Theories of Learning Chapter 10

1. Theories of LearningChapter 10

2. Key Knowledge Classical Conditioning as informed by Ivan Pavlov: roles of neutral, unconditioned, conditioning stimuli unconditioned and conditioned responses.

3. Theories of Learning • Most learning theories are based on studies involving observations of learning experiments of animals in laboratory experiments. • Throughout these studies psychologists have identified many principles of learning that apply to humans also. • Collectively the theories indicate that there are many ways that we learn and that different types of learning may share common elements. • Also that how we learn can vary from situation to situation, and from individual to individual. • We may also shift from different types of learning depending on personal factors, what we are learning and the context in which learning is occurring.

4. Conditioning • One of the most basic learning processes involves associating or ‘connecting’ two events that occur close together. • Conditioning: Is the process of learning associations between a stimulus in the environment (one event) and a behavioural response. • For example: Associating a smile with friendly behaviour. • The term conditioning is used interchangeably with learning but conditioning is more to do with the learning process. That is HOW the learning occurs.

5. Types of Learning • The two main types of conditioning on which psychologists have tended to focus on: Classical Conditioning & Operant Conditioning

6. Classical Conditioning-Ivan Pavlov Classical Conditioning, was discovered accidentally by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936). Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who discovered this phenomenon while doing research on digestion. His research was aimed at better understanding the digestive patterns in dogs.

7. Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning in Dogs • During his experiments, he would put meat powder in the mouths of dogs who had tubes inserted into various organs to measure bodily responses. • What he discovered was that the dogs began to salivate before the meat powder was presented to them. • Then, the dogs began to salivate as soon as the person feeding them would enter the room. • He soon began to gain interest in this phenomenon and abandoned his digestion research in favour of his now famous Classical Conditioning study.

8. Watch Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning Experiment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpoLxEN54ho

9. Classical Conditioning Pavlov observed that the dogs started to salivate when they heard the rattling sound of the spoon against the container as the food was being prepared. These unintentional observations intrigued Pavlov and he decided to conduct further experiments to investigate the phenomenon. Pavlov’s subsequent experiments provided clear evidence of a type of learning that was based on the repeated association of two different stimuli.

10. Classical Conditioning • Stimulus: is any event that elicits (produces) a response from an organism. • Response: Is a reaction by an organism to a stimulus. • In Pavlov’s experiment the stimulus of food initially produced the response of salivation. • Eventually though, the sight or sound of the technician became the stimulus that produces the salivation response. • This process whereby the dog learned to associate the sight or sound of the technician with food, is in essence the process of classical conditioning.

11. Classical Conditioning Classical Conditioning: refers to a type of learning that occurs through the repeated association of two (or more) different stimuli. Learning is only said to have occurred when a particular stimulus consistently produces a response that it did not previously produce.

12. Classical Conditioning In later experiments, Pavlov varied the stimulus that had been conditioned to test whether it would still produce the same response (salivation). He found that the salivation response could be brought on after repeated associations of the meat powder with a range of different stimuli such as a tug on the hind leg, a bell, the musical tone of a tuning fork, a light or even the sight of a circle.

13. Watch ‘The Office’ Classical Conditioning in action. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfZfMIHwSkU

14. Key Elements of Classical Conditioning • Four key elements are used to describe the process of classical conditioning. These are know as the: • Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) • Unconditioned Response (UCR) • Conditioned Stimulus (CS) • Conditioned Response (CR)

15. Key Elements of Classical Conditioning • The unconditioned stimulus (UCS): Is any stimulus that consistently produces a particular naturally occurring, automatic response. • In Pavlov’s experiment the UCS was the food. • The unconditioned response (UCR) : Is the response the occurs automatically when the UCS is presented. A UCR is a reflexive, involuntary response that is predictively caused by a UCS. • In Pavlov’s experiment the UCR was the salivation of the dogs to the presence of food.

16. Key Elements of Classical Conditioning • The conditioned stimulus (CS): Is the stimulus that is neutral at the start of the conditioning process and does not normally produce the unconditioned response. • However, through repeated association with the UCS, the CS triggers a very similar response to that caused by the UCS. • In Pavlov’s experiment the CS could be a number of different things: the technician's presence, a tug on the hind leg, a bell, the musical tone of a tuning fork, a light or the sight of a circle.

17. Key Elements in Classical Conditioning • The Conditioned Response (CR): Is the learned response that is produced by the CS. • The CR occurs after the CS has been associated with the UCS. The behaviour involved in a CR is very similar to that of the UCR, but it triggered by the CS alone. • Pavlov’s dogs displayed a CR (salivation) only when they began to salivate to a CS. • When the dog responded to a CS such as a sound of a bell, classical conditioning has taken place because salivation would not be a usual response to the sound of a bell.

