Learning
Learning questions ask you to identify conditioning components, distinguish reinforcement from punishment, and name cognitive and observational processes.
Classical conditioning
Pavlov paired a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that produces an unconditioned response (UCR). The neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) producing a conditioned response (CR). Acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalisation and discrimination are tested.
Operant conditioning
Skinner showed behaviour is shaped by consequences. Positive reinforcement adds a pleasant outcome; negative reinforcement removes an unpleasant one; both increase behaviour. Punishment decreases behaviour. Schedules may be fixed or variable, ratio or interval. Shaping reinforces successive approximations; token economies apply this in institutions.
Observational and cognitive learning
Bandura's observational learning requires attention, retention, reproduction and motivation; modelling is powerful. Köhler demonstrated insight learning in chimpanzees. Tolman showed latent learning without reinforcement. Seligman described learned helplessness after uncontrollable aversive events.
Worked example
A student feels anxious whenever entering the exam hall. Reasoning: the hall (initially neutral) has been paired with failure or judgment (UCS), so it becomes a CS that elicits anxiety (CR). Extinction would mean repeated exposure to the hall without the aversive outcome.
Traps
- Negative reinforcement is not punishment; it strengthens behaviour by removing something unpleasant.
- Extinction is not forgetting; spontaneous recovery can occur.
- In classical conditioning the CS precedes the UCS; in operant conditioning the consequence follows the response.