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Lecture 4 Learning

The document discusses various learning theories and concepts including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and cognitive approaches to learning. It covers Pavlov's and Skinner's work and experiments as well as Bandura's social learning theory and observational learning. Applications of learning principles in therapy and the effects of media violence are also examined.

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28 views44 pages

Lecture 4 Learning

The document discusses various learning theories and concepts including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and cognitive approaches to learning. It covers Pavlov's and Skinner's work and experiments as well as Bandura's social learning theory and observational learning. Applications of learning principles in therapy and the effects of media violence are also examined.

Uploaded by

hugoleung
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SOSC1960

Discovering Mind and Behavior

Lecture 4
Learning
http://www.ntv.co.jp/zoo/index.html
 Learning
 A relatively permanent change in behavior (or
behavioral capacity) brought about by
experience

Nature vs Nurture
Behavior is shaped by experience
(nurture)

 Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning


 Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
 Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
 Media violence
 Using learning principles in therapy
Classical conditioning
 Stimulus – Response connection
 Type of learning in which a neutral stimulus
comes to bring about a response after it is
paired with a stimulus that naturally brings
about that response
Pavlov (1927)
a stimulus that, before conditioning, does not
naturally bring about the response

a stimulus that naturally brings a natural, reflexive response that


about a particular response needs no training
without having been learned
a response that, after conditioning, follows
a previously neutral stimulus

a once neutral stimulus that has been


paired with an unconditioned stimulus to
bring about a response formerly caused
only by the unconditioned stimulus
Fears

“Little Albert” experiment (Watson, 1927)


Fears

“Little Albert” experiment (Watson, 1927)


Fears

Tall building

Building Collapse

What are the implications for people who have


experienced traumatic events? Fear toward
environmental features which were present in
the traumatic events.
 Classical conditioning in ads
 Linking a product with a stimulus
(unconditioned stimulus) which naturally
brings about a positive feeling (unconditioned
response)
Using celebrities
 Extinction
 Occurs when a previously conditioned response
decreases in frequency and eventually
disappears
 The conditioned stimulus is no longer paired
with the unconditioned stimulus
During Conditioning

Bell (CS)

Salivation (CR)

Food (UCS)

After Conditioning

Bell (CS) Salivation (CR)

Extinction

Bell (CS)
 Stimulus generalization
 Occurs when a conditioned response follows a
stimulus that is similar to the original
conditioned stimulus
 The more similar the two stimuli are, the more
likely generalization is to occur
The more similar a stimulus is to the conditioned
stimuli, the more likely this new stimuli can trigger
the conditioned response

Baslam (1988)
Operant conditioning
 Operant conditioning
 A type of learning in which a response is
strengthened or weakened, depending on its
favorable or unfavorable consequences
 The organisms operate on the environment to
produce a desirable results
 Studying operant conditioning
 Operant chamber (or Skinner box)
 A small enclosure in which an animal can make
a specific response that is recorded while the
consequences of the response are
systematically controlled
 Operant conditioning
 Behavior becomes more likely if it brings good
consequences (reinforcement)
 Behavior becomes less likely if it brings bad
consequences (punishment)
Positive reinforcement:
a behavior is followed by a pleasant stimulus
Negative reinforcement:
a behavior is followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus
Positive punishment:
A behavior followed by an unpleasant stimulus
Negative punishment:
A behavior followed by the removal of a pleasant stimulus
Cognitive approaches to learning
 Behavior can be learned without
reinforcement or direct experience
 Studying learning in terms of thought
processes that underlie it
 Re-introduce the “mind” into the learning
processes
 Observational learning
 Very often, we do not or could not learn by
trial-and-error
 E.g., the danger of crossing the road
 E.g., the penalty of committing criminal offences
 Observational learning
 A process in which an individual learns new
responses by observing what others (a model)
do and what happens to them for doing it,
instead of through direct experience
 Learning through imitation
 particular likely when the model is similar &
reinforced
Bobo Doll

Bandura, Ross, & Ross (1963)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdh7MngntnI
Media violence

Release of violent game GTA triggers real assault


 Media violence
 Violence in television and video games
 “Media copycat” killings (e.g., Columbine High
School)
 Many evidence showing that watching high
levels of media violence makes viewers more
susceptible to acting aggressively
Brief exposure to violent dramatic presentations on TV or in
films causes short-term increases in youths’ aggressive
thoughts, emotions, and behavior, including physically
aggressive behavior serious enough to harm others.

Anderson et al. (2003)


The current physical aggression, verbal
aggression, and aggressive thoughts of young
people are correlated with the amount of
television and film violence they regularly watch

High levels of exposure to violent TV


programs in childhood are associated with
aggression in later childhood, adolescence, and
even young adulthood

Anderson et al. (2003)


Using learning principles in therapy
 Therapy approaches which build on the
basic processes of learning
 Assumptions
 Behavior, normal or not, is a product of
learning
 What has been learned can be unlearned
 Aversive conditioning (or aversion therapy)
 Reducing the frequency of undesired behavior
by pairing an aversive, unpleasant stimulus
with the undesired behavior (e.g., alcohol
abuse, smoking, gambling, sexual deviance,
overeating)
Alcohol abuse

Conditioned
stimulus
(Alcohol) Unconditioned
Unconditioned stimulus Conditioned stimulus
(Antabuse) stimulus (Alcohol)
(Antabuse)

Unconditioned Unconditioned Conditioned


response response response
(nausea, vomiting) (nausea, vomiting) (nausea, vomiting)

Before Conditioning During Conditioning After Conditioning

39
 Smoking
 Rapid smoking
 Focused smoking
Operant conditioning
 Token system
 Tangible reinforcers in the form of tokens that
can later be exchanged for desired objects or
privileges
 Observational learning/ modeling to treat
phobia
 E.g. Children who were afraid of rabbits seeing
a model (the Fearless Peer) playing with a
rabbit
Required Readings
 Chapter 6

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