Pyschology: Ch.

8 Learning
-Types of Learning:
Classical Conditioning:
a type of learning that occurs when an organism comes to
associate stimuli. -We learn to associate two stimuli. A
neutral stimulus that signals an unconditioned stimulus (US)
begins to make a response that anticipates and prepares for
the unconditioned stimulus.-Main Man: Ivan Pavlov with the
Dog and Bell.
Such as in Ivan Pavlov's experiment with the dog-
Pavlov's work laid the foundation for many psychologist such
as John B. Watson's Idea. -discarded ti inner thoughts,
feelings, and motives. He believed that the science of
psychology should study how organisms respond to stimuli
in their environments.-Psychology should be an objective
science based on observable behaviour.=> behaviorism.
Watson and Pavlov both disdained "mentalistic" concepts
and a belief that the basic laws of learning were the same for
all animals-wether dogs or humans.
Pavlov began to take a neutral stimulus like a tone and
associating it with the sight of the unconditioned stimulus
like food-which cause a natural-unconditioned response-like
salivating. >>Salivation to tone was conditional upon the
dog's learning the association between the tone and
food.>>The previously irrelevent tone stimulus that now
triggered the conditioned stimulus(CS).
Conditioned>Learning/Unconditioned>Unlearned.
-Pavlov and his associates explored the cause and effects of
classical conditioning- their experiements indentified 5 major
processes: acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery,
generalization, and discrimination.
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-Acquistion: initial stage in classical conditioning-phase
associating a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned
stimulus--so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit a
conditioned response.
Conditioning seldom occurs when the CS follows the US.-This
finding states that classical conditoning is biologically
adaptive.The CS needs to come half a second BEFORE the
US for acquisition to happen.
-Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery: Pavlov found that
when he sounded the tone again and again w/o presenting
food, the dogs drooled less and less. He found though, that
after a time passed-a pause, when they came accounted
with the sound that gave them a CR-they responded (not as
much though) as if a remebered time they had been adapted
to.
-Generalization: Pavlov and his students also noticed that
the dog conditioned to the sound of one tone responded
somewhat to the sound of a different tone, that had never
been paired with food.
-Discrimination: Pavlov's dog also learned to respond to the
sound of a particulartone and not to other tones.
----
Pavlov's and Watson's disdain for "mentalistic" concepts
such as consciousness has given way to a growing
realization they underestimated the importance of "cognitive
processes" (thoughts, perceptions, expectations) and
biological contraints on an organism's learning capacity.>>
>Later behaviorists suggested that animals learn the
predictability of a stimulus>>the learn to expect a
stimulus.*Rescorla
>If a shock always is perceded by a tone, and then
SOMETIMES also by a light that accompanies the tone, a rat
will react in fear to the tone but not to light.-alothough the
light is always accompained by the tone-it offeres no NEW
INFO.-The more predictable the association, the stronger the
conditioned response
-Biological Predispositions:
>Pavlov and Watson believed that the laws of learning were
all similar for all animals.>However!! behavorist later
suggested that learning is constrained by an animal's
biology.
Each species' predispositions prepare it to learn the
asscociations that enhance its survival.
>John Garcia was amoung those who challenged the idea od
any associations can be learned equally well.-Researched
effects on radiation on lab animals->noticed that rats began
to avoid drinking water from the plastic bottles in radiation
chambers.
Garcia showed that the duration between the CS and the US
may be long (hrs), but yet result i conditioning.- A
biologically adaptive CS(taste) led to conditioning and not to
others (light or sound). Like birds, who would use their sight
to tainted food and avoid it. -IN one case- cayotes and
wolves that were tempted into eating sheep carcasses laced
with sickening poison developed an aversion to sheep meat.
---
Pavlov's greatest contribution to psychology is isolating
elementary behaviours from more complex ones thru
abjective scientific procedures.
Pavlov'd work also provided a basis for John Watson's idea
that human emotions and behaviour, though biologically
influenced, are mainly a bundle of conditioned responses.>>
Little Albert Case.-Maxwell House-Coffee Break.
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Types of Learning:
-Operant Conditioning:
Is a type of learning in which behaviour is stenghend if
followed by a reinforcer or diminished of followed by a
punishment.-Organisms associate their own actions with
consequences. Behaviours followed by reinforers INCREASE;
those followed by punishers DECREASE.
Both Classical and Operant conditioning involve acquisition,
extinction, spotaneous recovery, generalization, and
discrimination. Difference: Classical conditioning forms
associations between stimuli (a CS and the US it signals). It
involves respondent behaviour-behaviour that occurs as an
automatic response to some stimulus (such as drooling in
response to meat powder and later in response to a tone.)
Operant, however, invovles operant behaviour, so called b/c
the behaviour operates on the enviroment to produce
rewarding or punishing stimuli.
----
Skinner's Experiements: Main Man: Thorndike
Skinner's experiements extended Thorndike's thinking-Law
Of Effect. This law states that rewarded behaviour is likely to
occur again. Thorndike's: Cat in a Puzzle Box best illustarted
the Law od Effect.
Skinner had experiemented with pigeons and rats--Rat Box.
-Shaping Behaviour:
Shaping in operant conditioning procedure in which
reinforcers guide behaviour towards the desired target
behaviour thru succesive approx. Little by Little. Skinner
used Shaping in his exp.--procedure that Reinforces.-like
with food, slowly guide an animal's action toward a
desireable behaviour.
-Types of Reinforcers:
Reinforcement is any event that strenghthens, or increases
the frequency of, a preceding response. A positive reinforcer
may be something like a tangible reward.> might be a praise
or attention-or even be an activity such as getting to borrow
the car after having done the chores.
