4.1 Learning content

Question 1

Describe classical conditioning.

Describe the process of a cat anticipating being fed when you take a can of cat food from the cupboard using classical conditioning.

Answer 1

Learning by association.

Uncontrolled stimulus (UCS):
Any stimulus producing a natural, unlearned response.

Unconditioned response  (UCR):
A response that occurs  naturally without any form of learning  (a reflex action)

Neutral stimulus (NS):
An environment stimulus that does not of itself (without association) produce a response.

Conditioned stimulus (CS):
A stimulus that has been associated with an unconditioned stimulus so that it now  produces  the same response.

Conditioned response (CR):
A behaviour that is shown in response to a learned stimulus.

(see page 213 in the thick blue text book for the cat)

Question 2

In classical conditioning, what is extinction?

Answer 2

The removal (death) of a behaviour.

(If you constantly open a can of food and don’t give the cat any, the cat will gradually learn to dissociate the two stimuli - and so will not salivate on hearing a can opening.

Question 3

In classical conditioning what is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 3

The accelerated form of learning and means that extinction Is not the same thing as ‘unlearning’.

Why the response may disappear it has certainly not been eradicated.

(If the tin is once again paired with the food following extinction, the cat will quickly learn to associate the food with the tin)

Question 4

In classical conditioning what is stimulus generalisation?

Answer 4

The condition stimulus (CS) produces the same behaviour to a similar stimulus after the response has been conditioned.

(Your cat may come running to any tingeing opened in the kitchen, even if it’s not cat food)

Generalisation here suggests the stimulus triggering a reaction does not have to be the exact one involved int he process of learning, but that the more similarities, the more likely it will produce a conditioned response.

Question 5

In classical conditioning, what is discrimination?

Answer 5

Over aperiodic time, learning occurs in response to a specific stimulus.

(For example, your cat may only respond to a can opening at a certain time of day or your cat only responds a tin of food but not a glass jar.)

Question 6

Describe Pavlov’s (1927) experiment with dogs.

Answer 6

Found that when a dog encounters the stimulus offend, saliva is secreted from the salivary glands.

Hypothesised the dogs were reacting to lab coats of assistants. Each time the dogs received food, the assistant bringing the food was wearing a lab coat . The dogs were responding as if food was units way in the presence of a lab coat.

So,
He then used a metronome (NS), over several trials the dog was presented with the ticking of themetronome immediately before the food appeared. The dogs learned to associate the sound of the metronome with food.
After a while, they responded to the sound of the metronome with drool, even without the food.

(he also made his findings more reliable, see page 215 in the thick blue text book, the last paragraph)

Question 7

Describe operant conditioning briefly.

Answer 7

Learning through consequence.

(when a laboratory pigeon taps a blue button with its beak, it receives a food pellet as a reward, when it taps a red button it receives a mild shock. The pigeon then learns to press the blue button and avoid the red button)

(see page 216 in the thick blue text book thread about an original experiment, dk how necessary it is)

Question 8

Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning.

Answer 8

Started in 1930s. Lab experiment.
Skinner’s box:

Antecedent - Skinner box would present a stimulus (lights / noise) that triggers a behaviour.

Behaviour - A response made by the animal that can be observed (measured) as an outcome of the antecedent.

Consequence - The reward / punishment following the behaviour (shock / food)

The stimulus-response associations only repeated or learned if the consequence of the pairing is a positive one. A negative consequence would weaken the stimulus-response link.

(see page 217 in the thick blue text book, para above the rat picture)

Question 9

What is positive punishment (P+)? (operant conditioning)

Answer 9

Adding an average stimulus that will reduce the showing of a behaviour.

For example. a child behaves badly at a party. The parents shout at and scold the child.
This reduces the showing of a behaviour by presenting an unpleasant stimulus when the behaviour occurs.

Question 10

What is negative punishment (P-)? (operant conditioning)

Answer 10

The removal of a liked / desirable stimuli to reduce the showing of a behaviour.

For example, if a dog jumps on a person to greet them but the person walks away just as the dog jumps, they are removing their attention from the dog, so will reduce the frequency of jumping in the future.

Question 11

What are primary reinforcers?

Answer 11

Primary reinforcers occur naturally and satisfy basic human needs such as food, water and shelter.

Question 12

What are secondary reinforcers?

Answer 12

Secondary reinforcers only strengthen the behaviour because they are associated with a primary reinforcer,

for example, money can be used to buy food, accommodation, clothing and so on.

Question 13

What is continuous reinforcement?

Answer 13

The desired behaviour is reinforced every time it occurs.

Question 14

What is partial reinforcement?

Answer 14

The desired response is only reinforced some of the time.

Question 15

What are the 4 schedules of partial reinforcement?

Answer 15

1. Fixed interval
2. Variable interval
3. Fixed ratio
4. Variable ratio

(see page 219 in the thick blue text book for explanation of each)

Question 16

What are the 2 ideas behind behaviour modification?

Answer 16

• Extinguish undesirable behaviour (by removing the reinforcer)
• Replace original behaviour with a desirable behaviour and reinforce it.