19. Two & a Half Men –Pavlov’s Bar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEDxRCa_wfc&NR=1

20. How this works in real life The findings support the idea that we develop responses to certain stimuli that are not naturally occurring. How does your dog know its time for a walk? Why do certain songs have meaning to different people? Why do people have phobias? Why cant I ever, ever, ever eat that again? Why do we buy ‘brand name’ products? ALL of these things are learned through classical conditioning! Advertisers are conditioning you to buy their product!

21. Advertising & Classical Conditioning

22. Coca Cola Commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnUKurl7Fog&feature=related

23. Advertising and Classical Conditioning • UCS –The Simpsons, popular, famous cartoon associated with humour and happiness • UCR – Feeling good. • NS – Coke • CS – Coke • CR – Feeling Good about coke / desire to buy coke • We learn to associate coke with positive images. Coke becomes meaningful and we are more likely to purchase it over other drinks

24. Classical Conditioning hard wires your brain – fMRI research • When subjects drank un branded cola only the taste sensing parts of the brain become active • When subjects could see coke labelling the hippocampus (memory) and parts of the frontal lobe (emotions etc) also became active • Recognition and positive reaction to Coke has been hard wired into the brain

25. UCS –Images of attractive, fit, cool, famous, successful, tough people • UCR – Desire to achieve status of models • NS – Nike • CS – Nike • CR – Desire to achieve status of models /purchase Nike • We learn to associate Nike with being fit, cool, fun, high status, successful thus we are more likely to purchase Nike over Big W brand because we do not associate Big W with any of these ideas

26. Advertising and Classical Conditioning Choose one of the following brands below and identify the elements of classical conditioning involved with advertising. ( UCR, UCR, CS & CR).

27. Why buy brand names? Because we are conditioned to see tangible value that is not there! Physically the products are often made from the same materials, sometimes even in the same factory (footwear and clothing especially). The value we perceive is emotional! Advertising adds emotional value to a product.

28. Key Processes in classical conditioning • Acquisition: Is the overall process during which an organism learns to associate two events (the CS and the UCS). • During Acquisition the presentation of the CS and the UCS occur close together in time and always in the same sequence. • The duration of the acquisition stage is usually measured by the number of trials it takes for the CR to be learned. • One of the important considerations in classical conditioning is the timing of the CS and UCS pairing. • Pavlov found that a very short time between presentations of the two stimuli was most effective. • The end of the acquisition stage has occurred when the CS alone produces the CR. Conditioning has then taken place.

29. Key Processes in Classical Conditioning • Extinction: Is the gradual decrease in the strength or rate of the CR if the UCS is no longer presented. • Extinction is said to have occurred when a CR no longer occurs following presentation of the CS. • For example: Pavlov’s dogs eventually stopped salavating(CR) in response to the bell (CS) presented alone after a number of trials in which the food (UCS) did not follow the sound of the bell. • Extinction rates vary, a simple behaviour is more easy to extinguish whereas a complex behaviour is more difficult to extinguish.

30. Key processes in Classical Conditioning • Spontaneous Recovery: Is the reappearance of a CR when the CS is presented, following a rest period (that is when no CS is presented) after the CR appears to have been extinguished. • Spontaneous Recovery does not always occur and when it does it is often short lived. • The CR also tends to be weaker than it was originally during acquisition. • If the extinction procedure is repeated several times, eventually the CR will disappear altogether and spontaneous recovery will not occur.

31. Key Processes in Classical Conditioning • Stimulus Generalisation: Is the tendency for another stimulus- one that is similar to the original CS to produce a response that is similar but not necessarily identical to the CR. • The greater the similarity between stimuli the greater the possibility that a generalisation will occur. • If stimulus generalisation to the sound of a bell occurred for Pavlov’s dogs, the dog might also salivate to the ringing of a door bell. However, the amount of saliva produced by the dog would be less than the amount produced by the original conditioning bell. • Another example is a child who was bitten by a dog now fears all dogs not just pit bull terriers

32. Key Processes in Classical Conditioning • Stimulus Discrimination: Occurs when a person or animal responds to the CS only, but not to any other stimulus that is similar to the CS. • Examples: • Your dog gets excited when you put your Nike runners on, not any other white shoes. • Consumers only buy coke, not any cola in red and white packaging • You only buy billabong, not the rip off Surfalongbrand

33. Key Knowledge The extent to which ethical principles were applied to classical research investigations into learning including John Watson’s ‘Little Albert’ experiment. Applications of classical conditioning: graduate exposure, aversion therapy and flooding

34. Applications of Classical Conditioning • Classical conditioning is considered to be a relatively simple type of learning. • Behaviours that have been classically conditioned may occur so automatically that they appear to be reflexive. In fact Pavlov used the term conditioned reflex to describe what has become conditioned response. • Conditioned responses are reflexive in the sense that they are automatic, involuntary and involve little conscious awareness on the part of the organism.

35. Applications of Classical Conditioning Classical conditioning can account for the learning of many simple responses in everyday life. S Such as: Learning to pack up your books to the sound of the bell. To answer the phone when it rings However, classical conditioning can also account for more complex behaviours such as fears and phobias. Sometimes an emotional reaction such as fear or anger to a specific stimulus is learnt through classical conditioning.

