Learning Experiences for Dogs and Humans PDF

I was showing my daughter how to teach our new dog, Phoebe, to fetch. I bought a soft, yellow ball for the dog that squeaked when she bit into it. She...

I was showing my daughter how to teach our new dog, Phoebe, to fetch. I bought a soft, yellow ball for the dog that squeaked when she bit into it. She “Fetch!” I said and tossed the ball again. Again Phoebe refused to run. She barked and snapped at my legs again. “This is ridiculous,” enjoyed playing with it, and I assumed she would I muttered, and I went to get the ball. As I brought it want to run after it. (Wrong!) I waved it under her back to Phoebe, my daughter said, “Don’t nose. She sniffed at it, barked, and wagged her you see what’s happening?” tail excitedly. “What?” As my daughter watched, I tossed the ball “Phoebe’s teaching you to fetch.” about 20 feet away. “Fetch!” I said to Phoebe as the ball bounced invitingly in the grass. Phoebe just stared. My daughter Must a dog learn to fetch balls and RubberBall/Alamy Stock scoffed. I ran after the ball, picked it up, other toys, or is fetching a “built-in” and waved it under Phoebe’s nose again. instinctive response as is the building She barked and wagged her tail rapidly like of a nest in birds? Photo a reed in a brisk wind. 5-1 LEARNING, EXPERIENCE, Sometimes learning experiences are direct, learning (1) according to AND CHANGE as when we are praised behaviorists, a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from for doing something experience; (2) according to cognitive One could say that Phoebe was teaching me what to do properly. But we can theorists, the process by which also learn from the expe- organisms make relatively permanent by showing excitement when I did the “right” thing—that changes in the way they represent the is, fetch the ball. She was teaching, and I was learning. riences of others—by environment because of experience Learning is a key area in psychology. watching their behavior Learning is defined in psychology as more than lis- tening to teachers, honing skateboard jumps, or master- ing the use of a tablet computer. From the behaviorist point of view, learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior that arises from practice or experience. The behaviorist perspective plays down the roles of cogni- tion and choice. It suggests that psychologists learn to WHAT DO YOU THINK? Folklore, common sense, or nonsense? run after balls because they have been rewarded or rein- Select T for “truth” or F for “fiction,” and then check the accuracy of your answers as you read through the chapter. forced for doing so. Cognitive psychologists define learning as the pro- T F A single nauseating meal can give rise to a taste aversion that lasts for years. cess by which organisms change the way they represent T F Psychologists helped a young boy overcome his fear of rabbits by having the environment because of experience. These changes him eat cookies while a rabbit was brought closer and closer. influence the organism’s behavior but do not fully deter- T F During World War II, psychologist B. F. Skinner proposed that pigeons be mine it. From this perspective, I learned that I would trained to guide missiles to their targets. earn Phoebe’s attention by running after the ball, but I T F Slot-machine players pop coins into the machines most rapidly when they could have chosen not to do it. Learning, for cognitive have no idea when they might win. psychologists, may be shown by changes in behavior, but T F You can train a rat to climb a ramp, cross a bridge, climb a ladder, pedal a learning itself is a mental process. Cognitive psycholo- toy car, and do several other tasks—all in proper sequence. gists suggest that people choose whether or not to imitate T F You have to make mistakes in order to learn. the aggressive and other behaviors they observe, and that T F Despite all the media hoopla, no scientific connection has been people are most likely to imitate behaviors that are con- established between violence in the media and real-life aggression. sistent with their values. CHAPTER 5: Learning 121 Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203 41055_ch05_hr_120-145.indd 121 6/14/18 9:06 AM  Ivan Pavlov (1849– 1936) and His Associates at the Russian Institute for Experimental Medicine. Does his name ring a bell? What is the importance of Pavlov’s experiments to the science of psychology? SVF2/Getty Images and hearing their life stories. We learn, too, from books and audio- visual media. In this chapter, we consider various kinds the salivary glands. But his efforts were hampered by the of learning, including conditioning and learning in which dogs’ annoying tendency to salivate at undesired times, cognition plays a more central role. such as when a laboratory assistant accidentally banged the metal food trays. Just as you salivate after you’ve taken a bite of cake, 5-2 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: a dog salivates if meat powder is placed on its tongue. LEARNING WHAT IS LINKED Pavlov was dosing his dogs with meat powder for his research because he knew that salivation in response TO WHAT to meat powder is a reflex. Reflexes are unlearned and evoked by certain stimuli. Pavlov discovered that Classical conditioning involves ways in which we learn to reflexes can also be learned, or conditioned, by asso- associate events with other events. It is involuntary, auto- ciation. His dogs began salivating in response to clang- matic learning. For example, we generally prefer grades ing