Transcript Theories of Learning

Theories of Learning
Thomas G. Bowers, Ph.D.
Penn State Harrisburg
2001
Learning Theory
• Aim is to understand the principles involved in
learning and the acquisition of behavior
• Research domain is extensive
• Encourage, for this class, adopting a behavioral
point of view
– Does not exclude aspects such as thinking,
imagining or feeling
Learning Theory
• Effort will be devoted to understanding behavior,
as well as cognition
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Memory
Rule-governed behavior
Metaphor
Language
Disorders of cognition
Learning
• What is learning?
– Kimble – “A relatively permanent change in behavior
resulting from experience”
– General inadequacies in this definition
Basic Procedures to Understand
Behavior
• 1. Simplest: Observe behavior
• 2. Present stimuli
• 3. Arrange for consequences
– Reinforcement
– Punishment
• 4. Stimulus control
• 5. Establishing operations
Some Early Examples
• Kohler – insight experiments with Sultan the
chimp
– “Thought experiments”
– Chimp managed to solve the problem of the banana
– In a single trial, without any intervention
Some Early Examples
• Tinbergen – Varied stimulus qualities and
measured effects on pecking behavior
Tinbergen noted stimulus tends to elicit
response, described as releasers
– Fixed Action Patterns (FAP)
– Could be complex behaviors, tended to be important
to the survival or continuation of the organism
Some Early Examples
• Thorndike – cat puzzle box
– Influence of consequences
– Reinforcing consequences maintain behavior or
responding, while punishing consequences decease
or suppress the behavior
Some Early Examples
• Pavlov and his classical studies
• Pfungst (1911) “Clever Hans”
– Noted discriminative functions of stimulus material
Some Early Examples
• Skinner described the discriminative function of
some stimulus material
Law of Effect
• Random variations in behavior
• Those with pleasurable consequences are
stamped in while those with noxious
consequences are stamped out
• Hedonic assumptions
• Instrumental or operant conditioning