1. Learning - A relatively permanent change in behavior or mental processes resulting from practice or experience
  2. Conditioning - The process of learning associations between environmental stimuli and behavioral responses
  3. Classical Conditioning - Learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus (NS) becomes paired (associated) with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) to elicit a conditioned response (CR)
  4. Conditioned Stimulus (CS) - Previously neutral stimulus that, through repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), now causes a conditioned response (CR)
  5. Conditioned Response (CR) - Learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus (CS) that occurs because of previous repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
  6. Conditioned Emotional Response (CER) - A classically conditioned emotional response to a previously neutral stimulus (NS)
  7. Extinction - Gradual weakening or suppression of a previously conditioned response (CR)
  8. Higher-Order Conditioning - A neutral stimulus (NS) becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) through repeated pairings with a previously conditioned stimulus (CS)
  9. Neutral stimulus- A stimulus that, before conditioning, does not naturally bring about the response of interest
  10. Spontaneous Recovery- Reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response (CR)
  11. Stimulus Discrimination- Learned response to a specific stimulus but not to other, similar stimuli
  12. Stimulus Generalization- Learned response to stimuli that are like the original conditioned stimulus
  13. Unconditioned Response (UCR)- Unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that occurs without previous conditioning
  14. Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)- Stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response without previous conditioning
  15. Continuous Reinforcement- Every correct response is reinforced
  16. Discriminative Stimulus- A cue that signals when a specific response will lead to the expected reinforcement
  17. Fixed Interval (FI) Schedule - Reinforcement occurs after a predetermined time has elapsed; the interval (time) is fixed
  18. Fixed Ratio (FR) Schedule - Reinforcement occurs after a predetermined set of responses; the ratio (number or amount) is fixed
  19. Law of Effect - Thorndike’s rule that the probability of an action being repeated is strengthened when it is followed by a pleasant or satisfying consequence
  20. Negative Punishment - Taking away (or removing) a stimulus that weakens a response and makes it less likely to recur
  21. Negative Reinforcement - Taking away (or removing) a stimulus, which strengthens a response and makes it more likely to recur
  22. Operant Conditioning - Learning in which voluntary responses are controlled by their consequences (also known as instrumental or Skinnerian conditioning)
  23. Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement - Some, but not all, correct responses are reinforced
  24. Positive Punishment - Adding (or presenting) a stimulus that weakens a response and makes it less likely to recur
  25. Positive Reinforcement- Adding (or presenting) a stimulus, which strengthens a response and makes it more likely to recur
  26. Premack Principle- Using a naturally occurring high-frequency response to reinforce and increase low-frequency responses
  27. Primary Reinforcers- Stimuli that increase the probability of a response because they satisfy a biological need, such as food, water, and sex
  28. Punishment- Weakens a response and makes and it less likely to recur
  29. Reinforcement- Strengthens a response and makes it more likely to recur
  30. Secondary Reinforcers- Stimuli that increase the probability of a response because of their learned value, such as money and material possessions
  31. Shaping- Reinforcement delivered for successive approximations of the desired response
  32. Variable Interval (VI) Schedule- Reinforcement occurs after a predetermined time has elapsed; the interval (time) varies
  33. Variable ratio (VR) Schedule- Reinforcement occurs unpredictably; the ratio (number or amount) varies
  34. Cognitive Map- A mental image of a three-dimensional space that an organism has navigated
  35. Cognitive-Social Theory- Emphasizes the roles of thinking and social learning in behavior
  36. Insight- Sudden understanding of a problem that implies the solution
  37. Latent Learning- Hidden learning that exists without behavioral signs
  38. Observational Learning- Learning new behavior or information by watching others (also known as social learning or modeling)
  39. Biological Preparedness- Built-in (innate) readiness to form associations between certain stimuli responses
  40. Instinctive Drift- Conditioned responses shift (or drift) back toward innate response patterns
  41. Taste Aversion-A classically conditioned negative reaction to a particular taste that has been associated with nausea or other illness
  42. Biofeedback- An involuntary bodily process (such as blood pressure or heart rate) is recorded, and the information is fed back to an organism to increase voluntary control over that bodily function
  43. Aversion Therapy- Pairing an aversive (unpleasant) stimulus with a maladaptive behavior
  44. Systematic Desensitization- a gradual process of extinguishing a learned fear (or phobia) by working through a hierarchy of fear-evoking stimuli while staying deeply relaxed
  45. Successive Approximation- acting in a way that comes closer and closer to a desired behavior (“Successive Approximations”)
  46. Skinner Box- the apparatus Skinner used in his experiments, where food pellets were delivered in a small receiving tray. There were also lights, a speaker, and electric floor grid that could be easily adjust the learning environment.
  47. Continuous vs. Partial Reinforcement- continuous reinforcement leads to faster learning than does partial reinforcement. (continuous)- every correct response is reinforced. (partial)-some, but not all, correct responses are reinforced
  48. Modeling- also known as observational or social learning. We learn by observing and imitating others.
Learning - a change in behavior because of experience or practice
Conditioning - learning associations between environmental stimuli and behavioral responsesexternal image PavlovDogWithBell.GIF