food trays because clanging, in the past, had been of A to grades of F and are more repeatedly paired with arrival of food. likely to stop for red lights than green The dogs would also salivate when lights. Why? Grades of A are associ- We are not born an assistant entered the laboratory. ated with the approval of our teachers with instinctive Why? In the past, the assistant had and caregivers. Because of experience brought food. responses to in crossing streets or riding in cars, we Pavlov at first viewed the extra associate green lights with the word letter grades or salivation of his dogs as a hindrance “go” and red lights with “stop.” stoplights. to his research. But then it dawned Classical conditioning is on him that this “problem” might a simple form of learning in which be worth looking into. He found out organisms come to anticipate or associate events with that he could train, or condition, his dogs to salivate in one another. If the name Ivan Pavlov rings a bell response to any stimulus. with us, it is most likely In his initial experiments, Pavlov trained dogs to sali- classical conditioning because of his research vate when he sounded a tone or a bell. Pavlov termed a simple form of learning in which a in learning with dogs. these trained salivary responses conditional reflexes. The neutral stimulus comes to evoke the Ivan Pavlov (1927) made reflexes were conditional on the repeated pairing of a pre- response usually evoked by another stimulus by being paired repeatedly his great contribution to viously neutral stimulus (such as the clanging of a food with the other stimulus the psychology of learn- tray) and a stimulus (in this case, food) that evoked the ing by accident. Pavlov target response (in this case, salivation). Today, conditional reflex a simple unlearned response to a stimulus was actually attempting reflexes are generally referred to as conditioned responses. to identify neural recep- Pavlov demonstrated conditioned responses by stimulus an environmental condition that elicits a response tors in the mouth that showing that when meat powder was placed on a dog’s triggered a response from tongue, the dog salivated. Pavlov repeated the process 122 CHAPTER 5: Learning Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203 41055_ch05_hr_120-145.indd 122 9/21/18 8:01 AM  several times, with one difference. He preceded the meat form of learning in which one stimulus comes to evoke powder by half a second or so with the sounding of a tone the response usually evoked by another stimulus. Why? on each occasion. After several pairings of the meat pow- Because the stimuli are paired repeatedly. In Pavlov’s der and the tone, Pavlov sounded the tone but did not demonstration, the dog learned to salivate in response follow it with the meat powder. Still the dog salivated. It to the tone because the tone had been paired with meat had learned to salivate in response to the tone. powder. Behaviorists do not say that the dog “knew” food was on the way. How can we guess what a dog “knows,” 5-2a EXPLAINING CLASSICAL they ask. We can only outline the conditions under which CONDITIONING targeted behaviors occur. Cognitive psychologists view classical condition- Behaviorists explain the outcome of classical condition- ing as the learning of relationships among events. The ing in terms of the publicly observable conditions of relationships allow organisms to mentally represent learning. For them, classical conditioning is a simple their environments and make predictions (Barron et al., 2015; De Houwer, 2018). In Pavlov’s dem- onstration, the dog salivated in response to the tone Fig.5.1 HOW CLASSICAL CONDITIONING WORKS because the tone became mentally connected with the meat. The cognitive focus is on the information learned Before conditioning: The unconditioned stimulus (UCS) elicits the by the ­organism. Organisms are seen as seekers of infor- unconditioned response (UCR), but the neutral stimulus does not. mation that generate and test rules about relationships Tone or bell among events. Leads to Neutral stimulus 5-2b STIMULI AND RESPONSES No response or orienting response IN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Food (meat powder) In Pavlov’s experiment, the meat powder is an Unconditioned Elicits stimulus (UCS) unconditioned stimulus (UCS). Salivation in response to the meat powder is an unlearned or unconditioned Salivation—Unconditioned response (UCR) response (UCR). The tone was at first a meaningless or During conditioning: The neutral stimulus is paired repeatedly with neutral stimulus. It might have caused the dog to look in the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). the direction of the sound—an orienting reflex. Tone or bell But the tone was not yet associated with food. Then, Neutral through repeated association with the meat powder, the stimulus tone became a learned or + Elicits conditioned stimulus Food Several unconditioned stimulus pairings (CS) for the salivation Unconditioned Salivation (UCS) a stimulus that elicits a stimulus response. Salivation in response from an organism prior to response to the tone (or conditioning conditioned stimulus) is a After conditioning: The formerly neutral stimulus now elicits the unconditioned response response, which is now a learned or conditioned response (CR). learned or conditioned (UCR) an unlearned response to an response (CR). There- unconditioned stimulus Tone or bell fore, salivation can be orienting reflex an unlearned Conditioned Elicits either a CR or a UCR, response in which an organism