Learning and Conditioning: Quick Review

Ivan Pavlov was the first to describe classical conditioning, the type of learning in which a subject comes to respond to a neutral stimulus as he would to another stimulus by learning to associate the two stimuli.
An unconditioned response is the naturally occurring response; an unconditioned stimulus is the stimulus that evokes an innate response. A conditioned response is the learned response; a conditioned stimulus is the learned or associated stimulus.
A conditioned response is acquired when a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
Extinction is the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response. Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus returns after a period of absence.
Stimulus generalization is the tendency to respond to a new stimulus as if it is the original conditioned stimulus. Stimulus discrimination is the tendency to lack a conditioned response to a new stimulus that’s similar to the original conditioned stimulus.
Higher-order conditioning occurs when a neutral stimulus comes to act as a conditioned stimulus by being paired with another stimulus that already evokes a conditioned response.

Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which responses come to be controlled by their consequences.
B. F. Skinner used a device called a Skinner box to study operant conditioning in rats. He set up the boxes so that the rats could automatically get rewards or punishments for particular types of responses.
Reinforcement is delivery of a consequence that increases the likelihood that a response will occur. Positive reinforcement is the presentation of a stimulus after a response. Negative reinforcement is the removal of a stimulus after a response.
Punishment is the delivery of a consequence that decreases the likelihood that a response will occur. Positive punishment is the presentation of a stimulus after a response. Negative punishment is the removal of a stimulus after a response.
Primary reinforcers and punishers are naturally satisfying and unpleasant, respectively. Secondary reinforcers and punishers are satisfying or unpleasant, respectively, because they’ve become associated with primary reinforcers or punishers.
Shaping is a procedure in which reinforcement is used to guide a response closer and closer to a desired response.
A reinforcement schedule is the pattern in which reinforcement is given over time. Reinforcement can be continuous or intermittent.
Intermittent reinforcement schedules include fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, and variable-interval schedules.
In operant conditioning, extinction is the gradual disappearance of a response when it stops being reinforced.
A discriminative stimulus is a cue that indicates the kind of consequence that is likely to occur after a response. Stimulus discrimination is the tendency for a response to occur only when a particular stimulus is present.
In operant conditioning, stimulus generalization is the tendency to respond to a new stimulus as if it’s the original discriminative stimulus.

Biological Influences

Biological factors can limit conditioning.
Aversion to a particular taste can be conditioned only by pairing the taste with nausea.
Instinctive drift is the tendency for conditioning to be hindered by natural instincts.

Cognitive Influences

Conditioning involves higher mental processes, as it depends on the predictive power of the conditioned stimulus rather than mere association of stimuli.

Observational Learning

Observational learning is the process of learning to respond in a particular way by watching others, or models.
Albert Bandura conducted experiments showing that children who watched adults behaving aggressively were more likely to behave aggressively themselves.

Previous section Observational Learning