Notes on Learning in Psychology

Overview of Learning

• Learning is viewed as a long-term change in behavior based on experience.
• Two Main Types of Learning:
  • Classical Conditioning
  • Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

• Definition: Learning that occurs through associations between an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus, leading to a conditioned response.
• Key Experiment: Ivan Pavlov's experiments with dogs in the 1890s.
  • Procedure:
    • Dog is shown food (unconditioned stimulus) and a bell is rung (neutral stimulus).
    • After repeated pairings, the sound of the bell becomes a conditioned stimulus, causing the dog to salivate (conditioned response).
• Human Application:
  • Example: A painful shot leads to fear when similar phrases are heard during a dental check-up.
    • "This won’t hurt a bit" becomes a conditioned stimulus associated with pain.

Operant Conditioning

• Definition: Changes in voluntary behavior due to consequences, emphasizing the role of reinforcement and punishment.
• Key Components:
  • Reinforcement: Increases the likelihood of a behavior occurring again.
    • Can be positive (adding a stimulus) or negative (removing a stimulus).
  • Punishment: Decreases the likelihood of a behavior occurring again.
• Examples of Reinforcement:
  • Positive Reinforcement: Receiving dessert for finishing vegetables.
  • Negative Reinforcement: No homework night for doing well on an exam.
• Real-Life Example:
  • Helping with dishes can lead to positive reinforcement if met with praise (hug and thank you) from a parent.
• Extraordinary Example:
  • Pigeons trained to prefer Monet paintings over Picasso using food as a positive reinforcer.
  • Demonstrates stimulus generalization.

Conclusion

• Operant conditioning influences many aspects of daily life and behavior.
• Interesting applications, such as using conditioning to teach pigeons to appreciate art.