Introduction to Psychology

Learning and Conditioning

Learning
Unlearned Behavior Learned Behavior
• Instinct: unlearned • Learning: change in
knowledge, involving behavior or knowledge
complex patterns of that is the result of
behavior; instincts are experience
thought to be more • Associative
prevalent in lower learning: form of learning
animals than in humans that involves connecting
• Reflex: unlearned, certain stimuli or events
automatic response by an that occur together in the
organism to a stimulus in environment
the environment
Types of Learning

• Classical conditioning: Organisms learn to associate events—or stimuli—that repeatedly

happen together
• Operant conditioning: Organisms learn to associate events—a behavior and its
consequence (reinforcement or punishment)
• Observational learning: the process of watching others and then imitating what they do
Classical Conditioning
Higher-Order
Conditioning
Processes in Classical Conditioning

The rising curve shows the conditioned

response quickly getting stronger
through the repeated pairing of the
conditioned stimulus and the
unconditioned stimulus (acquisition).
Then the curve decreases, which shows
how the conditioned response weakens
when only the conditioned stimulus is
presented (extinction). After a break or
pause from conditioning, the
conditioned response reappears
(spontaneous recovery).
Classical Conditioning: Stimulus Discrimination and
Generalization

• Stimulus discrimination: ability to respond differently to similar stimuli

• Stimulus generalization: demonstrating the conditioned response to stimuli that
are similar to the conditioned stimulus
• Habituation: when we learn not to respond to a stimulus that is presented
repeatedly without change
Classical Conditioning and Behaviorism

Behaviorists believe that human behavior is primarily the result of conditioned responses
The perspectives on learning in this module come from behaviorism
Operant Conditioning

Law of effect: behavior that is followed by consequences satisfying to the organism

will be repeated and behaviors that are followed by unpleasant consequences will
be discouraged
• (a) B. F. Skinner
• (b) Skinner box
Operant Conditioning: Reinforcement and Punishment

Reinforcement Punishment

Something Something
is added to increase  is added to decrease the
Positive
the likelihood of a likelihood of a
behavior. behavior.

Something Something
is removed to increase is removed to decrease 
Negative
the likelihood of a the likelihood of a
behavior. behavior.
Primary and Secondary Reinforcers

• Primary reinforcer: has innate reinforcing qualities (e.g., food, water, shelter, sex)
• Secondary reinforcer: has no inherent value unto itself and only has reinforcing qualities
when linked with something else (e.g., money, gold stars, poker chips)
• Shaping: rewarding successive approximations toward a target behavior
Reinforcement Schedules
Description Result Example

Moderate response Hospital patient

delivered at predictable time
Fixed rate with significant uses patient-
intervals (e.g., after 5, 10, 15,
interval pauses after controlled, doctor-
and 20 minutes).
reinforcement timed pain relief

delivered at unpredictable
Variable Moderate yet steady
time intervals (e.g., after 5, 7, Checking Facebook
interval response rate
10, and 20 minutes).

delivered after a predictable High response rate

Fixed
number of responses (e.g., with pauses after Piecework
ratio
after 2, 4, 6, and 8 responses). reinforcement

delivered after an
Variable unpredictable number of High and steady
Gambling
ratio responses (e.g., after 1, 4, 5, response rate
and 9 responses).
Response Patterns for Different Reinforcement Schedules
Latent Learning

Learning that occurs but is not observable in behavior until there is a reason to demonstrate it
• Cognitive map: a mental picture of the layout of the environment
Observational Learning

We can learn by watching others

• Model: person whose behavior that serves as an example
• Vicarious punishment: observer sees the model punished, making the observer less likely
to imitate the model’s behavior
• Vicarious reinforcement: observer sees the model rewarded, making the observer more
likely to imitate the model’s behavior
Practice Problem

Give an example of something you have learned through classical conditioning and
identify the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR. In what ways is this different from operant
conditioning?
Quick Review

• Compare and contrast the three basic forms of learning—classical conditioning, operant
conditioning, and observational learning?
• How does classical conditioning work? Include NS, UCS, UCR, CS, and CR
• What are the processes of acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and
discrimination?
• In operant conditioning what is the difference between reinforcement and punishment?
Quick Review Continued

• What is shaping?
• What is the difference between primary and secondary reinforcers?
• How do different reinforcement schedules impact behavior?
• What are latent learning and cognitive maps?
• What are the steps in the modeling process for observational learning?