[Short notes]

Topic 3: Learning
Note: Read reference textbooks

Definition
• Learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by
experience or practice
• Learning does not apply to temporary changes in behavior such as those stemming
from fatigue, illness or drugs.
• Learning does not refer to changes resulting from maturation. Growth and
development also modify behaviors however these are not resultant of learning.
Reflexes and instincts help an organism adapt to its environment and do not have
to be learned.
• Learning can result from vicarious (observation) as well as from direct
experiences- you can be affected by observing events and behavior in your
environment as well as by participating in it.
• Rate of learning varies at different stages for different individuals and for different
activities.
• Brain areas responsible for learning includes hippocampus, amygdala brain stem
and cerebellum.

Perspectives on learning
Associative learning
• Classical conditioning- Learning that some stimuli signal others
• Operant conditioning- Learning based on consequences
Social Learning
• Observational- Learning through modelling
Cognitive Learning
• Latent learning- mental calculations

Classical conditioning
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist
🠶 In classical conditioning, the stimulus (a physical event) that initially doesn't elicit a
particular response gradually acquires a capacity to elicit that response as a repeated
paring with a stimulus that can normally elicit a reaction.
🠶 For example: Most of the time ABC eats broccoli she felt sick therefore she associate
broccoli with sickness. The appearance, taste even smell could evoke uneasiness and
intense dislike for ABC.
🠶 Basic principles of classical conditioning have been derived through Pavlov’s
research on digestive system of dogs.

Classical conditioning experiment: Pavlov devised an experiment in which he produced

a sound of a bell just before the food was brought into the room. A ringing bell does not
usually elicit salivation. But after a specific number of pairing between the food and the
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 bell the dog began to salivates as soon as the bell rang. It is because the dog had learned
that the bell signalised the appearance of food. And its mouth watered even if no food is
followed. The dog was conditioned to salivate in response to a new stimulus, which would
not normally have caused that response.

CR and UCR are very similar [salivation]. The difference is the stimulus to which the response
received. An UCS always followed by an UCR and a CS always followed by a CR.

1) Before conditioning, an unconditioned stimulus (food) produces an unconditioned

response (salivation), and a neutral stimulus (bell) does not produce a response.
2) During conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus (food) is presented repeatedly just
after the presentation of the neutral stimulus (bell).
3) After conditioning, the neutral stimulus alone produces a conditioned response
(salivation), thus becoming a conditioned stimulus.

Neutral Stimulus (NS) In classical conditioning, a stimulus that has no effect on the
desired response prior to conditioning.
Unconditioned In classical conditioning, a naturally occurring stimulus that leads
Stimulus (UCS) to an involuntary and unlearned response
[food]
Unconditioned In classical conditioning, an involuntary and unlearned response
Response to a naturally occurring or unconditioned stimulus.
(UCR) [salivation]
Conditioned Stimulus In classical conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus that
(CS) [bell sound] becomes able to produce a conditioned response after pairing
with an unconditioned stimulus
Conditioned Response In classical conditioning, a learned response to a conditioned
(CR) [salivation to bell stimulus.
sound]

If you find yourself crying at the mere sight of a hypodermic needle. Your crying is a CR to
the CS of the needle. The pain of the shot would be the original UCS.
Conditioning is the very simplest form of learning; it happens to individuals all time without
them being aware of it.

Basic principles govern the cooccurrence of Classical Conditioning

1) Acquisition
2) Extinction
3) Generalization and discrimination
4) Higher order conditioning

Acquisition
The process by which a conditioned stimulus acquires the ability to elicit a conditioned
response through repeated pairings of an unconditioned stimulus with the conditioned
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stimulus. It refers the speed in which the a CR is acquired or established.
Factors influencing the acquisition of CR include:
1) Number of CS-UCS pairing: Acquisition proceeds quite rapidly at first, increasing
as the number of pairings between conditioned and unconditioned stimulus.
However, there is a limit to this effect; after a number of pairings of CS and UCS,
acquisition slows down and finally levels off.