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF REINFORCEMENT:
One type: Positive Reinforcement: strenghthens a response
by presenting a typical pleasureable stimulus after a
response. Food is a positive reinforcer for hungry animals-
attention, approval, and money are most positive reinforcers
for humans.
Second type: Negative Reinforcement strenghthens a
response by reducing and REMOVING an unwanted
(AVERSIVE) stimulus. Like taking a pill to relieve a
headache.- this consequence provides negative
reinforcement and increases the LIKELIHOOD that you would
do the same-like take the pill again.- Negative
Reinforcement is not a punishment but more of a REMOVING
of a punishing unwanted event.
>Reinforcement is any consequence that strengthens
behaviour.
-Primary and Secondary Reinforcers:
1-Primary Reinforcer: An innately reinforcing stimulus like
food or drink.
2-Conditioned Reinforcer: A learned reinforcer the gets its
reinforcing power thru association with the primary
reinforcer>>Note that this is also Called Secondary
Reinforcement.
Primary Reinforcer are innately satisfying-we dont need to
be told or said that they bring happiness or pleasure- In the
case of a Secondary Reinforcer-we kinda do need to be told
or showed-explained-experienced to say: "Ah..yes moeny
brings me happiness" b/c a baby wouldnt like that-cause he
wouldnt noe what to do with it. In the Case of the Rat in The
SKinner Box-> If the rat in the skinner box learns that a light
realiably signals that food is coming-the rat will work to turn
on the light in order to get the food. The light becomes a
secondary reinforcer b/c they had to learn that that specific
LIGHT will bring FOOD--Food being a Primary b/c it innately
brings happiness-fullfillment of the TUMMY.
----
-Immediate and Delayed Reinforcers:
>Immediate Reinforcer: A reinforcer that occurs AFTER a
BEHAVIOUR. A rat gets a food pallet for a bar press.
>Delayed Reinforcer: A reinforcer that is delayed in time for
a certain behaviour. A paycheck that comes at the end of
each week.
----
Reinforcement Schedules:
Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforces the desireable
response each time it occurs.-Under such conditions,
learning becomes rapid-but so does extinction.- When the
reinforcement stops the rat soon stops pressing the bar.-
There is presistence b/c at times they do get the food-.
Partial Reinforcement: Reinforces a response only part of the
time. Though this results in slower acquistion in the begging,
it shows greater resistence to extinction later on.-with this is
a constant "pecking of the note" to get the food, b/c their
schedule was always so wishy wash that they keep hope on
that next food.-SLot maChines comes as an example.
----
Ratio Schedules:
>Fixed-Ratio Schedule:Reinforces a response only after a
SPECIFIED NUMBER OF REPONSES, EX: Pricework pay-the
seem-stress who get paid only when she COMPLETELY
finishes a dress.-there is a brief pause in finishing the dress,
but then a great recovery to make another one.
>Variable-Ratio schedule: Reinforces a response after an
unpedictable NUMBER OF RESPONSES-this may be hard to
extinguish b/c the unpredicatbly-LIke: Gambling, "Fly
Fishing".
----
Interval Schedules:
>Fixed-Interval Schedule: Reinforces a response only after a
specified time has passed by. EX: Prepping for a test only
when the test is near date.
>Variable-Interval Schedule: Reinforces a response at
unpredictable time intervals, which produces slow, steady
responses.
(LIKE: Pole FIshing.)-there is no knowing when the waiting
will be over.
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Punishment:
An averisive event that decreases the behaviour it follows. I
sthe opposite of Reinforcement- in wich it increased
behaviour-punishment decreases behaviour.
-Like the rat is shocked after touching a forbidden object.
>Robert Larzelere-noted that thete is sometimes problems
with human punishment-leading to unwanted fears,
unwanted fears to appear in abscence.
>Even though punishment suppresses unwanted behaviour,
it often does not guide one toward more desireble behaviour.
-Punishment tells you what NOT to do, and and
Reinforcement tells you what TO do.-so punishment
combined with reinforcement is often best than punishment
alone.
-SKinner believed in inner thought process and biological
underpinnings-but many psychologist critized him for
discounting them.
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Cognition and Operant Conditioning:
Evidence of cognitive pprocesses during operant learning
come from rats during a maze exploration in which they
navigate the maze w/o an obvious reward. Rats seem to
develop a sort of COGNITIVE MAP-or - Mental Represenation,
of the layout of the maze.> Such cognitive maps are based
on LATENT LEARNING, which becomes apparent when an
incentive is given.>>is when learning becomes apparent
only when there is some motivation to demostarting it.
_____________________
Motivation:
Intrinsic: desire to do good for one's self.
Extrisic: desire to do good for a promised reward or even
threat of punishment.
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Skinner Often argued that behaviours were shaped by
external influences instead of inner thoughts and feelings.
Critics argued that Skinner sometimes "de-humanized"
people by neglecting their free will.
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QUICK NOTES:
People as well as animals, learn thru the observation of
others-Monkey see-Monkey do.
Mirror Neurons: Neuroscientist discovered "mirror neurons"
in the brains of animals and humans that are active during
observational learning.-there is often also a shared feeling-
empathy for others that is visible in likeness of lighted brain
regions.
Bandura's Experiements: Bobo Doll study-that indicated that
individuals (mostly children) learn thru imitating other who
recieve rewards and punishments.
Observational learning takes place here-they see a crazed
person attack a doll as a stress relifer and they do the same.
This type of learning can be seen anywhere. Most common
in TV's as well as Peers, Homes, ect.