Monday 10/17 [MOD 26]
What is learning?
● The process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or
behaviors
● The emphasis here is on enduring…learning is very different from cramming.
● To truly learn, is to own the knowledge, skill, or idea.
What are some ways we learn?
● We learn to expect and prepare for significant events such as food or pain (classical
conditioning).
● We learn to repeat acts that bring rewards and avoid acts that bring unwanted results (operant
conditioning).
● We learn by observing events and people (observational learning).
● We learn things we have neither experienced or observed (cognitive learning).
What is associative learning?
● Learning that certain events occur together
● The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence
(as in operant conditioning).
● The associations may be positive or negative.
- Positive: We tend to connect positive events when they occur in sequence.
- Negative:
What are two types of associative learning?
● Classical Conditioning: In classical conditioning, we learn to associate two stimuli and thus to
anticipate events. Stimuli are things we do not control and that we respond automatically
(involuntary responses).
● Operant Conditioning: In operant conditioning, we learn to associate a response (our behavior)
and its consequence. The behavior is voluntary, we operate on the environment to produce a
consequence.
What is habituation?
● Habituation is what happens when repeated stimulation produces waning responsiveness.
● In the sea slug’s case…he ‘got used to’ the squirts from the choppy waters…just as you might ‘get
used to’ cold ocean water after you have been in for awhile.
AP EXAM TIP: The AP® exam could have you differentiate similar concepts from various units. Fo
,example, it’s easy to confuse habituation with sensory adaptation, a concept from Unit 3.
What is the difference between habituatin and sensory adaptation?
● Habitutation: Habituation is a type of learning or relatively permanent change in behavior that
involves a reduced response as a result of repeated but not constant exposure.
● Sensory Adaptation: Sensory adaption is a perceptual phenomenon that occurs when the brain
stops recognizing a constant and unchanging stimulus.
What is a stimulus?
● Any event or situation that evokes a response
What is a responce?
● The behavior that follows the stimulus
Classical Conditioning
● Classical conditioning is a type of associative learning that involves learned involuntary
responses. We associate stimuli that we do not control, and we respond automatically (exhibiting
respondent behavior).
● Involuntary responses include salivation, blinking, sweating, and cringing or the automatic
bodily reactions to strong emotions such as fear.
How does classical conditioning occur?
● We learn that a flash of lightning signals an impending crack of thunder. These two events
typically occur together and in sequence so we associate thunder bolts with lightning…very,
very, frightening.
Operant Conditioning
● We learn to associate a response (our voluntary behavior) and its consequence
● Thus we (and other animals) learn to repeat voluntary acts followed by good results and avoid
, voluntary acts followed by bad results.
● These associations produce operant behaviors (which operate on the environment to produce a
consequence).
How does operant conditioning occur?
● We learn that a voluntary behavior or response of politeness, for example, is associated with the
consequence of receiving a cookie.
What are respondent behaviors and what are operant behaviors?
● Respondent Behanior: Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus… like
the woman tensing for the thunder boom
● Operant Behavior: Behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequence … like
the boy saying ‘please’
What is behaviorism’s view of learning
● According to John B. Watson, the science of psychology should study how organisms respond to
stimuli in their environments.
● Psychology’s “goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential
part of its methods.”
● Simply said, psychology should be an objective science based on observable behavior.
Tuesday 10/18
What did Ivan Pavlov contribute to the field of psychology?
● Pavlov spent two decades studying dogs’ digestive system and earned the Nobel Prize.
● His experiments on learning produced the phenomenon we call classical conditioning.
What is learning?
● The process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or
behaviors
● The emphasis here is on enduring…learning is very different from cramming.
● To truly learn, is to own the knowledge, skill, or idea.
What are some ways we learn?
● We learn to expect and prepare for significant events such as food or pain (classical
conditioning).
● We learn to repeat acts that bring rewards and avoid acts that bring unwanted results (operant
conditioning).
● We learn by observing events and people (observational learning).
● We learn things we have neither experienced or observed (cognitive learning).
What is associative learning?
● Learning that certain events occur together
● The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence
(as in operant conditioning).
● The associations may be positive or negative.
- Positive: We tend to connect positive events when they occur in sequence.
- Negative:
What are two types of associative learning?
● Classical Conditioning: In classical conditioning, we learn to associate two stimuli and thus to
anticipate events. Stimuli are things we do not control and that we respond automatically
(involuntary responses).
● Operant Conditioning: In operant conditioning, we learn to associate a response (our behavior)
and its consequence. The behavior is voluntary, we operate on the environment to produce a
consequence.
What is habituation?
● Habituation is what happens when repeated stimulation produces waning responsiveness.
● In the sea slug’s case…he ‘got used to’ the squirts from the choppy waters…just as you might ‘get
used to’ cold ocean water after you have been in for awhile.
AP EXAM TIP: The AP® exam could have you differentiate similar concepts from various units. Fo
,example, it’s easy to confuse habituation with sensory adaptation, a concept from Unit 3.
What is the difference between habituatin and sensory adaptation?
● Habitutation: Habituation is a type of learning or relatively permanent change in behavior that
involves a reduced response as a result of repeated but not constant exposure.
● Sensory Adaptation: Sensory adaption is a perceptual phenomenon that occurs when the brain
stops recognizing a constant and unchanging stimulus.
What is a stimulus?
● Any event or situation that evokes a response
What is a responce?
● The behavior that follows the stimulus
Classical Conditioning
● Classical conditioning is a type of associative learning that involves learned involuntary
responses. We associate stimuli that we do not control, and we respond automatically (exhibiting
respondent behavior).
● Involuntary responses include salivation, blinking, sweating, and cringing or the automatic
bodily reactions to strong emotions such as fear.
How does classical conditioning occur?
● We learn that a flash of lightning signals an impending crack of thunder. These two events
typically occur together and in sequence so we associate thunder bolts with lightning…very,
very, frightening.
Operant Conditioning
● We learn to associate a response (our voluntary behavior) and its consequence
● Thus we (and other animals) learn to repeat voluntary acts followed by good results and avoid
, voluntary acts followed by bad results.
● These associations produce operant behaviors (which operate on the environment to produce a
consequence).
How does operant conditioning occur?
● We learn that a voluntary behavior or response of politeness, for example, is associated with the
consequence of receiving a cookie.
What are respondent behaviors and what are operant behaviors?
● Respondent Behanior: Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus… like
the woman tensing for the thunder boom
● Operant Behavior: Behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequence … like
the boy saying ‘please’
What is behaviorism’s view of learning
● According to John B. Watson, the science of psychology should study how organisms respond to
stimuli in their environments.
● Psychology’s “goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential
part of its methods.”
● Simply said, psychology should be an objective science based on observable behavior.
Tuesday 10/18
What did Ivan Pavlov contribute to the field of psychology?
● Pavlov spent two decades studying dogs’ digestive system and earned the Nobel Prize.
● His experiments on learning produced the phenomenon we call classical conditioning.
