PSY 0010 notes – Learning and Behavior – page 1BehaviorismJohn B. Watson (1913): psych should be a branch of experimental natural sciencethinking and emotion lay outside of scientific psych because they cannot be directly observedproper subject matter: observable behaviorbehavior all we need to study because all behavior learned from/shaped by environmentpeople born as blank slates, shaped by environment - if we control environment, can control peoplePavlov and his dogset out to study digestion in dogsapparatus collected dog's salivaused meat powder to stimulate salivaON ACCIDENT: realized dogs salivated at sight of powder, sound of feeder assistant comingterminology: stimulus: event/object in environment to which organism respondsreflex: involuntary response to stimulusinitially, dogs responded to UCS - unconditioned (learned) stimulusUCR - response to UCSCS: when neutral stimulus (d/n trigger UCR) presented repeatedly before UCS, neutral stim elicitsCR: learned responseUCS -> UCR / CS -> UCS -> UCR / CS -> UCR (over time)Acquisitionlearning phaseCR gradually establishedExtinctionCS presented repeatedly without UCSstrength of conditioned response becomes weakertypically doesn't disappear altogetherSpontaneous recoverywhen CS presented again after pause in extinction trials, CR suddenly reemergessuggests extinction trials might weaken CR, but doesn't really eliminateAspects of Classical Conditioningstimulus generalization: CR occurs when stimulus is similar (not identical) to CS presentedstimulus discrimination: opposite of stim genhigher order conditioning: established CS paired with neutral stimulus, neutral stimulus -> CSpair sound with light - light alone can also elicit CRAversive conditioningclassical conditioning to unpleasant UCSPSY 0010 notes – Learning and Behavior – page 2stimulus triggers pain/negative emotional responseLittle Albert9 month old unafraid of animals6x Watson shows LA white rat and makes loud noiseafter conditioning, fears rat, similar looking thingswhite rat = neutral stimulus -> CSloud noise = UCSfear of noise = UCRfear of rat = CRfear of similar stimulus = stimulus generalizationno fear of cotton balls = stimulus discrimination"undoing conditioning"e.g. phobias - intense, irrational, excessive fearsfeared object/situation avoidedMary Clover Jones (1924) treated 3 year old's rabbit hobiagradually introduced rabbit and candy until rabbit no longer fearedextinction not sufficient on its own, need counter-conditioning (candy)creates incompatible responseAdvances in classical conditioningrenewal effect: tendency of CR extinguished elsewhere to return in original learned environmentmultiple stimuli conditioned togetheraware of more than intended stimulus - cannot controlconditioning occurs to various aspects of environment that subject perceivesso, extinction trials must be conducted in environment where CR was learnedWhat is learned in classical conditioning?thought association was made between CS and CRactually: CS predicts UCSpresenting UCS before CS or long after CS -> weak learningextinction trials teach that CS doesn't predict UCSis extinction unlearning?no: new learningold association doesn't disappear - new conflicting association develops alongside itcan we understand classical conditioning without understanding biology of conditioning?behaviorists: yescan see and observe stimulus, responsesdon't need biological processes to know laws of learningpreparedness: animals predisposed to develop CRs to some "neutral" stimuli more than othersbelongingness: some stimuli naturally grouped togethere.g.s phobic repsonsesPSY 0010 notes – Learning and Behavior – page 3monkeys - toy snakes v. toy flowerspeople - rarity of knife/gun phobiasconditioned taste aversion - developing avoidance reactions to taste of foodlearned in single trial learningeven with long delay between CS and UCSlight/sound never became CS for nauseaThorndike's puzzle boxhow does a cat learn to pull a string?cat does different things to get out of box, accidentally finds solutionin repetitions, time to escape decreases graduallylaw of effect: if response occurs in presence of stimulus and followed by satisfying state of affairs, the bond between stimulus and response is strengthenedlearning involves association between stimulus and response (S-R)learning occurs through trial and errorOperant Conditioningoperant chamber - Skinner Boxallowing for conditioning and measurement of behaviorpositive reinforcement - increased probability of repsonse when presented with rewardpositive = adding to environment, not just niceany consequence that follows repetitive behavior is a reinforcershaping by successive approximation: reinforcing behaviors that are progressively closer versions of target behaviorchaining: linking number of interrelated behaviors to form longer seriessecondary reinforcement: creation of new reinforcers via classical conditioningMore operant conditioningNegative reinforcement: increased probability of responseoccurring when removed after response (reward)press bar, electrified floor turned offpunishment: decreased likelihood that subject will engage in target behavior4 kinds of consequences to voluntary behavior:positive stimulus:1. positive reinforcement (increased behavior)2. positive punishment (decreased behavior)PSY 0010 notes – Learning and Behavior – page 4negative stimulus:3. negative reinforcement (increased behavior)4. negative punishment (decreased behavior)Aspects of operant conditioningacquisition: phase during which response is establishedextinction: trials during which response not reinforcedstimulus generalization/discriminationdiscriminant stimulus: indicates reinforcement/punishment will follow specific behaviorred and green lights in Skinner boxPartial vs. continuous reinforcementpartial reinforcement: behaviors reinforced intermittentlyslower to distinguish than continuousschedules of reinforcement: pattern reinforcement delivered by ratio: x number responsesinterval: x amount of timefixed ratio (FR): after certain number of responsesvariable ratio (VR): after certain number, amount varies trial to trial but averages out to the same as FRi.e. slotsfixed interval (FI): reinforcers only after x amount of timevariable interval (VI): reinforcers appear after x time, afterwards - variesPSY 0010 notes – Learning and Behavior – page 5Punishmenta nd learningcan result in immediate change in behavior - easy solutionhas significant limitations for