stimulus (CS) depending on the method attends to a stimulus Salivation—Conditioned used to evoke the response conditioned stimulus (CS) response (CR) (see Figure 5.1). a previously neutral stimulus that Here is a miniexperi- elicits a conditioned response ment that many adults because it has been paired repeatedly Prior to conditioning, food elicits salivation. The tone, with a stimulus that already elicited a neutral stimulus, elicits either no response or an have tried. They smile that response orienting response. During conditioning, the tone is at infants, say something rung just before meat powder is placed on the dog’s conditioned response (CR) like “kitchie-coo,” and tongue. After several repetitions, the tone, now a CS, a learned response to a conditioned then tickle the infant’s stimulus elicits salivation, the CR. foot. Perhaps the infant CHAPTER 5: Learning 123 Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203 41055_ch05_hr_120-145.indd 123 6/14/18 9:06 AM  laughs and perhaps she or he curls or retracts the When a CS (such as the sound of a car) is no longer foot. After a few repetitions—which psychologists call followed by a UCS (a parent’s homecoming), the CS loses “trials”—the adult simply saying “kitchie-coo” is likely its ability to elicit a CR. In this way, the organism adapts to be enough to cause the infant to laugh and retract to a changing environment. its foot. In classical conditioning, extinction is the process by which the CS loses the ability to elicit the CR because 5-2c EXTINCTION AND SPONTANEOUS the CS is no longer associated with UCS. That is, the toddler is no longer gleeful at the sounds of the car in RECOVERY the driveway. From the cognitive perspective, extinction Extinction and spontaneous recovery are aspects of con- changes the child’s mental representation of its environ- ditioning that help us adapt by updating our expectations ment because the CS no longer allows the child to make or revising our thinking about (representations of) the the same prediction. changing environment. For example, a child may learn to In experiments on the extinction of CR, Pavlov found connect hearing a car pull into the driveway (a CS) with that repeated presentations of the CS (in this case, the the arrival of his or her parents (a UCS). Thus, the child tone) without the UCS (in this case, meat powder) may squeal with delight (squealing is a CR) when he or led to extinction of the CR (salivation in response to she hears the car. the tone). Basically, the dog stopped salivating at the Extinction enters the picture when times—and the sound of the tone. Interestingly, Figure 5.2 shows that relationships between events—change. After moving to after the initial conditioning, a dog’s responsive saliva- a new house, the child’s tion increased for a while and then leveled off. The parents may commute dog was conditioned to begin to salivate in response extinction the process by which stimuli lose their ability to evoke by public transportation. to a tone after two or three pairings of the tone with learned responses because the events The sound of a car in meat powder. Continued pairings of the stimuli led to that had followed the stimuli no a nearby driveway may increased salivation (measured in number of drops of longer occur (The learned responses signal a neighbor’s, not saliva). After seven or eight trials, salivation leveled off are said to be extinguished.) a parent’s, homecoming. at 11 to 12 drops. Fig.5.2 Learning and Extinction Curves—When Learning is Extinguished, not Forgotten 15 Acquisition Extinction Spontaneous The researcher repeatedly pairs the Now the researcher recovery CS (a tone) and the UCS repeatedly presents Initially, the dog (meat). the CS (tone) alone, 11 12 1 2 shows greater 10 in the absence 9 3 salivation in Drops of saliva elicited by CS 10 of the UCS 8 7 6 5 4 response to the CS (meat). (tone) than at the end of the round of Time is allowed to extinction trials, but pass after extinction the second round of has occurred. extinction trials extinguishes the 5 CR (salivation) *Actual data from Pavlov (1927) is more rapidly. illustrated by the dots, and the curved lines are idealized. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 2 4 6 8 Trial Time Trial interval 124 CHAPTER 5: Learning Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203 41055_ch05_hr_120-145.indd 124 6/14/18 9:06 AM  In the next series of experiments, saliva- Evolutionary psychologists note that tion in response to the tone was extinguished spontaneous recovery, like extinction, is through several trials in which the tone was adaptive. In the wild, a water hole may presented without the meat powder. After contain water for only a couple of months about 10 extinction trials, the animal no longer during the year. But evolution would favor salivated. That is, it no longer showed the CR the survival of animals that associate the when the tone was sounded. water hole with the thirst drive from time What would happen if we were to to time so that they return to it when it allow a day or two to pass after we had again holds water. As time passes and the extinguished salivation in Pavlov’s dog and seasons change, things sometimes follow Rubberball/Mike Kemp/Getty Images then again sounded the tone? Where would circular paths and arrive where they were you place your bet? Would the dog salivate before. Spontaneous recovery helps organ- or not? isms adapt to situations that recur from If you bet that the dog would again show time to time. the CR (in this case, salivation in