Transcript wood_ch05_lecture

fifth edition
mastering the world of
psychology
CHAPTER
5
Learning
Copyright © 2014, © 2011, © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Learning Objectives
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
How does the kind of learning Pavlov
discovered happen?
What causes classically conditioned responses
to change?
What did Watson's "Little Albert" experiment
show?
What did Rescorla demonstrate about
classical conditioning?
How do biological predispositions affect
classical conditioning?
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
Samuel Wood | Ellen Green Wood | Denise Boyd
Learning Objectives
5.6
What are some examples of classical
conditioning in everyday life?
5.7 What did Thorndike and Skinner discover
about the consequences of behavior?
5.8 How do shaping, generalization, and
discriminative stimuli influence operant
conditioning?
5.9 How do positive and negative reinforcement
affect behavior?
5.10 What are the four types of schedules of
reinforcement?
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
Samuel Wood | Ellen Green Wood | Denise Boyd
Learning Objectives
5.11 How does punishment affect behavior?
5.12 How do escape and avoidance learning occur?
5.13 What are some applications of operant
conditioning?
5.14 How does insight affect learning?
5.15 What did Tolman discover about the necessity
of reinforcement?
5.16 How do we learn by observing others?
5.17 What has research shown regarding learning
from media?
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
Samuel Wood | Ellen Green Wood | Denise Boyd
Overview
• Classical Conditioning
• Operant Conditioning
• Cognitive Learning
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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Learning
• A relatively permanent change in
behavior, knowledge, capability, or
attitude
– acquired through experience
– cannot be attributed to illness, injury, or
maturation
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
Samuel Wood | Ellen Green Wood | Denise Boyd
LO 5.1
Classical Conditioning
• A type of learning through which an
organism learns to associate one
stimulus with another
– stimulus
 any event or object in the environment
to which an organism responds
• Classical conditioning was an accidental
discovery by Russian physiologist Ivan
Pavlov (1849–1936).
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
Samuel Wood | Ellen Green Wood | Denise Boyd
Figure 5.1 The Experimental Apparatus Used in Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning Studies
In Pavlov’s classical conditioning studies, the dog was restrained in a harness in the cubicle and isolated from all
distractions. An experimenter observed the dog through a one-way mirror and, by remote control, presented the
dog with food and other conditioning stimuli. A tube carried the saliva from the dog’s mouth to a container where
it was measured.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
Samuel Wood | Ellen Green Wood | Denise Boyd
Pavlov and the Process of Classical
Conditioning
LO 5.1
• Neutral stimulus (tone) is presented
shortly before an unconditioned
stimulus (food).
• Naturally elicits an unconditioned
response (salivation)
• After repeated pairings, the conditioned
stimulus alone (the tone) comes to
elicit the conditioned response
(salivation).
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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Figure 5.2 Classically Conditioning a Salivation Response
A neutral stimulus (a tone) elicits no salivation until it is repeatedly paired with the unconditioned stimulus
(food). After many pairings, the neutral stimulus (now called the conditioned stimulus) alone produces salivation.
Classical conditioning has occurred.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
Samuel Wood | Ellen Green Wood | Denise Boyd
Pavlov and the Process of Classical
Conditioning
LO 5.1
• Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
– elicits unconditioned response without
learning
 e.g., food, loud noise, light in eye, puff of
air in eye
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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Pavlov and the Process of Classical
Conditioning
• Unconditioned Response (UR)
– response elicited by an unconditioned
stimulus without learning
 e.g., salivation, startle, contraction of
pupil, eyeblink
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.1
Pavlov and the Process of Classical
Conditioning
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
– neutral stimulus
– After repeated pairing with US, the
stimulus becomes associated with it.
– elicits a conditioned response
– example: a tone
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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Pavlov and the Process of Classical
Conditioning
LO 5.1
• Conditioned Response (CR)
– learned response
– elicited by CS in response to, e.g., a
tone
• Higher-Order Conditioning
– Conditioned stimuli are linked to form a
series of signals.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.2
Changing Conditioned Responses
• Extinction
– weakening and disappearance of CR as
a result of repeated presentation of CS
without US
• Spontaneous Recovery
– reappearance of extinguished CR when
organism is exposed to CS following rest
period
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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Figure 5.3 Extinction of a Classically Conditioned Response
When a classically conditioned stimulus (a tone) was presented in a series of trials without the unconditioned
stimulus (food), Pavlov’s dogs salivated less and less until there was virtually no salivation. But after a 20-minute
rest, one sound of the tone caused the conditioned response to reappear in a weakened form (producing only a
small amount of salivation), a phenomenon Pavlov called spontaneous recovery.
