【4】Learning

⭐Learning is the lasting change in behavior/mental process as the result of an experience

• not a simple reflex
• learning regarding mental processes in much harder to observe and study
• 2 types: simple and complex

Simple Learning

Habituation - learning to not respond to a reoccurring stimulus

Mere Exposure Effect - a learned preference for stimuli to which we have been previously exposed to (ex. a baby with its parents voices)

Complex Learning

behavior learning - stimuli creates responses

Classical Conditioning - when a previously neutral stimulus is learned to elicit a similar feeling to another stimulus which becomes an involuntary reflex

Ivan Pavlov's experiment on classical conditioning

⭐There are 5 components in classical conditioning

• unconditioned stimulus - makes a reflexive response without conditioning or learning 
• unconditioned response - from UCS without prior learning
• conditioned stimulus - originally neutral, now causes UCR from its UCS
• conditioned response - elicited by previously neutral stimulus that has become associated with UCS

acquisition - learning stage during which a CR becomes elicited by CS; when a neutral stimulus is paired with a UCS

extinction - diminishing of a learned response when UCS doesn't follow CS; doesn't completely eliminate the response

When the connection between UCS and CS weakens, this behavior is unlearned

discrimination - the ability to distinguish between 2 similar stimuli

Operant Conditioning - learning in which the probability of a response is changed by its consequences/stimuli that follows the response

        ex. teaching a dog to sit and roll over (voluntary actions) and rewarding it with a 

        treat

B.F. Skinner studied behaviorism and operant conditioning with rats

Law of Effect - responses that produced desirable results would be learned ("stamped") into the organism

Reinforcer - condition when showing or removing a stimulus; comes after a response and makes that behavior more likely to happen

• positive reinforcement - stimulus shown after a response that increases the chance of that response happening again
• ex. you get extra allowance because you got a 100 on your test
• negative reinforcement - removing unpleasant stimulus that increases the chance of a response happening again
• ex. putting on your seatbelt to stop your car from beeping

Punishment - disliked stimulus which occurs after a behavior and decreases the chance it will happen again

• positive punishment - unpleasant stimulus presented after a response that decreases probability of that response happening again
• ex. getting grounded by your parents for staying out past curfew
• negative punishment - removal of pleasant stimulus that decreases the chance of that response from happening again
• ex. your phone is taken up by your parents for misbehaving

*in these four cases, positive means add/apply and negative means subtract/remove

Reinforcement Schedules

continuous reinforcement - when all correct responses are reinforced; for early learning and shaping new behavior

shaping - technique where a new behavior is made by reinforcing responses that are similar to the desired response

intermittent reinforcement - when only some correct responses are reinforced; awards are spaced out; most effective way to maintain a learned behavior

interval schedule - rewards after a certain time interval

ratio schedule - rewards after a number of correct responses

4 Types of Reinforcement schedules

• fixed interval schedule - rewards a learner for the first correct response after a defined period of time 
• ex. a weekly paycheck
• variable interval schedule - rewards a correct response after a random amount of time
• ex. pop quizzes, random bonuses
• fixed ratio schedule - rewards a response only after a defined number of correct answers
• ex. you buy 5 of x, you'll get a 6th x for free
• variable ratio schedule - rewards an unpredictable number of correct responses
• ex. most video games, the lottery