Learning
Definition: Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs through experiences.
Learning is extremely important for both humans and animals in terms of survival, function and adaptation. A century of research on learning on lower animals suggests that principles generated initially from lower animals can also be applied to human beings.
Types of Learning:
A. Associative Learning: a type of learning where an organism makes a connection or association made between two events.
Conditioning: a process of learning associations
Two types of Conditioning: Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning
A.1Classical Conditioning or Pavlovian Theory:
An organism learns the association between two stimuli
Respondent behavior: meaning, behavior occurs automatically
It explains how neutral stimuli bring out INVOLUNTARY RESPONSES
Result: organisms learn to anticipate events
In the 1900’s Russian Physiologist IVAN PAVLOV was interested on how the body digests food so he conducted an experiment where he noticed that the dog salivated caused by other stimuli aside from the meat powder. He therefore identified learned and unlearned responses.
Pavlov said that unlearned responses are based on the fact that some stimuli automatically produce certain responses w/o prior learning. In other words, innate or inborn.
Ex. Salivation for food, vomiting for spoiled food, shiver for cold temperatures, coughing for clogging of air, pupils dilate for changes in light, etc.
TERMS:
a. UCS – unconditioned stimulus (stimulus that produces a response w/o prior learning E.g.: food, being stung by a bee)
b. UCR – unconditioned response (response that is automatically obtained because of the UCS .E.g.: salivation, crying)
c. CS – conditioned stimulus (a previously neutral stimulus that results in a conditioned response after being associated w/ an UCS)
d. CR – conditioned response (learned response to the CS that occurs after a CS-UCS link. It is similar to the UCR)
e. NS – neutral stimulus (a stimulus that cannot elicit any response but becomes associated w/ a meaningful stimulus. Once associated, it acquires the capacity to produce similar responses)
STEPS IN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING:
Before conditioning
NS -------> No Response
UCS ----------> UCR
During conditioning
NS + UCS ------------> UCR
After several times… (NS+UCS) -------> UCR
CS ------> UCR
After conditioning
CS --------------> CR
IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES
a. Acquisition – initial step in learning association
a.1 Time interval: defines contiguity or connectedness in time and space of a stimulus
a.2. Contingency: predictability of one stimuli occurring because of the presence of another stimuli
b. Generalization – if another stimulus is more similar to the original stimulus, it will result to similar responses.
(This is important so that organisms cannot be tied to a specific stimulus. Because of this, we don’t have to relearn everything we sense.)
c. Discrimination – learning to respond to certain stimuli and not to respond to others because generalization is not always beneficial
d. Extinction – weakening of the conditioned response (CR) in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). Without continued association between UCS & NS, CS loses power to produce CR.
e. Spontaneous Recovery – a conditioned response can occur after a time delay w/o further conditioning (E.g. sentimental songs, favorite place, etc)
IMPLICATIONS
Because of research, behaviorists claimed that humans can be conditioned. People can respond to alarms, light, air, touch of a hand etc. They also claimed that this is one of the major contributions of the survival of individuals. Classical conditioning can also explain and help humans in several ways such as dealing with phobia, cultivating pleasant emotions, analyzing health problems, and consumer behavior.
Phobia – irrational fears. Behaviorists claim that fears ca be learned through classical conditioning, thus it can be eliminated through COUNTER CONDITIONING. COUNTER CONDITIONING weakens a CR by associating/pairing fear-provoking stimulus w/ a new response that is incompatible w/ FEAR. (E.g. Little Albert & Peter)
Pleasant Emotions – Classical conditioning is also involved not only to unpleasant emotions like fear. This can explain our favorite songs, place and food. It can also associate romance or sexual arousal with food, music, clothing etc.
Health Problems – asthma, headaches, high blood pressure are sometimes due to stress but behaviorist can explain these phenomena by claiming that these certain responses are caused by stimuli that become conditioned to produce physiological responses. It can also affect our immune system and digestion.
Consumer psychology – advertisers nowadays use psychology in determining how consumers think, feel and reason in selecting among variants, brands, products and services. Women are associated with sexual arousal in men. Thus including women in alcoholic beverages repeatedly conditions consumers to think that the drink is actually associated with masculinity, sexuality and excitement.
A.2. Operant Conditioning/Instrumental Conditioning
A type of Associative Learning where the consequences of behavior change the chances or probability of the behavior’s occurrence. It also describes an organism’s response to the environment. Emphasizes on the ACTIVE and VOLUNTARY nature of an organism to respond.
American psychologist B.F. Skinner in 1938 coined the word “operant” that means: behavior operates on the environment and vice versa.