2) Temporal arrangement of the CS-UCS pairings: The extend to which a CS

precedes or follows the presentation of an UCS. Or the time lapse between CS and
UCS. Research suggests that delay conditioning is generally the most effective
method for establishing a conditioned response. This is because the conditioned
stimulus helps predict forthcoming presentations of the unconditioned stimulus
(Lieberman, 1990).
Temporal arrangement UCS-CS

• Delay conditioning: Forward conditioning in which the onset of the unconditioned

stimulus (UCS) begins while the conditioned stimulus (CS) is still present.

• Trace conditioning: Forward conditioning in which the onset of the conditioned

stimulus (CS) precedes the onset of the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) and the
presentation of the CS and UCS does not overlap.

• Simultaneous conditioning: Conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned

stimulus (UCS) begin and end at the same time.

• Backward conditioning: Presentation of the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) precedes

the presentation of the conditioned stimulus (CS).

3) The time interval between the presentation of the 2-stimuli [Inter-stimuli interval]:
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 Conditioning also depends on the time interval between presentations of the two
stimuli. Extremely short intervals—less than 0.2 second—rarely produce
conditioning. In animal research, the optimal CS–UCS interval seems to be between
0.2 and 2 seconds; longer intervals make it difficult for animals to recognize the
conditioned stimulus as a signal for some future event (Gordon, 1989).

4) Intensity of the stimulus: Conditioning is faster when the intensity of either the
conditioned or unconditioned stimulus is high. Conditioning is more likely when the
conditioned stimuli stand out in relation to other background stimuli. Example a loud
sound is more likely to produce conditioning than a faint sound.

5) Familiarity: In conditioning, unfamiliar stimulus produces conditioning easier than a

familiar stimulus. In daily lives many of the stimuli like the background noises or the
usual odours do not predict anything unusual.

Extinction
🠶 The process through which a conditioned stimulus gradually loses the ability to evoke
conditioned responses when it is no longer followed by the unconditioned stimulus.
For example, after many presentations of a bell (conditioned stimulus) in the absence
of meat powder (unconditioned stimulus), the dog no longer salivates in response to
the bell.
🠶 Reconditioning: If the conditioned stimulus (the bell) and the unconditioned stimulus
(the meat powder) are again paired after the conditioned response of salivation has
been extinguished, salivation will return very quickly. This process is termed
reconditioning.
🠶 Spontaneous recovery: Reappearance of a weakened conditioned response to a
conditioned stimulus after an interval of time following extinction. For example, even
after extinction has occurred when the bell rang after an interval of time and without
the presentation of a UCS [food] suppose the dog salivates. However the reaction may
be in weekend form.
This is the curve of acquisition, extinction, and spontaneous recovery. The rising curve shows
the conditioned response quickly getting stronger through the repeated pairing of the
conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus (acquisition). Then the curve decreases,
which shows how the conditioned response weakens when only the conditioned stimulus is
presented (extinction). After a break or pause from conditioning, the conditioned response
reappears (spontaneous recovery).

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Stimulus Generalization

 The tendency of stimuli similar to a conditioned stimulus (CS) to evoke conditioned

responses (CR).
 Pavlov noticed that the dogs that had been trained to have a conditioned response to a
certain tone, would show the same response [CR-salivation] to a tone that was slightly
higher or lower in pitch. The more similar the new stimuli are to the original CS, the
more likely they are to evoke the same response.
 Stimulus generalization often serves adaptive function. It helps the organisms to keep
away their predator and thus increases chances of survival (ex. Red is danger).
However, it is not always beneficial and, in some cases, can be dangerous (for example-
abuse faced by the children from the family members, relatives)

Stimulus Discrimination
 Stimulus generalization is a reaction to similarities, and stimulus discrimination is a
reaction to differences.
 The process by which organisms learn to respond to certain stimuli but not to others.
Example, a person who has bitten by a Labrador develops fear of that particular breed
of dogs may be not to other breeds.
 Conclusion: Generalization and discrimination occur frequently in everyday life. A
young child who has learned to associate the sight of her pet dog with playfulness
may initially approach all dogs. Eventually, through discrimination, the child may
expect playfulness only from dogs that look like hers. The sight of a threatening dog
has come to inhibit the child’s response to approaching dogs.

Higher order conditioning

 Higher-order conditioning is a kind of classical conditioning which one CS is used as

the UCS in a second series of trials. Example a dog might be conditioned to salivate to
the sound of a bell [first order conditioning] then the bell is used to condition a light
[second order conditioning] and so on. Dog responding [salivating] to the light is a
higher order conditioning.
 According to Pavlov, any number of conditioning is possible. But extinction is speedier
in higher order conditioning.

