5.5.2. Key Learning Processes

When learning takes place, be it classical or operant conditioning, it involves the occurrence of certain processes. These include reinforcement, extinction or non-occurrence of learned response, generalisation of learning to other stimuli under some specifiable conditions, discrimination between reinforcing and non-reinforcing stimuli, and spontaneous recovery.

This chunk introduces key processes involved in learning, emphasizing that both classical and operant conditioning involve specific mechanisms that facilitate learning. First, reinforcement is presented, which refers to the use of rewards to strengthen desired behaviors. Then comes extinction, which describes how learned behaviors can fade away if they are not reinforced. Generalisation explains how learned responses can occur not only to the original stimulus but also to similar ones. Discrimination is about recognizing the difference between similar stimuli, leading to different responses. Finally, spontaneous recovery refers to the sudden reappearance of a previously extinguished response after some time.

Consider a child who has learned to clean their room and receives a sticker as a reward. This positive reinforcement motivates the child to maintain the habit. If the child stops receiving stickers and fails to get a reward, they might stop cleaning, illustrating extinction. If the child later starts cleaning another part of the house without prompts, this might represent generalisation. If the child cleans only their room when asked and ignores cleaning elsewhere, that's discrimination. If one day they spontaneously decide to clean again without any rewards, that’s spontaneous recovery.

Reinforcement is the operation of administering a reinforcer by the experimenter. Reinforcers are stimuli that increase the rate or probability of the responses that precede. We have noted that reinforced responses increase in rate, while non-reinforced responses decrease in rate.

Reinforcement is defined as the introduction of a stimulus that increases a behavior's frequency. If a behavior is reinforced, it becomes more likely to be repeated in the future. For example, if a student receives praise for studying hard, they are more likely to continue studying. On the other hand, not reinforcing a behavior can lead to its decline. Reinforcers can be positive (adding a rewarding stimulus) or negative (removing an unpleasant stimulus). Positive reinforcement could be giving a child candy for completing their homework, while negative reinforcement could be taking away chores if they keep their room tidy.

Think about training a pet dog. If you give the dog a treat every time it sits on command, the dog learns to associate sitting with receiving a treat. This positive reinforcement encourages the dog to keep sitting on command in the future. Conversely, if the dog only receives treats inconsistently, it may become confused about when it will receive a reward, leading to a less consistent behavior.

Extinction means disappearance of a learned response due to removal of reinforcement from the situation in which the response used to occur.

This chunk discusses extinction, which occurs when a previously reinforced behavior no longer receives rewards. Over time, if behaviors are not followed by reinforcement, they may diminish or disappear completely. For instance, if a student who used to thrive on teacher praise no longer receives it for their efforts, their motivation to engage in those efforts may also decrease, causing their performance to drop.

Imagining a vending machine that used to dispense candy when a button is pressed but has now stopped functioning properly can represent extinction. If a child continually presses the button expecting candy but receives nothing over time, they will eventually stop using the vending machine entirely, just as a behavior will stop if it no longer results in reinforcement.

The processes of generalisation and discrimination occur in all kinds of learning. Generalisation is due to similarity while discrimination is a response due to difference.

These processes refer to how organisms respond to different stimuli after learning has occurred. Generalisation occurs when an organism learns that a certain response applies not only to a specific stimulus but also to similar ones. For example, if a child learns to be afraid of dogs after being bitten by one, they may also be afraid of all furry animals. In contrast, discrimination is the ability to differentiate between similar stimuli, leading to different responses. A child who learned to differentiate between friendly dogs and aggressive dogs may only react fearfully to aggressive ones and ignore other friendly dogs.

For example, consider a child who only fears their neighbor's barking dog (a specific stimulus). After learning to differentiate, they see an unfamiliar but friendly dog and feel no fear at all, demonstrating discrimination. However, the same child might also feel nervous when seeing any dog due to previous experiences, which represents generalisation.

Spontaneous recovery occurs after a learned response is extinguished. After some time lapses, the learned or CR recovers and occurs to the CS.

This process describes how a conditioned response (CR) that seems to have been extinguished may reappear after some time without reinforcement. For example, if a dog that no longer salivates at the sound of a bell suddenly does so after several weeks without any practice, spontaneous recovery has occurred. This process suggests that while the learned behavior may fade, it can still be reactivated under the right circumstances.

Consider someone who used to enjoy playing an instrument but stopped for years. If they pick up the instrument again after a long break and suddenly find they can still play some of the tunes, that’s similar to how spontaneous recovery works. Their ability to play might not be as strong as before, but it resurfaces unexpectedly.

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