Transcript 2. Operant Conditioning

Chapter 6: Learning
Music:
“Live and Learn”
by the Cardigans
“Learn to Fly”
by the Foo Fighters
Learning: Agenda
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1. Classical Conditioning
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2. Operant Conditioning
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a) Distinction with CC
b) Skinner -Shaping
c) Reinforcement d) Punishment
e) Application: Gaining Self-Control**
3. Observational Learning
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a) Pavlov’s experiments
b) Terminology
c) Acquisition/ Generalization/ Extinction
d) Application: Little Albert
a) Bandura’s Bobo-Doll Experiments
b) Application: Media Violence
4. Movie: Snake Phobia (12 min.)
1. Classical Conditioning
 Introduction with beer commercials:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jv-8MoDYp8
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irIkOdIZVvo
 a) Pavlov’s Experiments:
 Found that dogs could salivate to non-food stimuli!
 b) Terminology:
 Unconditioned Stimulus: UCS
• Always causes reflexive response
– Unconditioned Responses: UCR
• Innate, unlearned response to UCS
– Conditioned Stimulus: CS
• Previously neutral stimulus that now elicits a response
– Conditioned Response: CR
• Learned response to neutral stimulus
1. Classical Conditioning
(cont’d)
 Tip: Conditioned=Learned; Unconditioned=Unlearned
 c) Acquisition:
 When should the CS (e.g. tone) be paired with the UCS (e.g.
food) for conditioning to occur?
 Generalization:
 Tendency to respond with CR to stimuli similar to the
original CS (e.g. different tones)
 Extinction:
 Occurs with the presentation of the CS alone (e.g. tone and
no food) Note on: Spontaneous recovery
 Note on the treatment of phobias
1. c) Extinction of Salivation &
Fears!
1. d) Application:
 Little Albert:
Watson’s famous case (1920) with 11-month healthy boy
Experimental procedure
Conditioned fear of white furry objects
 Two-process theory of phobic reactions:
• 1) Classical conditioning of fear
• 2) Operant conditioning of avoidance:
 Avoidance is reinforced and phobia is maintained
• See p. 246, Mowrer’s two- process theory
• Mowrer
• p. 246
2. Operant Conditioning
– a) Distinction with CC:
• Controlling stimuli comes after the response
– b) Skinner:
• “Law of effect”: Rewarded behavior is more likely to re-occur
• Shaping: for more complex behaviors
– c) Reinforcement:
• Always strengthens behavior
• Positive: primary vs. secondary (e.g. food vs praise)
2. Operant Conditioning
(cont’d)
• Negative Reinforcement:
– responses that terminate a negative, or aversive situation are
reinforced
• e.g. giving a candy (response) to a crying child (negative stimulus)
• Schedules of reinforcement: (p. 244)
– Note: partial reinforcement produces greater persistence in
behavior than continuous reinforcement
2. c) Pos. vs. Neg. Reinforcement
(p. 245)
2. Operant Conditioning (cont’d)
• d) Punishment:
– Negative consequences following a response
– Decreases the frequency of a behavior
– Could include:
• Removing a privilege /“Time out”
• Undesired activity
• Physical aggression
– Drawbacks:
• Punished behavior is not forgotten, it is suppressed
• Physical punishment increases aggression through modeling
– Can also create fear that will generalize
– Does not tell you “what to do”!
– Best if used swiftly, and accompanied with positive
reinforcement for appropriate behaviors (p. 248)
Fi2. d) Neg. Reinforcement vs.
Punishment, p. 247
2. Operant Conditioning
(cont’d)
• e) Application: Gaining Self-Control!
– 1) Identify target behavior
• In behavioural terms, what you wish to decrease or increase
– 2) Monitor your current habits
• Keep a daily log which will serve as baseline
– 3) Look at antecedents and consequences (functional
analysis)
– 4) Begin your program!
• Set appropriate goals
• a) To increase behavior:
– find good reinforcers (p. 260)
– Seek situations that promote desired behavior
2. e) Self-Control Program (cont’d)
• 4) Begin your program (cont’d)
– b) To decrease behavior:
• Avoid situations that elicit unwanted behavior
• Find substitute for the consequences of unwanted behavior
• Reward yourself for not engaging in unwanted behavior
• 5) Monitor your behavior on a daily basis (chart your
progress)
• 6) Enlist social support
• 7) Go from continuous to partial reinforcement
3. Observational Learning
• Both CC and OC can take place vicariously, through
observational learning.
• a) Bandura’s Bobo-Doll Experiments (1961-1963)
• Study: 3-5 yr. old children in 4 experimental conditions:
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1) Live, aggressive model
2) Filmed, aggressive model
3) Cartoons with aggressive acts
4) No exposure to aggression (control condition)
• Results: Groups 1, 2 & 3 showed significantly greater no. of
aggressive acts (i.e. hits against bobo doll) than the control
condition
3. Observational Learning:
• Conclusions:
– Learning can occur through observation and imitation (i.e. without
conditioning or direct reinforcement)
• b) Applications:
– Media violence:
• fMRI studies:
– Exposure to violent movies linked to brain area involved in the inhibition of
aggressive impulses (lowered activation)
• Violent video games:
– Reduces sensitivity to violence and suffering of victims
– Players more hostile, less forgiving and believe violence is “normal”
– Can increase likelihood of aggression
– Conversely, prosocial models can have positive effects
• Prosocial video games:
– Players get into fewer fights at school and found to be more helpful
4. Movie: Snake Phobia
• Can people with a specific phobia learn to
quickly overcome their fears? You will see
an actual demonstration of exposure therapy
that helps a snake phobic overcome her
severe phobic reaction in just three hours.
(12 min.)