Classical Conditioning:

  • Ivan Pavlov:
    • Experiment - saliva response with dogs
      • Pavlov wanted to know whether dry food required more saliva then moist food
    • Accidental Discovery:
      • Saliva is a reflex response, largely involuntary
      • This type of learning became known as Classical Conditioning
      • Pavlov discovered the dogs were born with Unconditioned Stimulus and an Unconditioned Response
      • Pavlov discovered that learning may occur when a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus, the neutral stimulus will become the conditioned stimulus, making a conditioned response.

  • Classical Conditioning = most basic way that all animals, even humans, learn new responses, emotions, and attitudes (Huffman 209-10).

  • John Watson:
    • Showed our fears, dislikes, prejudices, and likes are conditioned emotional responses
    • Conditioned Emotional Response
      • external image p023_1_01.jpgExperiment: A small baby was given a rat to play with, the infant reached for the rat with no fear. Then the next time the infant reached for the rat, Watson banged a steel bar with a hammer and the infant was startled and began to cry. After several times of the infant reaching for the rat with the loud noise, when the rat was present with no sound, the infant began to cry anyway - meaning, fears are classically conditioned (Huffman 212).

Types of Conditioning:
  • Delayed Conditioning - Neutral Stimulus is present before the Unconditioned Stimulus and stays until the Unconditioned Response begins
  • Simultaneous Conditioning - Neutral Stimulus and Unconditioned Stimulus appear at same time
  • Trace Conditioning - Neutral Stimulus is presented then is taken away and then the Unconditioned Stimulus appears
  • Backward Conditioning - Unconditioned Stimulus comes before the Neutral Stimulus (Huffman 212).

Basic Principles: Fine-Tuning Classical Conditioning
  • Stimulus Generalization - occurs when an event similar to the conditioned stimulus triggers the conditioned response
    • Example: In your rear view mirror you notice a car with lights on the top of it - you fear of police cars has generalized to all cars with lights on the roof.

  • Stimulus Discrimination - learned response to specific stimulus

Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery
  • Extinction - occurs when the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is withheld while the conditioned stimulus (CS) is presented, so that a previous association is weakened (Huffman 214).
    • example: A child who has been taught that he is rewarded with jelly beans every time he listens to his mother and then listens to his mother repeatedly and receives no jelly beans will no longer associate jelly beans with listening to his mother.
    • extinction is not unlearning but rather decreasing a response rate until the stimulus is no longer responded to

  • Spontaneous Recovery - the reappearance of a conditioned response after extinction (Huffman 214)
    • example: You are used to your father shouting “Go away!” whenever there are pigeons outside, and so it has ceased to scare you. For a few weeks the pigeons are absent from your front porch, but when they return your father once again shouts “Go away!” You are scared and jump three feet in the air.

Higher-Order Conditioning
  • Higher-order conditioning - occurs when a neutral stimulus (NS) becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) through repeated pairings with a previously conditioned stimulus (Huffman 214-15)
    • example: A child knows that his jelly beans come from a special red box. He begins to associate jelly beans with the supermarket because he sees the special red boxes on the shelves there.

