rUnit 7–Learning
Psyc 101 – Eva Zysk
Learning
Any relatively durable change in behaviour or knowledge that is due to experience. The process of
acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviours
To truly learn, is to own the knowledge, skill, or idea.
Classical Conditioning: we learn to expect and prepare for significant events e.g. food or pain
Operant Conditioning: we learn to repeat acts that bring rewards and avoid acts that bring punishment
Observational Learning: we learn by observing people and events
Cognitive Learning: we learn things we have neither experience nor observed
Two major approaches: Pavlov, Skinner.
Observational learning, implicit learning, learning in the classroom.
Simple Learning
Habituation: Learning to not respond to unimportant and repeated stimuli
Sensitization: an organism becomes more responsive to stimuli after being exposed to a (usually) strong
or painful first stimulus
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov scientist, biologist, looking at how dogs salivate in response to different stimuli
Conditioning learning
Acquisition – the initial stage of learning in which UCS and neutral stimulus are paired
Closer pairing = stronger learning.
Novel stimuli stronger than commonplace ones.
Extinction of behaviour: the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency
that occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without the US
Spontaneous recovery: reappearance of a conditioned response following a resting period (conditioning
never disappears)
Higher order conditioning – (second-order conditioning): The conditioning of a second CS by pairing it
with the original CS, without the original UCS.
Generalization: when an organism has learned a response to a specific stimulus, responds in the same way
to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus.
Conditioned taste aversion: when eating a specific food (neutral stimulus) is paired with getting ill after
eating the food (unconditioned response)
Phobias: persistent irrational fears of specific objects or situations that pose no real danger and impact
daily functioning.
, Operant Conditioning
Thorndike’s Law of Effect:
o If a behaviour (response) in a specific situation leads to satisfying (rewarding) effects, then that
response is more likely to occur again in that situation
Operant conditioning:
o B.F Skinner
o A form of learning in which consequences of behaviours determine whether the behaviours will
be repeated in the future.
o Also called ‘instrumental learning’ and can involve learning of new actions
o Actions are voluntary
Reinforcement:
o When an event following a response increases the organism’s tendency to make that response
o Positive – adding something to strengthen the response (adding a behaviour)
o Negative – removing something to strengthen the response (removing a behaviour)
Punishment:
o When an event following a response decreases the organism’s tendency to make that response
o Positive – adding something to weaken the response (spraying with water)
o Negative – removing something to weaken the response (taking away dog toy)
Positive Negative Outcome
Reinforcemen Add something: Remove something Behaviour
t - Give praise or bowl of - Do one less chore Strengthened:
ice cream for reading after reading - Child reads
10 pages a night - Take 5 dollars from more often
- 5 dollars every time your friend (fine - Your friend
your friend wears a them) wears a mask
mask
Punishment Adding something: Remove something: Behaviour weakened:
- Yelling after child - Take away their - Child kicks less
fights with their sibling favourite toy after - Your friend
fighting stops hosting
parties
The Skinner Box
First train the rat to press a lever. Then use responding patterns to understand learning.
Discriminative Stimuli
Schedules of Reinforcement
- Continual reinforcement – 1:1 fixed ratio
- Intermittent reinforcement – not 1:1 fixed ratio
- Fixed Ratio Schedule
o Reinforcement provided straight after, sit – treat – sit – treat – sit – treat.
Psyc 101 – Eva Zysk
Learning
Any relatively durable change in behaviour or knowledge that is due to experience. The process of
acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviours
To truly learn, is to own the knowledge, skill, or idea.
Classical Conditioning: we learn to expect and prepare for significant events e.g. food or pain
Operant Conditioning: we learn to repeat acts that bring rewards and avoid acts that bring punishment
Observational Learning: we learn by observing people and events
Cognitive Learning: we learn things we have neither experience nor observed
Two major approaches: Pavlov, Skinner.
Observational learning, implicit learning, learning in the classroom.
Simple Learning
Habituation: Learning to not respond to unimportant and repeated stimuli
Sensitization: an organism becomes more responsive to stimuli after being exposed to a (usually) strong
or painful first stimulus
Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov scientist, biologist, looking at how dogs salivate in response to different stimuli
Conditioning learning
Acquisition – the initial stage of learning in which UCS and neutral stimulus are paired
Closer pairing = stronger learning.
Novel stimuli stronger than commonplace ones.
Extinction of behaviour: the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency
that occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without the US
Spontaneous recovery: reappearance of a conditioned response following a resting period (conditioning
never disappears)
Higher order conditioning – (second-order conditioning): The conditioning of a second CS by pairing it
with the original CS, without the original UCS.
Generalization: when an organism has learned a response to a specific stimulus, responds in the same way
to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus.
Conditioned taste aversion: when eating a specific food (neutral stimulus) is paired with getting ill after
eating the food (unconditioned response)
Phobias: persistent irrational fears of specific objects or situations that pose no real danger and impact
daily functioning.
, Operant Conditioning
Thorndike’s Law of Effect:
o If a behaviour (response) in a specific situation leads to satisfying (rewarding) effects, then that
response is more likely to occur again in that situation
Operant conditioning:
o B.F Skinner
o A form of learning in which consequences of behaviours determine whether the behaviours will
be repeated in the future.
o Also called ‘instrumental learning’ and can involve learning of new actions
o Actions are voluntary
Reinforcement:
o When an event following a response increases the organism’s tendency to make that response
o Positive – adding something to strengthen the response (adding a behaviour)
o Negative – removing something to strengthen the response (removing a behaviour)
Punishment:
o When an event following a response decreases the organism’s tendency to make that response
o Positive – adding something to weaken the response (spraying with water)
o Negative – removing something to weaken the response (taking away dog toy)
Positive Negative Outcome
Reinforcemen Add something: Remove something Behaviour
t - Give praise or bowl of - Do one less chore Strengthened:
ice cream for reading after reading - Child reads
10 pages a night - Take 5 dollars from more often
- 5 dollars every time your friend (fine - Your friend
your friend wears a them) wears a mask
mask
Punishment Adding something: Remove something: Behaviour weakened:
- Yelling after child - Take away their - Child kicks less
fights with their sibling favourite toy after - Your friend
fighting stops hosting
parties
The Skinner Box
First train the rat to press a lever. Then use responding patterns to understand learning.
Discriminative Stimuli
Schedules of Reinforcement
- Continual reinforcement – 1:1 fixed ratio
- Intermittent reinforcement – not 1:1 fixed ratio
- Fixed Ratio Schedule
o Reinforcement provided straight after, sit – treat – sit – treat – sit – treat.