response to the tone), you were correct. Organisms 5-2d GENERALIZATION AND tend to show spontaneous recovery of DISCRIMINATION extinguished CRs as a function of the passage of time. For this reason, the term extinction may be a bit No two things are exactly alike. Traffic lights are hung misleading. When a species of animal becomes extinct, at slightly different heights, and shades of red and all members of that species capable of reproducing green differ a little. The barking of two dogs differs, have died. The species vanishes. But the experimen- and the sound of the same animal differs slightly from tal extinction of CRs does not lead to their permanent one bark to the next. Rustling sounds in the under- eradication. Rather, extinction inhibits the response. growth differ, but evolution would favor the survival The response remains available for the future under of rabbits and deer that flee when they perceive any the “right” conditions. rustling sound. Adaptation requires us to respond sim- ilarly (or generalize) to stimuli that are equivalent in function and to respond differently to (or discriminate between) stimuli that are not. Pavlov noted that responding to different stim- uli as though they were functionally equivalent— generalizing—is adaptive for animals. Generalization is the tendency for a CR to be evoked by stimuli that are similar to the stimulus to which the response was conditioned. For example, Pavlov demonstrated generalization by getting his dog to salivate when it was shown a circle. Then later the dog salivated in response to being shown closed geometric figures—even squares. The more closely the figure resembled a circle, however, the greater the strength of Hedrus/Shutterstock.com the response (as measured by drops of saliva). spontaneous recovery the recurrence of an extinguished response A Case Study in Successful Spontaneous Recovery. as a function of the passage of time Water holes dry up at times and then may again be filled with water as the seasons generalization in conditioning, change. Evolution would favor the survival of animals that continue to associate a water the tendency for a CR to be evoked by hole with the thirst drive as time passes, because they will then return to the water hole stimuli that are similar to the stimulus to from time to time and may succeed at finding water. which the response was conditioned CHAPTER 5: Learning 125 Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203 41055_ch05_hr_120-145.indd 125 6/14/18 9:06 AM  But what happens if food follows the presentation confusion that would occur if we could not discrimi- of a circle but not a square? Organisms must also learn nate among our friends, mates, or coworkers from other that (1) many stimuli perceived as being similar are people. functionally different, and (2) they must respond adap- tively to each. During the first couple of months of life, 5-2e HIGHER-ORDER CONDITIONING for example, babies learn to discriminate their mother’s voice from those of other women. They often stop crying Consider a child who is burned by touching a hot stove. when they hear their mother but not when they hear a After this experience, the sight of the stove may evoke stranger. fear. And because hearing the word stove may evoke a Pavlov showed that a dog conditioned to salivate mental image of the stove, just hearing the word may in response to circles could be trained not to salivate in evoke fear. response to ellipses. After a number of extinction trials, Recall the mini-experiment in which an adult smiles, the dog no longer salivated in response to the ellipses. says “kitchie-coo,” and then tickles an infant’s foot. After Instead, it showed discrimination: it salivated only in a few repetitions, just smiling at the infant may cause response to circles. Pavlov found that increasing the dif- the infant to retract its foot. In fact, just walking into the ficulty of the discrimination task apparently tormented room may have the same effect! The experiences with the dog. After the dog was trained to salivate in response touching the hot stove and tickling the infant’s foot are to circles but not ellipses, Pavlov showed it a series of examples of higher-order conditioning. progressively rounder ellipses. Eventually the dog could In higher-order conditioning, a previously neu- no longer distinguish the ellipses from circles. The animal tral stimulus (e.g., hearing the word stove or seeing the was so stressed that it urinated, defecated, barked pro- adult who had done the tickling enter the room) comes fusely, and snapped at laboratory personnel. to serve as a learned or CS after being paired repeat- How do we explain the dog’s belligerent behavior? edly with a stimulus that has already become a learned or In Frustration and Aggression, a classic work written CS (e.g., seeing the stove or hearing the phrase “kitchie- more than 80 years ago, a group of behaviorally oriented coo”). Pavlov demonstrated higher-order conditioning by psychologists suggested that frustration induces aggres- first conditioning a dog to salivate in response to a tone. sion (Dollard et al., 1939). Why is failure to discrimi- He then repeatedly paired the shining of a light with the sounding of the tone. After several pairings, shining the nate circles from ellipses frustrating? For one thing, in light (the higher-order conditioned stimulus) came to such experiments, rewards—such as food—are usually evoke the response (salivation) that had been elicited by contingent on correct discrimination. That is, if the dog the tone (the