The first problem for all of us, men and women, is not to learn, but to unlearn. -- Gloria Steinem

Learning is defined as a change in behavior due to experience. This change in behavior cannot be explained by instincts and maturation, and is solely attributed to experience. Two examples of behavior change as a result of experience are classical conditioning and operant conditioning. A third form of learning is observational learning. Classical Conditioning Ivan P. Pavlov is credited with the discovery of classical conditioning. In his laboratory, Pavlov presented dogs with food and he noticed that at the sight of food, the dogs began to salivate. Food is the unconditioned stimulus (US) and the dogs' salivating is an unconditioned response (UR). Later Pavlov paired up food with a tone. Every time before serving food to the dogs, Pavlov would ring a bell. After many trials, Pavlov discovered that the dogs began to salivate at the sound of the bell. The bell in this case now becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) and the dogs' salivating to the sound of the bell becomes a conditioned response (CR). Conditioning has occurred and the dogs have learned to respond to a neutral stimulus (bell). Dog: Food(US) - Salivation(UR) During Conditioning: Bell(CS) - Food(US) - Salivation(UR) After Conditioning: Bell(CS) - Salivation (CS) Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning began when B.F. Skinner devised an experimental chamber to study the behavior of laboratory rats. The chamber contains a lever that when pressed causes food to drop into the chamber. The chamber also contains metal rods inside the floor that can apply shocks to the feet of the rats. In this experiment, Skinner was interested in the response of pressing the lever and he found out that as time increases, the rats are more inclined to pressing the lever. This learning process is known as operant conditioning and Skinner attributes it to reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement Description Positive Any operation that increases the rate of a response by providing a reward. In the Skinner box, pressing the level causes food to drop into the chamber. Food is the reward which in turn increases the rate at which the lever is pressed. Negative Any operation that increases the rate of a response by removing an undesirable operation. Suppose in the Skinner box, the rats receive electric shock every second. If pressing the level can temporarily remove the undesirable shocks, then the rats will be more inclined to pressing the lever. Shaping Reinforcing through successive approximations of goal behavior. Suppose a trainer wants to teach a dog to roll. The dog can be first taught to lie down, and then to turn onto one side, and eventually to roll over. This step by step procedure is known as shaping. Punishment Description Positive Any operation that decreases the rate of response. Suppose the rats are shocked every time it presses the lever. This is a form of punishment because the painful shocks decreases the rats' pressing the lever. Negative An operation that decreases the rate of response by taking away a privilege. This is often used in child rearing, where a misbehaved child loses a toy or privilege. It is a form of punishment because it decreases the unwanted behavior. Observational Learning In the 1960's Albert Bandura studied learning in a nursery school. The subjects were children who were tested individually. While the child was playing, an adult would enter the room and display verbal and physical aggression against a doll. Later on the children were frustrated and in their frustration, the children also displayed acts of aggression that very closely mimicks the adult model that they had seen earlier. Badura's work later led to the Social Learning Theory. The Social Learning Theory explains that the learning of behavior is dictated by the reinforcement, punishment and models provided by society.

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