Chapter 5: Learning I. Definition of Learning any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience or practice relatively permanent aspect of learning refers to learning being associated with physical changes in the brain experience although physical changes may be present we may not always be able to “get” to the information Maturation * Not all change is accomplished through learning. Changes like an increase in height or the size of the brain are another kind of change controlled by a genetic blueprint. * is due to biology, not experience II. Classical Conditioning learning to elicit an involuntary reflex response to a stimulus other than the original, natural stimulus that normally produces the reflex. Ivan Pavlov focused on observable, measurable behavior; worked with salivating dogs * Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) * unconditioned means “unlearned.” * ordinarily leads to the reflex response * Unconditioned response (UCR) * involuntary (reflex) response to a naturally occurring or unconditioned stimulus * Natural Stimulus (NS) * stimulus that has no effect on the desired response * the sight of the food dish itself became a stimulus for salivation before the food was given to the dogs. Every time they got food (to which they reflexively salivated), they saw the dish. It had no effect on salivation. * Conditioned stimulus (CS) * stimulus that becomes able to produce a learned reflex response by being paired with the original unconditioned stimulus. * After being paired with the food so many times, the dish came to produce the same salivation response * When a previously neutral stimulus, through repeated pairing with the unconditioned stimulus, begins to cause the same