Dr.

Sara Nabeel Edward

Psychiatrist
• Learning: is a relatively permanent change in behavior due to
experience.

• Types of learning:
I- Non-associative learning
II- Associative learning
I- Non-associative learning: is a behavioral change as a result of
a presentation of one stimulus repeatedly.
It also describes learning which has no association with reward or
punishment. Common examples include:

• A- Habituation.
• B- Sensitization.
• C- Observational learning (Modeling).
A- In Habituation (also called desensitization), repeated
stimulation results in a decreased response.

• (e.g., a child who receives weekly allergy injections cries less

and less with each injection).
B- In Sensitization, repeated stimulation results in an increased
response.

• (e.g., a child who is afraid of spiders feels more anxiety each

time he encounters a spider).
C- In Observational learning (Modeling) : is learning through
observing the behavior of another person (called a model).

• (e.g., an individual behaves in a manner similar to that of

someone he or she admires).
• This type of learning is more efficient and faster than operant
learning.

• Observational learning is important in many aspects of life,

including work.

• for example, it can be used in training programs designed to

help workers interact more effectively with people from
different cultural backgrounds.
II- Associative learning: Learning that occurs when a connection
or pairing is made between a particular stimulus and a particular
response.

Two major types are:

A. Classical conditioning
B. Operant conditioning
Classical conditioning :is a form of learning first described by
Ivan Pavlov, in which an association is formed between one
stimulus and another.

• In other words Classical conditioning is a term used to describe

learning which has been acquired through experience.
Pavlov’s experiment
Components Involved In Classical Conditioning: We can gain a
better understanding of classical conditioning by looking at the
various components involved in his experiment:

•The unconditioned stimulus. (UCS)

• The conditioned stimulus. (CS)
• The unconditioned reflex/response.(UCR)
• The conditioned reflex/response. (CR)
• An Unconditioned Stimulus: is something that
automatically, without having to be learned, produces a
response (e.g., the odor of food).
• An unconditioned response is a natural, reflexive
behavior that does not have to be learned (e.g., salivation in
response to the odor of food).
• A conditioned stimulus is something that produces a
response following learning (e.g., the sound of the lunch bell).
• A conditioned response is a behavior that is learned by
an association made between a conditioned stimulus and an
unconditioned stimulus (e.g., salivation in response to the sound
of the lunch bell).
Basic concepts in classical conditioning : There are
several principles that are associated with classical conditioning,
some of these are:

• Acquisition phase
• Extinction
• Spontaneous recovery
• Stimulus generalization
• Stimulus discrimination
• Higher order conditioning
• Acquisition phase: the conditioned response (such as
salivation in response to a bell) is learned.

• Extinction: a conditioned response will disappear over time

when the conditioned stimulus is no longer presented.

• Spontaneous recovery: sometimes there is the weak

appearance of a previously extinguished response.
• Stimulus generalization: a learned response to a specific
stimulus is triggered by other, physically similar stimuli.(e.g.
children may learn that they get a reward when they clean their
bedroom, and so they generalize that behavior to cleaning
other areas of the house.)
• Stimulus discrimination: is a process diametrically
opposite to generalization; in many situations associative
learning can be very selective. In such cases, learned responses
are made only to specific stimuli and not to other similar stimuli
(e.g. a child may be afraid of dogs but not all four-legged
animals)
• Higher-order conditioning: refers to the use of an already
conditioned stimulus CS1 as UCS for the next level of
conditioning and eliciting a CR for another stimulus CS2. In this
way second order and subsequently higher order conditioning
are possible. Animals do not respond higher than 4th order
usually.
Types of classical conditioning:

Delayed or forward conditioning: CS (bell) presented before

UCS (food); the CS+ UCS pairing continued till UCR (saliva)
appears

Backward conditioning: UCS (food) presented before CS (bell) –

not useful in animals; used in advertising.
• Simultaneous conditioning: UCS + CS presented together –
often the case of learning in real life situations.

• Trace conditioning: CS presented and removed before UCS

presented – conditioning depends on memory trace.
Clinical applications of Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning has been used as a successful form of

treatment in changing or modifying behaviors, such smoking.
Dr. Sara Nabeel Edward
Psychiatrist
• Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumental
conditioning) : is a method of learning that occurs through
rewards and punishments for behavior.

• Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a

behavior and a consequence for that behavior.
• Behaviorist B.F. Skinner coined the term
operant conditioning, which is why it is
also referred as Skinnerian conditioning.
• Skinner introduced a new term which is - Reinforcement.

• Behavior that is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e.

strengthened); behavior that is not reinforced tends to die out-
or be extinguished (i.e. weakened).
• In operant conditioning, a behavior that is not part of the
organism’s natural repertoire can be learned through reward
or punishment.
Features of Operant Conditioning:

Example: A mother would like her 8-year-old son to

stop hitting his 6-year-old brother. She can achieve this
goal by using one of the following features of operant
conditioning:
A. Reinforcers : are any event that strengthens or increases
the behavior it follows.

There are two kinds of reinforcers:

1. Positive reinforcers
2. Negative reinforcers
1. Positive reinforcers :are favorable events or outcomes
that are presented after the behavior.

