1.3.1 Conditioning Assumption (Be) Flashcards
What is conditioning?
Learning
What are the two types of conditioning?
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
In short, what is classical conditioning?
Learning through association
In short what is operant conditioning?
Learning through reinforcement
What does classical conditioning refer to?
The conditioning of reflexes
What are reflexes? (CC)
Involuntary responses to stimuli
In classical conditioning how are new behaviours acquired?
By learning to associate new stimuli with automatic reflexes
When stimuli and reflexes are repeatedly paired what do we learn to do? (CC)
Associate them and a learned response is produced
When will the learned response occur after classical conditioning?
Automatically when exposed to stimuli
Who first explained classical conditioning? When?
Pavlov
1902
In the 1890s what did Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov look at? (CC)
Salivation in dogs in response to being fed
What did Pavlov initially notice? (CC)
His dogs began to salivate when he entered the room even when he wasn’t bringing food
What was the unconditioned stimulus UCS? (CC)
Food
What unconditioned response (UCR) occurred when the dog was presented with the UCS (food)?
Salivation - reflex
What does this assumption say?
Behaviour is learned through conditioning
What was the neutral stimulus? (NS)
The bell
What occurred before classical conditioning when the bell rang? (CC)
No response - no salivation
During conditioning what did Pavlov associate? (CC)
The bell (NS) and food (UCS)
What response did the bell and food cause? (CC)
The unconditioned response of salivation
After conditioning what occurred when the bell rang and the food was removed? (CC)
Conditioned response of salivation
What did the neutral stimulus (bell) become after conditioning? (CC)
The conditioned stimulus
What can classical conditioning be used to explain?
Anxiety disorders such as phobias
How would phobias be explained in terms of classical conditioning?
If you have a bad experience with an object/situation you will learn to associate that object with fear
What is operant conditioning?
Behaviour can be explained in terms of reinforcement
What is reinforcement? (OC)
Rewards and punishment
How was operant conditioning demonstrated?
Skinner with his skinners box
What is an operant conditioning chamber?
A laboratory apparatus used to study animal behaviour
What happened in experiment 1 of skinners box? (OC)
- Every time the animal pressed the lever a food pellet was released
- So the amount of lever presses increased
What was skinners experiment 1 an example of? (OC)
Positive reinforcement
What is positive reinforcement? (OC)
We will repeat actions that produce reinforcers (rewards)
Give examples of reinforcers: (OC)
Money
Food
Praise
Attention
Give an example of how positive reinforcers may be used for humans: (OC)
Money for exam results encouraging you to revise more
What happened in experiment 2 of skinners box? (OC)
- An electric shock passed through the chamber
- when the animal pressed the lever the shock stopped
- number of lever presses increased
What was experiment 2 of skinners box an example of? (OC)
Negative reinforcement
What is negative reinforcement? (OC)
We will repeat actions that remove unpleasant things
Give an example of negative reinforcement (drugs): (OC)
- drug addict
- comes off drugs
- experiences unpleasant withdrawal effects
- goes back to drugs to stop effects
Give an example of negative reinforcement (mothers): (OC)
• mother feeds hungry baby as it stops the unpleasant sound of the baby crying
What happened in experiment 3 of skinners box? (OC)
- every time the animal pressed the lever an electric shock was produced
- number of lever presses decreased
What was experiment 3 of skinners box an example of? (OC)
Punishment
What is punishment? (OC)
We will stop actions that cause unpleasant things
What can punishment be? (OC)
Positive or negative
What is positive punishment? Give an example: (OC)
- The start of something nasty
* e.g. Smacking a child for bad behaviour
What is negative punishment? Give an example: (OC)
- the end of something nice
* e.g. Taking away phone, TV etc for bad behaviour
What can both classical conditioning and operant conditioning be used to explain?
Relationship formation
