LEARNING

Learning refers to a relatively durable change in

behavior or knowledge that is due to
experience.

Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which a
stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response
that was originally evoked by another stimulus.
is a learning process that occurs through associations
between an environmental stimulus and a naturally
occurring stimulus.
It was described by Ivan Pavlov hence, is also called
Pavlovian conditioning

Classical Conditioning..
Terminology and procedure:
Unconditional Stimulus (UCS) is a stimulus that evokes an
unconditional response without previous conditioning.
It unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a response.
For example, when you smell one of your favorite foods, you may
immediately feel very hungry. In this example, the smell of the
food is the unconditioned stimulus.
Unconditional response (USR) is an unlearned reaction to an
unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous
conditioning.
It is the unlearned response that occurs naturally in response to the
unconditioned stimulus.
In our example, the feeling of hunger in response to the smell of
food is the unconditioned response.

Conditioned stimulus (CR) is a previously neutral stimulus that

has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a
conditioned response.
In our earlier example, suppose that when you smelled your
favorite food, you also heard the sound of a whistle. While the
whistle is unrelated to the smell of the food, if the sound of the
whistle was paired multiple times with the smell, the sound
would eventually trigger the conditioned response. In this case,
the sound of the whistle is the conditioned stimulus.
The conditioned response (CR) is a learned reaction to a
conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous
conditioning.
In our example, the conditioned response would be feeling hungry
when you heard the sound of the whistle .
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Classical conditioning..
NS (tone) No response
UCS (Meat powder) UCR (Salivation)
NS (tone) No response
UCS (Meat powder) UCR (Salivation)
CS (Tone) CR (Salivation)

Basic processes in CC

Acquisition refers to the initial stage of learning something.

Extinction: the gradual weakening and disappearance of a

conditioned response tendency.

Spontaneous recovery: is the reappearance of an extinguished

response after a period of non-exposure to the conditioned
response.

Generalization & Discrimination

Stimulation generalization occurs when an organism that has
learned a response to a specific stimulus responds in the same
way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus.
Definition: The extension of a learned response to stimuli that
are similar to the conditioned stimulus.
For example, if a child has been conditioned to fear a stuffed white
rabbit, it will exhibit fear of objects similar to the conditioned
stimulus such as a white toy rat.
Being attacked by a dog and developing a fear of all dogs, not
just the one that attacked you.

 Stimulus discrimination
discrimination is the ability to differentiate between a
conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been
paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
Discrimination occurs when an individual responds
differently to two (or more) different stimuli.
For example, if a bell tone were the conditioned stimulus,
discrimination would involve being able to tell the difference
between the bell tone and other similar sounds.

Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning is also called instrumental
learning and was first introduced by Edaward Thorndike.
According to the law of effect, if a response in the
presence of a stimulus leads to satisfying effects, the
association between the stimulus and the response is
strengthened.
Reinforcement occurs when an event following a
response increases an organisms tendency to make
that response.

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Positive and Negative

Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement occurs when a response is
strengthened because it is followed by the presentation of a
rewarding stimulus.
The mother gives her son chocolate for learning his lesson.
Negative reinforcement occurs when a response is
strengthened because it is followed by the removal of an
aversive stimulus.
john has learned that to prevent burning his hands all he has to do
is put on the oven gloves. So the behavior of putting on the
oven gloves is an example of negative reinforcement.

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 Punishment refers to any change that occurs after a

behavior that reduces the likelihood that that behavior
will occur again in the future.
For example, when a student talks out of turn in the middle of
class, the teacher might scold the child for interrupting her.
Siblings get in a fight over who gets to play with a new toy,
the parent takes the toy away.

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Observational Learning
Observational learning occurs when an organisms responding is
influenced by the observation of others, who are called as
models (Bandura, 1977).
Observational learning refers to learning that occurs from
watching, retaining, and replicating a behavior observed from a
model.
In order for observational learning to occur, the observer must pay
attention to an action, remember the observed behavior, be able
to replicate the behavior, and be motivated to produce the
behavior.

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Examples
A young couple goes to a Chinese restaurant. They watch other diners in the
restaurant eating with chopsticks and copy their actions in order to learn out to
use these utensils.
A group of children play hide and seek at recess. One child joins the group, but
has never played before and is not sure what to do. After observing the other
children play, she quickly learns the basic rules of the game and joins in.
A newer employee avoids being late to work after seeing a co-worker fired for
being late

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 According to Bandura's research, there are a number of factors

that increase the likelihood that a behavior will be imitated. We
are more likely to imitate:
People we perceive as warm and nurturing
People who receive rewards for their behavior
When you have been rewarded for imitating the behavior in the
past.
When we lack confidence in our own knowledge or abilities
People who are in a position of authority over our lives
People who are similar to us in age, sex, and interests
People who we admire or who are of a higher social status
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