Operant Conditioning
  • Operant conditioning - learning in which voluntary responses are controlled by their consequences
  • Reinforcement - strengthens a response, makes it more likely to recur
  • Punishment - weakens a response, makes is less likely to recur
  • Edward Thorndike
    • 1874-1949
    • one of the first to show how voluntary behaviors are influenced by consequences
    • Cat and puzzle box experiment: A cat was placed inside a box and could only get out by pulling a rope or stepping on a pedal. The cat began to learn through its accidental movements how it could open the box, and it soon could free itself easily.
    • Law of effect - the probability of an action being repeated is greater if the action is followed by a reward
      • key to understanding how consequences can change voluntary behaviors

  • B.F. Skinner
    • 1904-1990
    • expanded on Thorndike’s law of effect to work with more complex behaviors
    • conducted research using animals and Skinner boxes that required the animals to push levers to receive food
    • reinforcement instead of reward
    • found that reinforcement and punishment are only important after the behavior has been performed (Huffman 216-17)

  • Primary reinforcers - satisfy an unlearned biological need
  • Secondary reinforcers - satisfy learned behaviors, have no intrinsic value
  • Positive reinforcement - the addition of a stimulus that makes a response more likely to occur
    • example: If your dog has better breath after you brush his teeth you will be positively reinforced to brush his teeth more often in the future.

  • Negative reinforcement - the removal of a stimulus that makes a response more likely to occur
    • example: If you talk to your friend when she is feeling sad and remove her sadness then you are negatively reinforcing the likelihood that you will talk to her again when she is sad because you are encouraged by her happiness.
    • negative reinforcement is different from punishment because reinforcement strengthens behavior while punishment weakens it

  • REMEMBER! Reinforcement always strengthens behavior. Positive adds something to reinforce behavior while negative removes something to reinforce (Huffman 218-19).
  • Premack principle - a natural and high-frequency response can be used to increase low-frequency responses
  • Schedules of reinforcement - rules that determine when rewards are provided for a response and when they are not
    • Continuous reinforcement - response rewarded every time it occurs; results in most rapid learning
    • Partial (intermittent) reinforcement - response only rewarded occasionally
      • Fixed ratio (FR) - reinforcement occurs after a predetermined set of responses
      • Variable ratio (VR) - reinforcement occurs after a random number of responses
      • Fixed interval (FI) - reinforcement occurs after a predetermined time period
      • Variable interval (VI) - reinforcement occurs at random time intervals

  • Shaping - teaches by reinforcing a set of steps leading to a final goal
  • Positive punishment - the addition of a stimulus that makes a response less likely to occur
  • Negative punishment - the removal of a stimulus that makes a response less likely to occur (Huffman 217-21)

  • Punishment- any action that takes away or adds something and causes the behavior to decrease
    • it should be immediate but if not the undesirable behavior is reinforced (partial schedule of reinforcement)
      • example: A gambler mostly loses more than he wins, which should be a punishment, but the occasional win keeps him gambling.

Side Effects of Punishment
1. Increased aggression: The punisher and the recipient are reinforced for their behavior which includes the punisher punishing and the recipient fearful and submissive. An example of this is partially explains the vicious cycle of bullying.

2. Passive aggressiveness: The recipient is frustrated by the punishment, but instead of acting out directly against the punisher for fear of more punishment, he releases aggression in more subtle ways.

3. Avoidance behavior: Trying to avoid the punisher.

4. Modeling: The punisher unintentionally serves as the model for the behavior he is trying to stop. -example: A parent spanking her child for hitting another kid.

5. Temporary suppression: Punishment suppresses the behavior only temporarily when the punisher or punishing circumstance is around.

6. Learned helplessness: The sense of powerlessness acquired when you repeatedly fail to control your environment. - example: People who stay in abusive homes.
Six side effects: IA, PA, AB, M, TS, LH
(Huffman 219-23)

Comparing Classical and Operant Conditioning
  • Shared terms: generalization, discrimination, extinction, spontaneous recovery
  • Major differences:

-Classical Conditioning (Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson):
-learning based on paired associations/ Involuntary
-example: Cringing at the sound of a dentist’s drill
-Operant Conditioning (Edward Thorndike, B. F. Skinner):
-learning is based on consequences/ Voluntary
-example: A baby cries and you pick it up

-Discriminative stimulus: a similar process to higher-order conditioning in classical conditioning (Huffman 226)

Cognitive Social Learning
  • Cognitive-social theory- emphasizes roles of thinking and social learning in behavior

Insight and Latent Learning: Where are the Reinforcers?
  • Kohler
    • worked with chimpanzees and apes by presenting a situation and observing how the animals reacted
      Kohler Modeling Insight Apes
      Kohler Modeling Insight Apes
    • turns out that they seem to think about situations, then have insight
    • Insight- sudden understanding of problem that implies the solution
    • Example - Placed banana and stick outside of cage- chimp thought then had insight and used stick to maneuver banana into cage (Huffman 228)

  • Tolman
- cognitive map- mental image of 3-dimensional space that an organism has navigated - tested 3 groups of rats to see if they built cognitive maps of mazes
1. 1st group- wandered aimlessly

