INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY

CHAPTER 5: LEARNING

During his experiments, he would put meat powder in the

TOPIC OUTLINE: mouths of dogs that had tubes inserted into various
organs to measure bodily responses. What he discovered
a. Meaning and Nature of Learning was that the dogs began to salivate before the meat
b. Types of Learning powder was presented to them. Then, the dogs began to
c. Operant Conditioning or salivate as soon as the person feeding them would enter
Instrumental Learning the room. He soon began to gain interest in this
d. Observational Learning phenomenon and abandoned his digestion research in
e. Cognitive Learning favor of his now famous Classical Conditioning study that
made him a Nobel Prize winner.

 Natural Reactions: When you touch a hot

stove, you pull your hand back instinctively to
a. Meaning and Nature of Learning avoid getting burned. This is a basic survival
reflex.
In learning how to drive a car, you might make some  Learned Responses: We can also learn to
mistakes along the way, but at some point you will get to react to things that aren't naturally harmful. This
know how to drive. You will then change from someone process is called classical conditioning.
who could not drive a car to being one who can. Learning  Pavlov’s Experiment:
anything new involves change. Once you learn how to o Unconditioned Stimulus (US): Meat
drive a car, the skill becomes part of your entire life. powder, which naturally causes
Learning involves a relatively permanent influence on salivation.
behavior. Each one of us learns something through o Unconditioned Response (UR):
experience. Through experience we learn that we have to Salivation in response to meat powder.
study in order to do well on a test. To put the pieces o Neutral Stimulus: Bell, which initially
has no effect on salivation.
together, we will arrive at a definition of learning: that it is
o Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Bell, after
a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs
being paired with meat powder.
through experience (Santrock, 2000). o Conditioned Response (CR):
There are three aspects of experiences: Salivation in response to the bell alone.
 Everyday Examples: Just like Pavlov’s dogs,
 responding to things that happen, people can form strong associations between
 acting and experiencing consequences for our stimuli and emotions. For instance:
behavior, o A specific song might remind you of a
past relationship.
 and observing what others say and do.
o A particular smell might evoke
These three . aspects will then lead the discussion on memories of a significant event.
the three main types of learning - - classical conditioning  Impact: These learned associations influence
(responding), operant conditioning (acting), and many of our feelings and behaviors, often
without us realizing it.
observational learning (observing).

b. Types of Learning

b.1 Classical Conditioning

Classical conditionings one important type of learning that

was actually discovered accidentally by Ivan Pavlov.

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.

Classical Conditioning is a form of associative learning,

which involves learning that two events are related or
linked. In classical conditioning, the learned association
involves the link between two stimuli (CS and US). A
summary of how classical conditioning works in Figure 3.1

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY : CHAPTER 5 - LEARNING AUHSLEIGN

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
CHAPTER 5: LEARNING

A. Features of Classical Conditioning An example using counterconditioning was studied by

Mary Cover Jones (Santrock 2000).
a. Stimulus Generalization
Peter is a 3-year-old boy who had many fears from such
 is the tendency of a new stimulus that is similar white animals or objects such as rats, fur coats, frogs,
to the original conditioned stimulus to elicit a fish, and mechanical toys. In order to eliminate his fears,
response that is similar to the conditioned a rabbit was brought into Peter's view but kept far
response. In other words, it is a process by enough away that it would not upset him. At the same
which the conditioned response transfers to time the rabbit was brought into view, Peter was fed with
other stimuli that are similar to the original crackers and milk. On each successive day the rabbit
conditioned stimulus. was moved closer to Peter as he ate crackers and milk,
Eventually Peter reached the point where he would eat
For example, if a preschool pupil enters school for the the food with one hand and pet the rabbit with the other.
first time and gets terrified at the sight of a stern teacher, The feeling of pleasure produced by the crackers and
then that pupil may transfer that fear or anxiety to milk was incompatible with the rabbit's feeling of fear,
anything about school: another teacher, pupil, books, and fear was extinguished through counterconditioning.
school buildings, etc.
C. Operant Learning or Instrumental Learning
b. Stimulus Discrimination in classical conditioning

 is a process of learning to respond to certain Another type of learning, very similar to that discussed
stimuli and not to respond to others. above, is called Operant Conditioning.