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 Application of classical conditioning

Human being can sometimes acquire strong fears [phobias] through classical conditioning.
Example little albert experiment by John B Watson and Rosalie Raynor (1920).
In therapy and counselling: Classical conditioning used in behavioural therapy
 Systematic desensitization is a behaviour modification technique based on the principles
of classical conditioning. The anxiety provoking stimulus is presented progressively
with increasing intensity and slowly conditioned with relaxation. Example: OCD
treatments
 Flooding: Another procedure for eliminating conditioned fear. The individual is
exposed to fear- including objects or events with no chance of escape.
 In drug treatment, to avoid trigger environments, develop pleasurable alternatives and
identify the withdrawal symptoms

Operant conditioning
 This basic principle that behaviour is governed by its effects was first demonstrated by
Edward Thorndike in 1898, through a research using a cat. He termed this as
instrumental conditioning because behaviour is instrumental in achieving a more
satisfying state of affairs.
 According to the law of effect, behaviors that are followed by consequences that are
satisfying to the organism are more likely to be repeated, and behaviors that are
followed by unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated (Thorndike, 1911).
B F Skinner introduce the term operant conditioning.
 Skinner box: Skinner conducted experiments using a small box [later known as
Skinner box]. It contained a lever (for rats) or disk (for pigeons) that the animal can
press or peck for a food reward via the dispenser. Speakers and lights can be associated
with certain behaviors. A recorder counts the number of responses made by the animal.

Classical conditioning versus operant conditioning

 In classical conditioning, the conditioned response is a response that was part of the
animal’s natural repertoire – like salivation. But how do dogs learn new ‘tricks’? - it
involves rewarding the dog whenever it does what is expected.
 The principle behind operant conditioning is that an organism operates on the
environment, modifying its behaviour according to the consequences. Consequences
may strengthen or weaken the behaviour.
 Operant: Any behavior that is voluntary and not elicited by specific stimuli.
 In classical conditioning responses are involuntary whereas in operant conditioning the
behaviours are voluntary
 Classical conditioning involves learning the relationship between events; Operant
conditioning involves learning the relationship between responses and their
consequences.

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 Reinforcement (+/-) Punishments (+/-)
Consequences strengthen behaviour Consequences weaken/ supress behaviour
Example: Giving appraisals improve Example: Reducing marks for late submissions
performance

Increases the probability of a behaviour Diminishes its likelihood of occurring again

• Positive: Adding a particular stimulus (pleasant or unpleasant stimuli)

• Negative: Removing a particular stimulus (pleasant or unpleasant stimuli)

Reinforcement
🠶 An application or removal of a stimulus to increase the strength of a specific
behaviour.
🠶 A primary reinforcer is a natural reinforcing stimulus; they are related to the basic
biological needs. For example food, pleasure etc.
🠶 A secondary reinforcer is any stimulus that attains its reinforcing property because of
its association with primary reinforcer. Examples, money status, grades praise etc.
🠶 Premack principle: Principle stating that a more preferred activity can be used to
reinforce a less preferred activity. Example: parents makes the child to drink the
medicine by promising candy.
🠶 Reinforcements are two types: positive and negative.
Positive reinforcement
🠶 It is a process whereby presentation of a stimulus [a reward] makes a behaviour more
likely to occur again. [positive stands for presentation]
🠶 Strengthening a response by presenting a stimulus
🠶 Example: Getting laugh in response to a joke reinforces the person to say tell more
jokes.
🠶 Positive reinforcement as a learning tool is extremely effective. It has been found that
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 one of the most effective ways to increase achievement in schools and cooperate
works etc.
Negative reinforcement
🠶 Stimuli that strengthen responses that permit the organism to avoid or escape from
their presence.
🠶 The process where by the termination of an aversive stimulus makes a behaviour
more likely to occur. [negative stands for removal]
🠶 Example: A prisoner behaves positively thereby getting a cut in his period of
imprisonment. A child getting up early in the morning to avoid scolding from parents.
🠶 Car manufacturers use the principles of negative reinforcement in their seatbelt
systems, which go “beep, beep, beep” until you fasten your seatbelt. The annoying
sound stops when you exhibit the desired behavior, increasing the likelihood that you
will buckle up in the future.
🠶 Riders apply pressure—by pulling the reins or squeezing their legs—and then remove
the pressure when the horse performs the desired behavior, such as turning or
speeding up. The pressure is the negative stimulus that the horse wants to remove.
🠶 Escape learning: The organism is reinforced by the cessation of an aversive event
that already exists. Eg. Using umbrella to avoid sunlight or rain/ Wearing a helmet to
avoid traffic penalties
🠶 Avoidance learning: An organism prevents an adverse from happening. Eg. A person
keeps an umbrella with her before going out to the sunlight/ Carrying a helmet to
avoid traffic penalties
Often, escape learning is followed by avoidance learning; the organism learns to make a
certain response to prevent an aversive event from even starting (for example, avoiding a
certain room if it was associated with a loud noise in the past). To study escape and
avoidance learning in animals, psychologists have used a device called a shuttle box. The
shuttle box consists of two compartments divided by a barrier. On each trial, the animal is
placed in one of the compartments. At some point a warning light is flashed, an five seconds
later the floor of that compartment is electrified. To get away from the shock, the animal must
jump over the barrier into the other compartment. Initially, the rat jumps over the barrier only
when the shock starts – this is escape learning. With practice, it learns to jump upon seeing
the warning light, thereby avoiding the shock entirely – this is avoidance learning.

