Psychology - Unit 7 - Chapter 8

Learning
How do we learn?

Learning is a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience. In associative learning, we learn to associate two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning). In observational learning, we learn by watching others' experiences and examples.

Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. Pavlov's work on classical conditioning laid the foundation for behaviorism, the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes. In classical conditioning, a UR is an even that occurs naturally (such as salivation), in response to some stimulus. A US is something that naturally and automatically (without learning) triggers the unlearned response (as food i the mouth triggers salivation). A CS in classical condition is an originally neutral stimulus (such as a bell) that, through learning (salivation). A CR is the learned response (salivating) to the originally neutral but now conditioned stimulus.

Classical conditioning occurs most readily when a CS is presented just before (ideally, about a half-second before) a US, preparing the organism for the upcoming event. This finding supports the view that classical conditioning is biologically adaptive.

In classical conditioning, extinction is diminished responding when the CS no longer signals an impending US. Spontaneous recovery is the appearance of a formerly extinguished response, following a rest period. Generalization is the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to a CS. Discrimination is the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other irrelevant stimuli.

Generalization (our tendency to respond to stimuli similar to a CS) has survival value because it lets is extend a learned response to other stimuli in a given category – as in fleeing from all dangerous animals. Discrimination (our learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other irrelevant stimuli) also has survival; value because it lets us limit our learned responses to appropriate stimuli – as in fleeing from a rampaging lion but nor from a playful kitten.

The early behaviorists' optimism that learning principles would generalize from one response to another and from one species to another has given way to the understanding that conditioning principles are influenced by our thought, perceptions, and expectations. In classical conditioning, humans and other animals learn when to “expect” a US, and their awareness of the link between stimuli and responses can weaken associations.

Early behaviorists believed that any natural response could be conditioned to any neutral stimulus in any given organism. Learning theorists have abandoned this belief. Each species is biologically prepared to learn associations – such as humans' fear of spiders and snakes, or rats' aversion to tastes associated with nausea – that enhance its survival. Outside the laboratory, a CS tends to have a natural association with the US it predicts.

Pavlov taught us that significant psychological phenomena can be studied objectively, and that condoning principles have important applications, such as by suggesting how some fears are learned and can be treated. He also demonstrated that principles of learning apply across species, although later research modified this finding somewhat by showing by showing that in many species cognition and biological predispositions place some limits on associative learning.

Classical conditioning techniques are used in treatment programs for those recovering from alcohol and other drug abuse and to condition more appropriate responses in therapy for emotional disorders, The body's immune system also appears to respond to classical conditioning.

Operant Conditioning

In classical conditioning, the organism forms associations between behaviors it does not control; this form of conditioning involves respondent behavior (automatic responses to some stimulus). In operant conditioning, the organism learns associations between its own behavior and resulting events; this form of conditioning involves operant behavior (behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences).

Thorndike's law of effect asserts that rewarded behavior is likely to recur, using this as his starting point, skinner devoted his life to exploring the principles and conditions of learning through operant conditioning.

In shaping, we use reinforcers to guide a person's or an animal's behavior toward a desired goal. Building on existing behaviors, we reward successive approximations to some desired behaviors. Because nonverbal animals and babies can respond only to what they perceive, their reactions demonstrate which events they can discriminate.

Positive reinforcers adds something desirable to increase the frequency of a behavior. Negative reinforcement removes something undesirable to increase the frequency of a behavior. Primary reinforcers (such as receiving food when hungry or having nausea end during an illness) are innately satisfying – no learning is required. Conditioning (or secondary) reinforcers (such as cash) are satisfying because we have learned to associate them with more basic rewards (such as food or medicine we buy with them). Immediate reinforcers (such as the nicotine addict's cigarette) offer immediate payback; delayed reinforcers (such as a weekly paycheck) require the ability to delay gratification.

Both positive punishment (administering an undesirable consequence, such as spanking) and negative punishment (withdrawing something desirable, such as taking away a favorite toy) attempt to decrease the frequency of a behavior (a child's disobedience). Negative reinforcement (such as taking aspirin) removes something undesirable (such as a headache) to increase the frequency of a behavior. Punishment's undesirable side effects may include suppressing rather than changing unwanted behaviors, teaching aggression, creating fear, and encouraging discrimination (so that the undesirable behavior appears when the punisher is not present), and fostering depression and feelings of helplessness.

Latent learning, as shown in rats' learning of cognitive maps or children delayed imitation of others' behavior, indicates that we can learn from experience, without apparent reinforcement. An external reward's ability to undermine our interest and pleasure in an activity weakens the idea that behaviors that are rewarded will increase in frequency.

Biological constrains predispose organism to learn associations that are naturally adaptive. Training that attempts to override these tendencies will probably not endure because the animals will revert to their biologically predispose patterns.

Many psychologists criticized Skinner for underestimating the importance of cognition and biological constrains on learning. They also engage in a vigorous intellectual debate with him over the nature of human freedom and the strategies and ethics of managing people.

In school, teachers can sue shaping techniques to guide students' behaviors. Interactive software and Web sites an provide immediate feedback to students. In sports, coaches can build players' skills and self-confidence by rewarding small improvements. At work, managers can boost productivity and morale by rewarding well-defined and achievable behaviors. At home, we can control our energy usage by comparing recent consumptions with past consumptions.  Parents can reward behaviors they consider desirable, but not those that are undesirable. Individually, we can reinforce our own desired behaviors and extinguish undesirable ones by stating our goals, monitoring the frequency of desired behaviors, and cutting back on incentives as behaviors become habitual.

Classical and operant conditioning are similar in being forms of associative learning. Both also involve acquisitions, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and Discrimination. And both are influenced – and sometimes constrained – by cognitive processes and biological predispositions. These two forms of learning differ in an important way. In classical conditioning, an organism associates different stimuli that it does not control and responds automatically (respondent behaviors). In operant conditioning, an organism associates its own behaviors with their consequences.

Learning by observation

 In observational learning, we observe and imitate others. Mirror neurons,  located in the brain's frontal lobes, demonstrate a neural basis for observational learning. They fire when we perform certain actions (such as responding to pain or moving our mouth to form words), or when we observe someone else performing those actions.

Bandura and others demonstrated that we are likely to imitate actions that go unpunished. And we tend to imitate models we perceive as similar to us, successful, or admirable.

Research shows that children tend to imitate what a model does and says, whether the behavior is prosocial (positive, constructive, and helpful) or antisocial. If a model's actions and words are inconsistent, children may imitate the hypocrisy they observe.

Correlations show relationships, but not the direction of influence. Correlation studies show that violence viewing and violent behavior are linked, but they do not prove that watching violent TV causes children to become violent. Children who behave violently may enjoy watching violence on TV, or some third factor may cause children both to behave violently and to prefer watching violent programs. To prove cause and effect, researchers have designed experiments in which some participants view violence (in rough play or verbal responses to videos), the people who viewed violence tend to be more aggressive and less sympathetic. Two factors – imitation and desensitization – seem to contribute to the violence effect.