He also believed that voluntary responses or behavior that operates on the environment produces rewards & punishment. Skinner & other behaviorist created the Skinner Box (rat and food pellets and levers, also includes electric shocks.) Through the skinner box behaviorist were able to assume basic principles such as rewards, reinforcements, punishments.
TERMS
a. Shaping- when behavior takes time, it can be shortened by rewarding approximation. You give appropriate rewards increasingly as desired behavior is achieved nearer and nearer. (E.g. dolphins, classroom behavior)
b. Reinforcements:
- an event /stimulus that strengthens or increases the chances of a behavior to occur.
1. Positive reinforcement: behavior increases because it is followed by a rewarding/pleasurable stimulus/event
2. Negative reinforcement: behavior is strengthened because it is followed by a removal of an aversive/unpleasant stimulus/event
3. Primary reinforcement: uses reinforcers that are innately satisfying (e.g. food, water, sexual satisfaction)
4. Secondary reinforcement: it acquires its positive values through experiences that was learned. (e.g. pat at the back, praise, eye contact – University professor)
5. Schedules of reinforcements: timetable when a behavior will be reinforced
5.1 Fixed-Ratio: reinforces behavior only after a set number of behaviors. (E.g sales commission)
RESULT: performance drops right after reinforcement
5.2 Variable-Ratio: behavior is reinforced on an average # of times but on an unpredictable basis.
RESULT: produces steady rates of behavior that is most resistant to extinction
5.3 Fixed-Interval: reinforcement is determined by the time elapsed since last behavior was rewarded. (e.g. election, salary etc.)
RESULT : behavior peaks near the time of reinforcement
5.4 Variable-Interval: behavior is reinforced after an inconsistent amount of time has elapsed. (e.g. surprise quizzes, fishing, etc.)
RESULT : behavior is slow and consistent because it is difficult to predict a reward
c. Punishments: is used in weakening or extinguishing a certain behavior
1. Positive Punishment: behavior is decreased if followed by an unpleasant stimuli
2. Negative Punishment: behavior is decreased when positive stimulus is removed (e.g. grounded, money, time out)
EDWARDS 1999: claimed that punishment do not do what it is supposed to do. It teaches out-of control models of behavior in handling stress. It also instills fear, rage and avoidance to children. He says that it only teaches children what NOT to do instead of WHAT TO DO.
IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES:
a. Generalization: give similar responses to similar stimuli
b. Discrimination: responding only to a stimuli that signal that a behavior will or will not be reinforced e.g. basketball game
c. Extinction: occurs when a previously reinforced behavior is NO LONGER reinforced
IMPLICATIONS:
Applied Behavioral Analysis/ Behavior Modification: divert behavior from destructive to constructive by setting consequences and reinforcing adaptive actions while less adaptive tactics are not.
Education: choosing effective reinforcements and individualizing particular reinforcements.
B. Observational Learning/Imitation/Modeling
Developed by Albert Bandura because he didn’t like the trial and error models because learning would be therefore be hazardous. He affirmed that we need competent models to learn.
Bandura had 4 steps: Attention, Retention, Motor Production and Reinforcement/Incentive Conditions for learning to occur.
C. Verbal Learning
This is only true for humans. It involves activities that need the use of language like speaking, writing, reading, reciting.
Memory plays an important role in learning because, like Operant Conditioning, it should be an active process. Memorization, like operant conditioning also increase the probability of a behavior in a given signal or appropriate context.
Cognitive Factors in Learning
Classical and Operant conditioning ignored the possibility that cognitive factors such as memory, thinking, planning, expectations setting to be involved in learning.
Cognitive vs. Behavioral: behaviorist do not deny that thinking processes have roles in learning but since such processes can’t be observed directly, they can hold back environmental conditions that dictates behavior.
E.C. Tollman (1932) Purposiveness: believed that much of our behavior is goal-directed. He believed it is necessary to understand entire behavioral sequences to understand why they display such behavior. (e.g. why high school students study hard? Is it because they get reinforced or because they want to have good jobs in the future?)
Wolfgang Kohler: Insight learning: a form of problem solving in which organisms develop a sudden insight or understanding of the problem’s solution. (e.g. stick and box problem)
Biological and Cultural Factors in Learning
The organism’s body either permits or hinders learning. E.g. flying, breathing underwater, morphing. Preparedness is the term, used by physiologists to indicate that biological/physiological predisposition dictates us on how to learn in a certain way. We cannot learn something we do not experience.
Cultural differences also affect how we can discover our potential to do a particular behavior. Learning often requires practice, and certain behaviors are practiced MORE in some cultures than in others.
