LEARNING & BEHAVIOR

CHAPTER OUTLINE
 Classical Conditioning
 Operant Conditioning

 Cognitive Learning

 Observational Learning
WHAT IS LEARNING?
 Learning may be defined as a relatively permanent
change in behavior that occurs as a result of practice.
(Hilgard)
 Any process through which experience at one time can
alter an individual's behavior at a future time.
(Peter Gray)
 Learning may be defined as a relatively permanent
change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience.
 Not temporary
 Change is not always immediately apparent
 Not due to biological factors, drugs, etc.
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
 Click icon to add picture
"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well- Watson’s
formed, and my own specified world to Famous
bring them up in and I'll guarantee to
take any one at random and train him to Words
become any type of specialist I might
select--doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-
chief, and, yes, even beggarman and thief,
regardless of his talents, penchants,
tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race
of his ancestors. I am going beyond my
facts and I admit it, but so have the
advocates of the contrary and they have
been doing it for many thousands of
years." –John B. Watson, Behaviorism,
1930
 It is a form of associative learning that
was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov.
 The study of classical conditioning
began in the 20th century, when Ivan
Pavlov, a Russian psychologist turned
his attention to learning.
WHAT IS CLASSICAL CONDITIONING?
 A learning process in which a previously neutral
stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus
through repeated pairing with that stimulus.
 Classical conditioning theory involves learning a new
behavior via the process of association.
 In simple terms two stimuli are linked together to
produce a new learned response in a person or animal.
PAVLOV’S ACCIDENT
 Classical conditioning was discovered by accident in the early
1900s by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov.

One of Pavlov’s dogs

with a surgically
implanted cannula to
measure salivation,
Pavlov Museum, 2005

 Pavlov was studying how saliva aids the digestive process.

 During his experiment, he noticed that the dog responded
(salivated) to a neutral stimulus (experimenter in lab coat).
PAVLOV’S EXPERIMENT

 In his initial experiment, Pavlov used bells to call the

dogs to their food and, after a few repetitions, the
dogs started to salivate in response to the bell.
 Thus, a neutral stimulus (bell) became a conditioned
stimulus (CS) as a result of consistent pairing with the
unconditioned stimulus (US - meat powder in this
example).
 Pavlov referred to this learned relationship as a
conditional reflex (now called Conditioned
Response).
 There are three stages to classical conditioning. In each
stage the stimuli and responses are given special
scientific terms
STAGE 1: BEFORE CONDITIONING
 In this stage, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) produces an
unconditioned response (UCR) in an organism.
 In basic terms this means that a stimulus in the environment
has produced a behavior / response which is unlearned (i.e.
unconditioned) and therefore is a natural response which has
not been taught.
 This stage also involves another stimulus which has no affect
on a person and is called the neutral stimulus (NS).
 The neutral stimulus does not produce a response until it is
paired with the unconditioned stimulus.
STAGE 2: DURING CONDITIONING
 Duringthis stage a stimulus which produces no
response (i.e. neutral) is associated with the
unconditioned stimulus at which point it now
becomes known as the conditioned stimulus (CS).
AFTER CONDITIONING
 Now the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been associated
with the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) to create a new
conditioned response (CR).
EXTINCTION

 Disappearance of a conditioned response when a

conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the
unconditioned stimulus
 “the look”…no longer has the effect
SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY
 The reemergence of an extinguished conditioned
response after a period of rest and with no further
conditioning
GENERALIZATION & DISCRIMINATION
 Stimulus generalization
 What takes place when a conditioned response follows a
stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus.
 Stimulus discrimination
 The ability to differentiate between stimuli so that responses
occur only to certain stimuli and not others.
IMPORTANT TERMS
 Unconditioned Stimulus: one that unconditionally, naturally and
automatically triggers a response.
 Unconditioned Response: the unlearned response that occurs naturally
in response to the unconditioned stimulus
 Unconditioned Relationship: an existing stimulus response connection

 Neutral Stimulus: a stimulus that does not produce the targeted

response
 Conditioned Stimulus: previously neutral stimulus that, after
becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually
comes to trigger a conditioned response.
 Conditioned Response: the learned response to the previously neutral
stimulus.
 Conditioned Relationship: the new stimulus response association
created by pairing a new stimulus with an old response
LEARNING IN HUMANS
 Aversions to particular foods
 Bee stings association with pain

 Punishment associated with “the look” from mother

OPERANT CONDITIONING
THORNDIKE’S LAW OF EFFECT
 An organism will repeat a behavior that produces a
satisfying consequence.

