Learning Theory

(7-9% of the AP Exam)

 Demo
• 3 volunteers will wait outside
– We are going to demo learning with a list of words.
– Eyes closed, so fellow students don’t give hints.

• Reminders
– If you notice anything in your observations, please keep
it to yourself until we discuss/debrief.
– No cues (e.g., no laughing—it might give things away)!
 Demo
Write down your observations
Debrief –What did you notice?

What 2 things were paired?

Response/reflex?

What was the order?

“CAN” à Spray à Response (Flinch, Anticipation?)
 After repeated trials?
• Trial 1: “Can”à Sprayà Reflex
• Trial 2: “Can”à Sprayà Reflex
• Trial 3: “Can”à Sprayà Reflex
• Trial 4: “Can”à Sprayà Reflex
• Trials 5-20: “Can”à Sprayà Reflex

• Trial 21: How might the participant

respond just to the word “can” alone
(before/without spray)?
 Classical Conditioning
A type of learning in which one associates
two (or more) stimuli, resulting in a new
“stimulus = response” connection

OBJECTIVE: Examples:
TSWBAT - Describe the Squirt Bottle Demo
general process of classical Watson and Little
conditioning and identify the Albert
terminology that applies to Pavlov’s Dogs
Classical Conditioning when Jim & Dwight
provided examples.
 The unconditioned stimulus (UCS):
An event or thing that
naturally triggers a response in a
subject – it does not have to be
learned, and is thus unconditioned
Unconditioned
= reflex
The unconditioned response (UCR):
The natural, reflexive reaction to the
unconditioned stimulus. It does not have
to be learned, as it already occurs on
its own, and is thus unconditioned
 The conditioned stimulus (CS):
An event or thing that a subject is
trained to respond to; it is what we
are teaching them to respond to, and
Previously thus, it is conditioned
neutral
stimulus Conditioned = learned
(“Can”)
The conditioned response (CR):
The response we now get to the presentation
of the conditioned stimulus; it is what the
subject has now been conditioned to do
 Tip:
Ask yourself – What is it that
naturally/innately elicits a response?

That’s the UCS/US

Then go from there

“CAN” SPRAY FLINCH

Check for Understanding

Pavlov
 Classical Conditioning:
CS
?
PAVLOV
UCS
?

UCR?& CR

+
= salivate
TONE FOOD SALIVATION

Check for Understanding

 “YUM!”
Jim
Conditions
Dwight
“YUM!”

• UCS = Altoid
• UCR = Salivation (universal food-response)
• CS = Computer sound
• CR = Salivation (learned through pairing)
 Ticket O.T.D.
• Key Questions: ​(pick one and answer it)

#1 - Using the terminology we learned

today (USC / UCR / CS / CR), describe the
process of Classical Conditioning.

#2 - What was the USC, UCR, CS, and CR

in DEMO, DOGS, Little Albert, or
DWIGHT...?
John Watson- the “father” of
Behaviorism

Little Albert Experiment

John Watson- the “father” of Behaviorism

(white)
(White)
Generalization
 Acquisition: the learner has become
conditioned
Generalization: the learner responds
to other similar stimuli
Discrimination: the learner
doesn’t generalize
Extinction: extinguishing the
learned behavior; deconditioning
Spontaneous Recovery: a kind of
“flashback” to earlier
conditioning after extinction
Practice Examples
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
Classical Conditioning
 Every time 2 year-old Jodie heard the
doorbell ring, she raced to open the front
door. On Halloween night, Jodie answered
the doorbell and encountered a scary
monster with nine flashing eyes. Jodie
screamed in fear and ran away.
Now, Jodie screams and cringes in fear
whenever the doorbell rings

Doorbell Monster Fear

After swimming in the lake near his home
one day, Frank emerged from the water
covered with slimy, bloodsucking leeches
all over his legs and back.
Now, every time he passes the lake, Frank
shudders in disgust

Lake Leaches Disgust

 Marvin is taking a shower after a workout
at the health club. In the nearby bathroom,
he hears a toilet flush. Suddenly, scalding
hot water rushes out of the shower head,
and Marvin jumps out from underneath
the shower head. He then continues his
shower, but when he hears another toilet
flush, he immediately jumps away from the
shower head again.

Toilet flush Scalding H2O Jump away

 A young child hears a barking dog, and
approaches it. The dog playfully nudges the
child who falls and begins to cry. Later,
whenever the child hears a dog bark, he
begins to cry.

Bark Fall Cry

 The U.C.S. A kind of
“aversive conditioning”
using
The U.C.R.
antabuse

The C.S. The U.C.S.

The U.C.R.

The C.S.

The C.R.
John Garcia and Taste Aversions
• Rats and radiation

• Evidence of biological
predispositions

• One pairing

• Immediacy is not
necessary
 Contingency in classical conditioning:
during conditioning, the conditioned
stimulus (the CS) must reliably predict
the arrival of the unconditioned stimulus
(the UCS) – otherwise, strong
conditioning is unlikely

*“If the rat comes in, it will be followed

by a scary loud noise”
*“If we get a ¼ sheet of paper, it
will mean we have a quiz”
Albert has just been classically conditioned
to fear a white rat that he previously liked
Can we now successfully do this?

A Tone → White Rat = Fear

A Tone = Fear

even though the new CS, the tone, is never

actually paired with the original scary
stimulus, the unexpected loud noise?
Second or Higher Order Conditioning:
(Assume Pavlov’s dogs have acquired
a salivation response at the sound of a tone)

tone(CS) = salivation(CR)

How could we get a light to provoke salivation?

white light(CS2) + tone(CS1) = salivation(CR)

white light = salivation (??)

 Ticket O.T.D.
• Key Questions: ​(pick one and answer it)

#1 - How are food aversions classical

conditioned?

#2 - How can food/taste aversions be

dissimilar from most other examples of
Classical Conditioning?
 End of
“Classical Conditioning”
Powerpoint