Ivan Pavlov purposefully set out to study learning in dogs when he discovered what is now called classical conditioning.
A reflex is a classically conditioned response.
In original trials with his dogs, Pavlov termed the tone the unconditioned stimulus.
After classically conditioning little Albert's fear, Watson would later treat this acquired aversion.
Robert Rescorla showed that classical conditioning works best when the conditioned stimulus allows for a reliable prediction of the occurrence of the unconditioned stimulus.
In his conditioning of fears in Little Albert, Watson could just as easily have used a flower instead of a white rat as the neutral stimulus.
The fact that apes are just as afraid of snakes as humans suggests a biological predisposition to develop fearful responses.
According to Martin Seligman, most common fears are related to the survival of the human species.
When feeding chemotherapy patients, it has been found that unusual foods can be used as "scapegoats" to protect the person from developing an aversion to his/her favorite foods.
A soldier who became drug addicted while fighting in another country has better odds of full recovery than a teenager who becomes addicted on the streets.
B.F. Skinner tried to forge a career as a writer prior to going into psychology, but he found that he was not successful at it.
In operant conditioning, learning occurs when a behavior is modified by the consequences that follow the behavior.
Superstitious behavior is found only in humans.
Negative reinforcement lowers behavior rates.
Giving a car dealer a bonus after every three cars she/he sells is an example of a fixed interval schedule.
Josh has been told by his mother that he may not go outside to play until he finishes cleaning his room. This is an example of positive reinforcement.
Continuous reinforcement results in a greater resistance to extinction than does partial reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement strengthens behavior, negative reinforcement weakens behavior and punishment eliminates behavior altogether.
When a young child studies hard in school to avoid getting bad grades, we might say that their behavior is being maintained by negative reinforcement.
Blake is a retired railroad conductor who lives alone. The highpoint of his day is when the mail truck arrives; however, this also proves to be a daily frustration. The mail courier does not keep a tight schedule, and is extremely inconsistent about delivery times. This drives Blake crazy. Although not happy about it, Blake is being reinforced on a variable-interval schedule.
In operant conditioning, the focus is on what precedes the response.
Jamal has been told by his father that he cannot go play ball with his friends until he finishes raking the leaves in the yard. This is an example of punishment.
Punishment is used in every culture to control and suppress people's behavior.
Learned helplessness is a phenomenon that results from being overwhelmed by negative reinforcement.