Learning Outline-1.docx

-- Outlines are for personal use only. Please do not distribute. -- Learning Learning is: “Experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner” Classical Conditioning ‘Discovered’ by Ivan Pavlov in 1906 Salivation was (eventually) triggered by what should have been...

-- Outlines are for personal use only. Please do not distribute. -- Learning Learning is: “Experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner” Classical Conditioning ‘Discovered’ by Ivan Pavlov in 1906 Salivation was (eventually) triggered by what should have been neutral stimuli The UR and the CR are the same response* triggered by different events. The difference is whether conditioning was necessary for the response to happen. The NS and the CS are the same stimulus. The difference is whether the stimulus triggers the conditioned response. Acquisition Can also have second-order conditioning E.g., Square predicts bell, so square salivation Extinction If the CS is repeatedly presented without the US the learned response will be eliminated Spontaneous Recovery Generalization and Discrimination Generalization: Once a response has been conditioned, similar stimuli can elicit the same response E.g. Different bell tones still produce salivation Discrimination: ability to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli Ex. If a dog shows less salivation to a different bell tone John B. Watson – father of behaviourism All behaviours can be explained by conditioning Little Albert Experiment John Watson claims: It is possible for a complex reaction like fear to be conditioned using Pavlovian techniques What affects Classical conditioning? Preparedness an organism’s evolutionary history can make it easier to learn particular associations More likely to develop associations for particular classes of stimuli More likely to associate illness with food not lights, sounds Familiarity/Expectations Conditioned taste aversions Usually results from a single pairing Can be hours between eating and sickness Operant Conditioning B.F. Skinner is a type of learning in which an individual's behavior is modified by its consequences They learn to operate something Edward Thorndike's law of effect Behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely Behaviors followed by negative consequences become less likely Reinforcement increases likelihood of the behavior occurring again Punishment decreases likelihood of the behavior occurring again Shaping Gradually modifying an animal’s behavior through a series of successive approximations of the target behavior Think back to classical conditioning Discrimination and generalization exist in operant conditioning Where/when are behaviors desired E.g., Children should be loud during recess and quiet during class. Extinction What happens when you no longer reinforce behavior? Affected by initial schedule of reinforcement… Reinforcement Schedules Behaviors conditioned using partial/intermittent reinforcement resist extinction longer than those that were conditioned under continuous reinforcement. Intermittent schedules can be: Fixed vs. Variable Fixed: Reinforcement after a given amount of time or responses Variable: You are reinforced after an average amount of time has passed or responses have been given, reinforcement is ‘unpredictable’. Interval vs. Ratio Interval: Based on TIME intervals Ratio: Based on number of behaviors, (i.e., ratio of responses to reinforcements) Which schedule is best? “Best” = most resistant to extinction. Intermittent/partial reinforcement resists extinction more than continuous reinforcement Variable ratio is most resistant to extinction Why are rewards rewarding? Nucleus accumbens is activated during the processing of rewards Dopamine is released when a behavior is rewarded for the first time Genetic variation in dopamine and dopamine circuits might explain individual differences Questions to guide your study: Describe the two ‘complimentary’ theories of how we see color. What is classical conditioning? You should be able to label each component of the process, as well as generate and label new examples of associations that are learned through classical conditioning. How do extinction, generalization and discrimination work in the context of classical conditioning? What is operant conditioning? Describe Thorndike’s law of effect and be able to classify and generate new examples of consequences as positive/negative rewards/punishments. You should be able to classify different schedules of reinforcement as fixed/variable and interval/ratio- and determine the impact of the type of reinforcement schedule on rate of extinction.