follows certain laws
• There are Timings of reinforcement presentation
• DVs:Acquisition rate - how quick to learn
• Rate of responding – how many responses
• Extinction rate - when do you stop

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Ratio schedule depends on number of responses.
• Interval schedule depends on interval of time passed
• A fixed Schedule has no variation in reinforcement presentation.
• Variable schedule has some variation in reinforcement presentation.

Additional Info About Schedules

• Acquisition is easiest through a continuous schedule.
• If an organism stops responding after a withdrawal extinction has occurred.
• Extinction is more likely for continuous schedules, and harder for variable schedules.
• An important aspect of this idea is that punishment is ineffective for learning if the reinforcer is powerful.

Recovery

• Spontaneous recovery can occur even after behavior has been extinguished.

Reinforcement of Successive Approximations

• Reinforcement of Successive Approximations is reinforcing incremental improvements that the organism shows in behavior
• Reinforces every behavior that takes the animal closer to the final response
• Animal Training makes up for acts not ordinarily in their repertoire

Chaining

• Chaining links the sequences of responses.
• There are a series of tasks linked and established by shaping; acts as a cue to the next complex progression, and even most simple actions have chains of smaller behaviours,
• Reinforcement can be relative; behaviors may not affect dopamine.

Premack Principle

• Frequently occurring behaviors can be used as reinforcement for a previously less frequent behavior
• Doing homework before going to Sig Other's house - is an example

Brain reward

• All drugs of abuse involve large releases of dopamine.
• Stimulation of the nucleus accumbens may not lead to Satiation
• Dopamine is released in this area in experiments, similar to drug results.
• People will go through great lengths to trigger the stimulation.
• There is also a noticeable response of dopamine levels after long abstinence.

Classical and Operant conditioning in Drug Use

• Becomes automatic with strong desire
• Cues, as well as reinforcements and other factors, can be managed.

Explore the basic assumptions of behaviorism, including observable behaviors and stimulus-response relationships. Learn about Ivan Pavlov's accidental discovery of classical conditioning, a learning process based on association. Understand key elements like unconditioned and conditioned stimuli.