Psychology Chapter: Learning and Behaviorism

Defining and Understanding 'Learning'

• Learning is a long-term change in mental associations or representations resulting from experience.
• It's a change that goes beyond temporary use of information.
• It involves mental processes within the brain.
• Learning happens due to experience, not natural maturation or factors like drugs or illness.

Behaviorism and its Focus on Environment

• Behaviorism focuses on how the environment influences changes in behavior.
• It proposes that all behavior is learned through conditioning and environmental interactions.

Classical Conditioning: Learning through Association

• It explains how individuals learn new responses by associating two stimuli presented together.
• Stimuli are elements in the surrounding environment.
• Responses are the learner's actions or behaviors.
• An unconditioned stimulus (UCS) naturally elicits a specific response.
• An unconditioned response (UCR) is an automatic response to the UCS.
• A neutral stimulus (NS) becomes associated with the UCS when presented before it.
• A conditioned stimulus (CS) is a previously neutral stimulus that now triggers a response after conditioning.
• A conditioned response (CR) is the automatic reaction triggered by the CS, learned through association.

Generalization and Extinction in Classical Conditioning

• Generalization: When a conditioned response occurs to a new stimulus similar to the original CS. For example, a child anxious about long division may feel anxious about other math problems.
• Extinction: When the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS, the CR weakens and may disappear. For example, a dog trained to salivate when a light shines may stop salivating if the light is presented repeatedly without food.

Instrumental Conditioning: Learning through Consequences

• Instrumental conditioning emphasizes how behaviors change based on their consequences.
• It focuses on voluntary responses rather than involuntary ones.
• Behaviors are either reinforced, making them more likely to occur, or punished, making them less likely.

Reinforcement and Punishment

• Reinforcement: Increases the frequency of a desirable behavior.
• Punishment: Decreases the frequency of an undesirable behavior.

Types of Reinforcement

• Primary Reinforcement: Satisfies basic biological needs (food, water).
• Secondary Reinforcement: Becomes reinforcing through association with primary reinforcers (praise, money).
• Positive Reinforcement: When a reinforcing stimulus is presented after a behavior, increasing the behavior's likelihood.
• Negative Reinforcement: When an aversive stimulus is removed after a behavior, increasing the behavior's likelihood.

Forms of Reinforcement

• Extrinsic Reinforcement: A reward or praise given after the behavior.
• Concrete Reinforcer: A tangible reward, like stickers or trophies.
• Social Reinforcer: A gesture or sign signifying positive regard, like a thumbs up.
• Activity Reinforcer: The opportunity to engage in a preferred activity after completing a less preferred one.
• Token Reinforcer: A small, replaceable item that can be exchanged for a reward later.
• Premack Principle ("Grandma's Rule"): When a less preferred activity is followed by a more preferred one, making the less preferred activity more likely.
• Intrinsic Reinforcement: Engaging in an activity for the enjoyment of the activity itself, without external rewards.

Forms of Punishment

• Presentation Punishment: Introducing an aversive stimulus to decrease a behavior (e.g., scolding).
• Removal Punishment: Removing a desirable stimulus to decrease a behavior (e.g., taking away privileges).

Modeling: Learning through Observation

• Modeling involves observing a model demonstrating a behavior.
• It can influence the learning of academic skills, aggression, and interpersonal skills.
• Live Models: Actual people demonstrating behaviors.
• Symbolic Models: Characters portrayed in books, shows, or games.
• Verbal Instructions: Descriptions of how to perform a behavior.

Cognitive Modeling

• The modeler demonstrates the task and explains their thinking process while doing it.

Modeling and Aggression

• Children are more likely to exhibit aggressive behaviors if they observe aggressive models.

Modeling and Interpersonal Behaviors

• Observing others' interpersonal skills can help learners develop their own.

Characteristics of Effective Models

• Competence: Individuals who are successful in performing a task.
• Prestige and Power: Individuals who have influence and are respected.
• Relevant Behavior: Behaviors that are considered useful and achievable by the learner.

Conditions for Successful Modeling

• Attention: The learner must pay attention to the model.
• Retention: The learner must remember the model's actions.
• Motor Reproduction: The learner must be physically capable of replicating the model's actions.
• Motivation: The learner must be motivated to imitate the model.

Self-Efficacy: The Belief in One's Abilities

• Self-efficacy refers to the learner's judgment of their competence to accomplish a task.
• High self-efficacy leads to higher goal setting, greater effort, persistence, and improved learning and achievement.

Overconfidence: A Double-Edged Sword

• Some overconfidence can be beneficial by encouraging learners to try new things.
• However, excessive overconfidence can lead to a false sense of mastery.

Factors Affecting Self-Efficacy

• Previous successes and failures
• Current emotional state
• Messages from others
• Success and failures of other individuals.

Teacher Self-Efficacy and Collective Self-Efficacy

• Teacher Self-Efficacy: A teacher's belief in their ability to help students learn and succeed.
• Collective Self-Efficacy: A group of teachers' belief in their ability to positively impact student lives.

Social Cognitive View of Reinforcement and Punishment

• Mental processes mediate the influence of reinforcement and punishment.
• Learners' perceptions, beliefs, and expectations influence their responses to consequences.

Outcome Expectations

• Learners develop expectations about the outcomes of specific behaviors based on past patterns of reinforcement, non-reinforcement, and punishment.

Vicarious Reinforcement and Punishment

• Vicarious Reinforcement: When a learner observes others being reinforced for a behavior and becomes more likely to perform that behavior.
• Vicarious Punishment: When a learner observes others being punished for a behavior and becomes less likely to perform that behavior.

Nonoccurrence of Expected Consequences

• The absence of an expected consequence can be reinforcing or punishing, depending on the context. For example, not winning a costume contest after winning last year may discourage repeating the same costume.

Cognitive Psychology: Exploring the Mind

Cognitive psychology focuses on understanding mental processes like thinking, memory, and problem solving.

Explore the concepts of learning and behaviorism in this quiz. Understand how experience shapes mental processes and how behavior is influenced by environmental factors. Test your knowledge on classical conditioning and the fundamental principles of behavioral learning.