Chapter Outline

Chapter Outline

1. A DEFINITION OF LEARNING

   Learningis said to occur when experience causes a relatively permanent change in behavior. Changes in behavior that are caused by temporary states (e.g., drug states or fatigue), maturation, or innate (instinctive) response tendencies are not considered to be learned. Learning allows animals to behave in flexible ways, depending upon changes in environment and experience.

2. HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF BEHAVIOR THEORY

   1. Functionalism: Many early psychologists (late 1800's and early 1900's) were less concerned with how learning influences behavior than with how reflexes and "instinctive" behaviors promote adaptive responses that keep organisms alive and healthy.Functionalismultimately faded from psychology because (1) the leaders could not agree on how to viewinstincts, nor on how many instincts exist, and (2) this confusion prevented true scientific progress in the study of behavior.

   2. Behaviorism: With the failures of functionalism and instinct theory, psychology began to focus on learning. Beginning in approximately the 1920's, a "behaviorist" perspective emphasized how behavior is greatly determined by experience.

      1. Behaviorism

         Behaviorismwas an early school of psychology, founded on the assumption that the best way to understand most human (and nonhuman) behavior is in the careful analysis of how experience alters behavior.

      2. Associationism

         Following some of the suggestions by Aristotle, later philosophers (mostly British, in the 1700's) speculated that the human mind contains knowledge in the form ofassociations. That is, one fact or idea or image is linked with other facts or ideas or images. Locke argued that all human knowledge accrues from experience, first fromsimple ideas(sensory impressions) and then to morecomplex ideas(associations). Hume suggested that associations may be based uponresemblance(similarity),contiguityin time (temporal) or in place (spatial), or the perception ofcause and effect.

      3. Thorndike

         One of the first scientific analyses of associations was by Thorndike who studied animals such as cats in "puzzle boxes." Hungry cats repeatedly locked in a box became more efficient in making a response that permitted escape and access to a foodreward. In his view, behavior changed because the satisfying reward strengthened a stimulus-response (S-R) association. Hislaw of effectsuggests that any response that leads to a satisfying state (reward) will strengthen the connection between the response and the stimuli that immediately precede the response. Hislaw of exercisestates that repeated use of the association can also strengthen the S-R connection, and that not using it will weaken the connection. Thelaw of readinesswas less clearly described, but refers to the suggestion that associations can be acquired or displayed only when there is underlying motivation for learning or responding. His principle ofassociative shiftingdescribes how a previously acquired response (associated with one stimulus) can be transferred to another stimulus.

      4. Pavlov

         Although Thorndike believed S-R associations developed through trial-and-error learning, Pavlov outlined specific "rules" by which associations develop intoconditioned reflexes.Unconditioned responses(URs) are unlearned (innate) reactions to specificunconditioned stimuli(UCSs). Pavlov showed that animals can learn to make aconditioned response(CR) to a previously neutralconditioned stimulus(CS), if during learning the CS occurs in contiguity with the UCS. Once the CS is capable of eliciting the CR, animals will respond with a similar CR to stimuli that are similar to the original CS, a phenomenon calledgeneralization. If a previously trained CS is presented repeatedly without the UCS,extinctionof responding occurs. Another "rule" of conditioning known ascounterconditioningis demonstrated by pairing a previously trained CS with a UCS that elicits a reflex that is antagonistic to the originally trained CR. Pavlovian, or "classical," conditioning continues to have a profound impact on psychology, as does Thorndike's work that generally represents "instrumental conditioning."

      5. Watson

         What came to be known as "behaviorism" received its greatest impetus from Watson, whose work was informed by Pavlov but also Bechterev. Watson provided evidence for CS-UCS associative learning, including the conditioning of emotional responses in humans. One of his most famous studies was of Little Albert, an infant who developed a fear of a white rat (CS) by its association with a loud noise (UCS). Jones later showed that an acquired fear response can be counterconditioned, and this demonstration paved the way for a learning-based therapy for phobias.

3. THE ETHICS OF CONDUCTING RESEARCH

   Watson's early research with Little Albert raises ethical questions for psychology. For many years, modern psychological research with humans and nonhumans may be conducted only by adhering to very specific guidelines.

   1. Conducting Research With Humans: The American Psychological Association (APA) and other organizations have published suggestions for how to conduct ethically responsible research. Important aspects of ethical research includeinformed consentbefore the research begins, minimization of risks and stress during the study, anddebriefingafter the research is completed. The APA's guidelines are found in a book, Ethical Principles in the Conduct of Research with Human Participants.

   2. The Use of Nonhuman Animals in Research: Nonhuman animals are used in learning research more than humans, partly because it is often more convenient to reach confident conclusions about associative conditioning when studying animals such as birds, rodents, and fish than it is when studying humans. Also, some important research cannot ethically be done with humans, so nonhumans provide a more acceptable way to conduct such studies. Guidelines for ethical research with nonhuman animals are published by local, state, and federal governments.