Chapter Ten

The Learning Perspective

Classical Conditioning

• Pavlovian Conditioning• Response acquired by associating one stimulus

with another• Basic Elements:

Stage 1 (existing reflex) US UR

Stage 2 (pairing of stimuli) US URCS

Stage 3 (development of US UR CR) CS CR

Stage 4 (completed CS CR conditioning)

Issues Affecting Classical Conditioning

• Conditioned response (CR) is generally less intense than the unconditioned response (UR)

• The greater the frequency of CS–US pairings, the more likely conditioning will take place

• If US is very strong, conditioning will take place rapidly

Additional Issues in Classical Conditioning

• Discrimination—differential responding between classes of stimuli

• Generalization—experience of a less intense CR to classes of stimuli similar to CS

• Extinction—gradual weakening of CR in response to presentation of CS without US

Emotional Conditioning

• Situations of classical conditioning in which the conditioned response (CR) is an emotional reaction– Gives rise to likes and dislikes, preferences

and biases• Associations of neutral stimuli with events that

reflexively cause good or bad feelings

Instrumental Conditioning

• Also known as operant conditioning• Process whereby behavior that is followed

by a “positive state of affairs” is more likely to be done again in a similar situation– Links an action, an outcome, and the

likelihood of future action– Recognizes contingency between response

and its consequences– “Law of effect” as described by Thorndike

Reinforcement and Punishment• Reinforcer = “positive state of affairs” that increase

(strengthen) the likelihood of a response– Primary reinforcer—diminishes biological needs– Secondary reinforcer—associated (through classical

conditioning) with primary reinforcer– Positive reinforcement—receipt of something positive– Negative reinforcement—removal of something negative

• Punishment—Negative or aversive outcome that decreases the tendency of behavior that preceded it– NOT THE SAME AS NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT– Receipt of something negative– Removal of something positive (time out from positive

reinforcement)

Additional Issues in Instrumental Conditioning

• Discriminative stimulus—a stimulus that is present when a behavior is followed by a reinforcer– Stimulus acts as a switch to turn behavior on and off

(cue function)– Important in personality because it provides a

mechanism for behavioral complexity• Generalization—responding in a similar way to

classes of similar discriminative stimuli– Give continuity to behavior– Provides a basis for explaining traits

• Extinction—gradual weakening of response from lack of reinforcer

Schedules of Reinforcement

• Continuous—behavior always followed by reinforcement

• Partial—behavior followed by reinforcement less than every time

• More resistant to extinction—partial reinforcement effect

Social Reinforcement

• Less focus on physical needs in the reinforcement of human behavior, but rather on the effects of smiles, hugs, praise, approval, love, and interest and attention of others

• People are most affected by social reinforcement• Social reinforcers don’t require a state of

deprivation • Invoke principles of self-reinforcement

– Self-reward of desired things– Reaction to own behavior with self-approval

Vicarious Emotional Learning

• Also called empathy• Experience of emotion from watching

another, experience an intense level of the same emotion

• Is not the same as sympathy—concern or distress at the suffering of another

• Creates opportunities for learning through vicarious reinforcement

Vicarious Reinforcement• Seeing a person reinforced for a behavior

increases your tendency to do a similar behavior• Seeing a person punished for a behavior

decreases your tendency to do a similar behavior

• Permits trial and error processes that:– Preserve self-esteem– Allow focus on “learning,” rather than the details of

“behaving”• Relies on development of expectancies between

behavior and outcomes

Expectancies Concerning Outcomes

• Outcome expectancy—evaluation of whether a behavior will lead to a desired outcome

• Behavior determined by:– Expectancy– Incentive—value of desired outcome (goal)

• Difference from traditional conditioning point of view:– Traditional perspective doesn’t assume expectancies

matter or have causal influence on behavior

Efficacy Expectancies• Albert Bandura

• Perceived ability to carry out a desired action

• Also known as self-efficacy

• Assumption: It’s not enough to know what needs to be done, one must be confident in ability to do it

Observational Learning• Acquisition of ability by watching the behavior of

another (model)• Requirements

– Attention—particularly to the correct aspects of the model’s behavior

– Retention—representations in memory• Imaginal coding—creating images and mental pictures• Verbal coding—creating a description

– Production Competency—possession of skills required to carry out behavior

• Influenced by prior skills and knowledge

Acquisition vs. Performance

• People don’t always do everything they learn through observation

• Issue: What factors influence performance?– Observed rewards increase probability of

performance– Observed punishment decreases probability

of performance

Modeling Aggression

• Observational learning—may provide examples of innovative aggressive techniques

• Vicarious reinforcement—may suggest that violence is an appropriate way to deal with conflict or disagreement

• Desensitization—extinguishing of negative emotional responses to aggression and violence

Assessment (Conditioning-Based Approach)

• Emphasis on– Behaviors, rather than cognitions– Emotional responses being linked to conditioned

stimuli and thus are tied to specific contexts– Direct observation of behavior

• Physiological assessment—measures physical aspects of emotional responses (used frequently in research settings)

• Behavioral assessment—observations of overt behavior

Assessment (Social-Cognitive Approaches)

• Emphasizes use of self-reports • Focus on subjective feelings, thoughts and

expectancies, rather than objective aspect of situation

• Particular interest in responses to specific categories of situations– Guided by recognition that behavior can vary

greatly from situation to situation

Problems in Behavior (Conditioning)

• Phobias—intense irrational fears

• Behavioral tendencies that are instrumentally conditioned, but are not functional or adaptive

Behavioral Therapy• Phobias

– Extinction—avoiding phobic stimulus prevents extinction

– Systematic desensitization—a form of counterconditioning involving gradual exposure to increasingly threatening stimuli paired with relaxation techniques

• Contingency Management– Alter reinforcement contingencies

Problems in Behavior (Social Cognitive)

• Problems arise from inappropriate emotional or behavioral tendencies from vicarious or direct learning

• Negative expectancies can have broad influence on behavior, particularly when generalized

• Skill deficits can reflect incomplete observational learning or inappropriate models

Therapy (Socal Cognitive)

• Importance of modeling– Therapeutic modeling for persons with skills

deficits– Treatment of persons with phobias and fears

• Mastery model expresses no fear of feared object• Coping model expresses initial fear, but over

comes it– Important role of self-efficacy in producing

positive treatment outcomes