PSY190 General Psychology
Introduction
Learning is an important activity in our live.
Learning is the modification through
experience of pre-existing behavior and
understanding.
Nonassociative learning
Learning that results from exposure to a single
stimulus.
Habituation: the process of adapting to stimuli
that do not change.
Ex: fail to notice wearing watch
Sensitization: an increase in responsiveness to
a stimulus.
It cannot explain many of the behaviors and
mental processes
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: LEARNING
SIGNALS AND ASSOCIATIONS
A learning process in which a previously neutral stimulus
becomes associated with another stimulus through
repeated pairing with that stimulus.
Ivan Pavlov’s experiment:
first phase: a natural reflex (salivation) and a neutral
stimulus (musical tone) were established.
second phase: the neutral stimulus and the stimulus causing
the natural reflex were repeatedly paired.
third phase: the neutral stimulus alone caused some form of
the natural reflex to occur.
Pavlov’s Experiments: Key
Terms and Concepts
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)-meat powder
Unconditioned Response (UCR)-salivation
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)-tone / ring
Conditioned Response (CR)- salivation
Conditioned responses
over time
Extinction- gradual disappearance of a CR when a
CS is no longer followed by an UCS
Ex: tone can’t elicit salivation without meat powder
Reconditioning- quick relearning of a CR after
extinction
Ex: tone elicit salivation when pair with meat powder
again.
Spontaneous recovery- reappearance of the CR
after extinction and without CS-UCS pairings
Ex: hear the same tone again elicits salivation
Associations may not be entirely forgotten
Stimulus Generalization and
Discrimination
Stimulus generalization occurs when a stimulus similar
but not identical to the original stimulus also elicits a
response (lesser degree).
Ex: sour-smelling milk – sick –> avoid products with
similar odor
It brings advantages and problems
Stimulus discrimination is a complementary process
through which organisms learn to differentiate
between stimuli that are similar but not identical to the
CS.
The signaling of Significant
Events
Timing- CS should precede UCS and interval
shouldn’t too long
Predictability-CS should reliably predict UCS
Signal Strength- a strong CS or UCS is better
Attention- only perceived stimuli can form
association
Bioprepardness- certain signals or events are
especially likely to form association
Ex: more fear of snake than knives
Second-order
conditioning
A phenomenon in which a conditioned
stimulus acts like an unconditioned stimulus,
creating conditioned stimuli out of events
associated with it.
Example of cancer patients:
pill (CS) - chemotherapy (UCS) – nausea (UCR)
Red box (CS) – pill (UCS)
Red box - nausea
Applications of Classical
Conditioning
Phobias are extreme fears of objects or
situations that are not harmful.
Classical conditioning can
produce phobias(via stimulus generalization)
Ex: white coat – doctor - painful injection-> extreme
fear of white coat
eliminate phobias(through systematic
desensitization)
Ex: relaxation – white coat
OPERANT CONDITIONING:
LEARNING THE CONSEQUENCES OF
BEHAVIOR
Law of effect:
if a response made in the presence of a particular stimulus is
followed by a reward, that response is more likely to be made
the next time the stimulus is encountered.
Ex: hungry cat press pedal and get food-> tend to press pedal
Thorndike called this learning as instrumental conditioning.
Skinner’s emphasis on how an organism learns to “operate on”
its environment to produce a positive effect
Rename to operant conditioning.
Skinner box- measures how often an animal responds
Reinforcers /
Reinforcement
A reinforcer is a consequence that increases the
probability that a behavioral response will occur
again.
Two types of reinforcer:
Positive reinforcer are positive stimuli that act like
rewards.
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcer are the removal of unpleasant
stimuli.
Negative reinforcement- a response is strengthened by the
removal of an unpleasant stimuli
Escape and Avoidance
Conditioning
Negative reinforcements are used in escape and
avoidance conditioning.
Escape conditioning- learns behaviors that lead to an
escape from an unpleasant situation.
Ex: dogs learn jump over barrier to get away from a shock
Ex: scolding- crying –> stop scolding
Avoidance conditioning- learns behaviors that allow it
to completely avoid an unpleasant situation.
Ex: buzzer sound-electric shock(classical)-> jump over
barrier when warning buzzer sound (operant)
Ex: studying – stop scolding
Avoidance is a difficult habit to break- never find out the
consequence
Punishment
Punishment presents an aversive stimulus or
removes a pleasant stimulus to decrease the
frequency of a behavior.
Two types of punishment:
Positive- present an unpleasant stimulus
Ex: scolding, tuition
Negative- remove a pleasant stimulus
Ex: Stop giving pocket money
Punishment (con’t)
Punishment has several disadvantages.
1) it does not eliminate learning; it merely suppresses a
behavior.
2) punishment is not effective unless it immediately
follows the undesired behavior.
3) punishment may be associated with the punisher so
that eventually the punisher is feared.
4) the organism being punished may learn to relate to
others in an aggressive manner.
5) it doesn’t provide any demonstration of desired
behaviors
Summary of operant
conditioning
Type of conditioning Action Type of stimulus
Positive reinforcement Give (+) Pleasant stimulus (+)
Negative reinforcement Remove (-) Unpleasant stimulus (-)
Positive punishment Give (+) Unpleasant stimulus (-)
Negative punishment Remove (-) Pleasant stimulus (+)
COGNITIVE PROCESSES IN
LEARNING
Cognitive processes, how people represent, store and
use information, is important in learning.
(ex: expectation, meaning)
Learned Helplessness
a tendency to give up any effort to control the
environment when believe effort has no effect.
Ex: dog does not try to run away from electric shock
Insight- Kohler and his chimpanzees’ studies
Observational Learning: Learning by Imitation
people learn by watching others (social learning).
Albert Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment
Vicarious conditioning- individual is influenced by seeing or
hearing about the consequences of others’ behavior
a person learns new behaviors by observing the consequences
(reinforcement or punishment) of someone else’s behavior.
Tutorial Question 4
Daisy is a high school teacher. How does she
apply the operant conditioning to:
a) increase the students’ interest in study
b) prevent students come late to class
