Psychology: Learning and Conditioning

Learning

• A permanent change in behavior resulting from experience, guiding future actions.
• Learning involves antecedents (preceding events), behaviors (identifiable responses), and consequences (results of behaviors).

Conditioning Types

• Classical conditioning links antecedents to behaviors.
• Operant conditioning links behaviors to consequences.
• Cognitive-social learning, as studied by Bandura, focuses on observational learning.

Classical Conditioning

• Reflex responses connect with new stimuli, creating involuntary learning and associating a neutral stimulus with a new response.
• Pavlov's experiment (1903) demonstrated conditioned reflex through the association of food (US) with a tone (NS) to produce salivation (CR).
• It occurs when an association is made between two stimuli so that the presence of the first stimuli anticipates the arrival of the second.

Key Terms

• Neutral Stimulus (NS): Initially evokes no response.
• Unconditioned Stimulus (US): Automatically triggers an unlearned response.
• Unconditioned Response (UR): An innate reaction to an unconditioned stimulus.
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A previously neutral stimulus that, after conditioning, triggers a response.
• Conditioned Response (CR): A learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus.

Classical Conditioning Principles

• Acquisition: The learning phase associating NS with US so that the NS becomes a CS.
• Generalization: Responding to stimuli similar to the original CS.
• Discrimination: Not responding to stimuli similar to the original CS.
• Extinction: Weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response by repeatedly presenting the CS without the US.
• Spontaneous Recovery: Reappearance of the CR after extinction, though typically at a reduced intensity.

Conditioning Variations

• Second-level conditioning: Uses CS to make a new CS as extinction happens, reinforcing further learning.
• Short-delayed (forward): CS presented before US and stays until the US is presented; the best strategy, especially when the delay is short.
• Trace: CS presented, then short break, then US is presented; the shorter the break the better.
• Simultaneous: CS and US presented together; ineffective.
• Backward: US presented before CS; ineffective and may produce inhibitory effect.

Biological Predisposition

• Garcia and Kneeling's (1966) studies showed some classically conditioned responses are more easily acquired.
• Species are biologically predisposed to certain associations that enhance learning and support survival.
• Rats easily associate sweet water with sickness and light/noise with shock, but not sweet water with pain or light/noise with nausea.

John Watson

• Founder of Behaviorism.
• Conditioned Emotional Response: The Little Albert Experiment (1919-20) conditioned fear of a white rat in a child.
• Systematic Desensitization: Gradually exposing people to feared stimuli while they stay calm and relaxed.
• Flooding: Clients are immediately taken to a high anxiety producing situation.
• Aversion Therapy: Pairs an unpleasant stimulus with an unwanted behavior. Example: Antabuse for alcohol aversion.

Cognitive Learning

• Focuses on the mental processing involved in learning, including thinking, knowing, understanding, and anticipating.
• Cognitive Mapping: A mental representation of spatial orientation that may not require direct experience to be learned.
• Latent Learning: Occurs without obvious reinforcement, demonstrated later when reinforcement is provided (Tolman).
• Role Learning: Takes place through repetition, memorization, or learning a set of rules.
• Discovery Learning: Based on insight and understanding.

Observational (Social) Learning

• Albert Bandura's theory involves learning by watching and imitating others' actions and noting the consequences. The learning occurs before direct practice is allowed.
• Mirror Neurons: Frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing actions or observing others, enabling imitation and empathy.
• Bandura's Four Steps to Successful Modeling: Pay attention, remember, reproduce, and increase motivation if the behavior is rewarded.

Additional Bandura Concepts

• Social Learning Theory: Prosocial and antisocial behaviors result from observation and imitation.
• Reciprocal Determinism: A reciprocal relationship exists between cognitions, behaviors, and the environment.
• Self-Efficacy: Belief in one's ability to achieve a goal, influencing behavior and outcomes.

Operant Conditioning

• Focuses on how consequences affect behavior.
• A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment (or nothing at all).
• Thorndike's Law of Effect: Reinforced responses increase; non-reinforced responses decrease over time.

Reinforcement

• Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.
• Primary Reinforcers: Innately reinforcing (food, water, shelter).
• Secondary Reinforcers: Learned reinforcers through association (money, tokens).

Punishment

• Any consequence that reduces the frequency of a behavior.
• Effective punishment is immediate and consistent.
• Problems: Decreases bad behavior but doesn't increase good behavior; attention may reinforce bad behavior; provides a model for aggression.

Behavior Modification

• Operant conditioning without punishment, reinforcing desired behaviors and ignoring unwanted ones.
• Token Economy: Giving tokens for desirable behaviors that can be exchanged for rewards.

Overjustification Effect

• When an expected extrinsic incentive decreases intrinsic motivation. The external reward becomes the primary motivation.

Shaping

• Gradually molding responses by reinforcing steps toward a desired pattern.
• Chaining: Combining simple skills to perform complex tasks

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforcing every response; leads to quick acquisition but quick extinction.
• Partial Reinforcement: Reinforcing only part of the time; slower acquisition but greater resistance to extinction.

Reinforcement Schedules Explained

• Ratio = Action Based
• Interval = Time Based
• Fixed = Set amount
• Variable = Changing amount

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

• Reinforcement after a set number of responses which results highest response rate
• Easy extinction.

Variable-Ratio Schedule

• Reinforcement after a varying number of responses; high response rate and most resistant to extinction.

Fixed-Interval Schedule

• Reinforcement after a set time; low and uneven response rate.

Variable-Interval Schedule

• Reinforcement after a varied time; low but uniform and stable response rate.