 The term "Operant" refers to how an organism

 To produce discrimination, Pavlov gave food to operates on the environment, and hence,
the dog only after ringing the bell and not after operant conditioning comes from how individual
any other sounds. In this way, the dog learned to respond to what is presented to them in their
distinguish between the bell and other sounds. environment. It can be thought of as learning
c. Extinction in classical conditioning due to the natural consequences of actions

 is the weakening of the conditioned response in Operant Conditioning Study:

the absence of the unconditioned stimulus.
Without continued association with the US, the o A cat was placed in a box with only one
CS loses its power to elicit the CR. way out.
o The cat had to press a specific area of
For example, Rita has a fear of her seatmate Tom the box to open the door and escape.
because he bullied her at the start of the school year but o At first, the cat tried various ways to
in the succeeding days, Rita experienced pleasant escape, but eventually, it discovered the
treatment from Tom, gradually, the anxiety or fear will be correct area to press.
extinguished. o Once it pressed the right spot, the door
opened, and the cat was free.
Extinction is not always the end of the conditioned o Each time the cat was placed in the box,
response. The day after Pavlov extinguished the it quickly remembered how to press the
conditioned salivation at the sound of the bell; he took right area to escape.
the dog to the laboratory and rang the bell, still not giving  Learning Through Consequences:
the dog any meat powder. The dog salivated, indicating o The cat learned that pressing the area
that an extinguished response can spontaneously occur. led to freedom (a positive
reinforcement).
d. Spontaneous Recovery o The more the cat was placed in the box,
the faster it learned to escape.
 is the process in classical conditioning by which  Everyday Application:
a conditioned response can recur after a time o We learn from our experiences similarly.
delay without further conditioning. For example:
 If you make a mistake and
 In the case of Rita, even though Tom is giving remember it, you’re likely to
her pleasant treatment most of the time, she avoid making the same mistake
might have the tendency to fear Tom from time in the future.
to time.  If you do something and it
results in a positive outcome,
you’re likely to repeat that
Classical Conditioning has survival value for humans, action.
as when we develop a fear of hazardous conditions.  Key Idea: Our behavior is shaped by the natural
Irrational fears or phobia are explained by classical consequences of our actions, whether they are
conditioning. positive or negative.

Counterconditioning (a classical conditioning

procedure for weakening a CR by associating the fear-
provoking stimulus with a new response incompatible
with fear) has been used to eliminate fears.

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INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
CHAPTER 5: LEARNING

According to Santrock (2000), c. Law of Effect

 Operant conditioning is usually better than This theory is the biggest contribution of Thornlike in
classical conditioning at explaining voluntary the psychology of learning. It states that behaviors
behavior. followed by positive outcomes are strengthened,
 This theory was pioneered by an American whereas those that are followed by negative outcomes
Psychologist named B.F. Skinner. E.L. are weakened. Through observation and experience
Thorndike is also a proponent of this theory people learned that learners tend to learn more
however he put emphasis on the response of effectively and retain the learning longer, if he/she
the organism as a result of consequences. experience 0070leasant consequences. Thus positive
Operant Conditioning or otherwise known as reinforcement such as rewards, successes, or gifts
instrumental conditioning is a form of learning in advances learning, while punishment such as failure or
which the consequence of behavior produce negative experiences hinders it.
changes in the probability of the behavior's
occurrence. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

As mentioned earlier, classical conditioning is a form of As mentioned earlier, Skinner described operant
associative learning, operant conditioning is too. conditioning as a form of learning in which consequences
However, in classical conditioning, the association is of behavior lead to changes in the probability of that
between two stimuli, whereas in operant conditioning the behavior occurrence. Thus, consequences mean
association is between a response and its reinforcement or punishment.
consequences.
a. Four Types of Reinforcement
For example, in operant conditioning, performing a great
dance number in a competition (response) is likely to
 reinforcement means strengthen
result in a high score from the judges (consequence).
 used in psychology to refer to any stimulus
c.1 Thorndike’s Operant Conditioning which strengthen or increases the probability
of a specific response.
 In E.L. Thorndike’s, he established the power of
consequences in determining voluntary Example:
behavior. He did not limit himself to the
association between stimulus and response if you want your dog to sit on command, you may give
rather he put more emphasis on the response of him a treat every time he sits for you. The dog will
the organism. eventually come to understand that sitting when told to
 His theory was called “Connectionism” which will result in a treat This treat is reinforcing because he
means learning by selecting and connecting that likes it and will result in him sitting when instructed to do.
occur mainly through trial and error.
This is a simple description of reinforcer (Skinner, 2003),
 Later on he formulated the three major laws of
the treat, who increases the response, sitting. Individuals
learning: readiness, exercise, and effect.
apply reinforcement everyday, most of the time without
a. Law of Readiness even realizing. One may tell his/her child “good job” after
the child cleans his/her room; perhaps one tells his/her
Behavior may only be satisfying or annoying depending partner how good he/she looks when they dress up. All
on how ready the organism is. Thorndike states that these things increase the probability that the same
readiness is a very important condition in learning, a response will be repeated.\
learner may be satisfied or frustrated depending on
his/her state of readiness. According to Gines et.al. 1.Positive Reinforcement
(1999), nobody can force a learner to learn if he/she is
Think of adding something in order to increase a
not biologically and psychologically prepared.
response. The most common type of positive
b. Law of Exercise reinforcement is praise and rewards, and most
individuals have experienced this as both the giver or
This explains that any connection is strengthen in receiver. For example, adding a treat will increase the
proportion to the number of times it occurs and in response of sitting; adding praise will increase the
proportion to the average vigor and duration of the chances of the child cleaning his/her room.
connection. When a connection is made between
stimulus and response for some time, the connection’s 2.Negative Reinforcement
strength decreases. However, Thorndike realized that
Think this as taking something away in order to increase
practice alone was not enough for improvement. The
a response. Basically, removing something of value in
connection is to strengthen through reinforcement, thus
order to increase certain response or behavior. For
this law must also operate.
example, taking away a toy until the child cleans up
his/her room, or withholding payment until a job is
completed.

