Learning and Behaviorism

1. Learning and Behaviorism Three major areas of learning Classical Conditioning: Pavlov Instrumental /Operant Conditioning: Skinner Social Learning Theory: Bandura

3. John B. Watson �Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own special world to bring them up in, and I�ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select � doctor, lawyer, merchant-chief, and yes, beggar man or thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.�

4. Pavlov and Classical Conditioning The process by which an organism learns a new association between two paired stimuli � a neutral one and one that already causes a reflexive response. Unconditioned Stimulus Unconditioned Response Conditioned Stimulus Conditioned Response

5. Related Terms Acquisition Extinction: the dying out of a conditioned response Spontaneous Recovery: return of a conditioned response after it has been extinguished

6. More Terms! Stimulus Generalization: the extension of a conditioned response from the training stimulus to a similar stimulus Stimulus Discrimination: learning to respond differently to two stimuli because different outcomes follow them

7. Conditioned Taste Aversion Link a food with illness CS paired with UR Preparedness Concern for patients receiving chemotherapy

8. Operant Conditioning Also known as Instrumental Conditioning Thorndike and his cats Key difference from Classical Conditioning: subject�s behavior determines an outcome and is subsequently impacted by that outcome Operant generally applies to skeletal muscles, classical to visceral responses

9. B.F. Skinner Most influential behaviorist Envisioned a utopian society based upon his theories Skinner Box Ping-pong playing and airplane flying pigeons Shaping � successive approximations

10. How do you shape behavior? Reinforcement � an event that increases the probability that a response will be repeated Positive Reinforcement - presentation of an event that increases behavior (e.g., dessert) Negative Reinforcement � strengthen behavior by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus (e.g., stop nagging) Punishment � an event that decreases the probability that a response will be repeated

11. Punishment Punishment (Passive Avoidance) � unwanted response is followed by an aversive stimulus (e.g., spanking) Omission Training � a desired stimulus is removed following an unwanted response (e.g., lose the car keys after breaking curfew)

12. Schedules of Reinforcement Continuous Reinforcement Fixed-ratio schedule � fixed # of responses determines reinforcement. Rapid and steady response rate with pause after reward Variable-ratio schedule � steady response rate

13. More Schedules � Interval Training Fixed-interval schedule � reinforcement is based upon the passage of time. Pause after reward and then an ever increasing rate of response Variable-interval schedule � slow but steady response rate

14. Social Learning Approach Albert Bandura: Bobo doll. We learn by observing the behavior of others and from imagining the consequences of our own behavior.

15. Social Learning Theory Cont. Modeling: we imitate people who we Resemble Identify with View as successful Vicarious Reinforcement and Punishment