Learning

 Definition of learning
 Non associative forms of learning:
Habituation and sensitization
 Classical conditioning theory of learning
Conditioned Responses over Time ( extinction and
reconditioning)
Stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination
 Operant conditioning theory of learning
 Types of reinforcers
 Escape conditioning and avoidance conditioning
 Delay and size of reinforcement
 Reinforcement schedules
 Punishment ( definition and drawback)
 Learning is the adaptive process through which
experience modifies preexisting behavior and
understanding.
 The preexisting behavior and understanding may have
been present at birth, acquired automatically as we
mature, or learned earlier.
 Learning plays a central role in the development of
most aspects of human behavior. It allows us to build
the motor skills we need to walk or tie a shoe, the
language skills we use to communicate, and the object
categories—such as ‘food’, ‘vehicle’, or ‘animal’—that
help us organize our perceptions and think logically
about the world.
 Humans and other animals learn primarily by
experiencing events, observing relationships
between those events, and noticing consistencies in
the world around them.
 For example, when two events repeatedly take
place together, we can predict the occurrence of
one from knowledge of the other. We learn that a
clear blue sky means dry weather, that too little
sleep makes us irritable, and that we can
communicate with someone by clicking on a certain
e-mail address.
1. Habituation:
Our response to unchanging stimuli decreases over
time. This aspect of adaptation is a simple form of
learning called habituation, and it can occur in
relation to sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or
touches.
 It is through habituation that you eventually lose
awareness of your glasses or your watch and that
after being in a room for a while, you no longer
smell its odor or hear its ticking clock. Habituation
is especially important for adapting to initially
startling but harmless events such as the repeated
popping of balloons.
2. Sensitization:
A second simple form of learning, called
sensitization appears as an increase in
responsiveness to a stimulus.
 Sensitization occurs, for example, when people and
animals show exaggerated responses to
unexpected, potentially threatening sights or
sounds, especially during periods of emotional
arousal. So while breathlessly exploring a dark,
spooky house, you might scream, run, or violently
throw something in response to the unexpected
creaking of a door.
Habituation and sensitization provide organisms
with a useful way to adapt to their environments,
but notice that these kinds of learning result from
exposure to a single stimulus.

Neither kind requires the association of one

stimulus with another, as when we learn that, say,
dark clouds signal rain. For this reason, habituation
and sensitization are referred to as nonassociative
learning.
Classical conditioning is a procedure in which a
neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with a stimulus
that already triggers a reflexive response.
As a result of this pairing, the previously neutral
stimulus itself comes to trigger a response that is
similar to that reflex.
The experimental study of this kind of learning was
begun, almost by an accident, by a Russian
physiologist, Ivan Petrovich Pavlov.
A statue of Ivan Pavlov and of his dogs
 Pavlov once noticed a strange phenomenon: The
first stage of the digestive process—salivation —
sometimes occurred in his laboratory dogs when no
food was present.
 His dogs salivated, for example, when they saw the
assistant who normally brought their food, even if
the assistant was empty-handed.
 Pavlov devised a simple experiment to determine
why salivation occurred without an obvious physical
cause.
In the first phase of the experiment, Pavlov and his
associates confirmed that when meat powder was
placed on the dog’s tongue, the dog salivated, but it did
not salivate in response to a for example. neutral
stimulus—a musical tone.
 It was the second and third phases of the experiment
that showed how one type of associative learning can
occur.
In the second phase, the tone sounded, and then a
few seconds later, meat powder was placed in the
dog’s mouth. The dog salivated. This pairing—the tone
followed immediately by meat powder—was repeated
several times.
In the third phase of the experiment, the tone was
sounded, and even though no meat powder was
presented, the dog again salivated.

In other words, the tone by itself now elicited

salivation.
 The stimulus that elicits a response without
conditioning, such as the meat powder in Pavlov’s
experiment, is called the unconditioned stimulus
(UCS).
 The automatic reaction to this stimulus is called
the unconditioned response (UCR).
 As the neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with
the unconditioned stimulus, it becomes a
conditioned stimulus (CS), and the response it
comes to elicit is called the conditioned response
(CR).
 Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
 stimulus that unconditionally--automatically and
naturally--triggers a response.

