Learning Conditioning A relatively permanent change in feelings behavior or knowledge The result of experience Three kinds Classical Operant Vicarious Form association between previously unrelated stimuli Form association between behaviors and consequences Learn through observation Classical Conditioning Ivan Pavlov Food elicits salivation Soon sight of Pavlov elicited salivation Sight of Pavlov predicted getting fed Pavlov had outlined the process of how classical conditioning occurs Terminology Unconditioned unlearned stimulus US Stimulus that initially elicits a response Reflexive automatic Unconditioned unlearned response UR Automatic reflexive response to the US Neutral stimulus NS Stimulus that does not initially elicit a response NS and US paired together repeatedly Conditioned learned stimulus CS Former neutral stimulus Now elicits same response as the US Conditioned learned response CR Response elicited by CS Characteristics How we acquire it Usually need repeated pairing of US and NS to produce CR NS usually must precede US Extinction Unlearn a classically conditioned association Usually takes repeated extinction trials Lots of times in which NS and US are not paired together Spontaneous recovery After extinction the CR re emerges from out of the blue Repeated extinction trials reduces this Generalization Discrimination CR elicited by stimuli that are similar to the original CS Opposite of generalization Only show CR to a certain CS not all stimuli that resemble CS Applications Taste aversions Often caused by classical conditioning Very easy to condition One trial learning Chemotherapy patients Many fears and phobias Little Albert Conditioned to fear white rat Generalized to other white objects Cotton balls white clothing santa s beard etc Treatments Systematic desensitization Used to extinguish a classically conditioned fear response to an object or situation Replace CR of fear with CR of relaxation Make a hierarchical list of feared stimuli Rank 1 10 1 being doesn t scare at all and 10 being scares the person the most Teach person how to do relaxation exercises Repeatedly pair feared stimuli with relaxation least feared stimulus 1 first Flooding Similar to SD Expose person to most feared stimulus all at once rather than gradually Operant Conditioning Learn an association between behaviors and consequences If I do this then this will happen B F Skinner Monitored effects of rewards or punishers on animals behavior Reinforcer Reward Punisher Any stimulus that increases the probability of a behavior Any stimulus that decreases the probability of a behavior Four types of operant conditioning Positive reinforcement Present a desired stimulus to reward desired behaviors Ex food praise money used to increase wanted behavior Negative reinforcement Negative punishment Remove an unpleasant stimulus to reward desired behavior Remove a desired stimulus to punish undesired behaviors Ex remove car privileges skip dessert Positive punishment Present an unpleasant stimulus to punish undesired behaviors Ex spanking scolding giving chores Problems Can create a classically conditioned fear response May lead to fear induced aggression Imitation may occur Reinforcement Punishment schedule Continuous Reinforce punish every instance of behavior Can lead to satiation Learning and extinction occur rapidly Partial Only reinforce punish some instances of behavior Learning takes longer More resistant to extinction Four schedules Fixed Always the same Varying amounts Variable Ratio Interval After number of behaviors After an amount of time Fixed ratio Reinforce punish every nth instance of behavior Ex 1 dollar for every 10 items produced Fixed interval Variable ratio Reinforce punish after X amount of time Ex paycheck after 2 weeks of work Reinforce punish after an unpredictable number of behaviors Ex Slot machine Produces rapid steady responses Variable interval Reinforce punish after varying time intervals of behavior Pop quizzes Produces steady slow responses Characteristics of OC How it s acquired Learning takes place over time Reinforcer punishment must be relevant Shaping Reinforce small steps towards desired behavior Necessary if behavior never occurs on its own Reinforcement is generally more effective than punishment Reinforcement punishment best results Vicarious Learning Learning through observation Person whose behavior is being observed is called a model Bandura s 1961 Bobo Doll study Illustrated that children imitate adults violent behaviors following Especially apparent in humans but present in other species as well Four necessary conditions Observer must pay attention to model Observer must retain what he or she observed Observer must be capable of reproducing the behavior Reward process Any reinforcement punishment model receives must also be relevant to the observer Applications Helps us understand frustration Attention Retention Motor ability Social trends Parent child similarities Phobias Prejudice Copycat crimes Aggression behavior Correlational evidence links violence exposure to violent Interventions treatments based on vicarious learning Experimental studies suggest this is casual Role model interventions Parenting Coaching Animal training Memory Three basic processes Encoding Forming a memory Attention is necessary Maintaining memory over time Storage Retrieval Getting information out of memory Three types of memory Sensory Immediate initial recording of sensory information Iconic memory Echoic memory Brief photographic memory Brief memory for auditory stimuli Other senses too Large capacity Short duration Less than one second for most senses Short term STM Working memory Holds info briefly before it is stored or forgotten Capacity is limited Around 7 items give or take 2 Short duration about 20 seconds unless rehearsed How information gets to STM From sensory memory If we pay attention From LTM Automatic or effortful How information is lost from STM Decay happens when rehearsal stops Decay is not random Serial position effect location reflects memory Primacy effect Remember early information at a high Recency effect Remember late information at a high rate rate Increasing size of STM Use mnemonics Memory aids Chunking Long term LTM Grouping bits of information together Relatively permanent store of information Information remembered 20 seconds of anything Capacity and duration can be virtually unlimited How information gets to LTM From STM Usually involves repeated