2013 Behaviorism

Learning about learning…

Learning

• A relatively permanent change in an organisms behavior due to experience.

Associative Learning

• Learning that certain events occur together or a response and its consequences.

• Our minds naturally connect events that occur in a sequence.

Components of Conditioning

• There are 5 main components of conditioning. Classical Conditioning always involves these parts. They are:

– Neutral Stimulus (NS)– Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)– Unconditioned Response (UCR)– Conditioned Stimulus (CS)– Conditioned Response (CR)

• Based off of your understanding of vocabulary alone, predict what you think these different terms mean in regards to classical conditioning

Classical Conditioning Song

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94lWxsfKErM

Classical Conditioning:

• Neutral stimulus paired with a response-producing stimulus repeatedly. (acquisition)

• Causes the neutral stimulus to elicit the same response.

7

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A stimulus that automatically and naturally triggers a response.

-Original StimulusUnconditioned Response (UCR): A unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus, like salivation in the dog when food is in the mouth.

-Natural response-Would your friend’s brother’s sister’s cousin’s roommate have the same reaction?

Conditioned (Learned) Stimulus (CS): Originally a neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response. -The new stimulus that triggers the responseConditioned (Learned) Response (CR): A learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus.

-MOST times-same as the UCR

Let’s Talk Classical Conditioning

• Whenever I say, “Pavlov”, lick your finger, dip it in your cup and then lick your lemonade filled finger.

• Pavlov.

• Pavlov.

• Pavlov.

Ivan Pavlov’s Experiments

Pavlov paired a neutral stimulus (a bell) with a meat powder (which made the dog salivate). Eventually, dog salivates to bell alone

Identifying PartsUnconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

Meat (Pavlov)

Unconditioned Response (UCR) (Pavlov)

SalivationConditioned Stimulus (CS) (Pavlov)

Bell (Pavlov)

Conditioned Response (CR)Salivation (Pavlov)

* Hint: replace “conditioned” with “learned” to make it more intuitive.

More Practice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo7jcI8fAuI – BGSU Example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpoLxEN54ho – Pavlov’s dog

– The Office

BGSU Example

• What is the:– Unconditioned Stimulus

(UCS)– Unconditioned Response

(UCR)– Conditioned Stimulus

(CS)– Conditioned Response

(CR)

• Answers– UCS = Getting shot with

the AirSoft– UCR = Flinching– CS = Hearing the word

“that was easy”– CR = Flinching or facial

expression

The Office

• UCS– Sight of the mint

• UCR– Salivating response

• CS– Sound of Windows

• CR– Salivating response

Socrative Quiz

A friend has learned to associate the sound of a dentist’s drill to a fearful reaction because of a painful experience she had getting a

root canal. In this example, what is the:

– UCS? Pain from the drill– UCR? Fear– CS? Sound of the drill– CR? Fear

You get in a car accident and find you are afraid to get in a car.

UCS? Pain of the accidentUCR? Fear CS? Presence of carCR? Fear

You go to a fancy restaurant and decide to try an appetizer you’ve never tried before – escargot. After dinner, you go to a concert and get violently ill (from a stomach virus that’s been going around). From then

on, you can’t even look at snails without feeling sick.

UCS? Stomach virusUCR? Feeling sickCS? Sight of snailsCR? Feeling sick

You are cruising on I-94 at 75 mph when you see flashing police lights behind you. You pull over and the policeman gives you a ticket. You get in insane amounts of trouble from

your parents. The next time you see flashing police lights, your heart rate speeds up.

UCS? Getting in trouble from parents

UCR? Increased heart rateCS? Flashing lightsCR? Increased heart rate

A BMW commercial has lots of pretty people in it. People who watch the commercial find the people pleasing to look at. With repeated

viewing, they begin to associate the car with the pleasant feeling.

UCS? Pretty peopleUCR? Feeling goodCS? Sight of BMWCR? Feeling good

Acquisition – initial learning of the stimulus-response relationship (learning that bell means meat powder)

Extinction – diminished response to the conditioned stimulus when it is no longer coupled with UCS. (stop giving meat powder with bell and dog will stop salivating to bell)

Spontaneous recovery – reappearance of an extinguished CR after a rest.

