Behaviorism
• Study people by watching their
behavior
–Objective (can count
behaviors)
–Subjective (opinion based;
dream interpretation)
What does learning
look like in our brain?
• As you practice, synaptic connections multiply
allowing message multiple routes (react faster)
• Learning occurs as feedback strengths neural
connections
• REM sleep allows for information to be hardwired
Learning is a lasting change in behavior or
mental process as the result of an experience
What would life be like without learning?
• Without learning our lives would simply be a
series of instincts (like animals)
– Without language (infantile amnesia)
• No memory of our past or our future
goals
– Instead we are adaptive
• our ability to learn helps us adapt to
changing circumstances thus we are
more likely to survive
Types of Learning
Simple Learning
• Mere Exposure Effect: A learned preference
for stimuli to which we have been previously
exposed.
What weird food do you eat because your
culture/family does?
Complex Learning
• Observational: Learning by observing the rewards
and punishments of others
• Associative Learning: Learning to predict the
immediate future
– With lightening comes thunder
– Hot pizza burns the roof of your mouth
Types of Associative Learning
• Classical Conditioning: Altoid?
– What is the behavior from Dwight?
– What does Jim offer Dwight?
– What happens simultaneously?
– Once the two stimuli are linked, what triggers Dwight’s
behavior?
• This only works for involuntary behaviors (sweating, salivating,
anxiety, fear, arousal)
• Operant Conditioning: we learn to repeat behaviors that get a
good consequence, and avoid behaviors that have a bad
consequence
• This works for voluntary behaviors (doing your homework,
eliminating tardies etc.)
• Although you will be taught them separately, they occur
together in real life