36. Conditioned Emotional Response • A conditioned emotional response is an emotional reaction that usually occurs when the autonomic nervous system produces a response to a stimulus that did not previously trigger that response. • For example: Many people cringe at the sound of a dentists drill. This is due to the association made between the sound and the potential pain. • The sound has become the CS. While through association with the unconditioned stimulus (the drilling of the tooth). Produces a conditioned emotional response (fear). • While it can be beneficial to form a fear of something that could harm you. It may be psychologically harmful to form a fear about something that does not normally harm you.

37. Watson’s Little Albert Experiment Can Fears be learnt? Yes they can!

38. Watson’s Little Albert Experiment One of the most controversial and best-known studies that used classical conditioning to intentionally condition an emotional response was first reported in the 1920 by American Psychologist John B Watson. The research was designed to test the belief that fears can be acquired through classical conditioning.

39. Watson’s Little Albert Experiment • Watson wanted to demonstrate experimentally that humans undergo the same process in acquiring fears as animals do. • The research participants was Albert B (little Albert). The 11 month old son of a woman who worked at the same clinic as Watson. • Watch the following YouTube clip on Watson’s Experiment in Little Albert • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FKZAYt77ZM&feature=related

40. Watson’s Little Albert Experiment The experiments were held irregularly over a 17-day period. Eventually, Albert’s mother left her job at the clinic. Watson claimed that they were denied the opportunity to remove the conditioned emotional responses. Other Psychologists, have disputed this, stating that Watson knew a month in advance that Albert’s mother would be leaving, yet took no steps to extinguish Albert’s fear response. It was believed that Albert’s mother was not fully aware that her son was being used in experiments on conditioning fear responses.

41. Watson’s Little Albert Experiment The issue of informed consent is not referred to in the original journal article reporting the experiment, so a judgement about this ethical consideration cannot be made. It is possible that Albert was more vulnerable to psychological harm as a result of the experimental procedure than another infant might have been. Albert was subjected to severe anxiety and distress, and the experimenters made no attempt to end the experiment.

42. Watson’s Little Albert Experiment- Breeched Ethics The experiment was designed to condition an emotional response of fear in the participant. It could therefore be assumed that the participants would be emotionally traumatised, and may have suffered lasting psychological harm as a result. Watson’s failed to seek permission from Albert’s mother, therefore no informed consent was obtained or withdrawal rights was explained. Watson did not extinguish the conditioned fear response, and was probably left with an irrational fear of anything white and fluffy.

43. Watson’s Little Albert Experiment- Breeched Ethics • Watson failed to follow the ethical principles of confidentiality. He published results of his experiment without ensuring that little Albert would remain anonymous. • Experiments using any human participant in this way would be considered unethical today and would not be permitted.

44. Key Knowledge Applications of classical conditioning, graduated exposure, aversion therapy and flooding. Trial and Error Learning as informed by Edward Lee Thorndike’s puzzle box experiment.

45. Applications of classical conditioning Applications of classical conditioning Classical conditioning has a number of ‘real-life’ applications. Graduated exposure Aversion therapy Flooding Presenting successive approximations of the CS until the CS itself does not produce the CR. The inhibition or discouragement of undesirable behaviour by pairing it with an aversive stimulus. Treatment method for fears/phobias by extinguishing the CR.

46. Applications of Classical Conditioning Classical conditioning principles can be applied to a variety of situations including those involved in behaviour therapy. During behaviour therapy classical conditioning principles are used to treat phobias and other mental health issues in which fear and/or anxiety play a prominent part.

47. Graduated Exposure • Graduated Exposure : Involves gradually presenting successive approximations of the CS until the CS itself • does not produce the CR. • It is a type of behavioural therapy used to reduce a phobia, involving exposing a person to their phobia causing stimuli or stimulus or situation very slowly, by degrees, under relaxed conditions until the fear response is extinguished. • Graduated exposure has been successfully used to eliminate a range of disorders involving fear and anxiety responses. Such as fear of flying, fear of heights and public speaking anxiety.

48. Graduated exposure The steps in graduated exposure are: • teach the person a relaxation strategy • break down the CS into a sequence arranged from least to most anxiety-producing (a fear hierarchy) • gradually begin to extinguish the CR by pairing items in the hierarchy with relaxation by working upward through items in the hierarchy.

49. Graduated exposure Graduated exposure can be done by using: • visual imagery (imaginal exposure) • real-life exposure (in vivo exposure) • virtual reality technology. The best results appear to occur using real life graduated exposures. Source: Macmillan Australia

50. Graduated exposure The process of graduated exposure During conditioning After conditioning Before conditioning Relaxation training PLUS Successive approximations of the Phobic stimulus Relaxation training Phobic stimulus Relaxation Relaxation Relaxation UCS UCR UCS UCR CS CR