 Unconditioned Response (UR)

 unlearned, naturally occurring response to the
unconditioned stimulus
salivation when food is in the mouth
Classical Conditioning- Elements:
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
 originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with
an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a
conditioned response
Conditioned Response (CR)
 learned response to a previously neutral conditioned
stimulus
Extinction:
In general, if the conditioned stimulus continues to
occur without being followed at least occasionally by
the unconditioned stimulus, the conditioned response
will gradually disappear.
This fading process is known as extinction.
If a conditioned stimulus (tone) and an unconditioned
stimulus (meat powder) are again paired after the
conditioned response has been extinguished, that
conditioned response will return to its original strength
after as few as one or two trials.

This reconditioning process occurs much faster than the

original conditioning did, suggesting that extinction did not
entirely erase the association between the conditioned
stimulus and the conditioned response.
Stimulus Generalization:

After a conditioned response is learned, stimuli that are

similar but not identical to the conditioned stimulus also
elicit the response—but to a lesser degree. This
phenomenon is called stimulus generalization.
Usually, the greater the similarity between a new stimulus
and the conditioned stimulus, the stronger the conditioned
response will be.
So a person who was bitten by a small, curly-haired dog is
likely to be most afraid of dogs that closely resemble it.
Stimulus generalization has obvious adaptive advantages.
For example –
it is important for survival that if you get sick after
drinking sour-smelling milk, you now avoid dairy products
that have a similar odor.

Stimulus Discrimination:
Stimulus generalization does not run wild because it is
balanced by a complementary process called stimulus
discrimination. Through stimulus discrimination, people
and animals learn to differentiate among similar stimuli.
Operant Conditioning is a process through which
organisms learn to repeat behaviors that yield positive
outcomes or permit them to avoid or escape from negative
outcomes.
Basic Components of Operant Conditioning:

An operant is a response that has some effect on the

world; it is a response that operates on the environment.
For example - when a child says, “Momma, I’m hungry,”
and is then fed, the child has made an operant response
that influences when food will appear.
Operant conditioning (also called instrumental
conditioning) is a type of learning in which the
strength of a behavior is modified by the
consequences, such as reward or punishment and the
behavior is controlled by antecedents.
Much of the groundwork for research on the
consequences of behavior was done by Edward L.
Thorndike and extended by B.F. Skinner.
Basic Components of Operant
Conditioning:

REINFORCER

POSITIVE NEGATIVE
Presence of stimulus Absence of stimulus

REINFORCEMENT
A reinforcer increases the probability that an operant behavior will
occur again. There are two main types of reinforcers:
 Positive
 Negative

Positive reinforcers strengthen a response if they are experienced after

that response occurs. They are roughly equivalent to rewards.

The food given to a hungry pigeon after it pecks at a switch is a positive

reinforcer; it increases the pigeon’s switch pecking.
For people - positive reinforcers can include food, smiles, money, and
other desirable outcomes. The process of presenting a positive
reinforcer after some response is called positive reinforcement.
Negative reinforcers are unpleasant stimuli such as
pain, noise, threats, or a disapproving frown that
strengthen a response if that response removes them.

