Transcript Mod. 26 Notes

Unit 6 Learning
Module 26 How We Learn and
Classical Conditioning
How do we learn?
• Learning: steps in acquiring new and relatively
lasting info on behavior. Adapt to environment.
• Classical Conditioning: learn to expect and prepare
for events
• Operant Conditioning: repeat behavior that gives
rewards, avoid those that cause pain
• Observational Learning: watching events and
others
• Cognitive Learning: thru language—never
experienced actual events
Cont.
• Humans look for connections between
events
– Smell bread like smelleat breadlike
itkeep eating bread
– Learned associations often are subtle (red pen)
• Learned associations feed habits:
– Sitting in same seat but no seating chart
• Habituation: decreasing response to a
stimulus with repeated exposure (sea slug)
Cont.
• Associative Learning: learning that certain
events occur together
• Classical conditioning associates 2 stimuli and
anticipate events
– Stimulus: event or situation that causes a response
• Operational conditioning associate the
response between our behavior and its
consequence
Generally, these work together (operational and
classical)
Cont.
• Cognitive Learning: learn mental info that
changes behavior
• Observational Learning: learn from
other’s experiences
Classical Conditioning
• Seeing the connection between 2 or more
stimuli and ANTICIPATE events
– Pavlov inspired Watson—beginning of
behaviorism: 1. Observable 2. No mental
processes
Cont.
• Pavlov’s Experiment
Classical Conditioning
Neutral Stimulus—Bell
• Does not normally elicit (cause) a
response or reflex action by itself
– a bell ringing
– a color
– a furry object
Unconditioned Stimulus—Food
• Always elicits a reflex action: an
unconditioned (unlearned) response
– food
– blast of air
– noise
Unconditioned Response
—Salivation
• The automatic response to the
unconditioned stimulus
• A response to an unconditioned stimulus—
naturally occurring & not learned
– Salivation at smell of food
– Eye blinks at blast of air
– Startle reaction in babies
Conditioned (Learned) Stimulus —
Bell
• The stimulus that was originally
neutral becomes conditioned after
it has been paired with the
unconditioned stimulus
• Will eventually cause the
unconditioned response by itself
Conditioned (Learned) Response
- Salivation
• The original unconditioned response
becomes conditioned after it has been
caused by the neutral stimulus
• Usually the same behavior as the UCR
Pavlov’s Experiment
Pavlov’s Experiment
Acquisition
• The process of developing a learned
response
• The initial learning that takes place in
the first stage of conditioning when
the animal starts to associate the NS
with the US.
• Higher-order conditioning: a new
NS can become a new CS. (light
added to tone…light=salvation
Acquisition
Extinction and Spontaneous
Recovery
• If keep presenting CS with no US it will
fade away=Extinction
• Spontaneous Recovery: if the CR happens
after being extinguished
Generalization
• Process in which an organism
produces the same CR to two similar
stimuli (CS)
• The more similar the substitute
stimulus is to the original used in
conditioning, the stronger the
generalized response
Discrimination
• Ability of an animal to not respond to
a new CS that is too different from
the original CS.
• The subject learns that one stimulus
predicts the UCS and the other does
not.
Pavlov’s Legacy
• Application of Classical Conditioning
– Drug addict having cravings when environment
is similar to drug use
• Conditioned Taste Aversion: associate
specific food or taste to food poisoning
Watson, Rayner, and Little
Albert
• Paired white rat with loud noise
– Albert generalized fear to white fuzzy objects
– Can extinguish fearful responses but it’s
difficult