3.1 Problems with S-R theory Flashcards
List the 3 problems with Hull-Spence S-R theory.
- Learning occurs without reinforcement
- Reinforcement without drive reduction
- Extinction, punishment and avoidance learning
Discuss how learning occurs without reinforcement
Sensory preconditioning
- Light paired with noise, noise paired with shock
- Light was never paired directly with shock
- After noise pairing, the animals show a fear response to the light
- Shows they have made 2 associations in the absence of reinforcer
Reinforcing is not necessary for learning
Why is considering reinforcement as something that reduces drive a key part of Hull’s theory?
Hull wanted a major theory that encompassed motivation and learning - the link was drive reduction
What studies showed evidence for reinforcement occurring without drive reduction?
Harlow’s monkey studies: oddity learning and curiosity
Discuss oddity learning (Harlow)
Each time the monkey gets a trial, 2 A’s and one B are presented
If he chooses the diff object (B) he gets a reward
Then presented with 2 C’s and a D
They were able to learn the rule which was to pick the stimulus diff to the rest
Give an example of reinforcement happening without drive reduction
Harlow’s monkeys pressed a lever just to satisfy curiosity.
They enjoyed pressing a lever in order to see a model train go round a train track - there is no drive reduction happening here
What does partial reinforcement support?
Resistance to extinction
What is avoidance learning?
2-factor theory combined classical conditioning (fear of warning signal) and instrumental conditioning (escape response from fear)
What does 2 factor theory propose?
When the animal avoids the response, there is a decrease in fear - this is the reinforcer for the learning
Discuss Skinner’s radical behaviourism
Stimuli, responses and reinforcement can be defined only in their function.
Science is about description, not explanation.
Talk of intervening variables, such as hunger, is as much a mistake as appealing to mental (‘cognitive’) processes
Behaviour can be understood in its own right; no need to appeal to events in the CNS (the‘conceptual nervous system’) cf.Pavlov
Discuss Skinner’s research programme.
In studying eating patterns developed the Skinner box and realised that it was brilliant for the study of response-reinforcement contingencies
Behavior of Organisms (1938) showed that most Pavlovian phenomena were also found with operant (instrumental) conditioning
Distinguished between classical and operant conditioning (cf.Konorski)
Studies of punishment and ‘conditioned anxiety’ (CER or conditioned suppression) with W.K. Estes
Extensive research on schedules of reinforcement using pigeons (Ferster & Skinner,
1957).
What happened in the 1960 cognitive revolution?
S-R theory and behaviourism (Skinner) was rejected
Psycholinguistics emerges
Study of thinking along non-Hullian lines
Artifical intelligence and computer models of human mental processes
People can be conditioned without realising they are being conditioned
What did Konorski argue?
Argued that Pavlov’s theory of CC could not explain IC
He developed an idea of inhibition that was different to Pavlov - conditioned inhibition: preparatory v consummatory responses
What is conditioned anxiety?
When warning light comes on, rat stops pressing the lever until the shock has passed
Shows how an emotional state can interfere with behaviour
What is Kamin’s blocking effect?
The conditioning of an association between two stimuli, a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) is impaired if, during the conditioning process, the CS is presented together with a second CS that has already been associated with the unconditioned stimulus.
Give an example of the blocking effect in action.
Stage 1: learn to be afraid of the noise
They stop pressing the lever during the noise
Stage 2: there is a compound stimulus - the light is combined with the noise
Stage 3: Test where light is presented on its own
Even though it had been a compound stimulus, the rats show no fear of light and carry on responding
Only stop responding when the noise occurs
What technique did Kamin use extensively to measure how animals learn to be afraid of particular stimuli?
Conditioned anxiety
In simple terms, what is Kamin’s blocking effect?
Learning occurs only when something unexpected happens
Blocking reduces learning about the added element
What is associative learning theory?
Theory about how animals learn to associate distinct events
What are the the key principles to associative learning theory?
Distinction between learning and performance
General principles of associative learning, but effects on behaviour (performance) highly specific to species, responses, reinforcers etc.
The theory looks at how we decide what preceding event was important and what wasn’t - stimuli compete for associative strength
Research initially based on classical conditioning in animals
Limited interest in applications (contrast with Skinner)
From 1980s Rescorla-Wagner (1972) and later theories applied to other forms of learning, including human causal learning.