For example - the disappearance of headache pain

after you take an aspirin is a negative reinforcer that
makes you more likely to take that pain reliever in the
future. When a response is strengthened by the
removal of an unpleasant stimulus, process is called
negative reinforcement.
Notice that reinforcement can be presenting
something pleasant or removing something
unpleasant, but in either case it always increases the
strength of the behavior that precedes it.
The term reinforce means to strengthen, and is used in
psychology to refer to anything stimulus which
strengthens or increases the probability of a specific
response.
Learn about the many different ways that rewards and
punishment are used to change and reinforce people's
behaviors, and find out why some are more effective
than others.
The effects of negative reinforcement can be seen in
escape conditioning and avoidance conditioning.
Escape conditioning occurs as a person or animal
learns responses that put an end to an aversive
stimulus.
The left - hand panel of following figure shows a
laboratory example in which dogs learn to jump over
the barrier in a shuttle box to get away from a shock.
In humans, escape conditioning appears not only
when we learn to take pills to stop pain but also
when parents learn to stop a child’s annoying
demands for a toy by agreeing to buy it.
And television viewers learn to use the mute button to
shut off obnoxious commercials.
When an animal or a person responds to a signal in a
way that avoids an aversive stimulus that has not yet
arrived, avoidance conditioning has occurred.
Look at the right-hand sections of Figure B and
imagine that a buzzer sounds a few seconds before
one side of the shuttle box is electrified.
The animal will soon learn to jump over the barrier
when the warning buzzer sounds, thus avoiding the
shock.
Along with positive reinforcement, avoidance conditioning
is one of the most important influences on everyday
behavior.
We go to work or school even when we would rather stay
in bed,
we stop at red lights even when we are in a hurry, and
we apologize for our mistakes even before they are
discovered.
Each of these behaviors helps us avoid a negative
consequence, such as lost pay, bad grades, a traffic ticket,
or a scolding.
Shaping, or behavior-shaping, is a variant of
operant conditioning. Instead of waiting for a subject to
exhibit a desired behavior, any behavior leading to the target
behavior is rewarded.
For example, B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) discovered that, in
order to train a rat to push a lever, any movement in the
direction of the lever had to be rewarded, until finally, the rat
was trained to push a lever. Once the target behavior is
reached, however, no other behavior is rewarded. In other
words, the subject behavior is shaped, or molded, into the
desired form.
 Reinforcers

Primary Reinforcers Secondary Reinforcers

Any reinforcers that is naturally reinforcing by
meeting a basic biological need, such as hunger,
thirst, touch etc.
Infants, toddlers, preschool age child & animals can be
easily reinforced by primary Reinforcers.

Example :
We can reinforce a Toddler Behavior with Candy.
Operant conditioning often begins with the use of
primary reinforcers, events or stimuli—such as food
or water—that are innately rewarding.
A secondary reinforcer is a previously neutral stimulus
that takes on reinforcing properties when paired with
a stimulus that is already reinforcing.
In other words, secondary reinforcers are rewards
that people or animals learn to like (Seo & Lee, 2009).
Words of praise or thanks, gold stars, check marks,
and “two thumbs up” gestures are just a few of the
stimuli that can serve as secondary reinforcers for
humans.
Parents and teachers have used these reinforcers for
generations to shape the behavior of children in
accordance with their cultural values.
Any reinforcer that becomes reinforcing after being
paired with a primary reinforcer, such as praise,
tokens, gold starts, etc.

Example :
Money can be reinforcer because it is associated with
the ability to obtain (purchase) that meet basic needs
such as food & shelter.
Much of our behavior is learned and maintained
because it is regularly reinforced.
But many people overeat, smoke, drink too much, or
procrastinate, even though they know these behaviors
are bad for them.
They may want to change, but they seem to lack self-
control. If behavior is controlled by its consequences,
why do people do things that are ultimately harmful?
Delay Of Reinforcer :
Usually the shorter the delay
between behavior & reinforcement,
the more effective.

Size Of Reinforcer :

Usually the larger the

reinforecer, the more
effective.
Part of the answer lies in the timing of reinforcers.
In general, the effect of a reinforcer is stronger when it
comes soon after a response occurs (Rachlin, 2000).
The good feelings (positive reinforcers) that follow, say,
drinking too much are immediate and strong.
The hangovers and other negative consequences are
usually delayed, so their effects on future drinking are
weakened.
Similarly, a dieter’s efforts to eat less will eventually lead to
weight loss, but because that reinforcer is delayed, it may
have less impact than the immediate pleasure of eating a
jelly donut.
In fact, under some conditions, delaying a positive
reinforcer for even a few seconds can decrease the
effectiveness of positive reinforcement.

(An advantage of using praise or other secondary

reinforcers is that they can easily be delivered
immediately after a desired response occurs.)
The size of a reinforcer is also important. In general,
operant conditioning occurs more quickly when the
reinforcer is large than when it is small.