Generalization – the tendency to respond to any stimuli similar to the CS (Dog salivates to other noises)

Discrimination – the ability to distinguish between the CS and similar stimuli (Dog only salivates to specific tone)

Classical Conditioning

Strengthof CR

Pause

Acquisition(CS+UCS)

Extinction(CS alone)

Extinction(CS alone)

Spontaneousrecovery ofCR

Higher-Order Conditioning

• Where one CS is paired with a new NS, creating a second weaker CS– Aka second-order conditioning– Ex:

• A person got struck by lightning now fearful of lighting (CR), so when sees lightning he gets scared (CR). If that person then associates thunder with lighting and becomes fearful of the sound of thunder, then the thunder became a CS.

• Lightning (CS) Fear (CR)• … Thunder (higher order conditioning - CS) Fear (CR)

Emotions

& Little AlbertWatson identified three innate emotions and felt they could be triggered (Fear, Rage, and Love)

•Watson’s student Rosalie Raynor carried out the Little Albert Study testing this idea

•Little Albert (9 months) •Before conditioning

•No fear of white rat, rabbit, dog, or monkey•When steel bar made loud sound behind his head (UCS), he responded with fear (UCR)

•Experiment•Experimenter showed him the rabbit and then slammed steal bar behind head (occurred 7 times)

•After Conditioning•Albert is afraid of white rat•Stimulus Generalization: now afraid of animals and furry objects

•Criticism•Poorly designed and researcher made no effort to extinguish fear

Little Albert Video Clip

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xt0ucxOrPQE

Identify the partsUnconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

Loud noise (Pavlov)

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

Fear/crying (Pavlov)

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

White rat (Pavlov)

Conditioned Response (CR)

Fear/crying (Pavlov)

Application to Little AlbertIf Little Albert generalized, what would we expect to happen? – He might cry at the sight of similar objects (he did – rabbit, dog, sealskin coat,

some rumors – Santa’s beard)How could we teach Little Albert to discriminate? – Continually expose him to stimuli similar to the rat, but only make the loud

noise when exposing him to the ratHow could Little Albert’s conditioning be extinguished? – Continually expose him to a white rat without making the loud noise

(unfortunately, this was never done because Little Albert was adopted soon after the original experiments (he would be 83 now if he is still alive – probably scared of rats!)

If Little Albert is still alive, his fear of white rats is likely to have been extinguished (no loud noise when he sees a rat). However, occasionally, when he sees a rat, he may find that his heart races for a second or two. What is this called? – Spontaneous recovery

What happened to Albert?

• Sad story…

Water “Can” Demo

• What is the:– Unconditioned Stimulus

(UCS)– Unconditioned Response

(UCR)– Conditioned Stimulus

(CS)– Conditioned Response

(CR)

• Answers– UCS = Water squirted

into the subject’s face– UCR = Flinching or facial

expression– CS = Hearing the word

“can”– CR = Flinching or facial

expression

Demo: What did you see?

• UCS: Water in face• UCR: blinking, flinching, faces• CS: hearing word can• CR: blinking, flinching, faces• Generalization: ban, ran, fan, tan, cap...• Discrimination: other words• Extinction: after no water with “can”• Spontaneous Recovery: learned response

after extinction.

A friend has learned to associate the sound of a dentist’s drill to a fearful reaction because of a painful experience she had getting a

root canal. In this example, what is the:

– UCS? Pain from the drill– UCR? Fear– CS? Sound of the drill– CR? Fear

Using the example in question 4, give an example of how each of the following may occur:

Extinction: if the pain does not result when the drill is used, the CR (fear) will diminish.Spontaneous recovery: the child returns for a visit the next day and the sound of the drill elicits fear again.Generalization: the child becomes fearful of the sound of any motorDiscrimination: the child learns that only the high pitched dentist drill is associated with pain and not a low pitch hum of the vacuum cleaner.

Biological Preparedness Hypothesis

• Martin Seligman: evolution has made us more likely to become conditioned to stimuli that are “potentially dangerous”– heights, thunder, animals, water, fire, people,

insects, etc.

