Review of Key Concepts and Terms (Unit 4)

Learning
(7-9% of the AP exam/curriculum)

Some psychologists focus their study on how humans and other animals learn and how some experiences can lead to changes in
behavior and mental processes. Because the process of learning requires both physiological and psychological processes to work
together, the two preceding units provide the foundation for this unit. Many psychologists who study learning focus on observable
behaviors and how those behaviors can be changed or reinforced. Other learning psychologists study how the individual’s
observations of other peoples’ behaviors influence changes in that individual’s mental processes and resulting behaviors.

Topic 4.1: Introduction to Learning

Learning Target 4.A
Identify the contributions of key researchers in the psychology of learning.

ALBERT BANDURA
● Best known for his Social Learning Theory
○ Learning happens by observing others and modeling their behaviors
○ Occurs from a combination of environmental and psychological factors
○ Famous aggression experiment using a Bobo doll

IVAN PAVLOV
● Best known for his work describing Classical Conditioning
○ Through his study of digestion in dogs, he observed that the dogs owl salivate at the mere sight of food
○ Famous experiment in which he conditioned dogs to salivate in response to the sound of a bell by building an
association between the bell and food
○ Laid the foundation for Behaviorism

ROBERT RESCORLA
● Expanded on Pavlov’s work; focused on Contingency Theory
○ Interested in the frequency or the number of times an association was made
○ Positive contingency = association between the bell and food is close, or strong
■ (bell)(food)------------(bell)(food)----------(bell)(food)----------(bell)...
○ Negative contingency = dog is less likely to anticipate food at the sound of the bell
■ (bell)(food)-----(bell)(bell)----(food)---------------(food)------(bell)...

B.F. SKINNER
● Best known for developing the theory of Operant Conditioning
○ Uses reinforcers or consequences to change behavior.
○ According to this theory, the rate at which a certain behavior occurs is determined not by what precedes it, but by
the consequence that follows it.
○ Famous experiments involving the Skinner Box which was used to study rats and pigeons
EDWARD THORNDIKE
● Best known for his work on Learning Theory
○ Studied how cats learned to escape from a puzzle box
○ Concluded it escape was a process of learning / trial and error, rather than mere insight
○ Developed the Law of Effect
■ When a behavior is followed by a desirable consequence, it becomes associated with that situation so
that the behavior becomes more likely to be performed when the same situation is encountered and vice
versa
○ His work later leads to the development of Operant Conditioning

EDWARD TOLMAN
● Best known for his theory on Latent Learning
○ States that learning occurs even if there is no reward
○ Demonstrated this in an experiment where rats were trained to run a maze without a reward. After a few days, a
reward was introduced and the rats began to run the maze faster
○ Concluded that the rats had developed a “mental map” of the maze when they were not being rewarded

JOHN B. WATSON
● Father of Behaviorism
○ Emphasizes objective and observable data such as people’s behavior and reactions, as opposed to internal
processes that cannot be observed like mental states or thought processes
● Most famous for the controversial Little Albert Experiment
○ Trained 9-month old Albert to fear a white rat by pairing it with a loud sound
○ The fear was then generalized to other furry white objects

JOHN GARCIA
● Best known for his work with Conditioned Taste Aversion
○ An aversion or distaste for a particular taste or smell that was associated with a negative reaction (such as nausea
or vomiting)
○ Discovered while studying the effects of radiation on mice
○ The “Garcia Effect” occurs in patients undergoing treatment for cancer who are exposed to radiation as treatment
or when humans have a bad reaction occur as a result of ingesting a particular food or drink
 Learning Target 4.B
Interpret graphs that exhibit the results of learning experiments.

Explain how the graph to the right, based on Pavlov’s experiments with salivating dogs,
demonstrates generalization and discrimination.

Pavlov conditioned salivation to stimulation of the thigh. The graph shows the greatest number
of drops of saliva correlated to the stimulation of the thigh. When Pavlov began to stimulate
other areas of the dog’s body, he found that the closer to the thigh the stimulation occurred, the
more saliva was emitted. The dog generalized its salivary response to electric stimulation of
nearby parts—the pelvis, the trunk. The dog discriminated its response when the stimulation
occurred very far from the thigh —the front paw stimulation yielded significantly fewer drops of
saliva.

Explain how the graph to the right demonstrates extinction and spontaneous recovery.

The strength of the conditioned response in Pavlovian conditioning

increases during the training phase as the US is presented with the
NS. Once the CR reaches a peak, the CS is then presented without
the US. The response wears off until it is extinguished. There is a
time break and then when the CS is reintroduced, there is
spontaneous recovery of the CR, although at a lower strength than
the previous peak and then with repeated introduction of the CS
without the US, the CR extinguishes once again.

