FIGURE 6.1 “Baby in a Box”
B. F. Skinner developed this crib for his daughter in 1945. If you were offered a contemporary version of Skinner’s invention, would you accept it or reject it as a crib for one of your own children? Why?
FIGURE 6.2a Pavlov’s Apparatus and Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov, pictured here with his colleagues and one of his canine subjects, conducted groundbreaking work on classical conditioning.
FIGURE 6.2b Pavlov’s Apparatus and Classical Conditioning
Pavlov’s apparatus collected and measured a dog’s saliva.
FIGURE 6.8 PET Scans Showing Activation of Limbic System Structures
Cocaine addicts were shown videos of nature scenes and videos of cocaine cues. The cocaine-related videos sparked activation in brain regions associated with reward and emotion, such as the anterior cingulate and the amygdala. Watching nature videos did not lead to increased activity in these areas. (Areas with greatest activation are shown in orange and red.)
FIGURE 6.9a Conditioned Food Aversion in Animals
(a) After eating a monarch butterfly, (b) this blue jay vomited and thus learned to avoid eating anything that looks like the butterfly. What evolutionary value do you see in this learned behavior?
FIGURE 6.9a Conditioned Food Aversion in Animals
(a) After eating a monarch butterfly, (b) this blue jay vomited and thus learned to avoid eating anything that looks like the butterfly. What evolutionary value do you see in this learned behavior?
FIGURE 6.10a Questioning Superstitions
According to superstition, bad luck will come your way if a black cat crosses your path or if you walk under a ladder. What misfortunes could actually occur in the situations shown here?
FIGURE 6.10b Questioning Superstitions
According to superstition, bad luck will come your way if a black cat crosses your path or if you walk under a ladder. What misfortunes could actually occur in the situations shown here?
FIGURE 6.11 Rescorla-Wagner Model
The Rescorla-Wagner model of learning emphasizes the substitution of one stimulus for another. (a) Here a dog associates the sound of an electric can opener with the arrival of food. (b) With the substitution of a manual can opener for the electric one, the dog is initially surprised. What happened to the reliable predictor of the dog’s food? (c) The orienting response causes the dog to check the environment for a new stimulus. When the dog comes to associate the manual can opener with the arrival of food, the new stimulus has become the better predictor of the expected event: time to eat!
FIGURE 6.11a Rescorla-Wagner Model
The Rescorla-Wagner model of learning emphasizes the substitution of one stimulus for another. (a) Here a dog associates the sound of an electric can opener with the arrival of food.
FIGURE 6.11b Rescorla-Wagner Model
The Rescorla-Wagner model of learning emphasizes the substitution of one stimulus for another. (b) With the substitution of a manual can opener for the electric one, the dog is initially surprised. What happened to the reliable predictor of the dog’s food?
FIGURE 6.11c Rescorla-Wagner Model
The Rescorla-Wagner model of learning emphasizes the substitution of one stimulus for another. (c) The orienting response causes the dog to check the environment for a new stimulus. When the dog comes to associate the manual can opener with the arrival of food, the new stimulus has become the better predictor of the expected event: time to eat!
FIGURE 6.12a Thorndike’s Puzzle Box
(a) Thorndike used puzzle boxes, such as the one depicted here, (b) to assess learning in animals.
FIGURE 6.12b Thorndike’s Puzzle Box
(a) Thorndike used puzzle boxes, such as the one depicted here, (b) to assess learning in animals.
FIGURE 6.13 Law of Effect
By studying cats’ attempts to escape from a puzzle box, Thorndike was able to formulate his general theory of learning.
FIGURE 6.14a Skinner Box
(a) B. F. Skinner and one of his subjects demonstrate (b) the operant chamber, now known as the Skinner box.
FIGURE 6.14b Skinner Box
(a) B. F. Skinner and one of his subjects demonstrate (b) the operant chamber, now known as the Skinner box.