Biological Predispositions

Example – You eat a novel food and later get sick. You will be conditioned to associate the taste of the FOOD with getting sick (and thus avoid that food in the future), but NOT the music playing in the restaurant, the plate it was served on, or the perfume your neighbor was wearing.

Conditioned Emotional Reactions: Fears and Phobias

• People are more ready to learn to fear snakes and spiders than flowers. Supports Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection, favors traits that aid in survival. (prepared, unprepared, contra prepared)

John GarciaAversions

• A classically conditioned dislike for and avoidance of a particular food that develops when an organism becomes ill after eating the food.

Evolutionary Psychology not Classical Conditioning

• Taste aversion: avoiding a food because you became ill after eating it

– Violates two classical conditioning rules

• It can occur in a single pairing

• The time span can be several hours

• John Garcia: challenged Classical Conditioning with lab rats

– Had rats drink liquid (NS) and injects a drug (UCS) into rats an hour later making the rats sick

– CR=Rats refused to drink liquid

– Found that NS and UCS could be separated by as much as 24 hours

– Garcia humorously suggested that a sick rat, like a sick person , speculates, “It must be something I ate.”

• Many psychologist describe this food-aversion learning in terms of classical conditioning.

• But John Garcia, a researcher who pioneered the study of food-aversion, states that such learning is quite different than standard cases of classical learning.

– Delay between the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli

• rather than the unconditioned stimulus immediately following the conditioned stimulus; with food aversion the delay can be as long as 24 hrs

– Sorts of stimuli• in typical classical conditioning cases almost any

detectable stimulus can serve but in food-aversion cases the stimulus must be a distinctive taste or smell.

Summary of Rules

• When possible, eat what your elders eat. – such food is probably safe since your elders

have been eating it for some time and haven’t died yet

• When you eat a new food, remember its taste and smell– if you don’t feel sick within a few hours it is

probably safe; if you do, don’t eat it again

Shepherd SiegelDrugs and Classical Conditioning

• Research by Shepherd Siegel indicates that many addicts have learned to associate stimuli or cues in the environment with getting high.

• Addicts can experience a high before they actually drink/smoke the substance the substance they are addicted to– This is due to classical conditioning

• Siegel found that heroin addicts can develop conditioned tolerance.

• How about students and learning. Are there certain cues in your environment that will help you remember.

Conditioned Compensatory Response

• Example: Some drugs have similar effects/problems… if a drug is taken the body will remember the environment in which the drug was taken, so if you usually take a drug with friends your body begins to build up a tolerance for the drug in the presence of the conditioned stimulus - friends, but later take it by your self, you have a higher likelihood of overdosing because the conditioned stimulus is absent.

Siegel

• UCS– Epinephrine shot

• UCR– Tachycardia (Increased heart rate)

• CS– Syringe, stand, color

• CR– Tachycardia

• CCR– Bradycardia (Decreased HR in preparation for drug)

Drug Rebound

• Drug rebound-After a drug is discontinued, the symptoms being treated return more severely than first experienced.

Contemporary Views Of Classical Conditioning: Reliable Signals

• Is it possible that Pavlov’s dogs were learning more than a mere association of two stimuli that occurred very close together in time?

• An analogy to understand that question: – YOU

• You have to go through a railroad crossing on the way to class and the warning lights flash.

• You wait and a train soon passes

• You learned that the warning lights flashing are a reliable signal.

– YOUR FRIEND• Your friend is also on the way to class and the

warning lights flash.

• Your friend waits but no train comes

• You friend learns that flashing lights are unreliable signals

• Robert A. Rescorla

– Group one of rats heard a tone (CS) and then received a shock (UCS)

– Group two of rats heard a tone (CS) and then received a shock (UCS); they also received additional shocks

– Group 1 feared the tone more than Group 2

– Reliable Signal

• When an animal/human predicts the value of the stimuli (is it a good signal?)

• Humans and railroads or Rats and shocks

• Cognition plays a role. Animals must learn predictability and expectancy. Not just a mindless mechanism

Operant vs. Classical ConditioningClassical Conditioning Operant Conditioning

Behavior is controlled by the stimuli that precede the response (by the CS and the UCS).

Behavior is controlled by consequences (rewards, punishments) that follow the response.

