Understanding Learning in Psychology

Definition of Learning in Psychology

• Learning involves a long-term change in behavior based on experience, differing from the traditional classroom setting notion.

Classical Conditioning

• Origin: Discovered by Ivan Pavlov in the 1890s through experiments with dogs.
• Process:
  • Dogs associated the ringing of a bell (neutral stimulus) with food (unconditioned stimulus).
  • After conditioning, the bell alone (conditioned stimulus) caused salivation (conditioned response).
• Human Example:
  • The phrase "This won't hurt a bit" becomes a conditioned stimulus when paired with the pain of a shot (unconditioned stimulus).
  • This leads to a conditioned response of fear or avoidance in similar contexts.

Operant Conditioning

• Definition: Explains how consequences affect voluntary behavior changes.
• Key Components:
  • Reinforcement: Increases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.
    • Positive Reinforcement: Adding a stimulus (e.g., dessert for finishing veggies).
    • Negative Reinforcement: Removing a stimulus (e.g., no homework for doing well).
  • Punishment: Decreases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.
• Example of Operant Conditioning:
  • Clearing the table and washing dishes followed by receiving a hug (positive reinforcement) encourages repeating the behavior.
• Real-life Applications:
  • Operant conditioning is prevalent in everyday life and influences many behaviors.
  • Extraordinary Example:
    • Pigeons trained via operant conditioning to select Monet paintings over Picasso using food as a reinforcer.
    • Evidences stimulus generalization with pigeons preferring Impressionists over Cubists.

Summary

• Both classical and operant conditioning play significant roles in understanding learning through experiences.
• These conditioning theories explain a broad range of human and animal behaviors.