first-order CS). errs, it doesn’t eat. Cognitive theorists, however, disagree (Hilton, 2012; Rescorla, 1988). They would say that in Pavlov’s experiment, the dog lost its ability to adjust its mental map of the environment as the ellipses grew more 5-3 APPLICATIONS OF CLASSICAL circular. Thus, it was frustrated. CONDITIONING Daily life requires generalization and discrimina- tion. No two hotels are alike, but when we travel from Some of the most important applications of classical one city to another, it is conditioning involve the conditioning of fear and the discrimination adaptive to expect to stay counterconditioning or extinction of fear. The fear- in conditioning, the tendency for an in a hotel. It is encour- organism to distinguish between a reduction methods we discuss are part of behavior CS and similar stimuli that do not aging that a green light therapy and are elaborated in Chapter 13. forecast a UCS in Washington has the same meaning as a green higher-order conditioning 5-3a TASTE AVERSION a classical conditioning procedure in light in Paris. But return- which a previously neutral stimulus ing home in the evening When I was a child in the Bronx, on Saturday mornings comes to elicit the response brought requires the ability to my friends and I would go to the movies. One day my forth by a CS by being paired discriminate between friends dared me to eat two baskets of buttered pop- repeatedly with that conditioned stimulus our home and those corn. I had no problem with the first basket of buttered of others. Imagine the ­popcorn. More slowly—much more slowly—I forced 126 CHAPTER 5: Learning Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203 41055_ch05_hr_120-145.indd 126 6/14/18 9:06 AM  time, in taste aversion the UCS (in this case, nausea) can occur hours after the CS (in this case, the flavor of food). T F A single nauseating meal can give rise to a taste THE EVOLUTION OF TASTE AVERSION Research on aversion that lasts for years. taste aversion also challenges the view that organisms learn to associate any stimuli that are linked in time. In reality, It is true that a single nauseating meal not all stimuli are created equal. The evolutionary per- can give rise to a taste aversion that lasts spective suggests that animals (and humans) are biologi- for years. Evolutionary psychologists cally prepared to develop aversions that are adaptive in believe that taste aversions have survival their environments (McNally, 2016; Mieth et al., 2015). value. Those of us who acquire taste aversions quickly are less likely to eat poisonous food, more likely to survive, and more likely to contribute our genes to future generations. down the second basket. I felt bloated and nauseated. In a classic study, Garcia and Koelling (1966) condi- The taste of the butter, corn, and salt lingered in my tioned two groups of rats. Each group was exposed to the mouth and nose, and my head spun. It was obvious to same three-part CS: a taste of sweetened water, a light, me that no one could talk me into even another handful and a clicker. Afterward, one group of rats was induced to of popcorn that day. But I was surprised that I couldn’t experience nausea by radiation or poison, and the other face buttered popcorn again for a year. group received electric shock. Psychologists refer to my response to buttered pop- After conditioning, the rats that had been nauseated corn as a taste aversion. Many decades have now passed, showed an aversion for sweetened water but not to the light and the distinctive odor of buttered popcorn still turns or clicker. Although all three stimuli had been presented at my stomach. A single nauseating meal can give rise to a the same time, the rats had acquired only the taste aversion. taste aversion that lasts for years. After conditioning, the rats that had been shocked avoided Taste aversions are intriguing examples of classical both the light and the clicker, but they did not show a taste conditioning. They are adaptive because they motivate aversion to the sweetened water. For each group of rats, the organisms to avoid harmful foods. Taste aversions conditioning that took place was adaptive. In the natu- differ from other kinds of classical conditioning ral scheme of things, nausea is more likely to stem in a couple of ways. First, only one associa- from poisoned food than from lights or sounds. tion may be required. A single overdose of So, for nauseated rats, acquiring the taste aver- popcorn left me with a lifetime aversion. sion was appropriate. Sharp pain, in contrast, Second, whereas most kinds of classi- is more likely to stem from natural events cal conditioning require that the involving lights (e.g., fire, lightning) and UCS and CS be close together in sharp sounds (e.g., twigs snapping, things falling). Therefore, it was more appropriate for the shocked Psychologists are interested animals to develop an aversion to in the development of taste the light and the clicker than the aversions because they can be sweetened water. learned on the basis of one bad In classical conditioning, experience—that is, they can organisms learn to connect stimuli, be acquired by a single pairing of such as the sound of a tone the UCS and the CS. Evolutionary with food. Now let’s psychologists point out that consider various fac- RubberBall/Alamy Stock Photo the rapid acquisition of a taste aversion makes it tors in classical condi- more likely that a human tioning, beginning with or a nonhuman animal will what happens when the survive and reproduce. connection between stimuli is