2. 2nd group- given food when they reached the end of the maze; knew maze very well

3. 3rd group- initially wandered but on the 11th day were given food reinforcement – had been building maps but not revealed until given food - Latent learning- hidden learning that exists without behavioral signs (ex. the cognitive maps of the mazes)

- Observational Learning: What We See Is What We Do

  • Observational learning- learning new behavior or information by watching others
  • Ex. child hitting a Bobo doll after seeing a parent hit the same doll
  • The psychologist Bandura is known for his work in this area and he proposed 4 processes involved in observational learning:
1. Attention- watch demonstrations 2. Retention- remember demonstration
3. Motor reproduction- need to be able to imitate the model
4. Reinforcement- if other people are following the model, we are more likely to do the same (Huffman 229-30)

  • This method has been thought to work- a Mexican soap opera advocating adult literacy caused attendance in adult literacy classes to increase nine-fold

The Biology of Learning

- Neuroscience and Learning: The Adaptive Brain

  • Brains change in structure in cortex, cerebellum, hypothalamus, thalamus, and amygdala
  • Evidence- 2 groups of rats- one exposed to large cages with many colorful objects, the other in cages with no other objects- the ones with colorful objects had a more connected brain with much more activity

- Evolution and Learning

  • Learning- adaptation that allows organisms to survive
  • Ex. Have an instinct to withdraw fingers from a hot object, however if hot object is a handle in a burning building that would allow one to escape, learning is needed to help adapt to stimuli

- Classical Conditioning and Taste Aversion

  • When eat something that causes nausea or sickness, usually develop a taste aversion which is a classically conditioned response that develops involuntarily
  • Ex. Rebecca took a bite of a Butterfinger only to find it bitter and full of maggots- to this day she will not eat a Butterfinger
  • Biological preparedness- innate readiness to form associations between certain stimuli and responses (ex. Stimuli- Butterfinger; response- feel sick so don’t eat again)
  • Garcia discovered that taste-nausea associations could not be prevented but noise-nausea or shock-nausea associations were impossible to produce- important because these are exceptions to classical conditioning, and this research can help solve problems (Huffman 234)

- Operant Conditioning and Instinctive Drift

  • Instinctive drift- occurs when conditioned responses drift back toward innate response patterns
  • Ex. Chicken taught to play baseball- would hit the ball by pulling on a string attached to a bat, but then would chase the ball like food instead of running to 1st base

Classical Conditioning--From Marketing to Medical Treatments

- Marketing: John B. Watson 1920s

  • TV commercials, magazine advertisements, business promotions, etc. use pleasant images, such as attractive models, to attract viewers and grab their attention. Repeated viewing gives favorable responses such as buying the product.

-Prejudice: Kenneth and Mamie P. Clark 1930s (follow-up research in 1980s)

  • Study with children and black and white dolls. Favored white saying they were good and nice; black were dirty, bad, and ugly.
    • Prejudice is learned
    • helped with Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision that segregation was unconstitutional

-Medical Treatment

  • alcoholic patients given emetic (nausea-producing drug) with alcoholic drinks. Patient becomes sick and, in most cases, the smell or taste of alcohol makes them sick
  • nausea is a side effect of chemotherapy but can be controlled in some cases by changing association


  • Most everyday fears are classically conditioned emotional responses. Can be treated with behavior modification

Operant Conditioning--Prejudice, Biofeedback, and Superstition

- Prejudice: demeaning others to gain attention/approval from others

  • Punishment weakens and suppresses behavior, but must be consistent to be effective
  • With inconsistency criminals can get away with crimes and is punt on a partial schedule of reinforcement making it more likely to become resistant to extinction

-Biofeedback (biological feedback or neurofeedback)

  • involuntary bodily process recorded to increase voluntary control over that bodily function
    • Ex: being hooked up to a monitor that displays visual and auditory information about blood pressure. By watching the monitor the participant learns to gain control of his or her blood pressure by trial and error
    • has treated hypertension and anxiety, epilepsy, urinary incontinence, cognitive functioning, chronic pain, and headaches
  • feedback increases likelihood that behavior will be repeated (positive reinforcement)
  • biofeedback itself is a secondary reinforcer
  • techniques are limited and work best with other techniques such as behavior modification (Huffman 239)

-Accidental Reinforcement and Superstitious Behavior

  • B. F. Skinner: experiment showing that accidental reinforcement can lead to superstitious behavior
    • 8 Pigeons fed at 15 second intervals; 6 acquired unnecessary behaviors
    • A reinforcer of whatever the pigeon was doing at the time when food was dropped
  • Humans have developed superstitions from accidental behavior such as knocking on wood, throwing salt over the left shoulder, wearing the same clothes to games

Cognitive-Social Learning--We See, We Do?