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INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
CHAPTER 5: LEARNING

There are two types of continuous schedule:

1.Fixed Ratio

 refers to applying reinforcement after a specific

number of behaviors. For example, spanking a
child if one has asked three times already in
order to clean his/her room. The problem is that
the child (or anyone for that matter) will begin to
realize that he/she can get away with two
requests before he has to act. Therefore, the
behavior does not tend to change until right
before the present number.

2.Fixed Interval

 is applying the reinforcer after a specific amount

of time. An example might be getting a raise
every year and not in between. A major problem
with this schedule is that people tend to improve
their performance right before the time perid
expires so as to “look good” when the review
comes around.

When reinforcement is applied on an irregular basis,

3. Punishment they are called variable schedules:
Adding somethings aversive in order to decrease a 3.Variable Ratio
behavior. Most common example is disciplining a child
for misbehaving. The reason adults do this is because  refers to applying a reinforcer after a variable
the child begins to associate being punished with the number of responses. Variable ration schedules
negative behavior, but punishment is avoided when the have been found to work best under many
child will stop misbehaving. circumstances. Example, imagine walking into a
casino and heading for the slot machines. After
4.Extinction the third coin you put in, you get two back. Two
For Occurs when a previously reinforced response is more and you get three back. Another five coins
no longer and there is a decreased tendency to and you receive two more back. How difficult is it
perform the response. example, a factory worker gets to stop?
monthly bonus for producing more that the quota. Then, 4.Variable Interval
as part of economic tightening, the company decides
that it can no longer afford bonuses. When bonuses  is reinforcing someone after a variable amount
were give productivity was above the quota; when bonus of time. Example, if you have a boss who checks
was removed, performance decreased. your work periodically, you understand the
power of this schedule. Because you don’t know
b. Reinforcement Schedule when the next ‘check-up’ might come, you have
to be working hard all times in order to be ready.
Continuous Schedule is apply the four types of
reinforcement every time the behavior occurs like getting In this sense, the variable schedule are more powerful
raise after every successful project or getting spanked and result in more consistent behaviors. This may not be
after every negative behavior. It is the best approach as true for punishment since consistency in the
when using punishment. application is so important, but for all other types of
reinforcement they tend to result in stronger responses.
Inconsistencies in the punishment of children often
results in confusion and resentment. A problem with this d. Observational Learning
schedule is that individuals are not always present when
a behavior occurs or may not be able to apply the According to Albert Bandura, if we learn only in a trial
punishment. and error fashion, it would be exceedingly tedious and at
times hazardous. Instead, many of individual's complex
behaviors are the result of exposure to competent
models who display appropriate behavior in solving
problems and coping with their world (Striefel, as cited in
Santrock 2000).

Observational learning is also called imitation or

modeling that is learning that occur when a person
observes and imitates someone's behavior. Bandura
described four main processes that are involved in
observational learning: attention, retention, motor
reproduction, and reinforcement.

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INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
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 Attention (as discussed in chapter III) refers to

attending to what the model is saying or doing
before he/she can reproduce a model's actions.
One might miss the teacher's analysis of a
problem if one is admiring someone sitting in the
next row.

 Retention refers to coding information and

keeping it in memory for retrieval in order to
reproduce a model's actions. We need to
remember what the instructor said and did in
modeling good drawing skill in taking a class to
improve our art skill.

 Motor reproduction is another process

involved in observational learning. We might
attend to a model and code in memory what we
have seen, but because of limitations in motor
development we might not be able to reproduce
the model's action. You might have seen
Michael Jackson do the moonwalk but unable to
reproduce his actions.

 Reinforcement or incentive condition is the

final process in Bandura's conception of
observational learning. On many occasions you
may attend to what a model says or does, retain
the information in memory, and possess the
motor capabilities to perform the action, but fail
to repeat the behavior because of inadequate
reinforcement.

Cognitive learning theory describes that cognition is

the activity of knowing: the acquisition, organization and
use of knowledge (Buskist&Gerbing, 1990). An individual
learns to process information about their environment
through mental images.

Tolman, (1948) as cited in Sevilla, et al., 2008

emphasized that learning involves the perception of
signs that the goal is near. Learning is directed toward
goals using a cognitive map. A cognitive map is a mental
representation in the brain of the layout of the
environment and its features (Plotnik, 2002)

INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY : CHAPTER 5 - LEARNING AUHSLEIGN