Learning

· What is?

§ Change in your behavior

§ E.g., Unable to swim à able to swim

But…..

· Some changes are not the result of learning

§ Imprinting – Not based on learning

· Based on biological event

o “maturation”

· Critical Period

So, learning is……

· Based on experience.

Three types of learning

· Classical Conditioning

· Operant conditioning

· Social learning

Classical Conditioning

· What is?

· One type or associative learning

· Learn to associate events

Example 1

· Gave speech à Audience laughed à Fear

Example 2

· Smelled lemon à Bit lemon à Saliva

· Smell of lemon àààààà Saliva

How do we learn association?

· Ivan Pavlov

· Did experiments with dogs.

Experiment

· Rang a bell.

· Gave food

· Rang a bell

· Dogs learned to salivate in anticipation

Before Conditioning

· Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

§ Produces Unconditioned Response (UCR)

§ Food à Salivation

· A neutral Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

§ A bell

During Conditioning

· Pair

§ CS à UCS (Hajmays daughter with spider)

After Conditioning

· CS à (elicits) Conditioned Response (CR)

Speech Anxiety

Audience à Bad experience à Fear

(CS) (UCS) (UCR)

Audience à Fear

(CS) (CR)

Lemon

Smell of Lemon à Sour Taste à Salivation

(CS) (UCS) (UCR)

Smell of Lemon à Salivation

(CS) (UCR)

· Many of the phobias are based on this

· J. B. Watson

§ Conditioned a child, “a little Albert”

§ Sight of a rat à Loud Noise à Fear

§ Sight of a rat à Fear

How to unlearn fear

· Pavlov

§ When a CS is presented alone

· Results in extinction

But, fear is different….

· You need a special treatment

· Three treatments.

§ Modeling

§ Counter conditioning – Systematic Desensitization

§ Flooding (let you experience what you are afraid of)

Several other concepts in classical conditioning

· Stimulus generalization

§ Similar stimulus activates a response

· Stimulus discrimination

§ Respond only to a specific stimulus

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