10 - Associative Learning

Question 1

What is associative learning?

Answer 1

Associative learning is a theory that states that ideas reinforce each other and can be linked to one another

Question 2

What are the 2 types of associative learning?

Answer 2

1. Pavlovian or classical conditioning 2. Operant or instrumental conditioning

Question 3

What was Skinner’s theory of associative learning?

Answer 3

Operant conditioning - the individual’s behaviour has an impact on the environment (this may positively or negatively reinforce the behaviour) i.e. action leads to stimulus (behaviour has consequences)

Question 4

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 4

One event/stimulus leads to another event/stimulus

Question 5

What are the stages of classical conditioning? (e.g. dog - bell = food)

Answer 5

1. Cephalic phase –> mouth waters, prepare to eat
2. Conditioning phase –> ring bell before footsteps to ‘condition’ dog
3. Acquisition –> gaining conditioned response, extinction = losing it
4. Spontaneous recovery –> if you take a break during extinction, they go back to their conditioned response. So extinction doesn’t = forgetting, it = learning new association
5. Latent inhibition –> hard to learn new association due to past experiences

Question 6

What is equipotentiality?

Answer 6

Exception to latent inhibition, 2%. Same principles regardless of past experiences, etc.

Question 7

What are the key assumptions of associative learning?

Answer 7

• Simple conditioned associations are the building blocks of learning
• Same laws of learning apply regardless of what is being learned or who is doing the learning

Question 8

Who came up with Pavolvian /classical conditioning and the ‘dog theory’?

Answer 8

Pavlov 1890

Question 9

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 9

A type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events. Learning through association, conditioned stimulus and conditioned response from unconditioned stimulus

Question 10

What is acquisition?

Answer 10

The phase of classical conditioning when the CS and the US are presented together

Question 11

What is a spontaneous recovery?

Answer 11

• The reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

Question 12

Describe Pavlov’s dog prototype

Answer 12

Intial:

1. UCS (food) –> UCR (saliva)
2. CS (bell) –> UCR (nothing)

Conditioning:

1. CS (bell) –> UCS (food) –> UCR (saliva)

Testing:

1. CS (bell) –> CR (saliva)

Question 13

What is a cognitive view in relation to classical conditioning?

Answer 13

Knowledge about the relationships between 2 stimuli

Question 14

How is Pavlovian conditioning largely affected by temporal contiguity?

Answer 14

Temporal contiguity occurs when two stimuli are experienced close together in time and, as a result an association may be formed. In

Pavlovian conditioning the strength of the association between the conditioned stimulus (bell) and the unconditioned stimulus (food) is largely affected by how close in time they are presented

Question 15

How is contingency related to Pavlovian conditioning?

Answer 15

For Pavlov, the key variable in associative learning was the number of times the CS was paired with the US. As the number of pairings increases, the strength of the association between CS and US increases.

Question 16

What is extinction in relation to spontaneous recovery and Pavlov?

Answer 16

Learning a new association (e.g. dog remembers light used to predict food)

Question 17

What is latent inhibition?

Answer 17

Past learning experience changes acquisition of new associations

Question 18

What is the concept of preparedness and what does it challenge?

Answer 18

Some associations (learning) are biologically advantaged –> challenges equipotentiality

Question 19

What is the ‘sauce bearnaise syndrome’ and who coined this term?

Answer 19

Learned taste aversion to a food that comes after that food has been associated with nausea –> conditioned taste aversions

Coined by Seligman

Question 20

What did Garcia & Koelling study in 1966 to do with taste?

Answer 20

Bright noisy water –> learned taste aversions

1. Flavoured water –> light and click
2. Conditioning –> xrays, lithium or shock
3. Testing –> flavoured water or water with light + click
4. Outcome –> sickness: avoided flavoured water, pain: avoid bright, noisy water

Question 21

What % anticipate nausea with chemotherapy?

Answer 21

20-40%

Question 22

Describe classical conditioning of nausea and chemo

Answer 22

1. Chemo (UCS) –> Nausea (UCR)
2. Sights/smells/thoughts preceding treatment (CS) –> Chemo –> Nausea
3. Sights/smells/thoughts preceding treatment (CS) –> Nausea (CR)

Question 23

What is 2nd order conditioning?

Answer 23

Building conditional stimuli, pairing with response. eg chemo – smell of hospitals, getting in car, reminder of appointment = nausea

New CS successively paired with old CS

New CS able to elicit CR

Question 24

What is generalisation and discrimination?

Answer 24

Similar stimuli all cause same conditioned response but can discriminate if reinforced to make an exception – eg. Only one dog they’re not scared of, but scared of all others

Generalisation –> Greater similarity of new CS, more likely to elicit

Discrimination –> Responding to differences via reinforcement

Question 25

What is Event 2 often called?

Answer 25

Reinforcer

Question 26

What is the law of effect?

Answer 26

Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

Question 27

What are primary reinforcement?

Answer 27

Unconditioned and inherently reinforcing –> the response occurs naturally without any effort, doesn’t require any form of learning

Question 28

What is secondary reinforcement?

Answer 28

Conditioned and becomes reinforcing –> a stimulus requires a behaviour after being previously associated with primary reinforcement

Question 29

What is social reinforcement?

Answer 29

Consequences of behaviour (smiling, nodding, verbal praise, attention)

Question 30

What are the types of reinforcement that increase responding?

Answer 30

Positive and negative reinforcement

Question 31

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 31

Adding something into the situation that increases the tendency to repeat the preceding behavior (reinforcing positive behaviour)
E.g. giving chocolate when they say pls and thanks

Question 32

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 32

Negative reinforcement occurs when something already present is removed (taken away) as a result of a behaviour and the behaviour that led to this removal will increase in the future because it created a favourable outcome

Question 33

What types of reinforcement decrease responding?

Answer 33

Extinction and punishment

Question 34

What is extinction as a type of reinforcement?

Answer 34

Remove positive reinforce to remove conditioned response, eg. baby cried b/c would get held, but if you stop holding it, it stops crying

Question 35

What is punishment as a type of reinforcement?

Answer 35

Positive (add unpleasant stimulus); negative (withdraw positive stimulus)

Question 36

What is shaping?

Answer 36

Reinforcements of successive approximations of desired act/behaviour

Question 37

What is chaining?

Answer 37

Reinforcing each behavior by the opportunity to do the next behavior. Complex behaviours are broken into smaller parts.

• Each stage in sequence +vely reinforced
• Reinforcer cues next stage in sequence

Question 38

What are token economies?

Answer 38

A token economy is a system of contingency management based on the systematic reinforcement of target behavior. The reinforcers are symbols or tokens that can be exchanged for other reinforcers.

Rewards good behavior with tokens that can be exchanged for something desired

Question 39

What continuous reinforcement?

Answer 39

The reinforcement occurs every time

Question 40

What is partial reinforcement?

Answer 40

the reinforcement only occurs part of the time

Question 41

What is the partial reinforcement extinction effect?

Answer 41

Give reinforcements but not every time the action is carried out: harder to extinguish once taught, but may be slower to condition them to that action

Question 42

What are ratio schedules / ratio reinforcement?

Answer 42

Reward every fixed number of responses (e.g. 5 –> FR5)

Question 43

What are interval reinforcements?

Answer 43

Fixed or variable time periods (e.g. after x days, or varying)