Learning is extremely important for both humans and animals in terms of survival, function and adaptation. A century of research on learning on lower animals suggests that principles generated initially from lower animals can also be applied to human beings.
Types of Learning:
A. Associative Learning: a type of learning where an organism makes a connection or association made between two events.
Conditioning: a process of learning associations
Two types of Conditioning: Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning
A.1Classical Conditioning or Pavlovian Theory:
An organism learns the association between two stimuli
Respondent behavior: meaning, behavior occurs automatically
It explains how neutral stimuli bring out INVOLUNTARY RESPONSES
Result: organisms learn to anticipate events
In the 1900’s Russian Physiologist IVAN PAVLOV was interested on how the body digests food so he conducted an experiment where he noticed that the dog salivated caused by other stimuli aside from the meat powder. He therefore identified learned and unlearned responses.
Pavlov said that unlearned responses are based on the fact that some stimuli automatically produce certain responses w/o prior learning. In other words, innate or inborn.
Ex. Salivation for food, vomiting for spoiled food, shiver for cold temperatures, coughing for clogging of air, pupils dilate for changes in light, etc.
TERMS:
a. UCS – unconditioned stimulus (stimulus that produces a response w/o prior learning E.g.: food, being stung by a bee)
b. UCR – unconditioned response (response that is automatically obtained because of the UCS .E.g.: salivation, crying)
c. CS – conditioned stimulus (a previously neutral stimulus that results in a conditioned response after being associated w/ an UCS)
d. CR – conditioned response (learned response to the CS that occurs after a CS-UCS link. It is similar to the UCR)
e. NS – neutral stimulus (a stimulus that cannot elicit any response but becomes associated w/ a meaningful stimulus. Once associated, it acquires the capacity to produce similar responses)
STEPS IN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING:
Before conditioning
NS -------> No Response
UCS ----------> UCR
During conditioning
NS + UCS ------------> UCR
After several times… (NS+UCS) -------> UCR
CS ------> UCR
After conditioning
CS --------------> CR
IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES
a. Acquisition – initial step in learning association
a.1 Time interval: defines contiguity or connectedness in time and space of a stimulus
a.2. Contingency: predictability of one stimuli occurring because of the presence of another stimuli
b. Generalization – if another stimulus is more similar to the original stimulus, it will result to similar responses.
(This is important so that organisms cannot be tied to a specific stimulus. Because of this, we don’t have to relearn everything we sense.)
c. Discrimination – learning to respond to certain stimuli and not to respond to others because generalization is not always beneficial
d. Extinction – weakening of the conditioned response (CR) in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). Without continued association between UCS & NS, CS loses power to produce CR.
e. Spontaneous Recovery – a conditioned response can occur after a time delay w/o further conditioning (E.g. sentimental songs, favorite place, etc)
IMPLICATIONS
Because of research, behaviorists claimed that humans can be conditioned. People can respond to alarms, light, air, touch of a hand etc. They also claimed that this is one of the major contributions of the survival of individuals. Classical conditioning can also explain and help humans in several ways such as dealing with phobia, cultivating pleasant emotions, analyzing health problems, and consumer behavior.
Phobia – irrational fears. Behaviorists claim that fears ca be learned through classical conditioning, thus it can be eliminated through COUNTER CONDITIONING. COUNTER CONDITIONING weakens a CR by associating/pairing fear-provoking stimulus w/ a new response that is incompatible w/ FEAR. (E.g. Little Albert & Peter)
Pleasant Emotions – Classical conditioning is also involved not only to unpleasant emotions like fear. This can explain our favorite songs, place and food. It can also associate romance or sexual arousal with food, music, clothing etc.
Health Problems – asthma, headaches, high blood pressure are sometimes due to stress but behaviorist can explain these phenomena by claiming that these certain responses are caused by stimuli that become conditioned to produce physiological responses. It can also affect our immune system and digestion.
Consumer psychology – advertisers nowadays use psychology in determining how consumers think, feel and reason in selecting among variants, brands, products and services. Women are associated with sexual arousal in men. Thus including women in alcoholic beverages repeatedly conditions consumers to think that the drink is actually associated with masculinity, sexuality and excitement.
A.2. Operant Conditioning/Instrumental Conditioning
A type of Associative Learning where the consequences of behavior change the chances or probability of the behavior’s occurrence. It also describes an organism’s response to the environment. Emphasizes on the ACTIVE and VOLUNTARY nature of an organism to respond.
American psychologist B.F. Skinner in 1938 coined the word “operant” that means: behavior operates on the environment and vice versa.