Behavior Better state Increased

of affairs probability of
behavior occurring again

Behavior Worse state Decreased

of affairs probability of
behavior occurring again
Behavior A
Behavior B
Behavior C Better state Behavior C
Behavior D of affairs emerges as the
Behavior E most probable
 Thorndike discovered that when cats were placed in this
type of puzzle box, they learned to push down on the
wooden lever because it resulted in the satisfying
consequence of opening the door to the box.
 “The behavior is followed by a
consequence, and the nature of the
consequence modifies the organism’s
tendency to repeat the behavior in the
future.”
(Skinner)
 “All we need to know in order to
describe and explain behavior is this:
actions followed by good outcomes are
likely to recur , and actions followed by
bad outcomes are less likely to recur.”
(Skinner, 1953)
WHAT IS OPERANT CONDITIONING?
 Operant conditioning is a method of
learning that occurs through rewards
and punishments for behavior.
 Through operant conditioning, an
association is made between a behavior
and a consequence for that behavior.
 Sometimes referred to as instrumental
conditioning
 Skinner used the term operant to refer to any "active
behavior that operates upon the environment to generate
consequences" (1953).
 Operant behavior: occurs without an observable external
stimulus
 Operates on the organism’s environment

 The behavior is instrumental in securing a stimulus more

representative of everyday learning
 Behavior can be changed by the use of consequences which are
given after a response.
 Skinner identified three types of responses or operant that can
follow behavior.
 Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither
increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated.
 Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the
probability of a behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can be either
positive or negative.
 Punishers: Response from the environment that decrease the
likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Punishment weakens
behavior.
REINFORCEMENT
 Positive Reinforcement
 Increasing a behavior by administering a reward
 Negative Reinforcement
 Increasinga behavior by removing an aversive
stimulus when a behavior occurs
PRIMARY & SECONDARY
REINFORCEMENT
 Primary Reinforcers
 Innate positive reinforcers that do not have to be
acquired through learning. they satisfy basic needs
 Secondary Reinforcers
 Learned positive reinforcers
SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT
 A schedule of reinforcement is a program, or rule, that
determines how and when the occurrence of a response
will be followed by a reinforcer
INTERVAL SCHEDULES
 Reinforcement occurs after a certain amount of
time has passed
 Fixed Interval
 Reinforcement is presented after a fixed amount of time
Variable Interval
 Reinforcement is delivered on a random/variable time
schedule
RATIO SCHEDULES
 Reinforcement occurs after a certain number of
responses
 Fixed Ratio
 Reinforcement presented after a fixed # of responses
 Variable Ratio
 Reinforcement delivery is variable but based on an
overall average # of responses
PUNISHMENT
 Positive Punishment
 Decreasing a behavior by administering an aversive
stimulus following a behavior
 Negative Punishment
 Decreasing a behavior by removing a positive
stimulus following a behavior
SHAPING BEHAVIOR
 Shaping is the process of teaching a complex behavior
by rewarding closer and closer approximations of the
desired behavior.
 In shaping, you start by reinforcing any behavior that is at all
similar to the behavior you want the person to learn.
 Later, you reinforce only responses that are closer to the
behavior you ultimately want to teach.
 Finally, you reinforce only the desired response.
 Each step moves only slightly beyond the previously learned
behavior, permitting the person to link the new step to the
behavior learned earlier.
APPLICATIONS OF
CLASSICAL & OPERANT
CONDITIONING
ADVERTISEMENTS
 What was it based on? Classical or Operant?
 The commercial displays heartbreaking images of
animals in distress. The images of the abused animals
evoke emotions of sympathy and compassion.
 In classical conditioning, the advertiser attempts to get
consumers to associate their product with a particular
feeling or response, in the hope that the consumer will
then buy the product.
 Music that is happy and repetitive helps consumers to
feel happy when they hear it. Consumers then associate
the feelings of happiness with the product and may be
more likely to buy the product.
MICHAEL JORDAN PROMOTING AIR JORDAN XX3 IN 2008
COGNITIVE LEARNING
WHAT IS COGNITIVE LEARNING?
 According to the cognitive perspective, the crux of
learning lies in an organisms ability to mentally represent
aspects of the world and then operate on these mental
representations rather than on the world itself.
 Learning develops from bits of knowledge and
cognitions about the environment and how the organism
relates to it
EDWARD TOLMAN
 Early advocate of the cognitive approach to
learning was Edward Tolman
 Tolman is virtually the only behaviorist who
found the Stimulus-Response
theory unacceptable, because reinforcement
was not necessary for learning to occur.
 He felt behavior was holistic, purposive, and
cognitive. 
 Cognitive Maps
 Tolman’s research dealt with rats learning their way
through complex mazes
 In his view, a rat running through a complex maze was not
learning a sequence of right-and-left running responses but
rather was developing a cognitive map –
 A mental representation of the layout of the maze
 Maze Learning in Rats
 Tolman would run rats
through mazes
 A was the starting point for
the rats.
 B was the goal at which he

wanted them to reach.

