3/6: Learning

• Learning: relatively permanent chamge in an organism's behavior due to experience
• habituation = simplest form of learning
• Associative Learning: learning that certain events occur together
• Conditioning: process of learning associations
• Behaviorism: psychology should be an objective science, no reference to mental processes
• Classical Conditioning: learning associations and to anticipate events
• Pavlov = discoverer
• dogs' salivation experiment
• UCS = food
• UCR = drool
• CS = preceding bell
• CR = drool at bell's sound
• US (unconditioned stimulus) - stimulus that triggers UCR
• UR (unconditioned response) - an unlearned response
• CS (conditioned stimulus) - previously neutral stimulus (bell) that evokes conditioned response
• CR (conditioned response) - learned response to conditioned stimulus
• Principles of Classical Conditioning
• Acquisition: initial stage in associating neutral stimulus with an US
• Generalization: the CR can occur to stimuli that are similar to the CS
• Discrimination: the CR will NOT occur for ALL stimuli that are similar to the CS
• Extinction: pairing of CS and US stops, CR becomes weaker until it ceases
• Watson and Behaviorism
• founded behaviorism in reaction to introspection
• applied Pavlov's classical conditioning to "Little Albert" experiment
• white rat (CS) paired with loud noise (US) to induce fear (UR). later Albert feared the rat (CR)
• "Little Peter" experiment
• Systematic desensitization: repeated pairings of CS without US to extinguish classically conditioned responses
• treatment for phobia
• systematically associate an object without fearing it
• car phobia: every time give ice cream(CS) to person 
• Pavlov's Contributions
• most organisms can learn via classical conditioning
• process of learning can be studied objectively
• modern applications of conditioning
• phobia patients take small steps
• drug addicts stay away from places associated with prior highs
• Biology of Conditioning
• Natural selection favor traits that aid survival
• e.g, taste aversion to food with food poisoning
• Classical vs Operant Conditioning
• Classical Conditioning- forms associations between an already held response and new stimuli
• doesn't control outcomes
• Operant Conditioning: forms associtations between its behavior and its consequences
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• Organism controls outcomes
• Operant Conditioning: forms associtations between its behavior and its consequences
• B.F. Skinner
• believed that environmental consequences control all behavior = deterministic
• no room for personality or intenral components
• Skinner chamber
• strengthened - reinforcer        diminished - punisher
• based on Throndike's law of effect : rewarded behavior is likely to recur
• Positive Reinforcer : strengthens response through presentation of positive stimulus (reward)
• Negative Reinforcer: strengthens response through removal of an aversive stimulus
• Different reinforcer schedules
• Continuous vs. Intermittent reinforcement
• extinction of CR happened far more quickly in continuous type
• intermittent- random, never know when- hope
• e.g., gambler
• Punishment: negative event that follows undesired behavior that decreases likelihood of response
• 4 main drawbacks
• Behavior is suppressed but not forgotten
• Punishment teaches discrimination
•  can use cuss words around friends but not parents
• Punishment can teach fear
• Physical punishment can increase aggressiveness by modeling aggression
• Examples in real life
• clinical purposes: biofeedback
• hook up to machine to learn what feelings induce high blood presurre
• employees reinforced with cash, time off, vacations
• training animals
• Intrinsic vs Extrinsic motivations
• Intrinsic motivation: because seen as enjoyable
• Extrinsic motivation: because of reward/pressure
• Overjustification effect: overestimate extrinsic rewards and underestimate intrinsic motivation
• extrinsic rewards decrease intrinsic motivations = loss of interest in once enjoyed activity
• Observational Learning: learning by observing and modeling behavior of others
• possible reason -presence of mirror neurons in frontal lobe next to motor cortex
• Influential Factors
• if model is the same sex and behaves in a gender-role congruent way
• positive relationship between model and subject
• consequences of model are positive 
• model in position of power