Explain how the graph to the right demonstrates the impact of various reinforcement schedules of learning.

1. Ratio schedules (number of responses) produce higher numbers

of responses than interval schedules.
2. Fewer reinforcers are needed with variable ratio schedules than
with fixed ratio schedules to achieve the same # of responses.
3. Responses increase near times of reinforcement in fixed
interval schedules

4. Variable schedules produce more consistent responses than

fixed schedules.

Explain how the graph to the right demonstrates Thorndike’s law of effect.

Performance improves with more success. Behaviors that worked become more
likely.
 Learning Target 4.C
Describe the essential characteristics of insight learning, latent learning, and social learning.

Insight Learning (Wolfgang Köhler)

● This is an extension of the term,
insight which was identified by
Wolfgang Köhler while studying
the behavior of chimpanzees. He
said that insight learning is a type
of learning or problem solving that
happens all-of-a-sudden through
understanding the relationships
between various parts of a
problem rather than through trial
and error.
● Sultan, one of Köhler's chimpanzees, learned to use a stick to pull bananas from outside of his cage by putting
pieces of stick together. Given two sticks that could be fitted together to make a single pole that was long
enough to reach the bananas, aligned the sticks and in a flash of sudden inspiration, fitted the two sticks
together and pulled in the bananas. He didn't do this by trial and error, but had a sort of sudden inspiration or
insight.

Latent learning (Edward Tolman)

● Learning becomes obvious only once reinforcement is given for
demonstrating it; Tolman used rats in a maze that were reinforced halfway
through - performance improved
○ Believed the rats developed cognitive maps or mental
representations of an area that allow navigation if blocked.

Observational / Social Learning Theory (Albert Bandura)

● The process of acquiring information by observing others. Learning to tie
your shoe by observing another individual perform the task would be an
example of observational learning.
● The Bandura BoBo doll study: illustrated that children learn by watching
others who display aggression (modeling)
○ Prosocial – helping behaviors
○ Antisocial – mean behaviors
 Learning Target 4.D
Apply learning principles to explain emotional learning, taste aversion, superstitious behavior, and learned helplessness.

Emotional Learning (also known as Conditioned Emotional

Response)
● Remember that John B. Watson (and his graduate student
Rosalie Raynor) conditioned fear in Little Albert. His
experiment presents an example of how classical
conditioning can be used to condition an emotional
response.
● In addition to demonstrating that emotional responses could
be conditioned in humans, Watson also observed that
stimulus generalization had occurred. After conditioning,
Albert feared not just the white rat, but a wide variety of
similar white objects as well. His fear included other furry
objects including Raynor's fur coat and Watson wearing a
Santa Claus beard.

Taste Aversion
● With taste aversion, the mind develops a resistance towards a certain food. In simpler terms, eating certain types of food
can cause a bad reaction. This is a form of classical conditioning when the body uses a natural instinct as a means of
protection. This is also called a survival mechanism. It warns the body if a type of food (berries or mushrooms) is harmful.
● A person can acquire a taste aversion to a type of food, due to circumstances, as well. For example, an individual may eat
lasagna at an early age and become sick. The sickness may be caused by any reason-(bad tomato in the sauce or the meat
not thoroughly cooked). Regardless of the reason, that individual may have a negative reaction to eating lasagna any given
time after the experience.
● Research done by John Garcia showed rats become averse to their food when associated with radiation treatments.

Superstitious Behavior
● Superstitious behavior is the product of a reinforcer or punisher (operant conditioning) occurring
shortly after an unrelated behavior.
● EXAMPLE: You are walking down the street and a black cat runs in front of your path. Seconds
later, you trip and fall flat on your face. The fall (a reinforcer) is connected to the cat (unrelated
behavior) to condition you to believe there is a connection (black cats are bad luck).
● Skinner's Pigeon Experiment revealed that even pigeons can be conditioned to develop
superstitious behaviours in belief that they will be fed.

Learned Helplessness (Seligman)

● When an organism (person, animal, etc.) is prevented from avoiding some
aversive stimulus repeatedly (e.g., continuous electric shocks) the organism will
reach a state in which it becomes passive and depressed because he believes
that there are no actions it can take to avoid the aversive stimulus. Essentially,
the organism just gives up trying to avoid it and just takes the aversive stimulus.
Thus, the organism learns that it is helpless against the aversive stimulus.
 ● No matter what you do you never get a
positive outcome so you just give up Learned
Helplessness

Learning Target 4.E

Provide examples of how biological constraints create learning predispositions.