No reward or punishment is involved (although pleasant and averse stimuli may be used).

Often involves rewards (reinforcement) and punishments.

Through conditioning, a new stimulus (CS) comes to produce the old (reflexive) behavior.

Through conditioning, a new stimulus (reinforcer) produces a new behavior.

Extinction is produced by withholding the UCS.

Extinction is produced by withholding reinforcement.

Learner is passive (acts reflexively): Responses are involuntary. That is behavior is elicited by stimulation.

Learner is active: Responses are voluntary. That is behavior is emitted by the organism.

More Word Problems!

• Try your best to unscramble the following word problems!

Learned HelplessnessMartin Seligman

• A phenomenon in which exposure to inescapable and uncontrollable aversive events produces passive behaviors.

• Get to the point where the individual is conditioned to just give up.

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU7RBqTndJ8

Operant Learning• The frequency of behavior depends on the

consequence that follows that behavior. • Uses desirable/undesirable consequences• Voluntary responses• Ex. Grades

Jesse the Dog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Fyey4D5hg

The Law of Effect• Edward Thorndike• Locked cats in a cage• Behavior changes

because of its consequences.

• Rewards strengthen behavior.

• Law of Effect- behaviors with favorable consequences will occur more frequently and behaviors followed by less favorable consequences will occur less frequently.

Click picture to see a better explanation of the Law of Effect.

Law of Effect…Cats

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb-6DqfYw6U

Skinner Videoshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ctJqjlrHA

Chaining - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSc4VLbE5EQ&feature=player_detailpage

Pigeon Ping Pong -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u1Zhh5ZfGM

B.F. Skinner• The Mac Daddy of

Operant Conditioning.

• Nurture guy through and through.

• Used a Skinner Box (Operant Conditioning Chamber) to prove his concepts.

Skinner Box (Operant Chamber)

• Skinner created a box that had a bar that an animal pressed to receive a reward of food/water. The device then recorded the response.

Shaping

• Skinner used shaping to guide his animal’s actions in toward a desired behavior– Shaping

• Reinforcers that guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

• Ex: Giving a gymnast a cookie for attempting a cartwheel, then giving them one for landing one-legged, then giving them one for performing it perfectly

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSc4VLbE5EQ&feature=player_detailpage

Chaining

• Reinforcing the connection of the parts of the sequence

B.F. Skinner

• Skinner box (operant chamber)

• Shaping: (Chaining) method of successive approximations.

• Ex. Teach toddlers to dress oneself.

Let’s try to do a little shaping as a class…

• We will need one volunteer, however, everyone else will also participate in this demo…

Can you name…• Classical Conditioning ~ (respondent) associative behavior

– Pavlov• Biological preparedness ~ aversions

– Garcia• Conditioned emotions ~ fear

– Watson• Biological preparedness ~ learned helplessness

– Seligman• Cognitive process ~ predictability

– Rescorla• Removal of conditioned emotions ~ therapy

– Mary Cover Jones• Conditioned compensatory response ~ drugs

– Seigel

Big Bang Theory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt4N9GSBoMI

Types of Reinforcers:•Primary Reinforcers- function due to biological make-up•Things that are in themselves rewarding

–Ex. Food, water, & warmth

•Secondary Reinforcers- must be learned. Acquire value through being paired with primary reinforces.

–Ex. Money, attention, & social approval

Positive

• Something is added to the environment• An event is started or presented

Negative

• Something is taken away or removed from the environment

• An event is ended or taken away

Reinforcement

• Increases the likelihood of the event/behavior occurring in the future– $50 if you get an A on your report card (Positive)– Not having to watch your sister on Friday night because

you got an A on your report card (Negative)• Both positive and negative reinforcements increase the

likelihood that you will get an A (desired behavior)

Punishment

• Decreases the likelihood of the event occurring in the future– If you break curfew you will get a $75 ticket– Not allowed to use the family car if you break curfew

(losing your great date Saturday night)• Both positive and negative punishments decrease the

likelihood you breaking curfew (undesirable behavior)

In Summary…• Positive reinforcement

– Adding something good in order to increase the likelihood of that event/behavior occurring in the future.