broken. CHAPTER 5: Learning 127 Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203 41055_ch05_hr_120-145.indd 127 6/14/18 9:06 AM  5-3b “LITTLE ALBERT”: CLASSICAL © Archives of the History of American Psychology, The Center for the History CONDITIONING OF EMOTIONAL RESPONSES In 1920, John B. Watson and his future wife, Rosalie Rayner, published an article describing their demon- stration that emotional reactions, such as fears, can be acquired through principles of classical conditioning. of Psychology—The University of Akron The subject of their demonstration was a lad known in psychological literature by the name of “Little Albert.” Albert was a phlegmatic fellow at the age of 11 months, not given to ready displays of emotion. But prior to the study, the infant did enjoy playing with a laboratory rat. Using a method that some psychologists have criticized as unethical, Watson startled Little Albert by clanging steel bars behind his head when he played In a landmark experiment in the history of psychology, with the rat. After seven pairings, Albert showed fear John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner, shown here with of the rat even though clanging was suspended. Albert’s “Little Albert,” conditioned the boy to fear rats by fear was also generalized to objects similar in appear- clanging steel bars behind his head when he played ance to the rat, such as a rabbit and the fur collar on with the animal. Many psychologists have argued his mother’s coat. Albert’s conditioned fear of rats may that their experiment was unethical because it was painful and they never counterconditioned the boy’s never have become extinguished because extinction acquired fear. would have required perceiving rats (the CS) without painful consequences (in the absence of the UCS). But Albert’s mother removed him from the laboratory before Watson and Rayner could attempt to counter- 5-3c COUNTERCONDITIONING condition the boy’s acquired fear. And once outside In counterconditioning, an organism learns to the laboratory, fear might have prevented Albert from respond to a stimulus in a way that is incompatible with a facing furry animals. And as we shall see in the section response that was conditioned earlier. For example, relax- on operant conditioning, avoiding furry animals might ation is incompatible with a fear response. The reason- have been reinforced by reduction of fear. ing behind counterconditioning is this: if fears, as Watson PREPAREDNESS AND THE CONDITIONING had shown, could be conditioned by painful experiences OF FEAR Little Albert developed his fear of rats like a clanging noise, perhaps fears could be countercon- easily enough, but would Watson and Rayner have been ditioned by substituting pleasant experiences. In 1924, able to condition him to fear flowers or potted plants? Watson’s protégé Mary Cover Jones attempted to coun- Perhaps not. As suggested by Arne Öhman and Susan tercondition fear in a two-year-old boy named Peter. Mineka (2003), humans (and other primates) may be biologically prepared by evolutionary forces to rap- idly develop fears of certain animals, including snakes, that could do them harm. People also seem to be prepared to fear thun- T F Psychologists helped a young boy overcome his fear der, threatening faces, of rabbits by having him eat cookies while a rabbit biological preparedness sharp objects, dark- readiness to acquire a certain kind of was brought closer and closer. CR due to the biological makeup of ness, and heights—all of the organism which would have been It is true that psychologists helped a sources of danger to our young boy overcome his fear of rabbits counterconditioning a fear-reduction technique in which ancestors and which, to by having him eat cookies while a rabbit pleasant stimuli are associated with some degree, may still was brought closer and closer. They fear-evoking stimuli so that the threaten us (Mineka & believe that the pleasure of eating the fear-evoking stimuli lose their aversive qualities Oehlberg, 2008; Simpson cookie counterconditioned the fear. & Campbell, 2016). 128 CHAPTER 5: Learning Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203 41055_ch05_hr_120-145.indd 128 6/14/18 9:06 AM  Peter had an intense fear of rabbits. Jones had fear-evoking stimuli under circumstances in which he or a rabbit gradually brought closer to Peter while he she remains relaxed (Kaskas et al., 2017). For example, munched candy and cookies. Jones first placed the rab- while feeling relaxed, Little Albert might have been bit in a far corner of the room while Peter munched given an opportunity to look at photos of rats or to see and crunched. Peter cast a wary eye, but he continued rats from a distance before they were brought closer. to consume the treats. Over a couple of months, the Systematic desensitization takes longer than flooding animal was brought closer until Peter simultaneously but is not as unpleasant. ate and touched the rabbit. Jones theorized that the joy In any event, people can learn by means of simple of eating was incompatible with fear and thus counter- association. In terms of the evolutionary perspective, conditioned it. organisms that can learn by several routes—including conditioning and conscious reflection—would stand a 5-3d FLOODING AND SYSTEMATIC greater chance of survival than organisms whose learn- DESENSITIZATION ing is limited to conditioning. If Mary Cover Jones had simply plopped the rabbit on Peter’s lap rather than bring it gradually closer, she would 5-4 OPERANT CONDITIONING: have been using the method