-Powerful examples: prejudice and media influences

  • exposure to stereotypical or demeaning roles reinforces prejudice
  • Observational learning encourages destructive behavior
    • Ex: watching a violent movie and then performing violent behavior
  • Video games: Craig Anderson and Karen Dill
    • violent games lead to more aggressive behavior because game requires identification with the aggressor (Huffman 241-42)

Final Note

  • Prejudice is learned
  • Using biopsychosocial model you can see the psychological component of prejudice and sociocultural forces are the result of the learning
  • What we learn can be unlearned
Important People

Ivan Pavlov - Russian physiologist who discovered classical conditioning. He studied the digestion of dogs, showing dogs would salivate before they were given food, which was triggered by stimuli. He discovered that when a neutral stimulus is partnered with a conditioned stimulus, a conditioned response it produced.
John Watson - Discovered conditioned emotional response. Albert, an 11-month baby, was allowed to play with a rat and had no fear. Watson then put the rat near little Albert and banged a steel bar frightening Albert - Albert became conditioned to fear the rat (any white fluffy thing) even without the sound. He was criticized for violating several ethical guidelines for scientific research and for not removing Albert’s fear of rats. However, he was credited for finding behaviorism, which explains stimuli and responses.
Rosalie Rayner - assisted Watson with the Little Albert experiment
Edward Thorndike- One of the first psychologists to study operant conditioning. He experimented with cats in puzzle boxes to determine if the cat’s actions in trying to escape were by trial and error, or if after multiple trials, their actions were more purposeful. He then devised the Law of Effect which states that rewarded behavior is more likely to recur.
B.F. Skinner- Studied operant conditioning by extending the Law of Effect to more complex behaviors. He devised a skinner box in which either rats or pigeons were placed and trained those animals to push a lever to receive food. He determined that reinforcement or punishment should always occur after the behavior.
Wolfgang Kohler - German psychologist who discovered insight learning through his experiments with chimps and bananas. He studied how the chimps used sticks made available to them to reach the bananas outside their cage bars. The insight observed was some internal mental event that led to an action.
Albert Bandura- Psychologist known for his work in observational learning (what we see is what we do). Bandura wanted to know whether children learn to be aggressive by watching others be aggressive. He observed that after watching their parents hit the bobo doll, the children would behave the same way, hitting the same doll. He proposed four processes that occur in observational learning: attention, retention, motor reproduction, and reinforcement.
Edward C. Tolman- Psychologist known for his work in latent learning. He experimented with rats and mazes, saying that once the rat knew where to go it had developed a cognitive map. Once this cognitive map had been made, latent learning would be available. He believed that an organism learned by developing from bits of knowledge and cognition about the environment. David Premack- Psychologist famous for his work with chimpanzees and behavioral reinforcement. His work was based on the cognitive achievements of humans and animals. His studies in reinforcers revealed that the nature of the reinforcer is most important and dynamic than had been believed before. Interesting facts What happened to Little Albert after Watson’s experiment?

  • Little Albert died at the age of six years old of the medical condition hydrocephalus, which is more commonly referred to as water on the brain.
  • It was never discovered whether or not the experiment had lasting, damaging effects on Albert because he died at such a young age (Huffman 212).

Youtube video about Skinner using operant conditioning on a pigeon to teach it to turn in order to get food- __http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtfQlkGwE2U&feature=related__

Youtube video about Pavlov’s classical conditioning, but a more modern approach

Youtube video about reinforcement schedules - __http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEgUqoN45tY__

Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who was studying the digestion of dogs. While attempting to collect saliva from the dogs, he noticed that they tended to produce more saliva when they were about to be given food. His attention then turned to the idea that the dogs must have learned to salivate (Huffman 209).

Works Cited
Bobo Doll. Healthy Influence- Persuasion Blog. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.

Kohler's Apes. Healthy Influence- Persuasion Blog. Web. 14 Feb. 2011.

Little Baby Albert. Psychology and American History. Web. 16 Feb. 2011.

Pavlov's Dogs. WoofGang Dog Training. Web. 16 Feb. 2011.