Transcript Ch. 5 - wcusd15

Classical & Operant Conditioning
1. Classical Conditioning
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A. Pavlov's Conditioning Experiments
 Experiment on salivation turns into research on learning
B. Elements of Classical Conditioning
 Unconditioned stimulus
 Unlearned, inborn, innate
 Unconditioned response
 Response to unlearned stimulus
 Conditioned stimulus
 Stimulus that is learned
 Conditioned response
 Response to learned stimulus
Elements of Classical Conditioning
Pavlov’s Dogs
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C. Classical Conditioning In Humans
Desensitization therapy
 Learn to relax in presence of stimulus that used
to be upsetting
 a conditioning technique designed to gradually
reduce anxiety about a particular object or
situation
 Taste aversion
 Learn to connect something revolting to another
food
 Learned preparedness to avoid foods
(poisonous plants by animals)
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Operant Conditioning
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Person/animal behaves certain way to gain
something desired OR avoid something
unpleasant
A. Elements of Operant Conditioning
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Thorndike's conditioning experiments
 Cats in a puzzle box
- food outside, cat needs to open bolt on door to
get food and cat learns faster everytime
 Speed increases over trials
Reinforcer & Punisher
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Reinforcer
- a stimulus that follows a behavior and
INCREASES the likelihood that the behavior will
be repeated.
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Punisher
- a stimulus that follows a behavior and
DECREASES the likelihood that the behavior
will be repeated
Law of Effect (Principle of
Reinforcement)
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Behavior that is consistently rewarded will
become "stamped in" as learned behavior and
behavior that is consistently punished will be
"stamped out."
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B. Type of Reinforcement – strengthens behavior
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Positive reinforcer
 Adds something rewarding, such as food, increases likelihood
that behavior will recur
Negative reinforcer
 Avoids something unpleasant, increases likelihood behavior will
recur, due to reducing/eliminating something unpleasant
C. Punishment - behavior decreases
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Should be swift, sufficient, certain
Not as effective as reinforcement
Not usually permanent
Avoidance training – learning desirable behavior to prevent
occurrence of punishment – threat of punishment alone
changes behavior
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Operant Conditioning Is Selective
Works best with behaviors that animals would
typically perform in a training situation
 Have a better chance to train a chicken to hop on
one foot than to make it roll over, b/c it does that
action naturally
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Superstitious Behavior
We tend to repeat behaviors that are followed
closely by a reinforcer, even if they are not related
 Lucky pair of socks, not stepping on cracks in
sidewalk
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Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
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Classical conditioning
 Unconditioned
(US) and conditioned stimulus
(CS) are no longer paired
 Strength of learned response decreases
 In spontaneous recovery the response may
temporarily return without additional training
 Operant conditioning
 Reinforcement is withheld
 Behavior learned through punishment is harder
to extinguish
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Generalization and Discrimination in
Classical Conditioning
 Classical conditioning
 Generalization - Stimuli resemble
each other enough that learners react
to both
 Operant conditioning
 Generalization - Similar stimuli
generate responses
Contingencies
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Contingencies in Operant Conditioning
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Schedule of reinforcement
 Fixed-interval schedule
 Reinforcement of the first correct response
after a fixed, unchanging period of time
 Variable-interval schedule
 Reinforcement for the first correct response
that occurs after various periods of time, so
the subject never knows exactly when a
reward is going to be delivered
A Review of Classical Conditioning and
Operant Conditioning
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Classical and operant conditioning share many
similarities
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Both involve associations between stimuli and
responses
Both are subject to extinction, spontaneous recovery,
generalization and discrimination
BIG DIFFERENCE:
Classical – naturally occurring response
Operant – desired behavior