Biological Preparedness and Constraints

● Pavlov and Watson believed that laws of learning were similar for all animals. Therefore, a pigeon and a person do not differ in
their learning.

○ However, behaviorists later suggested that learning is constrained by an animal’s biology. Certain organisms make learned
associations with some type of stimuli easier than other stimuli.

○ John Garcia studied rats and found that due to their excellent sense of smell and weaker vision, they were more likely to
respond to odors during classical conditioning.

○ While biological preparedness influences the type of associations best learned by a particular
animal, biological constraints are limitations imposed by biology on a species in terms of what they
are capable of learning.
• Biological preparedness suggests that humans are more likely to develop phobias of objects and situations that
would have posed danger in the past to our ancestors, such as confined places, heights, darkness, snakes, and
spiders.

• Humans are the only organisms capable of language (biological preparedness), but humans are not capable of
breathing under water and cannot learn that skill (biological constraint)

Topic 4.2: Classical Conditioning

Learning Target 4.F
Describe basic classical conditioning phenomena.
Pavlov’s classic experiment with dogs. (Classical Conditioning)
● Pavlov noticed that dogs salivated (UCR) to various stimuli associated with meat (UCS). He then paired the
ringing bell with the giving of the meat. After several repetitions, Pavlov found that the dogs salivated (CR) to the
sound of the bell.
○ Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): brings about response w/o needing to be learned (food)
○ Unconditioned Response (UCR): response that naturally occurs w/o training (salivate)
○ Neutral Response (NS): stimulus that normally doesn’t evoke a response (bell)
○ Conditioned Stimulus (CS): once neutral stimulus that now brings about a response (bell)
○ Conditioned Response (CR): response that, after conditioning, follows a CS (salivate)

● Contiguity: Timing of the pairing, NS/CS must be presented immediately BEFORE the UCS
● Acquisition: process of learning the response pairing
● Extinction: previously conditioned response dies out over time; the CS is disconnected from the US and no
longer causes the CR to occur
● Spontaneous Recovery: After a period of time the CR comes back out of nowhere (from extinction)
● Generalization: CR to like stimuli (similar sounding bell)
● Stimulus Discrimination: the ability to distinguish between a CS and stimuli that do not signal an US; CR to ONLY
the CS
● Higher-Order Learning: the CS in one conditioning experience is paired with a new NS, creating a second (often
weaker) CS. For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might learn that a light predicts
the tone and begins responding to the light
alone.

Watson’s experiment with Little Albert

(Father of Behaviorism)
● Watson took Pavlov's research a step further by
showing that emotional reactions could be classically
conditioned in people.
○ Neutral Stimulus: A stimulus that does not
initially elicit a response (the white rat).
○ Unconditioned Stimulus: A stimulus that
 elicits a reflexive response (the loud noise).
○ Unconditioned Response: A natural reaction to a given stimulus (fear).
○ Conditioned Stimulus: A stimulus that elicits a response after repeatedly being paired with an unconditioned
stimulus (the white rat).
○ Conditioned Response: The response caused by the conditioned stimulus (fear).

CONTINGENCY MODEL: Rescorla & Wagner – classical conditioning involves cognitive processes

CONDITIONED TASTE AVERSION (ONE-TRIAL LEARNING): John Garcia – Innate predispositions can
allow classical conditioning to occur in one trial (food poisoning)

COUNTERCONDITIONING (EXPOSURE THERAPY /

DESENSITIZATION): Mary Cover Jones
○ If Watson used conditioning to teach fear, Jones
thought of using classical/direct conditioning to
unlearn fear. For instance, she helped Little Peter
overcome his fear of rabbits by systematically pairing
the animal with his favorite food which is candy.

Learning Target 4.G

Distinguish general differences between principles of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational
learning.

Classical A type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli
Conditioning and anticipate events; learning is involuntary and automatic

A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed

Operant
by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher; learn
Conditioning through your own actions

Observationa
Learn by observing others
l Learning

In summary, the processes of generalization, discrimination, extinction, and spontaneous recovery occur in both
classical and operant conditioning. Both types of conditioning depend on associative learning. In classical conditioning,
an association is formed between two stimuli – for example, a tone and food, a white rat and a loud noise, a product and
a celebrity. In operant conditioning, the association is established between a response and its consequences – studying
hard and a high test grade, or, in the world of rats, bar pressing and food.
 In classical conditioning, the focus is on what precedes the response. Pavlov focused on what led up to the
salivation in his dogs, not on what happened after they salivated. In operant conditioning, the focus is on what follows
the response. If a rat’s bar pressing or your studying is followed by a reinforcer, that response is more likely to occur in
the future.
Generally, in classical conditioning, the subject is passive and responds to the environment rather than acting
on it. In operant conditioning, the subject is active and operates on the environment. Children do something to get their
parents’ attention or their praise.

