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Classical and OperantConditioning

January 16, 2001

Classical Conditioning

Reminder of Basic Effect

What makes for effectiveconditioning?

How does classical conditioning work?

Classical Conditioning

Reflex-basic unit of behavior

Ring a bell and give a sour ballsoonyou will salivate to the sound of thebell = conditioned reflex.

Basic effectIf Unconditioned Stimulus ? Unconditioned Response

(meat powder) (salivation)

then pair

Conditioned Stimuluswith the Unconditioned Stimulus(bell) (meat powder)

then eventually

Conditioned Stimulus ? Conditioned Response(bell) (salivation)

Who didnt know this already? Who didnt know this?If Unconditioned Stimulus ? Unconditioned Response

(smell of food) (approach)

then pair

Conditioned Stimuluswith the Unconditioned Stimulus(sound of can opener) (smell of food)

then eventually

Conditioned Stimulus ? Conditioned Response(sound of can opener) (approach)

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Measurement

You cant answer questions effectivelywithout an experimental method

Its not enough to say cat comes

How many times must it hear the can opener? What if sometimes I open a can of soup? How quickly will the cat come? Can any stimulus be associated with any response? WHY does the cat come?

Many questions you could ask

What makes an effective CS and US?

How might classical conditioning work?

What makes effectiveCS & US

Belongingness

Taste->vomiting, sight->shock

Effect observed in humans, too. Fearconditioning to snakes/spiders vs.flowers/mushrooms (dv = GSR)

What makes effectiveCS & US

Novelty

Bell alone, then bell?food Bell associated w/ background

Bell associated w/ no food

Food alone, then bell?food

How does CC work?

CC can be thought of as addingpredictability to the animalsenvironment.

Learning that one stimulus is conditionalon the other.

If one stimulus is not conditional on theother, you wont get learning.

How does CC work?

Importance of one stimulus beingconditional on another. If you present CS and US randomly, you

dont get learning. Animals should ignore stimuli that dont

have predictive value.

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Predictive value--blocking

Group 1: Tone ShockToneLight

Shock Light Shock

Group 2: x Light Shock Light Shock

Training 1 Training 2 Test

Learning = bad

Learning = good

The Point of Blocking

The animal only learns what lightmeans if light carries new predictiveinformation

Rigor allows prediction

Note how different this enterprise isthan the casual observation of yourcat.

Final phenomenon--secondary conditioning

What do you think would happen if you taught a dogLight Food,

and then taught it

Bell Light,

Answer

The dog would learn it, andwould eventually salivate to

bell.

Question. . .

How does secondaryconditioning apply here?

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US = food, UR = approach, hoveringCS = arm motions, CR = approach, hoveringSecondary CS= looking up, CR = approach, hovering

Whats happening, and what should the birds do?

Whats happening: removal of secondary CS

What should the birds do?: extinction of CR

Moments later, birds are leaving

Application to humans?

Application to humans?

Food anticipations--salivation

Food aversions

Drug tolerance & addiction

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Drug Addiction and Overdose

CC plays a role in deaths caused by drugoverdoses

Person who usually takes a drug in aparticular setting develops a CR to thatplace.

Drug ? Big Response (e.g. hypothermia) andbody tries to return to homeostasis


Drug ? Body attempts to counteract (raise body temp.)

US UR

Setting (e.g. bathroom)?Drug

CS US

Bathroom ? Body attempts to counteract drug

CS CR

What happens if the drug is taken in a different room?


CR does not occur (users body does nottry to counteract drug) and the usercan not tolerate the higher dose.

Drug Addiction

Craving for drug is an attempt to get back tohomeostasis:

Craving is caused by Conditioned Stimulie.g.: handling money

seeing a friend take drugtalking about drugsbeing in specific setting

Operant ConditioningOperant Conditioning

Conditioned reflexes couldnt accountfor all behavior

Active response? future change inresponse depending on consequences.

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Operant Conditioning

In classical conditioning, the presenceof one stimulus (e.g. meat powder) isconditional on the presence ofanother stimulus (e.g., a bell)

What else can an animal learn, besidesthe relationship of two stimuli?


It is also possible for the animal togenerate a response and for thatresponse to have consequences:

e.g., act cute, you get pet

What makes OC effective?

Temporal contingency

Schedule of reinforcement

Belongingness

Temporal Contingency

The delay between the animals actthat you are reinforcing, and thereinforcer. Immediate is more effective than

delayed for animals.

Humans can learn effectively afterdelayed reinforcement.


Relies on reinforcement:

The process by which consequenceslead to an increase in the likelihoodthat the response will occur again.

Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement: desired eventis presented after a response. example: food when animal presses bar

Negative Reinforcement: removal ofan unpleasant event example: removal of shock when animal

presses bar.

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Schedules of Reinforcement

Fixed ratio number

Variable ratio number

Fixed interval time

Variable interval time

Fixed ratio

Reinforcement is given after a fixed ratio ofresponses.

Time

Number of

Responses

Example: factory

piecework

Steady response

Easy to extinguish

Variable ratio

Reinforcement is given after a variable ratioof responses.

Example: slot machine

Rapid response

Hard to extinguish

Time

Number ofResponses

Fixed interval

Reinforcement is given for a response emittedafter a fixed interval of time.

Example: studying for

exams

Little response until

just before reinforcement:

then rapid response

Fairly easy to extinguish

Time

Number ofResponses

Variable interval

Reinforcement is given for a response aftera variable amount of time.

Example: checking

mailbox (sort of)

Steady response

Hard to extinguish

Time

Number ofResponses

Operant conditioning--whatmakes it effective?

Temporal contingency

Schedule of reinforcement

** Belongingness

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Belongingness

Thorndike: Cat and puzzle box. Pressing lever led to door opening

Not yawning or scratching

Motivational state can also influence;a hungry animal does more for food-seeking behaviors. . .

Applications

Animal training

Superstition

Teaching Machines

Token Economies

Animal Training

Revolutionized animal training Shaping

Importance of temporal contingency

Exclusive use of positive reinforcement

Complexity of behaviors when theserules are followed.

Superstition

Skinner left pigeons alone, reinforcedevery 15 seconds. Reported that theydeveloped superstitious behavior, eachbird having a different behavior. Pigeonsappeared to believe that they were makingthe food appear

Temporal contingency--birds were doingsomething when the food appeared. . .

Superstition

Superstitious behavior: depends onaccidental association between actionand consequence

Teaching

Apply operant conditioning principles tolearning Make sure student doesnt make mistakes; guide

behavior via successive approximations

Review frequently

Little enthusiasm. Teachers dont like itand students are bored.

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Behavior Modification

Token economies Secondary reinforcement

dehumanizing?

Operant and Classical

CC: Neutral stimulus comes to havemeaning

OC: Neutral response comes to havemeaning

Are they really different?

Documents

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