Learning - Understanding Acquired Behavior

Learning is a more or less permanent change in behavior, or a behavioral tendency, as a result of experience. Behavioral tendency indicates that learning is sometimes dormant, that it does not reflect itself in immediate action. Experience in order to learn it is necessary to receive information.

Classical Conditioning: Responding to Signals

Classical conditioning was the first kind of learning to be studied experimentally. Classical conditioning is characterized by the capacity of a previously neutral stimulus to elicit a reflex.

There are four basic terms, all closely related, that you need to learn as the foundation stones of your understanding of classical conditioning. These are (1) the unconditioned stimulus, (2) the conditioned stimulus, (3) the unconditioned reflex, and (4) the conditioned reflex.

The unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus that has an inborn power to elicit a reflex. The conditioned stimulus is created by the learning process. It acquires a power that is sometimes similar to that of the unconditioned stimulus. The unconditioned reflex is an inborn response pattern. A conditioned reflex is a learned response pattern.

There are various behavioral patterns associated with classical conditioning. Three of these are extinction, stimulus generalization, and discrimination. Extinction takes place when the conditioned stimulus is presented a number of times without the unconditioned stimulus. Stimulus generalization occurs when a stimulus that is similar to an original conditioned stimulus elicits a conditioned reflex. This is discrimination, the subject’s ability to tell the difference between an original conditioned stimulus and other stimuli.

Trial-and-Error Learning: Taking a Rocky Road

It is instructive to note that one of the most popular books on writing ever published is called Trial and Error by the novelist Jack Woodford. It sold many copies over a number of years, and communicated to would-be authors that the only way to learn to write was by taking the rocky road of learning by making one’s own mistakes.

Operant Conditioning: How Behavior Is Shaped by Its Own Consequences

Operant behavior is characterized by actions that have consequences. A reinforcer is a stimulus that has the effect of increasing the frequency of a given category of behavior.

One important way to categorize reinforcers is to refer to them as positive and negative. A positive reinforcer has value for the organism. A negative reinforcer has no value for the organism. It is also important to note that a negative reinforcer is not punishment. In the case of punishment, an operant is followed by an adverse stimulus.

Another important way to classify reinforcers is to designate them as having either a primary or a secondary quality. A primary reinforcer has intrinsic value for the organism. A secondary reinforcer has acquired value for the organism.

Another important phenomenon associated with operant conditioning is the partial reinforcement effect, the tendency of operant behavior acquired under conditions of partial reinforcement to possess greater resistance to extinction than behavior acquired under conditions of continuous reinforcement. Random reinforcement is determined by chance, and is, consequently, unpredictable. If behavior is acquired with random reinforcement, it exaggerates the partial reinforcement effect.

Consciousness and Learning: What It Means to Have an Insight

It is important to identify at least four additional aspects of learning. These are (1) observational learning, (2) latent learning, (3) insight learning, and (4) learning to learn.

1. Observational learning takes place when an individual acquires behavior by watching the behavior of a second individual. Both prosocial behavior and antisocial behavior can be acquired through observational learning. Prosocial behavior is behavior that contributes to the long-run goals of a traditional reference group such as the family or the population of the. Antisocial behavior is behavior that has an adverse impact on the long-run goals of a traditional reference group.
2. Latent learning is a second kind of learning in which consciousness appears to play a large role. Note that the learning was actually acquired when the rat was exploring. Therefore learning was taking place without reinforcement. Such learning is called latent learning, meaning learning that is dormant and waiting to be activated.
3. Insight learning is a third kind of learning in which consciousness appears to play a major role. Acquiring an insight is more satisfying than just memorizing material. Also, insights tend to resist the process of forgetting.
4. Learning to learn, is an ability to quickly solve a given type of problem.

Memory: Storing What Has Been Learned

1. Memory is a process that involves the encoding, storage, and retrieval of cognitive information. Encoding is a process characterized by giving an informational input a more useful form.
2. Storage refers to the fact that memories are retained for a period of time. A distinction is made between short-term memory and long-term memory. Shortterm memory, also known as working memory, is characterized by a temporary storage of information. Long-term memory is characterized by a relatively stable, enduring storage of information.
3. Retrieval of cognitive information takes place when a memory is removed from storage and replaced in consciousness. Three phenomena are of particular interest in connection with the retrieval process: Recall takes place when a memory can be retrieved easily by an act of will. Recognition takes place when the retrieval of a memory is facilitated by the presence of a helpful stimulus. Repression takes place when the ego, as a form of defense against a psychological threat, forces a memory into the unconscious domain.