• Negative reinforcement– Removing something bad in order to increase the likelihood of

that event/behavior occurring in the future.

• Positive Punishment– Adding something bad in order to decrease the likelihood of that

event/behavior occurring in the future.

• Negative Punishment– Removing something good in order to decrease the likelihood of

that event/behavior occurring in the future.

Operant Conditioning Guide

Steps to O.C.• Identify the behavior and the

consequence• Does the consequence increase or

decrease the likelihood of the behavior happening again in the future– Increase Reinforcement– Decrease Punishment

• Is the consequence adding something to the situation or taking it away?– Added Positive– Taken away Negative

Steps to the O.C.• http://goo.gl/cWH0q9

Fun Examples of Using Operant Conditioning for Good

• Musical Stairs– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

• World’s Deepest Garbage Can– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcrhp-IWK2w

Making Punishment Work

• To make punishment work:– Punishment should be swift.– Punishment should be certain-every time.– Punishment should be limited in time and intensity.– Punishment should clearly target the behavior, not

the person.– Punishment should not give mixed messages.– The most effective punishment is often omission

training-negative punishment.

Premack's Principle

• preferred behaviors can be used to reinforce unpreferred behaviors

• high-probability behaviors (those performed frequently under conditions of free choice) can be used to reinforce low-probability behaviors.

• “You have to finish your veggies, before you eat any icecream.”

Instinctive drift

• Brelands• Biological constraints predispose organisms to

learn associations that are naturally adaptive• Animal training• Constraints of biological predispositions• Revert to biologically predisposed patterns

Time to think…

• So what’s wrong with Punishment?• displacement…

• Behavior Modification…– List some of your bad habits– how are they maintained?

• discriminative stimulus (triggers)• how extinguish them? (reinf/punish)• explain how instinctive drift could apply to you and your

habits

Punishment• Meant to decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated

• Is spanking children an effective, or even necessary, punishment?– Must be consistent– Must immediately follow a response

• Could spanking children cause long-term mental health problems?– Doesn’t teach or promote desirable behavior– Can be temporary (less effective with repeated use)– Undesirable results:

• Fear, anxiety• Hostility• Passivity

Spanked~ Demand immediate satisfaction of wants & needsEasily frustrated DefiantTemper tantrums Lash out physically

Alternative ways to reinforce undesirable behavior~

• Stop reinforcement• Remove opportunity for reinforcement• Reinforce nonoccurrence• Enhance effectiveness of reinforcement• Reinforce incompatible behavior

Schedules of Reinforcement

Continuous Reinforcement• Continuous Reinforcement:

A schedule of reinforcement that rewards every correct response given.– Example: A vending machine.– Put money in…you always win!!!!

Yay!

• What are other examples?

Reinforcement Schedules

• Intermittent Reinforcement: Some, but not all, correct responses are reinforced.

• Most effective way to maintain a desired behavior that has already been learned.

• Why?

Continuous v. Partial Reinforcement

Continuous• Reinforce the behavior

EVERYTIME the behavior is exhibited.

• Usually done when the subject is first learning to make the association.

• Acquisition comes really fast.

• But so does extinction.

Partial

• Reinforce the behavior only SOME of the times it is exhibited.

• Acquisition comes more slowly.

• But is more resistant to extinction.

• FOUR types of Partial Reinforcement schedules.

Schedules of Intermittent ReinforcementDEFINITIONS

• Interval schedule: rewards subjects after a certain time interval.

• Ratio schedule: rewards subjects after a certain number of responses.

• Fixed: Rewards subjects after a know and set amount

• Variable: Rewards subjects after an unknown or changing/random amount of time

Ratio Schedules

• Fixed Ratio Schedule (FR): A reinforcement schedule that rewards a response only after a defined number of correct answers.– Example: If you use your Rewards point to

buy 7 Starbucks coffees, you get the 8th one for free….or something like that?