of flooding. Flooding, like counterconditioning, is a behavior therapy method LEARNING WHAT DOES WHAT for reducing fears. It is based on the classical condi- tioning principle of extinction (Green et al., 2017). In TO WHAT flooding, the client is exposed to the fear-evoking stimu- Through classical conditioning, we learn to associate lus until fear is extinguished. Little Albert, for example, stimuli. As a result, a simple, usually passive response might have been placed in close contact with a rat until made to one stimulus is then made in response to his fear had become extinguished. In extinction, the the other. In the case of Little Albert, clang- CS (in this case, the rat) is presented repeatedly ing noises were associated with a rat. As in the absence of the UCS (the clanging of a result, the rat came to elicit the fear the steel bars) until the CR (fear) is no caused by the clanging. However, clas- longer evoked. sical conditioning is only one kind of Although flooding is usually effec- learning that occurs in these situa- tive, it is unpleasant. (When you are tions. After Little Albert acquired his fearful of rats, being placed in a room fear of the rat, his voluntary behavior with one is no picnic.) For this reason, changed: he tried to avoid the rat as a behavior therapists frequently prefer to way of reducing his fear. Thus, Little use systematic desensitization, in Albert engaged in another kind of which the client is gradually exposed to learning—operant conditioning. As a follow-up to Watson and flooding a behavioral fear-reduction technique Rayner’s experiment with Little based on principles of classical Albert, Mary Cover Jones conditioning; fear-evoking showed that fears could stimuli (CSs) are presented be counterconditioned continuously in the absence by associating the of actual harm so that feared object with fear responses (CRs) are extinguished pleasant experiences. She famously fed systematic a two-year-old boy desensitization jsolpietro/Shutterstock.com cookies and candy a behavioral fear-reduction technique in which a hierarchy while a feared rabbit of fear-evoking stimuli is was brought gradually presented while the person closer. remains relaxed CHAPTER 5: Learning 129 Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203 41055_ch05_hr_120-145.indd 129 6/14/18 9:06 AM  In operant conditioning, organisms learn to do Thorndike explained the cat’s learning to pull the things—or not to do things—because of the conse- string in terms of his law of effect: a response (such quences of their behavior. For example, I avoided but- as string pulling) would be—to use Thorndike’s term— tered popcorn to prevent nausea. But we also seek fluids “stamped in” (i.e., strengthened) in a particular situ- when we are thirsty, sex when we are aroused, and an ation (such as being inside a puzzle box) by a reward ambient temperature of 688 to 708F when (escaping from the box and eating). But we feel too hot or too cold. Classical con- Fig.5.3 PROJECT PIGEON punishments—using Thorndike’s termi- ditioning focuses on how organisms form nology once again—“stamp out” response. anticipations about their environments. That is, organisms would learn not to Operant conditioning focuses on what behave in ways that bring on punishment. they do about them. Let’s look at the Later, we shall see that the effects of pun- contributions of Edward L. Thorndike ishment on learning are not so certain. and B. F. Skinner to operant conditioning. 5-4b B. F. SKINNER AND 5-4a EDWARD L. THORNDIKE REINFORCEMENT AND THE LAW OF EFFECT When it comes to unusual war stories, In the 1890s, stray cats were mysteri- few will top that of B. F. Skinner (1904– ously disappearing from the alleyways 1990). One of Skinner’s wartime efforts of Harlem. Some of them, it turned out, was “Project Pigeon.” During World were being brought to the quarters of War II, Skinner proposed that pigeons be Columbia University doctoral student trained to guide missiles to their targets. Edward L. Thorndike (1874–1939). In their training, the pigeons would be Thorndike was using them as subjects in reinforced with food pellets for peck- experiments on the effects of rewards and ing at targets projected onto a screen (see punishments on learning. Figure 5.3). Once trained, the pigeons Thorndike placed a cat in a “puzzle would be placed in missiles. Their peck- box.” If it pulled a dangling string, a latch ing at similar targets displayed on a would be released, allowing it to jump screen would correct the missile’s flight out and reach a bowl of food. When first path, resulting in a “hit” and a sacrificed placed in a puzzle box, a cat would claw pigeon. However, plans for building the and bite at the bars and wire. Through necessary missile—for some reason called such random behavior, it might take three the Pelican and not the Pigeon—were to four minutes for the cat to chance upon scrapped. The pigeon equipment was too the response of pulling the string. When bulky, and Skinner’s suggestion was not placed back in the cage, it might again taken seriously. take several minutes for the cat to pull Project Pigeon may have been the string. But with repetition, it took less scrapped, but the principles of learning time, and after seven or eight tries, the cat Skinner applied to the project have found might pull the string immediately. wide application. Skinner taught pigeons and other animals to engage in operant behavior, behavior that operates on, or law of effect Thorndike’s view that pleasant manipulates, the environment. In classical events