PSYC 1101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 7: Natural Selection, Prosocial Behavior, Motivation
6 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Notes on Learning
Basic Learning Concepts and Classical Conditioning
How Do We Learn?
● Learning → the process of acquiring through experience new information or behavior
● Adapt to environment and prepare for events (classical conditioning)
● Repeat actions that bring rewards (operant conditioning)
● Watch others (cognitive learning)
● Association - minds naturally connect events
● Behaviors become associated with contexts
● Behaviors become habitual
● Associative learning → learning that certain events occur together. The events may be
two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in
operant conditioning)
● Classical conditioning
○ Associate two stimuli to predict events
○ Stimulus → any event or situation that evokes a response
○ Respondent behavior → behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some
stimulus
● Operant conditioning
○ Associate our behavior and its consequence
○ Operant behavior → behavior that operates on the environment, producing
consequences
● Cognitive learning → the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing by
observing events, by watching others, or through language
Classical Conditioning
● Pavlov
● Classical conditioning → the type of learning in which one learns to link two or more
stimuli and anticipate events
● Watson (behaviorism)
● Behaviorism → the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2)
studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists
today agree with (1) but not (2).
● Mentalistic concepts
Pavlov Experiments
● Pavlov
○ Was going to be priest, then med school
○ Studied digestion
○ Noticed dogs salivating at sight of food
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
● Neutral stimulus (NS) → in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response
before conditioning
● If the dog experienced something right before it got food, it would start drooling in
response to that stimulus
● Unconditioned response (UR) → in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally
occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food
in the mouth)
● Unconditioned stimulus → in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally --
naturally and automatically -- triggers and unconditioned response (UR)
● Tone that caused dogs to salivate was learned thus conditioned
● Conditional response → in classical conditioning, a learned response to previously
neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS) (salivation at bell)
● Conditioned stimulus → in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that,
after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned
response (CR) (bell)
● Pavlov’s discoveries are associated with five major conditioning processes: acquisition,
extinction, spontaneous discovery, generalization, and discrimination
Acquisition
● Acquisition → in classical conditioning, the initial stage when one links an NS and a US
so that the US begins triggering a CR. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a
reinforced response
● How does order of NS, CS, US, CR, and UR, play a role in getting conditioned?
● Objects, smells and sights can be associated with sexual pleasure
● Conditioning can help animals survive and reproduce
● Higher-order conditioning → a procedure in which the CS in one conditioning experience
is paired with a new NS, creating a second (often weaker) NS. Pavlov’s dogs who are
shown red light before tone that signals food, might respond to red light.
Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
● What if CS but no US?
● Extinction → the diminishing of a CR; occurs in classical conditioning when the US does
not follow a CS; occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced
● Spontaneous recovery → the reappearance, after a pause, on an extinguished CR
● Extinction suppressing CR rather than eliminating
Generalization
● Generalization → the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar
to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses
● Generalization can last a long time
Discrimination
● Discrimination → in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a
CS and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Learning the process of acquiring through experience new information or behavior. Adapt to environment and prepare for events (classical conditioning) Repeat actions that bring rewards (operant conditioning) Associative learning learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning) Stimulus any event or situation that evokes a response. Respondent behavior behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus. Operant behavior behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences. Cognitive learning the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing by observing events, by watching others, or through language. Classical conditioning the type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events. Behaviorism the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not (2).