He also believed that voluntary responses or behavior that operates on the environment produces rewards & punishment. Skinner & other behaviorist created the Skinner Box (rat and food pellets and levers, also includes electric shocks.) Through the skinner box behaviorist were able to assume basic principles such as rewards, reinforcements, punishments.
TERMS
a. Shaping- when behavior takes time, it can be shortened by rewarding approximation. You give appropriate rewards increasingly as desired behavior is achieved nearer and nearer. (E.g. dolphins, classroom behavior)
b. Reinforcements:
- an event /stimulus that strengthens or increases the chances of a behavior to occur.
1. Positive reinforcement: behavior increases because it is followed by a rewarding/pleasurable stimulus/event
2. Negative reinforcement: behavior is strengthened because it is followed by a removal of an aversive/unpleasant stimulus/event
3. Primary reinforcement: uses reinforcers that are innately satisfying (e.g. food, water, sexual satisfaction)
4. Secondary reinforcement: it acquires its positive values through experiences that was learned. (e.g. pat at the back, praise, eye contact – University professor)
5. Schedules of reinforcements: timetable when a behavior will be reinforced
5.1 Fixed-Ratio: reinforces behavior only after a set number of behaviors. (E.g sales commission)
RESULT: performance drops right after reinforcement
5.2 Variable-Ratio: behavior is reinforced on an average # of times but on an unpredictable basis.
RESULT: produces steady rates of behavior that is most resistant to extinction
5.3 Fixed-Interval: reinforcement is determined by the time elapsed since last behavior was rewarded. (e.g. election, salary etc.)
RESULT : behavior peaks near the time of reinforcement
5.4 Variable-Interval: behavior is reinforced after an inconsistent amount of time has elapsed. (e.g. surprise quizzes, fishing, etc.)
RESULT : behavior is slow and consistent because it is difficult to predict a reward
c. Punishments: is used in weakening or extinguishing a certain behavior
1. Positive Punishment: behavior is decreased if followed by an unpleasant stimuli
2. Negative Punishment: behavior is decreased when positive stimulus is removed (e.g. grounded, money, time out)
EDWARDS 1999: claimed that punishment do not do what it is supposed to do. It teaches out-of control models of behavior in handling stress. It also instills fear, rage and avoidance to children. He says that it only teaches children what NOT to do instead of WHAT TO DO.
IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES:
a. Generalization: give similar responses to similar stimuli
b. Discrimination: responding only to a stimuli that signal that a behavior will or will not be reinforced e.g. basketball game
c. Extinction: occurs when a previously reinforced behavior is NO LONGER reinforced
IMPLICATIONS:
Applied Behavioral Analysis/ Behavior Modification: divert behavior from destructive to constructive by setting consequences and reinforcing adaptive actions while less adaptive tactics are not.
Education: choosing effective reinforcements and individualizing particular reinforcements.
B. Observational Learning/Imitation/Modeling
Developed by Albert Bandura because he didn’t like the trial and error models because learning would be therefore be hazardous. He affirmed that we need competent models to learn.
Bandura had 4 steps: Attention, Retention, Motor Production and Reinforcement/Incentive Conditions for learning to occur.
C. Verbal Learning
This is only true for humans. It involves activities that need the use of language like speaking, writing, reading, reciting.
Memory plays an important role in learning because, like Operant Conditioning, it should be an active process. Memorization, like operant conditioning also increase the probability of a behavior in a given signal or appropriate context.
Cognitive Factors in Learning
Classical and Operant conditioning ignored the possibility that cognitive factors such as memory, thinking, planning, expectations setting to be involved in learning.
Cognitive vs. Behavioral: behaviorist do not deny that thinking processes have roles in learning but since such processes can’t be observed directly, they can hold back environmental conditions that dictates behavior.
E.C. Tollman (1932) Purposiveness: believed that much of our behavior is goal-directed. He believed it is necessary to understand entire behavioral sequences to understand why they display such behavior. (e.g. why high school students study hard? Is it because they get reinforced or because they want to have good jobs in the future?)
Wolfgang Kohler: Insight learning: a form of problem solving in which organisms develop a sudden insight or understanding of the problem’s solution. (e.g. stick and box problem)
Biological and Cultural Factors in Learning
The organism’s body either permits or hinders learning. E.g. flying, breathing underwater, morphing. Preparedness is the term, used by physiologists to indicate that biological/physiological predisposition dictates us on how to learn in a certain way. We cannot learn something we do not experience.
Cultural differences also affect how we can discover our potential to do a particular behavior. Learning often requires practice, and certain behaviors are practiced MORE in some cultures than in others.