LearningPSYCHOLOGY

What is learning in psychology ?

Learning is often defined as a relatively lasting change in behavior that is the

result of experience. Learning became a major focus of study in psychology

during the early part of the twentieth century asbehaviorism rose to become a

major school of thought. Today, learning remains an important concept in

numerous areas of psychology, including cognitive, educational, social, and

developmental psychology.

psychologist have defined learning as a relatively permanent change in

behavior or behavior potential that results from practice or past experience. In

other words learning can be defined as a long-lasting change as a result of

observation or experience.

Learning and maturation

Maturation is a developmental process within which a person from time to time manifests different traits present in his cells.

Maturation also bring out change in person.

Maturation is the process of learning to cope and react in an emotionally appropriate way. It does not necessarily happen along with aging or physical growth, but is a part of growth and development. A situation a person must deal with at a young age prepares them for the next and so on into adulthood. Maturation does not stop when physical growth ends - it continues through adulthood. An adult who loses a parent, for instance, learns to cope with a new emotional situation that will affect the way he or she deals with situations that follow.

Classical contioning

Behaviorism as a movement in psychology appeared in 1913 when John Broadus Watson published the

classic article Psychology as the behaviorist views it.

John Watson proposed that the process of classical conditioning (based on Pavlov’s observations) was able

to explain all aspects of human psychology.

Everything from speech to emotional responses were simply patterns of stimulus and response. Watson

denied completely the existence of the mind or consciousness.

Watson believed that all individual differences in behavior were due to different experiences of learning. He

famously said:

"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll

guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select - doctor,

lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants,

tendencies, abilities, vocations and the race of his ancestors” (Watson, 1924, p. 104).

Classical Conditioning Examples

Classical conditioning theory involves learning a new behavior via the process of association. In simple terms two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response in a person or animal. There are three stages to classical conditioning. In each stage the stimuli and responses are given special scientific terms:

Stage 1: Before Conditioning:

In this stage, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS)produces an unconditioned response (UCR) in an organism. In basic terms this means that a stimulus in the environment has produced a behavior / response which is unlearned (i.e. unconditioned) and therefore is a natural response which has not been taught. In this respect no new behavior has been learned yet.

For example, a stomach virus (UCS) would produce a response of nausea (UCR). In another example a perfume (UCS) could create a response of happiness or desire (UCR).

This stage also involves another stimulus which has no affect on a person and is called the neutral stimulus (NS). The NS could be a person, object, place etc. The neutral stimulus in classical conditioning does not produce a response until it is paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

Classical Conditioning Examples

Stage 2: During Conditioning:

During this stage a stimulus which produces no response (i.e. neutral) is associated with the unconditioned stimulus at which point it now becomes known as the conditioned stimulus (CS).

For example a stomach virus (UCS) might beassociated with eating a certain food such as chocolate (CS). Also perfume (UCS) might beassociated with a specific person (CS).

Often during this stage the UCS must be associated with the CS on a number of occasions, or trials, for learning to take place. However, one trail learning can happen on certain occasions when it is not necessary for an association to be strengthened over time (such as being sick after food poisoning or drinking too much alcohol).

Stage 3: After Conditioning:

Now the conditioned stimulus (CS) has been associated with the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) to create a new conditioned response (CR).

For example a person (CS) who has been associated with nice perfume (UCS) is now found attractive (CR). Also chocolate (CS) which was eaten before a person was sick with a virus (UCS) is now produces a response of nausea (CR).

Little Albert Experiment (Phobias)

Ivan Pavlov showed that classical conditioning applied to animals. Did it also apply to humans? In a famous (though ethically dubious) experiment Watson and Rayner (1920) showed that it did.

Little Albert was a 9-month-old infant who was tested on his reactions to various stimuli. He was shown a white rat, a rabbit, a monkey and various masks. Albert described as "on the whole stolid and unemotional" showed no fear of any of these stimuli. However what did startle him and cause him to be afraid was if a hammer was struck against a steel bar behind his head. The sudden loud noise would cause "little Albert to burst into tears.

When "Little Albert" was just over 11 months old the white rat was presented and seconds later the hammer was struck against the steel bar. This was done 7 times over the next 7 weeks and each time "little Albert" burst into tears. By now "little Albert only had to see the rat and he immediately showed every sign of fear. He would cry (whether or not the hammer was hit against the steel bar) and he would attempt to crawl away.

Watson and Rayner had shown that classical conditioning could be used to create a phobia. A phobia is an irrational fear, i.e. a fear that is out of proportion to the danger. Over the next few weeks and months "Little Albert" was observed and 10 days after conditioning his fear of the rat was much less marked. This dying out of a learned response is called extinction. However even after a full month it was still evident

Classical Conditioning in the Classroom

The implications of classical conditioning in the classroom are less

important than those of operant conditioning, but there is a still need for

teachers to try to make sure that students associate positive emotional

experiences with learning.

If a student associates negative emotional experiences with school then

this can obviously have bad results, such as creating a school phobia

For example, if a student is bullied at school they may learn to associate

school with fear. It could also explain why some students show a

particular dislike of certain subjects that continue throughout their

academic career. This could happen if a student is humiliated or

punished in class by a teacher.

Principle of classical containing

Behaviorists have described a number of different phenomena associated with classical conditioning.

Some of these elements involve the initial establishment of the response, while others describe the

disappearance of a response. These elements are important in understanding the classical conditioning

process.

Acquisition

Acquisition is the initial stage of learning when a response is first established and gradually strengthened.

For example, imagine that you are conditioning a dog to salivate in response to the sound of a bell. You

repeatedly pair the presentation of food with the sound of the bell. You can say the response has been

acquired as soon as the dog begins to salivate in response to the bell tone. Once the response has been

acquired, you can gradually reinforce the salivation response to make sure the behavior is well learned.

Extinction

Extinction is when the occurrences of a conditioned response decrease or disappear. In classical

conditioning, this happens when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

For example, if the smell of food (the unconditioned stimulus) had been paired with the sound of a whistle

(the conditioned stimulus), it would eventually come to evoke the conditioned response of hunger.

However, if the unconditioned stimulus (the smell of food) were no longer paired with the conditioned

stimulus (the whistle), eventually the conditioned response (hunger) would disappear.

Spontaneous Recovery

Spontaneous Recovery is the reappearance of the conditioned response after a rest period or period of

lessened response. If the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are no longer associated,

extinction will occur very rapidly after a spontaneous recovery.

Stimulus Generalization

Stimulus Generalization is the tendency for the conditioned stimulus to evoke similar responses after the

response has been conditioned. For example, if a child has been conditioned to fear a stuffed white rabbit,

the child will exhibit fear of objects similar to the conditioned stimulus.

Discrimination

Discrimination is the ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not

been paired with an unconditioned stimulus. For example, if a bell tone were the conditioned stimulus,

discrimination would involve being able to tell the difference between the bell tone and other similar

sounds.