FIGURE 6.15 Shaping
Shaping, an operant conditioning technique, consists of reinforcing behaviors that are increasingly similar to the desired behavior. This technique can be used to train animals to perform extraordinary behaviors. Here a trained dog water-skis for a boat show. Suppose you wanted to teach yourself to do something. Which behavior would you choose, and how would you go about shaping it?
FIGURE 6.16 Negative and Positive Reinforcement, Negative and Positive Punishment
Use this chart to help solidify your understanding of the terms in this section.
FIGURE 6.17 Behavior and Reinforcement
The curves on this graph show cumulative responses under different schedules of reinforcement over time. The steeper the line, the higher the response rate. Ratio reinforcement leads to the highest rates of response.
FIGURE 6.18 Behavior Modification in Action
To see behavior modification in action, select a target behavior of your own that you wish to change. Maybe you feel that you should be studying more, exercising more, or watching less television. Any behavior will do, as long as it is specific and you have a realistic goal for changing it. Over time, as you successfully change the behavior, phase out the reinforcer and simply perform the behavior out of habit. For example, once you are used to exercising regularly, you will exercise regularly. The reinforced behavior may even become reinforcing on its own.
FIGURE 6.19 Biological Constraints
Animals have a hard time learning behaviors that run counter to their evolutionary adaptation. For example, raccoons are hardwired to rub food between their paws, as this raccoon is doing. They have trouble learning not to rub objects.
Figure 6.20 Scientific Method: Tolman’s Study of Latent Learning
Figure 6.20 (Part 1) Scientific Method: Tolman’s Study of Latent Learning
Figure 6.20 (Part 2) Scientific Method: Tolman’s Study of Latent Learning
FIGURE 6.21 Memes
In the 1950s, a Japanese macaque named Imo developed and unwittingly passed along to her fellow monkeys the meme of washing sweet potatoes in the ocean. The descendants of these sweet potato–washing macaques continue the behavior, as shown here. Think of an example of meme transmission in humans. How is it similar to the behavior of these monkeys? How is it different?
FIGURE 6.23 Media and Violent Behavior
Studies have shown that playing violent video games desensitizes children to violence.
FIGURE 6.24 Scientific Method: Fear Response in Rhesus Monkeys
FIGURE 6.24 (Part 1) Scientific Method: Fear Response in Rhesus Monkeys
FIGURE 6.25 Modeling Babies frequently imitate expressions and behaviors.
FIGURE 6.26 Imitation and Smoking
This shot appears in the movie The Killer Inside Me (2010). The movie’s title might be appropriate, because eye-catching images such as this one contribute to viewers’ sense that smoking is a mature, cool, sexy behavior worth imitating. Notice how the character’s pose is wrapped by the tight framing, the colors, and the swirls. These effects give the impression that the life of Lou Ford (played by Casey Affleck) depends on some mysterious power in his cigarette.
FIGURE 6.27 Intracranial Self-Stimulation (ICSS)
Here a rat presses a lever to administer ICSS.
FIGURE 6.28 Pleasure Centers of the Brain
FIGURE 6.29 Simple Model of Learning
The aplysia, a marine invertebrate, is used to study the neurochemical basis of learning.
FIGURE 6.30 Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
(a) This diagram depicts the basic process used in testing for LTP between two neurons. (b) This graph shows the steps involved in LTP.
FIGURE 6.30a Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
(a) This diagram depicts the basic process used in testing for LTP between two neurons.
FIGURE 6.30b Long-Term Potentiation (LTP)
(b) This graph shows the steps involved in LTP.
FIGURE 6.31 Doogie Mice
Doogie mice (such as the one pictured here) and regular mice were given a test of learning and memory. In the first part, both kinds of mice had the chance to familiarize themselves with two objects. In the second part, the researchers replaced one of the objects with a novel object. The Doogie mice quickly recognized the change, but the normal mice did not recognize it.