 He ran several experiments in

which one would have the

rats start at A and learn to run
to B to get the food.
 In doing so, they would have

to turn right to get the food.

 Once the rats learned, this he
tried a different method.
 He would start them at point
C; if the rat turned right and
went to section D, then they
were not using cognitive
maps, but instead he found
they turned left and went to
section B proving the use of
cognitive maps.
 This idea that rats don’t just learn movements for only
rewards but instead learn even when there are no rewards
suggests a latent learning theory
 Experiment on Latent Learning

Rats

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3

Food on
No food Food given
every trial of
given after 10th day
maze
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
• learned the maze • Wandered aimlessly • Learned the maze
• Reached food • Time taken to reach during first 10 days
quickly food remained the • Displayed learning
same when food was given
• With food time to
reach food box
decreased drastically
 Latent Learning
 Learning without reinforcement and is not
immediately demonstrated when it occurs
 Learning takes place, but is not displayed until a
reward is given for a behavior that would demonstrate
that the learning has occurred.
WOLGANG KOHLER
 Was a Gestalt theorist
 The term "Gestalt" refers to any pattern or organized
whole.
 The key concept in Gestalt theory is that the nature of
the parts is determined by the whole - parts are
secondary to the whole.
 For example, when listening to music, we perceive a
melody rather than individual notes, or when looking at
a painting, we see the overall image rather than
individual brush strokes.
 Köhler emphasized that one must examine the whole to
discover what its natural parts are, and not proceed from
smaller elements into wholes. 
 Kohler’s theory suggested that learning
could occur by sudden comprehension as
opposed to gradual understanding.
 This could occur without reinforcement, and
once it occurs, no review, training, or
investigation are necessary. 
 He said that insight learning is a type of
learning or problem solving that happens
all-of-a-sudden through understanding the
relationships various parts of a problem
rather than through trial and error
 Kohler’s groundbreaking experiment
involved one of his chimpanzees, Sultan.
 Sultan learned to use a “stick” to rake in
bananas outside of his cage.
 Kohler placed the banana outside of the reach
of just one stick and gave Sultan two sticks that
could be fitted together to make a single pole
that was long enough to reach the banana.
 After fiddling with the sticks for an hour or so,
Sultan happened to align the sticks and in a
flash of sudden inspiration, fitted the two sticks
together and pulled in the banana.
 Kohler also demonstrated insightful learning in the 'box'
problem, in the 'box' problem.
 A banana was hung from the ceiling of a cage, which the
chimpanzee could not reach ordinarily.
 There were several boxes inside the cage. After some initial
period the animal stacked several boxes, and stood on the top box
to fetch the banana.
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
WHAT IS OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING?
 Replicating others’ novel behavior through observation
and imitation; also known as vicarious learning,
modeling, or social learning.
 It is based on the principle of modifying or adopting new
behavior after observing another individual performing
it.
 The observer will either perform or avoid the behavior
based on the consequence the model received after doing
the behavior.
ALBERT BANDURA
 Social Learning theory was proposed by Albert Bandura
 The theory focused on both modeling and cognition, and
their role in understanding behavior.
BANDURA’S VIEW
 Humans learn by watching others.
 You don’t have to produce a behavior yourself, to learn
the consequences of producing such behavior.
 E.g., Dia learns not to jump on the coffee table, because
she watched her brother get into trouble for doing so last
week.
 He argued that we acquire behaviors & are influenced by
observing others.
BOBO DOLL EXPERIMENT
 Bandura let a group of kindergarteners watch a film of an
adult violently attacking an inflatable plastic toy shaped like
Bobo the Clown by hitting it, sitting on it, hammering it, and
so forth.
 He then let the children into a room with Bobo dolls.

 The children precisely imitated the adult’s behavior,

gleefully attacking Bobo.
 Their behavior was a type of
observational learning
KEY ELEMENTS OF OBSERVATIONAL
LEARNING
 Attention
 Motor skills

 Motivation
 In order for observational learning to be successful, you have
to be motivated to imitate the behavior that has been
modeled.
 Reinforcement and punishment play an important role in
motivation.
 Memory
 Retention of the observed behavior
VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT
 Vicarious Reinforcement is the concept of people
wanting to imitate the behavior of someone by observing
him/her being rewarded as a result of a certain action (in
other words, people are to be reinforced vicariously).
VICARIOUS PUNISHMENT
 Refers to the decrease of the probability of occurrence of
a behavior due to having observed this behavior leading
to negative consequences in another person