Results of Fixed Ratio

• Rapid response rates of responding with short post-reinforcement pauses

• Length of the pause is directly proportional to the number of responses required

Ratio Schedules

• Variable Ratio Schedule (VR): A reinforcement schedule that rewards an unpredictable number of correct responses.– Example:

• Buying lottery ticket• Playing the slots

Results of Variable Ratio

• Produce an overall high consistent rate of responding

Interval Schedules

• Fixed Interval Schedule (FI): – Require the passage of a specified amount of time

before reinforcement will be delivered set on a response

– A schedule that a rewards a learner only for the first correct response after some defined period of time.

– Example: B.F. Skinner put rats in a box with a lever connected to a feeder. It only provided a reinforcement after 60 seconds.

– The rats quickly learned that it didn’t matter how early or often it pushed the lever, it had to wait a set amount of time.

– As the set amount of time came to an end, the rats became more active in hitting the lever.

Results of Fixed Interval

• This schedule usually produces a pattern of responding in which little behavior is produced early in the interval, but as the interval nears an end, the rate of responding increases

• This also produces an overall low rate of responding

Interval Schedules

• Variable Interval Schedule (VI): A reinforcement system that rewards a correct response after an unpredictable amount of time.

– Example: A pop-quiz

Results of Variable Interval

• Produce an overall low consistent rate of responding

Schedules of Reinforcement

Variable Interval

Number of responses

1000

750

500

250

010 20 30 40 50 60 70

Time (minutes)

Fixed Ratio

Variable Ratio

Fixed Interval

Steady responding

Rapid respondingnear time forreinforcement

80

Intermittent Reinforcement Schedules-

Skinner’s laboratory pigeons produced these responses patterns to each of four reinforcement schedules

For people, as for pigeons, research linked to number of responses (ratio) produces a higher response rate than reinforcement linked to time elapsed (interval).

Schedules of ReinforcementWhy vary opportunity for reward?

FIXED RATIO:17. Buy three sandwiches, get the 4th one free23. Climb 43 steps every day to see the rooftop view25. Collect 50 box tops, get a prize28. Factory workers make 10 clocks, earn $10031. Doing 20 pushups to help stay fit37. Being paid 10 dollars for every 3 puzzles solved39. Boy asks out 12 girls, eleven say no, but 1 says yes!41. Frequent flyer program where you get a free flight after a specific number of miles flown45. Read 10 books, get tickets to Great America46. You pay for half the car, parents pay the rest

VARIABLE RATIO:

1. Dialing a busy number2. A child cries in a store to get what he wants- every so often it works13. Flipping a coin before a game; sometimes heads? Sometimes tails?27. Looking under rocks for worms.29. Going up a staircase to reach a landing with a nice view. I won’t stop until I find one!38. Selling a product door to door40. Slot machines

Fixed Interval

4. Wife watching a boxing match. She receives a kiss at the end of every 3 minute round7. Doing Extra credit before the end of the quarter8. Waiting (at 10:03 everyday) near your locker for that special someone11. Students waiting near door at the end of class12. Your dog gives you his paw every two minutes16. Child who likes to hear the theme music from jeopardy every night at 7pm18. Students shuffling books near the end of class each day19. Getting your clothes out of the dryer once the dryer buzzes20. Watching your favorite TV show every Tuesday.35. Finishing your term paper the day before it’s due44. Flossing before your dental appointment48. Getting a paycheck at the end of two weeks

Variable Interval

5. Checking the bathroom stalls when all of them are full6. Studying for a class that has surprise quizzes9. Pacing around your house while waiting for your date to arrive10. Waiting for an elevator14. Musical chairs15. Trolling for fish in a lake on a summer day21. Waiting to be asked to prom22. Random drug testing24. Applying to colleges and looking for the mailman once in a while26. Waiting for papers to be graded30. Surfer waiting for a perfect wave to ride in 32. Waiting for a sunny day to go to the beach33. Trying to find a parking spot in a busy city.34. Speed traps on a highway36. Playing bingo42. Waiting for the doctor43. Calling a mechanic to see if your car is fixed yet47. Raising your hand in class

Premack's Principle

• preferred behaviors can be used to reinforce unpreferred behaviors

• high-probability behaviors (those performed frequently under conditions of free choice) can be used to reinforce low-probability behaviors.

• “You have to finish your veggies, before you eat any ice cream.”

• “You can go to the movies if you drop your brother off at soccer practice first.”

