Learning Type of psychology

Learning
Type of psychology: Biological bases of behavior; learning; motivation
Fields of study: Biological influences on learning; instrumental
conditioning; Pavlovian conditioning; problem solving
Learning refers to a change in behavior as a result of experience. Learning is studied
in a variety of species in an attempt to uncover basic principles. There are two major
types of learning: classical (Pavlovian) conditioning and operant (instrumental)
conditioning. Exposure to uncontrollable aversive events can have detrimental effects
on learning. Consequences can be successfully used to develop a variety of behaviors, including
even random, unpredictable performance. Learning produces lasting changes
in the nervous system.
Key concepts
• classical conditioning
• contingency
• law of effect
• learned helplessness
• operant conditioning
• shaping
Learning has been of central interest to psychologists since the emergence
of the field in the late 1800’s. Learning refers to changes in behavior that result
from experiences. The term“behavior” includes all actions of an organism,
both those that are directly observable, such as typing at a keyboard,
and those that are unobservable, such as thinking about how to solve a problem.
Psychologists studying learning work with a variety of species, including
humans, rodents, and birds. Nonhuman species are studied for a variety of
reasons. First, scientists are interested in fundamental principles of learning
that have cross-species generality. Second, the degree of experimental control
that can be obtained with nonhumans is much higher than with humans.
These controlled conditions make it more likely that any effect that is
found results from the experimental manipulations, rather than some uncontrolled
variable. Third, studying the learning of nonhumans can be
helpful to animals. For example, a scientist might need to know the best way
to raise an endangered giant condor to maximize its chances of survival
when introduced to the wild.
There are two major types of learning. Classical conditioning (also called
Pavlovian conditioning, after Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov) involves
transfer of control of reflexes to new environmental stimuli. For example, a
glaucoma test at an optometrist’s office used to involve a puff of air being delivered
into the patient’s eyes, which elicited blinking. After this experience,
putting one’s head into the machine would elicit blinking; the glaucomatesting
machine would elicit the reflex of blinking, before the air puff was
delivered.

Operant conditioning, also called instrumental conditioning, involves
the regulation of nonreflexive behavior by its consequences. American psychologist
Edward Thorndike was a pioneer in the study of operant conditioning,
publishing his work about cats escaping from puzzle boxes in 1898.
Thorndike observed that over successive trials, movements that released a
latch, allowing the animal to get out of the box and get some food, became
more frequent. Movements not resulting in escape became less frequent.
Thorndike called this the Law of Effect: responses followed by satisfaction
would be strengthened, while responses followed by discomfort would be
weakened. The study of operant conditioning was greatly extended by
American behaviorist B. F. Skinner, starting in the 1930’s.
Beginning in the 1960’s, American psychologists Martin Seligman, Steven
Maier, J. Bruce Overmier, and their colleagues discovered that the controllability
of events has a large impact on future learning. Dogs exposed to
inescapable electric shock became passive and failed to learn to escape
shock in later situations in which escape was possible. Seligman and colleagues
called this phenomenon “learned helplessness” because the dogs
had learned that escape was not possible and gave up. The laboratory phenomenon
of learned helplessness has been applied to the understanding
and treatment of human depression and related conditions.
In the 1970’s, some psychologists thought the use of rewards (such as
praise or tangible items) was harmful to motivation, interest, and creativity.
Beginning in the 1990’s, however, American Robert Eisenberger and Canadian
Judy Cameron, conducting research and analyzing previous studies,
found that rewards generally have beneficial impacts. Rewards appear to
have detrimental effects only when they are given regardless of how the person
or animal does. Furthermore, the work of Allen Neuringer and colleagues
has shown that, contrary to previous thinking, both people and animals
can learn to behave in random, unpredictable ways.
The changes in behavior produced by learning are accompanied by
changes in physiological makeup. Learning is associated with changes in the
strength of connections between neurons (nerve cells in the brain), some
quite long-lasting. Eric R. Kandel and his colleagues have documented the
changes in physiology underlying relatively simple learning in giant sea
snails, progressing to more complex behaviors in mammals. Similar physiological
changes accompany learning in a variety of organisms, highlighting
the continuity of learning across different species.