“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”

Albert Einstein

How does learning take place?• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgJc0zmWHL8• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscree

n&v=H8oQBYw6xxc&NR=1

What is learning?• “A relatively permanent change in an

organism’s behaviour due to experience”.

How do you learn?• Three different types:

i. Classical conditioningii. Operant conditioningiii. Social learning/Observational

learning

Classical conditioning• Experiment - Who would like

to get wet…? • Ivan Pavlov (1849 – 1936)• Originally studied how much

dogs salivated during digestion• Noticed that dogs started

salivating at the sight of food…• …so he started varying the

stimuli before feeding

Pavlov’s Dogs

Little Albert• John B. Watson (1878

– 1958)• Little Albert

experiment– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=Xt0ucxOrPQE

Little Albert• Before conditioning:

UCSUCR

(Fear)

Little Albert• Before conditioning:

Neutral stimulus No fear

Little Albert• During conditioning:

UCSNeutral stimulus UCR (Fear)

Little Albert• After conditioning:

CS CR (Fear)

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

WfZfMIHwSkU

Classical conditioning• What is an example of classical

conditioning? • For each example, name the

following: – US – unconditioned stimulus– UR – unconditioned response–Neutral stimulus– CS – conditioned stimulus– CR – conditioned response

Classical conditioning• Initial learning of the stimulus-

response relationship - Acquisition• How much time should elapse

between presenting the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus?

Acquisition

Weak CR

Strong CR• The CR grows stronger as the CS and US are repeatedly paired

(CS + US)

Acquisition (CS + US)

Time

Classical conditioning• What happens if the CS occurs

repeatedly without the US?

Response diminishes when the CS no longer signals the US –

Extinction

Extinction

Weak CR

Strong CR

(CS + US)

Extinction (CS alone):CR weakens as the CS is presented alone

Acquisition: (CS + US)

Time

Classical conditioning• After a pause in time, the CS is

sounded again with the US. What happens?

-The CR reappears – Spontaneous recovery

-Extinction suppressed the CR, but did not eliminate it

Spontaneous Recovery

Weak CR

Strong CR

(CS + US)

2. Extinction (CS alone)

Time Pause

1. Acquisition: (CS + US)

3. Spontaneous recovery of CR 4. Extinction

(CS alone)

Classical conditioning• What do you think happened when

Pavlov used a slightly different sounding tone than the original CS? (i.e., a metronome vs. a buzzer)

Dogs still responded to the stimuli – Generalization

Generalization• Applications for generalization?– Human health and well-being – former

drug users– Toddlers fearing vehicles