Instinctive drift

• Brelands– Biological constraints predispose organisms to

learn associations that are naturally adaptive• Animal training

– Constraints of biological predispositions– Revert to biologically predisposed patterns

Social Learning

Tell me how to tie a shoe….

Children See, Children Do

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JrtpCM4yMM

Observational Learning• Albert Bandura

– Pioneer researcher of observational learning

• Observational learning: Learning in which new responses are acquired after other’s behavior and the consequences of their behavior are observed. – Modeling:

• Process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

Observational Learning

• Albert Bandura and his BoBo Doll

• We learn through modeling behavior from others.

Click pic to see some observational learning.

Bandura’s Research• After observing adults seeming to enjoy punching,

hitting and kicking an inflated doll called Bobo, the children later showed similar aggressive behavior toward the doll.

• Significantly, these children were more aggressive than those in a control condition who did not witness the adult’s violence.

Mirror Neurons…Again!

• Frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain’s mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation or empathy.– Bio-Psycho-Social perspective

• Individuals with autism display reduced mirror neuron firings in response to yawns and laugher and empathy

Latent Learning

• Edward Toleman• Latent means

hidden.• Sometimes learning

is not immediately evident.

• Rats needed a reason to display what they have learned.

Unit 61. D2. A3. C4. A5. A6. E7. D8. D9. E10. B11. B12. B13. A14. C15. C

Punishment

Making Punishment Work

• To make punishment work:– Punishment should be swift.– Punishment should be certain-every time.– Punishment should be limited in time and intensity.– Punishment should clearly target the behavior, not

the person.– Punishment should not give mixed messages.– The most effective punishment is often omission

training-negative punishment.

Time to think…

• So what’s wrong with Punishment?• displacement…

• Behavior Modification…– List some of your bad habits– how are they maintained?

• discriminative stimulus (triggers)• how extinguish them? (reinf/punish)• explain how instinctive drift could apply to you and your

habits

Punishment• Meant to decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated

• Is spanking children an effective, or even necessary, punishment?– Must be consistent– Must immediately follow a response

• Could spanking children cause long-term mental health problems?– Doesn’t teach or promote desirable behavior– Can be temporary (less effective with repeated use)– Undesirable results:

• Fear, anxiety• Hostility• Passivity

Spanked~ Demand immediate satisfaction of wants & needsEasily frustrated DefiantTemper tantrums Lash out physically

Alternative ways to reinforce undesirable behavior~

• Stop reinforcement• Remove opportunity for reinforcement• Reinforce nonoccurrence• Enhance effectiveness of reinforcement• Reinforce incompatible behavior

Did Not Use This Year

Cancer patients and chemotherapy.

Cancer patients tend to associate the nausea produced by chemotherapy with the hospital setting. – UCS – chemotherapy – UCR – nausea– CS – hospital – CR – nausea

Token Economy

• Every time a desired behavior is performed, a token is given.

• They can trade tokens in for a variety of prizes (reinforcers)

• Used in homes, prisons, mental institutions and schools.

Cognitive ProcessesIt was once thought that cognitive processes weren’t involved in classical conditioning. Now we know better. For example, therapists give alcoholics drink containing a nausea-producing drug to condition them to avoid alcohol. Because clients KNOW that the drug is what is actually causing the nausea, it doesn’t work so well.

Biological PredispositionsIt was once believed that conditioning occurred the same in all animals (and

therefore you could study human behavior by studying any animal) and that you could associate any neutral stimulus with a response.

Not so. Animals have biological predispositions to associating certain stimuli over

others

Example – You eat a novel food and later get sick. You will be conditioned to associate the taste of the FOOD with getting sick (and thus avoid that food in the future), but NOT the music playing in the restaurant, the plate it was served on, or the perfume your neighbor was wearing.

It is much easier to condition someone to have a fear of snake than of flowers.

Birds hunt by sight and will more quickly become conditioned to the SIGHT of tainted food

Food Aversion• Classical conditioning or not?• When animals, including humans, become ill after eating some new or

unusual food, they will avoid that food thereafter.

• This occurs even if the food was not the cause of illness. – Ex: one eats anchovies for the first time and later that day develops a stomach flu.