26. Learning and conditioning

Question 1

What is meant by ‘learning’?

Answer 1

Any permanent change in the behaviour, feelings or thoughts of an individual as a consequence of a prior experience
Generally involves an adaptation of the individual to the environment

Question 2

What are the different types of learning?

Answer 2

Auditory - hearing
Kinsthetic - touching
Visual - seeing

Question 3

What types of behaviours are not learned?

Answer 3

Reflexes - behaviours built into us
Orienting reflexes - allow us to learn from our environment e.g. flash or loud noise then we turn to the source to see if we are in danger
Habituation - simple unconscious learning - tune out background stimuli e.g. background talking

Question 4

What are instincts?

Answer 4

These are complex, preprogrammed behaviours

These often involve a stimulus which then prompts some degree of learning

Question 5

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 5

This is a learning procedure whereby a biologically potent stimulus e.g. food is paired with a previously neutral experience e.g. a bell

Question 6

What is meant by the ‘unconditioned stimulus’ in classical conditioning?

Answer 6

This is the stimulus which already elicits a response

Question 7

What is the ‘unconditioned response’ in classical conditioning?

Answer 7

A response that does not have to be learned

Question 8

What is the ‘conditioned stimulus’ in classical conditioning?

Answer 8

The previously neutral stimulus which the individual now responds to

Question 9

What is the ‘conditioned response’ in classical conditioning?

Answer 9

This is the learned response that is elicited by classical conditioning

Question 10

What are the different phases involved in classical conditioning?

Answer 10

Acquisition -
Extinction -
Spontaneous recovery -
Savings -

Question 11

What is meant by stimulus generalisation?

Answer 11

This is where the response to a specific stimulus becomes associated with other, similar stimuli

Question 12

What is meant by stimulus discrimination?

Answer 12

This is a response to one specific stimulus and not to another

Question 13

What is meant by conditioned emotional responses and why is this relevant?

Answer 13

These are classically conditioned feelings that an individual experiences in association with particular events e.g. a certain phobia after a negative experience

Important because this is an example of classical conditioning in the real world

Question 14

Give some specific examples of conditioned emotional responses

Answer 14

Garcia effect - where you avoid eating certain food/drink because of a past unpleasant experience
Addictions - pleasant feeling of alcohol/drug (US) induces a taste of alcohol (CS)

Question 15

What is the theory of tolerance in classical conditioning?

Answer 15

The ceasing of the conditioned stimulus intake does not break the association of the conditioned stimulus with the conditioned response

Question 16

What psychological treatments have been based on classical conditioning?

What are these treatments known as?

Answer 16

Counterconditioning - a positive association between an unconditioned stimulus and a conditioned stimulus is replaced with a negative one e.g. drugs - causing violent nausea when consumed with alcohol
Extinction procedures - weaken the maladaptive responses e.g. anxiety or flooding

These are known as behaviourist approaches

Question 17

Give particular examples of counterconditioning

Answer 17

Aversion therapy - client is taught to experience negative feelings in the presence of a stimulus e.g. electroshocks or nauseating drugs
Systematic desensitisation - replacing one response (anxiety) with another response (relaxation) - this is this antithesis of aversion therapy

Question 18

Give a particular example of an extinction procedure

Answer 18

Flooding - the client is placed into a situation which induces anxiety however where no harm can happen to them and they therefore realise that they can cope with the situation e.g. a person with a phobia of heights is taken to the top of buildings - repetition of these experiences can remove the fear or the phobia

Question 19

What is meant by operant conditioning?

What is the idea behind this?

Answer 19

A type of learning where the strength of the behaviour is modified by the behaviours consequences e.g. reward or punishment

Idea is that the actions that are rewarded will be strengthened and those that are not will be weakened

Question 20

What is the ‘operant’ in operant conditioning?

Answer 20

The behaviour that has some effect on the environment

Question 21

What are the ‘reinforcers’ in operant conditioning?

Answer 21

These are the responses which will increase the probability of behaviour occurring:
Positive - reward, pleasant stimulus following a behaviour e.g. praise from a teacher
Negative - stimulus whose removal increases the behaviour e.g. removes the problematic stimuli and behaviour (putting up an umbrella when rain is making you wet)

Question 22

What is meant by:
1 - Fixed ratio reinforcement
2 - Variable ratio reinforcement
3 - Fixed interval reinforcement
4 - Variable interval reinforcement

Which of these has the strongest form of learning?

Answer 22

1 - Reinforcement is fiven after every response
2 - The reinforcement given is not stable and is randomisd
3 - Time must pass before the reinforcement is given
4 - The time interval between the action and the reinforcement varies

The variable ration reinforcement !! Because you are not expecting it - do not know exactly what/how much you have to do to get your reward

Question 23

What are the ‘punishers’ in operant conditioning?

Answer 23

These are responses which decrease the probability of a behaviour occuring:
Positive punishment - the application of the unpleasant stimuli e.g. being hit/laughed at/poor grade
Negative punishment - the removal of a pleasant stimulus e.g. restricted from enjoyable activities

Question 24

What is social learning?

Answer 24

This is a theory that people learn by watching what other people do and then they copy that behaviour
A result of observing others’ behaviour and its outcomes