Psychology

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Chapter 7Learning and Conditioning

Learning Objectives

  1. LO 7.1.A List and explain each of the four key elements that make classical conditioning take place.

  2. LO 7.1.B Discuss the basic principles of classical conditioning, including the extinction and recovery of a classically conditioned response, how higher-order conditioning takes place, and the process of stimulus generalization and discrimination.

  3. LO 7.1.C Explain why the stimulus to be conditioned should precede the unconditioned stimulus in order for classical conditioning to take place.

  4. LO 7.2.A Provide an example of how classical conditioning takes place in forming preferences.

  5. LO 7.2.B Provide an example of how classical conditioning takes place in avoiding fearful stimuli, and describe how the process of counterconditioning takes place.

  6. LO 7.2.C Describe how classical conditioning is involved in avoiding a food associated with aversive outcomes.

  7. LO 7.2.D Describe how classical conditioning can affect reactions to medical treatments, including a patient's reaction to a placebo.

  8. LO 7.3.A Discuss how Edward Thorndike's research served as the basis for operant conditioning.

  9. LO 7.3.B Distinguish between reinforcement and punishment and between a positive and negative stimulus, and provide examples of positive and negative reinforcement and punishment and primary and secondary reinforcement and punishment.

  10. LO 7.4.ADescribe the basic principles of operant conditioning, including extinction and recovery, stimulus generalization and discrimination, schedules of learning and shaping, and some biological limits on learning.

  11. LO 7.4.BDiscuss some of the misconceptions surrounding the work and ideas of B. F. Skinner and, by extension, some of the misconceptions surrounding the general goals of operant conditioning.

  12. LO 7.5.A List and discuss six reasons why punishment often fails to effectively change behavior.

  13. LO 7.5.B Discuss reasons why rewards may backfire and not produce their intended results for behavior.

  14. LO 7.6.A Define latent learning, and give an example of how it might work in the daily life of a college student.

  15. LO 7.6.B Define observational learning, and give an example of how it might influence learning during childhood.

Ask questions . . . be willing to wonder

  • Why are so many people scared of snakes and spiders?

  • Why do efforts to crack down on wrongdoers often fail?

  • Is there anything wrong with paying kids to get good grades?

  • Why does playing violent video games make some people aggressive and others not?

It's January 1, a brand new year. The sins and lapses of the old year are behind you; the slate is clean and you're ready for a fresh start. Optimistically, you sit down to record your New Year's resolutions: to eat fewer sweets, study harder, control your temper, get more exercise, manage your spending, . . . (you can fill in the rest). How likely are you to achieve these goals? Within weeks, days, or even hours, many people find themselves reverting to their old habits (“Well, maybe just one small dish of double chocolate ice cream”). They may decide that trying to mend their ways is pointless because they lack the willpower, brains, or courage to do it. In this chapter, however, we will see that, in fact, willpower, brains, and courage often have little to do with the ability to change your ways.

People do not want to fix just their own behavior, of course; they are forever trying to improve or fix other people's behavior as well. We imprison criminals, spank children, shout at spouses, give the finger to a driver who cuts us off, and impose zero-tolerance policies for the slightest infraction of a rule. On the positive side, we give children gold stars for good work, give parents bumper stickers that praise their children's successes, give bonuses to employees, and give out trophies for top performance. Do any of these efforts get the results we hope for? Well, yes and no. After you understand the laws of learning, the topic of this chapter, you will realize that behavior, whether it's your own or other people's, can change for the better—and you will also understand why often it does not.

Research on learning has been heavily influenced by behaviorism, the school of psychology that accounts for behavior in terms of observable acts and events. Unlike the cognitive approach, a behavioral perspective emphasizes the influence of prior experience on current behavior, rather than thoughts or other aspects of the “mind.” Behaviorists focus on conditioning, which involves associations among environmental stimuli and behavior. As we will see, they have shown that two types of conditioning, classical conditioning and operant conditioning, can explain a great deal of behavior both in animals and in people.