Effect on Behavior : Behavior is increased by reward.

Example : Child increases his kind behavior toward his

younger brother to get praise from his mother
2. Negative reinforcers : involve the removal of an
unfavorable events or outcomes after the display of a
behavior.

Effect on Behavior : Behavior is increased by avoidance

or escape

Example : Child increases his kind behavior toward his

younger brother to avoid being scolded
 Schedules of Reinforcement

The pattern, or schedule, of reinforcement affects

how quickly a behavior is learned and how quickly a
behavior becomes extinct when it is not rewarded.
B. Punishment : is the introduction of an aversive stimulus
that reduces the occurrence of an unwanted behavior.

Effect on Behavior : Delivery of scolding decreases

unwanted behavior (hitting brother) rapidly but not permanently.

Example : Child decreases his hitting behavior after his

mother scolds him
Possible Side Effects and Problems with Punishment:

1. Elicitation of undesirable emotional response and aggression

2. Escape and Avoidance
3. Increased rate of the problem behavior
4. Modeling undesirable behavior
5. Not teaching the learner what to do
6. Temporary suppression
7. Learned helplessness
C. Extinction : Behavior is eliminated by nonreinforcement.

Effect on Behavior : Extinction is more effective than

punishment for long-term reduction in unwanted behavior but
there may be an initial increase in hitting behavior before it
disappears

Example : Child stops his hitting behavior when the behavior

is ignored
Applications of operant condioning:

It is being used to help people as well as animals with a

wide variety of everyday behavior problems for example,
animals such as primates have been trained to assist physically
disabled individuals by feeding and caring for them.
I. Personal Factors:

• Age: it can influence the capability of learning; a child cannot

learn the things what elders can learn and an aged person
will have difficulty to learn modern ways of knowledge.

• Intelligence: learning is generally easier among those with

higher degrees of intelligence
• Attention: if a person does not pay attention towards how to
learn a specific knowledge, he cannot learn skills easily
• Motivations: strong motives help learning.

 External rewards(extrinsic motivation) are often used to

increase motivation to learn.
 Sometimes people are motivated simply by the satisfaction of
learning (intrinsic motivation).
 This type of motivation can be even more powerful than
extrinsic motivation.
• Emotional state and mental health: anxiety and depression
impair the process of learning.

• Physical health: sensory deprivations (i.e., blindness,

deafness…..) and physical health could affect learning.
II. External Factors

• Methods of learning: every individual has its own learning

preference that he responds more to it.

• Previous learning help in acquisition of new materials:

Psychologists and educators recognize that new learning can
benefit from old learning because learning one thing helps in
learning something else. This process is called transfer of
training.
• Nature of knowledge: If knowledge is interesting in nature,
any individual can learn it more efficiently.

• Environmental factors : weather, noise, light etc. may impair

or facilitate learning process.
 Behavioral techniques have been used to eliminate unwanted
habits, such as smoking. They also used to treat medical conditions
such as obesity and cardiovascular disease.

A. Relaxation
B. Systematic desensitization
C. Flooding
D. Aversive therapy
E. Token economy
F. Cognitive therapy
G. Biofeedback
H. Shaping
A. Relaxation: involves training clients in deep muscle
relaxation during feared situation or object.
B. Systematic desensitization :It is used to eliminate
phobias (irrational fear)

1. An individual is exposed to the frightening stimulus doses in

conjunction with relaxation procedures.

2. Since relaxation is incompatible with fear , the relaxed patient

is less likely to be anxious or fearful when the frightening stimulus
is presented.
C. Flooding A behavioral therapy used to treat phobias,
during which clients are exposed to the feared object or event
for an extended period until their anxiety decreases.

In vivo flooding, the real-life experience, works faster and is

more effective than simply imagining the feared
object
D. Aversion therapy: A behavior therapy in which an
aversive stimulus is paired with an undesirable behavior until the
behavior becomes associated with pain and discomfort.

For example : Alcoholics are sometimes given a nausea-

producing substance such as Antibes, which reacts violently with
alcohol and causes a person to retch and vomit until the stomach
is empty
E. Token economy :a behavioral technique that uses positive
reinforcement, based on operant conditioning.

It has been used in mental hospital wards and in working

with mentally retarded.

Each desired behavior is rewarded with a token

reinforcement. Tokens are later exchanged for desired objects
such as candy or dessert.
F. Cognitive therapy : is a method of short –term
psychotherapy (up to 25 weeks) that deals specifically with
depression and anxiety.
A patient’s distorted , negative way of thinking is
reorganized and substituted with self – enhancing thoughts.

Behavioral techniques used in conjunction with cognitive

therapy help patients structure their time and gain a sense of
mastery and accomplishment in their daily activities.
G. Biofeedback: involves learning to gain control over
physiologic parameters. It is based on three fundemtal principles of
operant conditioning:

1. The physiologic parameter must be measurable

2. The patient must receive continuous information about the physiologic

parameter.

3. The patient must have a high degree of motivation to learn because

it requires a great deal of practice.

For example: Biofeedback training for voluntary control of the

automatic system has been used to treat hypertension, and asthma.
H. Shaping: involves rewarding
closer and closer approximately of the
wanted behavior until the correct
behavior is achieved.