Punishment

🠶 A procedure by which the application or removal of a stimulus decreases the strength

of a behavior.
🠶 Example: Skinner’s rats received a electric shock each time it pressed the bar,
therefore the lever pressing behaviour would be likely to be omitted as it is resulting
in an aversive outcome.
🠶 Parents and teachers punish the child for miss behaviours. The pain of punishment
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 decreases the strength of the behaviour.
🠶 Punishment has two forms: Positive and Negative punishments
🠶 Punishment has a common place in human affairs however, it is not as favoured as
reinforcement in behaviour modification.
Positive punishment
🠶 Application of an undesirable (aversive) stimulus
🠶 Weakens responses that precede occurrence of stimulus
🠶 Organisms learn to suppress responses that lead to unpleasant consequences
🠶 Example: Parents teachers hitting children for miss behaviour therefore chance of
repeating is less.
🠶 Positive punishment is not as same as negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement
involves the removal of an undesirable [aversive] stimulus, while punishment
involves the application of an aversive stimulus. Negative reinforcement strengthen
responses that permit escape or avoidance, while positive punishment weakens
response that precede the occurrence of the stimulus.
Negative punishment
🠶 Loss or postponement of a desirable stimulus
🠶 Weakens responses that lead to loss or postponement of stimulus
🠶 Organisms learn to suppress responses that lead to loss or postponement of desired
stimulus
🠶 Example: An employee fails to receive a pay hike due to continuous absenteeism or
late punching. Parents denying favours for children such as going out to reduce their
anger or misbehaviours.
🠶 Negative punishment is also commonly referred as “response cost and time out”
Application of operant conditioning
Behavioral modification techniques
🠶 Shaping: A technique in which close and closer approximations to desired behavior
are required for the delivery of positive reinforcement.
🠶 Organisms undergoing shaping receives reward for each small step toward a final
goal-the target response- rather than only for final response. Shaping is common for
all kind of teachings.
🠶 Chaining: A procedure that establishes a sequence of responses, which lead to a
reward following the final response in the chain.
🠶 Channing requires putting together a sequence of existing response in a particular
order
🠶 Token economy: Immediate reward in terms of tokens, later that can be exchanged to
benefits like food things. In schools for children, rehab homes etc

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Cognitive side of operant conditioning

 Research suggest that our behaviour is influenced not only by the level of rewards we
are receiving but our evaluation of rewards relative to our experiences with previous
reward.
 Shift in amount of reward we receive can dramatically influence performance- a
temporary behaviour shift – contrast effect.
 Example: An employee is shifted from a small pay to a large pay there will be an
increase in performance level and it can be the other way if shifting from high to low
pay.
 The relativity and interpretation reflected in the response also indicates a cognitive
factor

Cognitive side of operant learning: Learned helplessness (Seligman,1975) Reading link

