CHAPTER 7: LEARNING
PSYC& 100
Adam Wright
Learning
Acquiring new knowledge, skills, and
responses from experience, changing the
learner
There are many types of learning
Learning can be deliberate and
conscious, accidental, or unconscious
Types of Learning I
Habituation: repeatedly encountering a
stimulus eventually causes a response decrease
A loud noise could signify a threat. After hearing
the noise over and over, we learn it’s not threat
related and stop responding to it. But a new loud
noise . . . ?
People with ADHD and/or giftedness don’t
habituate or habituate more slowly, which can
make them seem fussy or easily distracted (not
being able to habituate looks the same as choosing
to not pay attention)
Sensitization: when exposure to a stimulus
leads to an increased response to associated
stimuli afterward
Types of Learning II
Observational learning: learning by watching
others
Also called modeling, because the one being
observed is a “model” to learn from
E.g., Bandura’s Bobo doll studies:
[Link]
E
An efficient and effective way to learn, used by
many professions, but not as good as practice
and can cause problems like slow adaptation of
new teaching techniques
The one being observed does NOT need to be
considered a role model by the learner
Similar to but not the same as social comparison
Types of Learning III
Implicit learning: learning that happens
unconsciously and without directed effort
Shows less individual variation than conscious
(explicit) forms of learning, although learning
disabilities like dyslexia seem to affect it
Uses different parts of the brain than explicit
learning
Examples of things you’ve learned without trying to?
As with all learning, it’s possible to learn wrong or
incorrect knowledge and behaviors. But with implicit
learning, the learner is unaware of having learned.
So, what can be done to fight bad learning?
Types of Learning IV
Classical conditioning: learning to respond to
something that initially does not cause a
response by linking it with something that
initially does cause a response
Operant conditioning: learning from the
consequences of responses to stimuli
“Should I do that again next time, or do something else?”
Both based on the idea that stimuli cause
responses
Researched by behaviorists, who chose not to study
what?
Classical Conditioning I
Start with:
Unconditioned Unconditioned
Stimulus (US) Response (UR)
A stimulus that The natural
naturally causes a response to the
certain response in a unconditioned
creature stimulus
We pull our hands
out of the water so
Really hot water
we don't get burned
comes out of a
(and so we don't
sink's faucet
wash off those
healthy skin oils)
Classical Conditioning II
Next, choose what to teach to get a
response: Choose a Neutral
Stimulus (NS)
A stimulus that does
not cause a natural
response
Nothing. We don't
When a green light know what it means
next to the sink so at first, we don't
turns on . . . do anything when it
turns on
Classical Conditioning III
Repeatedly present the US with the NS
When really hot
Each time, we pull
water (US) comes
our hands out of the
out, the green light
hot water (UR)
turns on (NS)
We begin to respond to the NS as if it’s the
US . . . we pull our
The (NS) green light
hands out of the
becomes a
water. That's a
Conditioned
Conditioned
Stimulus (CS).
Response (CR) to
When the light turns
the light; we react to
on . . .
it like hot water (US)
Therefore, a CR is the same as or similar to a UR
Extinction & Spontaneous Recovery
Extinction: after the CS is presented without the
US many times, the creature stops responding to
the CS as if it’s the US, and the CR ceases
If the light starts to turn on when the water is cold or
after hot water has burned us, we stop reacting to the
"broken" light
Some responses may never go extinct, as in the study
on . . . ?
Spontaneous recovery: when a break is taken
after extinction, the CS may trigger the CR again,
but weakly
If we stop using that sink for a while and then use it
again, we might flinch when the green light comes on
Classical Conditioning IV
Classical conditioning can occur with and
without intention to learn
E.g., addicts' bodies prepare themselves to
receive drugs when addicts go to locations
where they often take drugs (see p. 264)
Because people are complex, a conditioned
stimulus can be complex; it can be a place, a
scent, a taste, an area the looks like another
area*, a combination of these, and so on
*A similar but different stimulus can trigger the
same CR as a CS, because of the
generalization of conditioned stimuli
E.g., a conditioned taste aversion
Operant Conditioning
Stimulus Chosen response Consequence
Notice the differences from classical conditioning
Based on operant behavior: behavior a creature actively
does that changes the creature’s surroundings, i.e., not
automatic
Consequences have an effect on which behavior is
chosen the next time the stimulus is encountered
Consequences that make it more likely the chosen
response will be the same are called reinforcers. People
like them
Consequences that make it less likely the chosen
response will be the same are called punishers. People
do not like them
After blowing an interview, you visit an employee who
caught your eye and say, “I didn’t get the job, but I’d
like to get you~” Reinforcers? Punishers?
Reinforcers & Punishers
Reinforcers and punishers can be positive
or negative
Think in terms of math, not good/bad
Positive (+) Positive (+)
reinforcers ADD to punishers ADD to the
the consequences to consequences to make
make the behavior the behavior less likely
more likely > i.e., ADD something
> i.e., ADD something you dislike
you like
Negative (-) Negative (-)
reinforcers punishers SUBTRACT
SUBTRACT from the from the consequences
consequences to make to make the behavior
the behavior more less likely
Reinforcers Versus
Punishers
Reinforcers are generally more powerful
than punishers
Punishers don’t teach what should be done
In response to punishers, people may seek
to avoid the punishment rather than change
behavior
Examples?
Punishers need to be consistent, which
requires effort, time, and resources
Punishers can raise ethical concerns: what if
the one doing the punishing is motivated to
punish?
Schedules of
In addition,Reinforcement
the timing of reinforcers and
punishers matters. How they are timed is
referred to as a schedule of reinforcement
Reinforcers and punishers are most effective
when they happen right after the behavior,
without delay
This helps explain the addictiveness of drugs
When presented intermittently but at a
consistently average rate (variable ratio),
extinction is difficult. When presented at a
fixed interval (always know when
reward/punisher is coming), extinction is
easier