Classical and Operant Conditioning Compared

Characteristics Classical Conditioning Operant Conditioning

Between a response and its

Types of association Between two stimuli
consequences

State of subject Passive Active

Focus of attention On what precedes the response On what follows the response

Types of response
Involuntary or reflexive response Voluntary response
typically involved

External responses; muscular and

Bodily response Internal responses; emotional and
skeletal movement and verbal
typically involved glandular reactions
responses

Range of responses Relative simple Simple to highly complex

Emotional reactions: fear, likes,

Responses learned Goal-oriented responses
dislikes

Classical Conditioning BASIC PROCESSES Operant Conditioning

Acquisition occurs when a CS and US are ACQUISITION is the formation of a Acquisition occurs when a response
paired, gradually resulting in a CR. conditioned response tendency. gradually increases due to contingent
reinforcement.
Acquisition depends on stimulus
 contiguity (sequential occurrence), which Acquisition may involve shaping - the
is a temporal (timed) association between reinforcement of closer and closer
events. approximations of the desired response.

Extinction occurs when a CS is repeatedly Extinction occurs when responding

presented alone until it no longer elicits a gradually slows and stops after
CR. EXTINCTION is the gradual reinforcement is terminated.

Spontaneous recovery is the

weakening of a conditioned Resistance to extinction occurs when an
reappearance of an extinguished response tendence organism continues to make a response
response after a period of nonexposure to after reinforcement for it has been
the CS. terminated.

Generalization occurs when a CR is GENERALIZATION occurs when an Generalization occurs when responding
elicited by a new stimulus that resembles increases in the presence of a stimulus that
the original CS, as in Watson and Rayner’s
organism responds to new stimuli resembles the original discriminative
study of Little Albert. besides the original stimulus stimulus.

Discrimination occurs when responding

Discrimination occurs when a CR is not does not increase in the presence of a
elicited by a new stimulus that resembles DISCRIMINATION occurs when an stimulus that resembles the original
the original CS. organism does not respond to discriminate stimulus.
other stimuli that resemble the
Higher-order conditioning occurs when a original stimulus. Primary reinforcers are inherently
CS functions as if it were a UCS. reinforcing, whereas secondary reinforcers
develop through learning.

Topic 4.3: Operant Conditioning

Learning Target 4.H
Predict the effects of operant conditioning.

Edward Thorndike
● Conducted experiments using a cat in a puzzle box. Watched how cat learned to get out of the cage in order to
get food (reinforcer)
● The time required for the cat to get out of the
box decreased over a series of trials
● Law of Effect: if the consequences of a behavior
are pleasant, the stimulus-response connection
will be strengthened and the likelihood of the
behavior will increase. The reverse is also true.
● Coined his findings as instrumental learning
because Thorndike believed that learning
consequences is instrumental in shaping future
behaviors.
B.F. Skinner
● Coined the term operant conditioning
● Invented the Skinner box to use in his research
 ● Used food as a reinforcer

PRINCIPLES OF OPERANT CONDITIONING:

● Positive Reinforcement: Add something nice to increase a behavior (gold star for turning in HW)
● Negative Reinforcement: Take away something bad/annoying to increase a behavior (put on seatbelt to take
away annoying car signal)
● Positive Punishment: Add something bad to decrease a behavior (spanking)
● Negative Punishment: Take away something good to decrease a behavior (take away car keys)

● Primary Reinforcers: innately satisfying (food and water)

● Secondary Reinforcers: everything else (stickers, high-fives)
○ Token Reinforcer: type of secondary- can be exchanged for other stuff (game tokens or money)

● Generalization: respond to similar stimulus for reward

● Discrimination: stimulus signals when behavior will or will not be reinforced (light on means response are
accepted)
● Extinction / Spontaneous Recovery: same as classical conditioning
● Premack Principle: high probability activities reinforce low probability activities (get extra min at recess if you
everyone turns in their HW)
● Overjustification Effect: reinforcing behaviors that are intrinsically motivating causes you to stop doing them
(give a child 5$ for reading when they already like to read – they stop reading)
● Shaping: use successive approximations to train behavior (reward desired behaviors to teach a response – rat
basketball)
● Chaining: tie together several behaviors

SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT
● Continuous Reinforcement schedule: Receive reward for every response
● Fixed Ratio schedule: Reward every X number of response (every 10 envelopes stuffed get $$)
● Fixed Interval schedule: Reward every X amount of time passed (every 2 weeks get a paycheck)
● Variable Ratio schedule: Rewarded after a random number of responses (slot machine)
● Variable Interval schedule: Rewarded after a random amount of time has passed (fishing)
● Variable schedules are most resistant to extinction (how long will you keep playing a slot machine before you
think its broken?)