stamp in responses, and unpleasant events stamp them out conditioning, involuntary responses such as salivation or eyeblinks are often con- reinforce to follow a response with a stimulus that increases the frequency of the response ditioned. In operant conditioning, volun- During World War II, B. F. Skinner proposed the use tary responses such as pecking at a target, operant behavior behavior that operates on, or manipulates, the environment of pigeons that had been pressing a lever, or skills required for play- trained to peck at images ing tennis are acquired, or conditioned. operant conditioning a simple form of of military targets to guide Operant conditioning is there- learning in which an organism learns to engage in missiles to them. It never behavior because it is reinforced fore defined as a simple form of learning happened. in which an organism learns to engage in 130 CHAPTER 5: Learning Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203 41055_ch05_hr_120-145.indd 130 6/14/18 9:06 AM  Fig.5.4 A RAT IN A “SKINNER BOX” T F During World War II, psychologist B. F. Skinner Water Light Screen proposed that pigeons be trained to guide missiles to their targets. Food pellet dispenser It is true that B. F. Skinner proposed that pigeons be used to guide missiles to their target during World War II. However, the proposal never got off the ground. certain behavior because of the effects of that behavior. In operant conditioning, we learn to engage in operant behaviors, also known simply as operants, that result in Food tray Lever presumably desirable outcomes such as food, a hug, an A on a test, attention, or social approval. For example, some children learn to conform to social rules to earn the atten- Skinner used the conditioning of rats and pigeons as tion and approval of their parents and teachers. Ironically, “models” for much human learning. His boxes allowed him to control the environments of the animals and demonstrate other children may learn to “misbehave” because mis- how the environments determined the animals’ behavior. behavior also gets attention. In particular, children may Skinner’s approach left no roles for thinking and decision learn to be “bad” when their “good” behavior is routinely making. ignored. Some children who do not do well in school seek the approval of deviant peers (Wentzel & Muenks, 2016). The rat in Figure 5.4 was deprived of food and placed 5-4c METHODS OF OPERANT CONDITIONING in a Skinner box with a lever at one end. At first it sniffed Skinner (1938) made many theoretical and technologi- its way around the cage and engaged in random behav- cal innovations. Among them was his focus on discrete ior. The rat’s first pressing of the lever was accidental. behaviors, such as lever pressing, as the unit, or type, of However, because of this action, a food pellet dropped behavior to be studied. Other psychologists might focus into the cage. The arrival of the food pellet increased the on how organisms think or “feel.” Skinner focused on probability that the rat would press the lever again. The measurable things they do. Many psychologists have pellet is thus said to have reinforced lever pressing. found these kinds of behavior inconsequential, espe- In operant conditioning, it matters little why or how cially when it comes to explaining and predicting human the first “correct” response is made. The animal can hap- behavior. But Skinner’s supporters point out that focus- pen on it by chance or be physically guided to make the ing on discrete behavior creates the potential for helpful response. You may command your dog to “Sit!” and then changes. For example, in helping people combat depres- press its backside down until it is sitting. Finally, you rein- sion, one psychologist might focus on their “feelings.” A force sitting with food or a pat on the head and a kind Skinnerian would focus on cataloging (and modifying) word. Animal trainers use physical guiding or coaxing to the types of things that “depressed people” do. Directly bring about the first “correct” response. Can you imagine modifying depressive behavior might also brighten how long it would take to train your dog if you waited for clients’ self-reports about their “feelings of depression.” it to sit or roll over and then seized the opportunity to To study operant behavior, Skinner devised an ani- command it to sit or roll over? mal cage (or “operant chamber”) that has been dubbed People, of course, can be verbally guided into the Skinner box. (Skinner himself repeatedly requested desired responses when they are learning tasks such as that his operant chamber not be called a Skinner box, spelling, adding numbers, or operating a machine. But but history has thus far failed to honor his wishes.) Such they need to be informed when they have made the a box is shown in Figure 5.4. The cage is ideal for labora- correct response. Often, tory experimentation because experimental conditions knowledge of results is all operant the same as an operant can be carefully introduced and removed, and their the reinforcement people behavior effects on laboratory animals can be observed. need to learn new skills. CHAPTER 5: Learning 131 Copyright 2020 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-200-203 41055_ch05_hr_120-145.indd 131 6/14/18 9:06 AM  5-4d TYPES OF REINFORCERS For example, some students socialize when they should be studying because the pleasure of socializing is imme- Any stimulus that increases the probabil- diate. Studying may not pay off until the final ity that responses preceding it