PSYCH 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Systematic Desensitization, Avoidant Personality Disorder, Socalled
Introduction to the Psychology of Learning
Overview of the Next 2-3 Lectures
*Locate Psychology of Learning within the History of Psychology and
Philosophy of Psychology
*Review Major Concepts and Applications of Mainstream “Learning
Psychology”
* Classical Conditioning (Ivon. Pavlov to Present)
* Operant Conditioning (Burrius F. Skinner to Present)
* Social Learning Theory (Albert Bandura is principal founder;
Seligman’s work is also central)
*
Historical Roots of Modern Learning Theory
*Pavlov was a physiologist--he stumbled into research on “associative
learning” and developed idea of “classical conditioning”
*The Legacy of Edward Thorndike: “The Law of Effect” (1911)
*consequences of behavior determine its survival
*Legacy of B.F. Skinner (1938, The Behavior of Organisms)
* Idea of “contingencies of reinforcement” built upon Thorndike’s
concepts
Philosophical Changes in Psychology: From Structuralism to Behaviorism
and Beyond
*The History of Modern Psychology began with Wilhelm Wundt, who
founded what came to be seen as a “school” of psychology focused on
the “structure” of consciousness, the building blocks of perception.
Proponents of this point of view were called “structuralists” and their
school “Structuralism”
*Structuralists, led by Wundt, studied the elements of perception
(“atoms of the mind”) by using the methodology of
“introspectionism”
*Psychology was revolutionized by John Watson in 1920’s, who
articulated a radical philosophy of psychology called “Behaviorism.”
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*Watson and the Behaviorists rejected introspection and the study of
consciousness in favor of the objective analysis of behavior alone.
They said psychology should be about the study of what can be seen
and observed, it should be an S-R Psychology:
*Stimuli and Responses are observable and objective, and should be
the sole object of study in psychology
*Skinner popularized behaviorism further, extending its reach in
academic psychology through the 1960’s, continuing to today
Philosophical Changes in Contemporary Views of Learning:
*Learning is no longer conceived as S-R psychology alone.
* Instead, S-O-R models dominate (where O = “Organismic” events:
internal, cognitive, mental events with neurobiological
underpinnings)
*Examples of “O” variables: cognitive processes (attitudes, thinking,
perception, vicarious learning, “mental maps”), emotional processes,
biological mediating variables
*Social Learning Theory rests on S-O-R conceptualizations
Learning I: Basic Concepts In Classical Conditioning:
*Classical Conditioning involves a process of what Pavlov called
“stimulus substitution”
*(a process of “associative learning” wherein stimuli are associated
and one comes to substitute for another).
Pavlov’s Original Discovery and Terminology, Diagrammed:
UCS→UCR
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CS→CR
*UCS = UNLEARNED stimulus; CS=?
*UCR = UNLEARNED response; CR=?
*The UCS automatically elicits the UCR (reflex)
*So for Pavlov the UCS was _______________ and the UCR was
_________________
*CS (previously neutral S) is paired repeatedly, with temporal
contiguity, with UCS
*Over Trials (temporal pairings), CS comes to automatically elicit a
response (CR) that closely resembles the UCR
* (Note: CR is not identical to the UCR reflex, but instead is a learned
automatic associative response with similar form)
*So for Pavlov the CS was _________________ and the CR was
___________________
Next figures portray Pavlov’s canine salivation experimental situation:
More Principles of CC (be able to define each term and give examples) :
*Once a stimulus acquires conditioned properties through stimulus
substitution, the brain also learns to:
*Generalize among stimuli (stimulus generalization):
*Discriminate among stimuli (stimulus discrimination):
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Document Summary
* locate psychology of learning within the history of psychology and. * review major concepts and applications of mainstream learning. * operant conditioning (burrius f. skinner to present) * social learning theory (albert bandura is principal founder; * pavlov was a physiologist--he stumbled into research on associative learning and developed idea of classical conditioning . * the legacy of edward thorndike: the law of effect (1911) * legacy of b. f. skinner (1938, the behavior of organisms) * idea of contingencies of reinforcement built upon thorndike"s concepts. Philosophical changes in psychology: from structuralism to behaviorism and beyond. * the history of modern psychology began with wilhelm wundt, who founded what came to be seen as a school of psychology focused on the structure of consciousness, the building blocks of perception. Proponents of this point of view were called structuralists and their school structuralism .