 Feelings of helplessness that develop after exposure to situations in which no effort

succeeds in affecting outcomes.
 Learned helplessness seems to result from situations in which nothing a person does
yields reinforcers or provides escape from aversive events.
 Experiment: Dogs learned that shocks were not under their control.
 Example: Many children growing up in socioeconomically disadvantaged places
perceive that they have little control over their environment and even less hope of
escaping it. As a result of learned helplessness, they may simply resign themselves to a
lifetime of disenfranchisement, deprivation, and exclusion. (Note: not all people
respond in this way).
 Research on learned helplessness suggest that it begins partly from our perception of
control
 It supports the notion that instrumental conditioning occurs only when the organism
perceives reinforcement as being under its control

Learned helplessness and depression

 A phenomenon in which repeated exposure to uncontrollable stressors results in

individuals failing to use any control options that may later become available.
 In the 1970s, Seligman extended the concept from nonhuman animal research to clinical
depression in humans and proposed a learned helplessness theory to explain the
development of or vulnerability to depression. According to this theory, people
repeatedly exposed to stressful situations beyond their control develop an inability to
make decisions or engage effectively in purposeful behavior. Subsequent researchers
have noted a robust fit between the concept and posttraumatic stress disorder.
 Desired outcomes are believed to be improbable and/or highly aversive outcomes are
believed probable, and the individual has no expectation that anything she does will
change the outcome.

Observational learning
🠶 Definition: The acquisition of information, skills, or behavior through watching the
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 performance of others. An action of imitation or modeling.
🠶 Learning through imitation and observation happens as a result of vicarious
reinforcement: by observing a model’s behavior, the imitator expects to be reinforced
just like the model was. Humans learn many complex and social behaviors through
observational learning.
🠶 Experiment by Albert Bandura (1961):
🠶 Observational learning involves the ability to imagine and anticipate – thoughts and
intentions are essential.
🠶 Humans are agents of their own experiences, not “undergoers”
🠶 Bandura’s work is often cited in discussions concerning the effects of media violence
on aggressive tendencies in children.
BOBO Doll experiment
🠶 Learning new behavior by watching a model perform that behaviour
🠶 BOBO DOLL [a punch-bag doll in the shape of a clown)] Experiment by Albert
Bandura (1961)
🠶 Aggressive children had learned their aggressive actions from merely watching the
model—with no reinforcement and learning can take place without actual
performance
🠶 Bandura began this research to investigate possible links between children’s exposure
to violence on television and aggressive behaviour toward others
🠶 Findings of BOBO DOLL:
🠶 Children who initially saw the adult punching the doll often copied the
behavior
🠶 Boys were three times more likely to do so
🠶 Boys reproduce the behavior twice as often, if they observed a man do it;
compared to boys who observed female actor
🠶 Girls were also more influenced by same sex models
Key factors in observational leaning
🠶 Attention: First, in order to learn through observation you must direct your attention
to appropriate models—that is, to other persons performing an activity. And, as you
might expect, you don’t choose such models at random but focus most attention on
people who are attractive to you.
🠶 Retention/Memory: Second, you must be able to remember what the persons have
said or done. Only if you can retain some representation of their actions in memory
can you perform similar actions at later times or acquire useful information from
them.
🠶 Production process/ Imitation: Third, you need to be able to convert these memory
representations into appropriate actions. Production processes depend on (1) your own
physical abilities—if you can’t perform the behavior in question, having a clear
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 representation of it in memory is of little use; and (2) your capacity to monitor your
own performance and adjust it until it matches that of the model.
🠶 Motivation/Desire: The usefulness to us of the information acquired

Research have shown that aggression may indeed be learned through observation. Increased
tendency among individuals in engaging acts of aggression has a connection with high amount
of screen time in watching television and playing violent video games.

Application of observational learning

🠶 Observational learning plays in alleviating the effects of culture shock. Observation
initially enables us to perform behaviors appropriate to our own cultures, but later can
help us adapt to the demands of a rapidly changing world.
🠶 Peer influence can also be used to promote more productive behaviors as well as
maladaptive behaviors
🠶 Development of unhealthy behaviors like smoking especially during adolescents
because acceptance by peer is so important to persons in this age.
Cognitive learning notes attached separately.

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