Learning Target 4.I

Predict how practice schedules of reinforcement, other aspects of reinforcement, and motivation will influence quality
of learning.

The Effects of Reinforcement and Punishment

Reinforcement Punishment
 (decrease or suppresses a behavior)
(increase or strengthens a behavior) ● May result in side effects such as negative emotional responses and
increased aggressive behavior

● When used for disciplinary reasons, punishment should be applied

swiftly, just severe enough to be effective, explained, and not physical

Adding a Negative (positive punishment)

Adding a Positive (positive reinforcement)

Delivering a pain-producing or otherwise aversive stimulus,

Presenting food, money, praise, attention, or other rewards.
such as a spanking or electric shock.

Subtracting a Negative (negative reinforcement)

Removing or terminating some pain-producing or otherwise Subtracting a Positive (negative punishment)

aversive stimulus, such as an electric shock or taking medicine
for a headache.
Removing some pleasant stimulus or taking away privileges
such as TV watching or use of automobile.
Plays a key role in escape and avoidance learning.

Reinforcement Schedules Compared

Schedule of Reinforcement Response Rate Pattern of Responses Resistance to Extinction

Steady response with low

ratio. Brief pause after each The higher the ratio, the more
Fixed-ratio schedule Very high
reinforcement with very high resistance to extinction.
ratio.

Constant response pattern, no

Variable-ratio schedule Highest response rate Most resistance to extinction.
pauses

Long pause after

The longer the interval, the
Fixed-interval schedule Lowest response rate reinforcement, followed by
more resistance to extinction.
gradual acceleration.

More resistance to extinction

Variable-interval schedule Moderate Stable, uniform response. than fixed-interval schedule
with same average interval.
 Topic 4.4: Social and Cognitive Factors in Learning
Learning Target 4.J
Suggest how behavior modification, biofeedback, coping strategies, and self-control can be used to address behavioral
problems.

Behavior Modification
● A type of behavioral therapy in which the principles of Operant Conditioning (reinforcement, punishments, etc.)
are used to eliminate some types of unwanted, maladaptive, behavior.
○ For example, a person may feel that they no longer want to smoke (the maladaptive behavior) and so
the person is given a favorite piece of candy every time a cigarette is desired but refused. So, when the
person wants a cigarette but does not have one, they get a piece of their favorite candy as a reward.
○ Also known as Counterconditioning. Research by Mary Cover Jones with Little Peter to see if she could
do the opposite of Watson’s work with Little Albert

Biofeedback
● A method of behavior modification that uses principles of operant conditioning to change a maladaptive
behavior. With this method, a person is presented with visual or auditory information about some internal,
involuntary process. The information is actual feedback about the internal process that the person can use to
increase control of the internal process.
○ For example, a person suffering from stress can be hooked up to a biofeedback machine that creates a
sound whenever the person starts getting stressed (increased heart rate, blood pressure, etc., would
cause the machine to produce the sound). By paying attention to the sounds, the person can use
relaxation techniques when there are some internal changes due to the stress - even if they are not yet
feeling them, the effects can be identified by the machine and then controlled by the person. Over time,
the goal is to be able to control these behaviors without the use of the machine.

Self-Control
● The ability to delay the satisfaction of immediate desires for a long-term benefit - is effective in addressing
behavior problems and correlates significantly with happiness.
● In studies, this ability has predicted good adjustment, better grades, and social success.
● A perceived lack of control provokes an outpouring of hormones that put people’s health at risk.

Locus of Control
● Locus of control is the perception of where control over life events resides
○ An internal locus of control is the belief that people have the ability to control their lives, choices, and
the world. They direct their life (life does not just happen) and they can influence people and situations.
However, people with an internal locus of control are also more likely to blame themselves for
circumstances beyond their control.
○ People with a high external locus of control believe that they have little or no control over their lives or
over what other people do. These people tend to be fatalistic, passive, and accepting.