Source: Data from Pavlov (1927/1960), p. 58.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.2
Changing Conditioned Responses
• Generalization
– tendency to make a CR to a stimulus
that is similar to the original CS
• Discrimination
– learned ability to distinguish between
similar stimuli
– CR occurs only in response to the
original CS, not to similar stimuli.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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Figure 5.4 Generalization of a Conditioned Response
Pavlov attached small vibrators to different parts of a dog’s body. After conditioning salivation to stimulation of
the dog’s thigh, he stimulated other parts of the dog’s body. Due to generalization, the salivation also occurred
when other body parts were stimulated. But the farther away from the thigh the stimulus was applied, the
weaker the salivation response.
Source: From Pavlov (1927/1960).
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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John Watson and Emotional
Conditioning
LO 5.3
• Watson and Rayner (1920) "Little
Albert" Study
– A child was classically conditioned to
fear a rat.
• Conditioned fears persist and modify
personality throughout life.
• Mary Cover Jones (1924) later used
classical conditioning to remove fears in
another child.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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Figure 5.5 The Conditioned Fear Response
Little Albert’s fear of a white rat was a conditioned response that was generalized to other stimuli, including a
rabbit and, to a lesser extent, a Santa Claus mask.
Source: Archives of the History of American Psychology—The University of Akron.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
Samuel Wood | Ellen Green Wood | Denise Boyd
LO 5.4
The Cognitive Perspective
• Pavlov and Watson
– A critical element of classical
conditioning is the repeated pairing of
CS and US.
• Robert Rescorla
– A critical element is whether the CS
provides information that enables the
organism to reliably predict the
occurrence of the US.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.5
Biological Predispositions
• Genetically programmed tendencies to
acquire classically conditioned fear
responses to potentially life-threatening
stimuli
• Martin Seligman (1972): most common
fears "are related to the survival of the
human species through the long course
of evolution"
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.5
Biological Predispositions
• Taste Aversion
– the intense dislike and/or avoidance of
particular foods that have been
associated with nausea or discomfort
– biologically adaptive for survival
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.5
Biological Predispositions: Garcia
and Koelling (1966)
• Exposed rats to 3-way conditioned
stimulus:
– bright light, clicking noise, flavored
water
• One group was exposed to US
producing nausea and vomiting several
hours after exposure.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.5
Biological Predispositions: Garcia
and Koelling (1966)
• Another group's US was immediate
electric shocks to the feet.
• Rats formed an association between
nausea and flavored water ingested
several hours earlier.
– contradicted the principle that CS must
be presented shortly before the US
– Animals are biologically predisposed to
make associations.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.6
Classical Conditioning in Everyday Life
• Why can diet soda make people
hungry?
– The sweet taste of soda becomes a CS.
 elicits insulin increase (UR)
 leads to feelings of hunger
– The pancreas pumps out insulin (lowers
blood sugar) in response to any sweet
taste such as diet soda.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
Samuel Wood | Ellen Green Wood | Denise Boyd
LO 5.6
Classical Conditioning in Everyday Life
• Why can diet soda make people
hungry?
– Without real sugar, insulin causes blood
sugar to drop below normal.
– Insulin drop causes the body to signal
to the brain to eat.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.7
Operant
OperantConditioning:
Conditioning:Thorndike,
Thorndike Skinner,
Skinner
and the Consequences of Behavior
• Law of Effect (Edward Thorndike)
– Consequence response determines the
tendency to respond in the same way in
the future.
 strengthened or weakened
 Organisms tend to repeat behaviors that
bring about pleasant consequences.
– Law of effect formed the basis for B. F.
Skinner's work on operant conditioning.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.7
Operant Conditioning: Thorndike, Skinner,
and the Consequences of Behavior
• Operant Conditioning
– The consequences of behavior are
manipulated to increase or decrease the
frequency of an existing response or
shape a new one.
• Operant
– voluntary behavior that accidentally
brings about a consequence
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LO 5.7
Operant Conditioning: Thorndike, Skinner,
and the Consequences of Behavior
• Reinforcer
– follows a response
– strengthens it or increases the
probability that it will occur
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LO 5.8
The Process of Operant Conditioning
• Shaping
– learning in small steps rather than all at
once
– rewarding successive approximations of
desired response
– used to condition complex behaviors in
people and other animals
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.8
The Process of Operant Conditioning
• Skinner box
– A soundproof chamber with a device for
delivering food to an animal subject
used in operant conditioning
experiments.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.8
The Process of Operant Conditioning
• Successive Approximations
– A series of gradual steps, each of which
is more similar to the final desired
response.
• Extinction
– weakening and eventual disappearance
of a response as a result of withholding
reinforcement
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.8
The Process of Operant Conditioning
• Generalization
– tendency to make a learned response to
a stimulus similar to that for which the
response was originally reinforced
• Discriminative Stimulus
– stimulus that signals whether a
response or behavior is likely to be
rewarded, ignored, or punished
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LO 5.9
Reinforcement
• Reinforcement
– Any event that follows a response and
strengthens or increases the probability
that the response will be repeated.
