Learning and Behavior Analysis

 

Learning has an effect on your performance (eg practicing and learning how to drive a car) and behavior potential (eg. gaining an appreciation for fine foods). Both are based on experience, and consistency is needed to determine if learning has actually occurred.

*The learning-performance distinction is the difference between what is learned and what is expressed.

Behavioral Analysis is a branch of behaviorism, a field that allows psychologists with the ability to predict and control behavior. This branch focus on the environment's impact on learning and behavior.

* Radical Behaviorism proposes that evolution provides all species with a collection of behaviors that can be expanded on with simple forms of learning.



People to Know..
 
  • B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) - Formulated Radical Behaviorism
  • John Watson (1878-1958) - Formed the area of psychology called Behaviorism
  • Leon Kamin (1969) - His research showed that the conditioned stimuli must be informative.
  • Robert Rescorla (1966) - Rescorla's research with dogs stressed the importance of contingency
  • Little Albert - The poor little dude that Watson and Raynor (1920) conditioned to be afraid of furry objects.
  • Shepard Siegel - Research on drug addiction
  • Robert L. Thorndike (1898) - Discovered stimulus-response connection by studying cats.
  • David Premack (1965)- Proposed the Premack Principle that deals with probably activities as positive reinforcers.
  • B.F. Skinner (1904-1990 - Developed techniques of behavioral control. Also, he designed the operant chamber, or skinner box.
  • Albert Bandura - Studied human observational learning.

 

Classical Conditioning
  Classical conditioning produces a physiological response when two stimuli are paired. For example, in the picture at left, 'Little Albert' heard a loud noise every time he was presented with a furry animal. After this continual pairing of loud sound and furry animals, 'Little Albert' became scared of furry animals. He was removed from the experiment before the effects of the conditioning were reversed, so there is no way to know how 'Little Albert' survived a life of being afraid of furry animals.

 

 
  Classical conditioning affects drug tolerance. Drug addicts who develop a tolerance for a substance in a familiar setting may overdose on the same substance in a unfamiliar setting. The drug pairing with a familiar setting produces a different response compared to the drug compared with an unfamiliar setting.

 

Operant Conditioning
 

Operant conditioning manipulates the consequences of behavior to see what effect they will have on future behavior. Reinforcement is meant to increase behavior, and can be looked at as rewards. Punishment is meant to decrease behavior.

*Punishment should always be combined with reinforcement so that a desired response is effectively replaced by an undesired one.

At left is an operant chamber, or Skinner Box, that is used to evaluate behavioral control.

 

Key terms...

Psychoneuroimmunology- Research area that studies connections between the psychological process and the functions of the immune system.

Shaping- Guides organisms towards desired behaviors.

Chaining-Enables organisms to learn complex series of behavior.

Schedules of Reinforcement- A pattern of delivering and withholding reinforcement to see its effect of behavior.

Instinctual Drift- The tendency to drift towards instinctual behavior even after acquiring learned behavior.

Interesting Web Sites

This site outlines the history of behaviorism and operant conditioning. HERE

This site outlines the dynamics and uses of punishment in today's world. HERE

This site discusses the lasting effects of scary movies. HERE

This site presents a discussion of 'misbehavior' (ie instinctual drift). HERE

This site proposes, 'A tape that will relieve the anxiety associated with watching a scary movie'. HA. HERE

 

 

Want to see how much you've learned from this site? Take my quick quiz on learning and behavior analysis Quiz Here

 

This site last updated October 21, 2004