For example - a strong electrical shock will cause a

faster escape or avoidance response than a weak one.
 A schedule of reinforcement is basically a rule stating which instances of
behavior will be reinforced. In some cases, a behavior might be reinforced
every time it occurs. Sometimes, a behavior might not be reinforced at all.
Either positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement may be used as a
part of operant conditioning. In both cases, the goal of reinforcement is
to strengthen a behavior so that it will likely occur again.
Reinforcement schedules take place in both naturally occurring learning
situations as well as more structured training situations. In real-world
settings, behaviors are probably not going to be reinforced every time they
occur. In situations where you are intentionally trying to reinforce a
specific action (such as in school, sports, or in animal training), you would
follow a specific reinforcement schedule.
Some schedules are better suited to certain types of training situations. In
some cases, training might call for one schedule and then switch to
another once the desired behavior has been taught.
Types of Reinforcement Schedules:

The two foundational forms of reinforcement

schedules are referred to as
- A. Continuous reinforcement

and
-B. Partial reinforcement.
A. Continuous Reinforcement Schedule:
A pattern in which a reinforcer is delivered every time
a particular response occurs.
Example :
We put money in a vending machine, and the item we
want comes out.
B. Partial Reinforcement Schedule:
A pattern in which a reinforcer is administered only
some of the time after a particular response occurs.

Example : If an employer had to deliver pay following

some every little task employees performed all day
long.
There are four types of partial reinforcement :

 Fixed ratio reinforcement

 Variable ratio reinforcement
 Fixed interval reinforcement
 Variable interval reinforcement
Fixed-Ratio (FR) :

Reinforcement provides a reinforcer following a fixed

number of responses.
Computer help desk technicians might be allowed to
take a break after every fifth call they handle or every
tenth responses.
 Variable-Ratio (VR)
Reinforcement also provides a reinforcer after a given
number of responses, but that number can vary.
On these schedules, it is impossible to predict which
particular response will bring reinforcement.
Gambling offers humans a similar variable-ratio
schedule.
For example - A slot machine, pays off only after a
frustratingly unpredictable number of trials averaging
perhaps one in twenty.
 Fixed-Interval (FI) :
Reinforcement provides a reinforcer for the first
response that occurs after some fixed time has passed
since the last reward, no matter how many responses
have been made during that interval.
For example - someone getting paid hourly, regardless
of the amount of their work.
Variable-interval :
Reinforcement gives a reinforcer for the first response
after some period of time, but the amount of time varies.

Checking voicemail. Calls can arrive at any time so there is

a variable interval between each voicemail received
Presentation of an aversive stimulus or the removal of
a pleasant stimulus.
Shouting “No!” and swatting your cat when she begins
chewing on your plants illustrates the kind of
punishment that presents an unpleasant stimulus
following a response.
Taking away a child’s TV privileges because of rude
behavior is a second kind of punishment—sometimes
called penalty—that removes a positive stimulus .
Punishment is often confused with negative
reinforcement, but they are actually quite different.
Reinforcement of any sort always strengthens
behavior; punishment weakens it.
If shock is turned off when a rat presses a lever, that is
negative reinforcement. It increases the chances that
the rat will press the lever when shock occurs again.
But if shock is turned on when the rat presses the
lever, that is punishment. The rat will be less likely to
press the lever again.
 Punishment can certainly alter behavior, but it has
several potential drawbacks (Gershoff & Bitensky,
2007).
First, it does not ‘erase’ an undesirable habit; it merely
suppresses it.
This suppression usually occurs in the presence of
stimuli (such as a parent or teacher) that were around
at the time of punishment.
In other words, people may repeat previously
punished acts when they think they can avoid
detection. This tendency is summed up in the adage
‘When the cat’s away, the mice will play.’
Second, punishment sometimes produces unwanted side
effects. For example, if you severely punish a child, the
child may associate punishment with the punisher and end
up fearing you.
Third, punishment is often ineffective unless it is given
immediately after the response and each time the
response is made. This is especially true in relation to
animals or young children. If a child gets into a cookie jar
and enjoys a few cookies before being discovered and
punished, the effect of the punishment will be greatly
reduced.
Similarly, if a child confesses to misbehavior and is then
punished, the punishment may discourage honesty rather
than eliminate undesirable behavior.
Fourth, physical punishment can become aggression and
even abuse if administered in anger or with an object
other than a hand (Zolotoret al., 2008).
Fifth, because children tend to imitate what they see,
children who are frequently punished may be more likely
to behave aggressively themselves (Gilbert, 1997).
Finally, although punishment signals that inappropriate
behavior occurred, it does not specify what should be
done instead.
A teacher on a term paper says the assignment was poorly
done, but that punishing grade alone tells the student
nothing about how to improve.
Thank You.