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LO 5.9
Reinforcement
• Positive Reinforcement
– a pleasant or desirable consequence
after response
– increases the probability that the
response will be repeated
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.9
Reinforcement
• Negative Reinforcement
– termination of an unpleasant condition
after a response
– increases the probability that the
response will be repeated
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.9
Reinforcement
• Primary Reinforcer
– a reinforcer that fulfills a basic physical
need and does not depend on learning
• Secondary Reinforcer
– a reinforcer that is acquired or learned
through association with other
reinforcers
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.10
Schedules of Reinforcement
• Schedule of Reinforcement
– A systematic process for administering
reinforcement.
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LO 5.10
Schedules of Reinforcement
• Fixed-Ratio (FR)
– The reinforcer is given after a fixed
number of correct, nonreinforced
responses.
• Variable-Ratio (VR)
– The reinforcer is given after a varying
number of nonreinforced responses.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.10
Schedules of Reinforcement
• Fixed-Interval (FI)
– The reinforcer is given in response to
the first correct response after a specific
period of time has elapsed.
• Variable-Interval (VI)
– The reinforcer is given after first correct
response following a varying period of
time.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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Figure 5.6 Four Types of Reinforcement Schedules
Skinner’s research revealed distinctive response patterns for four reinforcement schedules (the reinforcers are
indicated by the diagonal marks). The ratio schedules, based on the number of responses, yielded a higher
response rate than the interval schedules, which are based on the amount of time elapsed between reinforcers.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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Reinforcement Schedules Compared
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LO 5.11
Punishment
• Removal of a pleasant stimulus or the
application of an unpleasant stimulus
• Lowers the probability of a response
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LO 5.11
Punishment
• Positive Punishment
– decrease in behavior that results from
an added consequence
– consequence is usually negative
• Negative Punishment
– decrease in behavior that results from a
removed consequence
– loss of something desirable
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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TABLE 5.1
The Effects of Reinforcement and
Punishment
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.11
The Disadvantages of Punishment
• Does not extinguish undesirable
behavior
– suppresses the behavior when the
punishing agent is present
• Indicates that behavior is unacceptable
but does not help to develop more
appropriate behavior
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.11
The Disadvantages of Punishment
• The punished often become fearful and
feel angry toward the punisher.
• Frequently leads to aggression
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.11
Alternatives to Punishment
• Removing the rewarding consequences
of undesirable behavior may be the
best way to extinguish it.
– not giving in to a child's demands
during a tantrum
– ignoring misbehavior that is performed
merely to get attention and giving
attention to more appropriate behaviors
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.11
Alternatives to Punishment
• Using positive reinforcement can make
good behavior more rewarding.
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LO 5.11
Making Punishment More Effective
1. Most effective when applied during the
misbehavior or as soon afterward as
possible
2. Should be of the minimum severity
necessary to suppress the problem
behavior
3. To be effective, must be applied
consistently
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.12
Escape and Avoidance Learning
• Escape Learning
– performing a behavior because it
prevents or terminates an aversive
event
• Avoidance Learning
– avoid events or conditions associated
with aversive consequence
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LO 5.12
Escape and Avoidance Learning
• Avoidance Learning
– can be adaptive
 avoiding riding in a car with a driver who
has been drinking
– Much avoidance learning is maladaptive.
 avoiding situations because of phobias
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LO 5.12
Escape and Avoidance Learning
• Learned Helplessness
– exception to learning escape or
avoidance behaviors
– passive resignation to aversive situation
due to repeated exposure to inescapable
or unavoidable events
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.13
Applications of Operant Conditioning
• Biofeedback
– information about internal biological
states
– Sensors monitor slight changes in
internal responses.
– amplify and convert into visual or
auditory signals
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.13
Applications of Operant Conditioning
• Biofeedback
– gives precise feedback about internal
physiological processes so that people
can learn to exercise control over them
 used to control migraine headaches,
gastrointestinal disorders, asthma,
anxiety, epilepsy, sexual dysfunctions,
neuromuscular disorders, etc.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.13
Applications of Operant Conditioning
• Behavior Modification
– changing behavior based on the
learning principles of classical
conditioning, operant conditioning, or
observational learning
– used to change self-injurious behavior
in children and adults with autism
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
Samuel Wood | Ellen Green Wood | Denise Boyd
LO 5.13
Applications of Operant Conditioning
• Token Economy
– motivates socially desirable behavior by
reinforcing it with tokens
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Classical and Operant Conditioning Compared
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LO 5.14
Cognitive Learning
• Cognitive Processes
– mental processes such as thinking,
knowing, problem solving,
remembering, and forming mental
representations
• Watson and Skinner
– believed that learning could be
explained without reference to internal
mental processes
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.14
Cognitive Learning
• Today, psychologists stress the role of
mental processes.
• Important Researchers:
– Kohler, Tolman, Bandura
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LO 5.14
Learning by Insight
• Insight
– sudden realization of the relationship
between elements in a problem
– makes solution apparent
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LO 5.14
Learning by Insight
• Köhler studies with chimpanzees
– Chimpanzees appeared to give up in
attempts to get bananas.
– suddenly realized relationship
– Behavior seemed to be based on
insight, not trial-and-error learning.
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LO 5.15
Latent Learning and Cognitive Maps
• Tolman
– Learning can take place without
reinforcement.
– differentiated between learning and
performance
• Latent Learning
– learning that occurs without apparent
reinforcement
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.15
Latent Learning and Cognitive Maps
• Latent Learning
– not demonstrated until the organism is
motivated to do so
• Cognitive Map
– mental representation of a spatial
arrangement such as a maze
• Tolman's mice formed a cognitive map,
but did not demonstrate knowledge
until rewarded.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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Figure 5.7 Latent Learning
Rats in Group 1 were rewarded every day for running the maze correctly, while rats in Group 2 were never
rewarded. Group 3 rats were rewarded only on the 11th day and thereafter outperformed the rats in Group 1.
The rats had “learned” the maze but were not motivated to perform until rewarded, demonstrating that latent
learning had occurred.
Source: From Tolman & Honzik (1930).
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
Samuel Wood | Ellen Green Wood | Denise Boyd
LO 5.16
Observational Learning
• Albert Bandura (1963, 1969,
1977,1986)
• Learning by observing the behavior of
others and the consequences of that
behavior; learning by imitation
– The model is the individual who
demonstrates a behavior or whose
behavior is imitated.
 effectiveness of model related to status,
competence, and power
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LO 5.16
Observational Learning
• Four processes determine whether
observational learning is occurring.
– Attention
– Retention
– Reproduction
– Reinforcement
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LO 5.16
Observational Learning
• Modeling Effect
– learning a new behavior from a model
through the acquisition of new
responses
• Facilitation Effect
– exhibiting a behavior similar to that
shown by a model in an unfamiliar
situation
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.16
Observational Learning
• Inhibitory Effect
– suppressing a behavior because a model
is punished for displaying the behavior
• Disinhibitory Effect
– displaying a previously suppressed
behavior because a model does so
without receiving punishment
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Cognitive Learning
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LO 5.17
Learning from Media: Effects
of the Multitasking Environment
• Many college students work on
assignments in a split-screen format.
– one part of the screen devoted to work
and another to a game
• The research is too preliminary to
support definitive conclusions.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.17
Learning from Media: Effects
of the Multitasking Environment
• More time spent multitasking may
leave a subject less capable of
managing thought processes when not
multitasking.
• May reduce ability to differentiate
between relevant and irrelevant
information
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LO 5.17
Learning from Media: Television
and Other Entertainment Media
• "Bobo Doll" Studies (Bandura, 1961)
– Children imitate aggressive behavior of
an adult model seen on film.
• Recent Research
– Individuals who watch the most violence
as children are more likely to engage in
acts of violence as adults.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.17
Learning from Media: Television
and Other Entertainment Media
• Recent Research
– brain imaging: patterns of neural
activation develop by watching violent
media
• Children also imitate prosocial
behavior.
– Media may teach children not to engage
in aggressive acts.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.17
Learning from Media: Electronic
Games
• Recent research suggests that playing
violent video games increases feelings
of hostility and decreases sensitivity to
violent images.
• Games can also teach positive
messages and skills.
– Games often played in male peer groups
may be essential for social
development.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.17
Learning from Media: Electronic
Games
• Games can also teach positive
messages and skills.
– can teach safe driving skills
– can enhance women's spatial cognitive
skills
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Figure 5.8 “Gamers” in Four Age Groups
Researchers at the Pew Internet & American Life Project track all kinds of media use among children and adults
in the United States. One of their findings is that younger adults are more likely to play video games at least
occasionally than those who are older. However, older adults who play are more likely to do so every day than
younger adults are.
Source: Data from Lenhart, A., Jones, S., & Macgill, A. (2008).
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.17
Learning from Media: The Internet
• Educators should not assume that
Internet-based instruction is more
effective than conventional approaches
(Mayer, 2010).
• Physical manipulations of the computer
distracts online readers.
– hinders ability to comprehend and
remember what they are reading
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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LO 5.17
Learning from Media: The Internet
• Younger children using Web-based
materials are more likely to be
distracted by ads than older children.
• Conventional classroom lectures and
textbooks are just as useful for learning
complex material as multimedia
presentations.
Mastering the World of Psychology, Fifth Edition
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