(see page 220 in the thick blue text book for explanation of each)

Question 17

What is successive approximation? (as Skinner referred to)

Answer 17

Rewarding behaviour for acting in a way that gets closer and closer to the desired behaviour.

Question 18

Evaluate classical and operant conditioning.

Answer 18

(see page 221 in the thick blue text book for explanation of each)

Question 19

What is a role model?

Answer 19

Significant individuals in a person’s life. You are more likely to imitate role models such as parents, teachers or idols (e.g., celebrities)

Question 20

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 20

Learning through the consequence of another person’s behaviour.

Question 21

What is self-efficacy?

Answer 21

A person knowing their own ability to do something and being confident with it.

Question 22

Describe social learning theory.

Answer 22

Propose by Bandura.

Learning through observation, imitating or copying behaviour.

Individuals that are observed are called models.

Proposed social learning would only occur if the following four criteria were met:

ATTENTION -
Attention must be paid to the role model or else learning will not take place.
Could depend on: distinctiveness of behaviour being modelled and the observers level of arousal.
Child is more likely to attend role models who a re similar to themselves (same sex)
Clear cognitive element to this theory.

RETENTION -
Individual must then retain or store what they have attended to.
Imagery and language assist the process of retaining information.
Humans store behaviours in the form of mental images or verbal description, then able to recall these later when reproducing the behaviour.

REPRODUCTION -
Showing the modelled behaviour - the reproduction what is being observed.
Could depend on: Physical capabilities of the individual. If behaviour is beyond our capabilities, then it cannot be reproduced.

MOTIVATION -
Refers to ‘incentive’.
If reward is offered, we are more likely to reproduce the behaviour.
There is intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

(more info on pages 222 in the thick blue text book)

Question 23

What is intrinsic motivation when referring to social learning?

Answer 23

The doing of an activity where there might inherent satisfaction rather than some physical outcome.

For example,
A young boy imitates his dad’s behaviour.
The young person ‘feels good’ about his copied behaviour because he feels it makes him more like his dad.

Question 24

What is extrinsic motivation when referring to social learning?

Answer 24

A motivation that is not so much a feeling or view, but rather something tangible, somewhat has a separable outcome.

For example,
A sportsperson receiving a trophy or medal for their performance.

Question 25

Evaluate social learning theory.

Answer 25

STRENGTH:

• Scientific research, in labs (bobo doll), ensures reliability, cause and effect
• Allows individual differences, and acknowledges that cognitive and motivational factors can influence behaviour, as reflected in the 4 criteria.
• Formed the basis for range of treatments, e.g. phobias. Modelling therapies.

WEAKNESS:
- Lab experiments, artificial, questioned generalisability and ecological validity.

(see page 224 in the thick blue text book for more)

Question 26

What was the aim of Bandura’s bobo doll experiment?

Answer 26

To investigate whether children would be more aggressive when they viewed a model rewarded for their aggression.

To investigate the role of vicarious reinforcement.

Question 27

What was the procedure for Bandura’s bobo doll experiment?

Answer 27

Pps:

• 33 male
• 33 female
• Standford Uni Nursery school
• Randomly allocated to 3 conditions, (11 boys, 11 girls in each)

CONDITIONS:

1. Model rewarded for aggressive behaviour.
2. Model punished for aggressive behaviour.
3. No consequences (control).

Children followed researcher into room.
Before they could go into a ‘surprise room’ the researcher had to deal with some business.
Children told they might want to watch TV whilst they waited.

TV showed a programme, 5 mins long, model exhibited aggressive behaviour.
The model showed standardised actions towards the bobo doll.
(see page 225 in the thick blue text book for these 4 actions)
The order of behaviour was repeated twice in the programme. Then the model was either rewarded or punished.

(see page 228 + 229 in the thick blue text book to see how the models were rewarded or punished)

Question 28

What was the results for Bandura’s bobo doll experiment?

Answer 28

Children were more likely to imitate aggressive behaviour if the model was positively rewarded.

Boys performed more imitated repossess than girls.

Question 29

Evaluate Bandura’s bobo doll experiment.

Answer 29

LIMITATIONS:
- Mere exposure to a model does not provide sufficient conditions for observational learning to take place. The majority of children did not reproduce the behaviour exhibited by the model even when positive incentives were presented; suggesting children motivations and previous experiences prior to observation may have influenced response to model.

(see page 230 in the thick blue text book for more)

Question 30

What 3 categories can phobia be split into?

Answer 30

SPECIFIC PHOBIA:
Phobia of animals; inanimate objects; illness.

SOCIAL PHOBIA:
Fear of eating in public places, public speaking.

AGORAPHOBIA:
Fear of places of assembly, (crowds)

Question 31

Describe classical conditioning as an explanation for phobias.

Answer 31

(see page 231 in the thick blue text book)

Question 32

Describe operant conditioning as an explanation for phobias.

Answer 32

(see page 232 in the thick blue text book)

Question 33

Describe social learning theory as an explanation for phobias.

Answer 33

(see page 232 in the thick blue text book)

Question 34

Describe how systematic desensitisation works to treat phobias.

Answer 34

(see page 233 + 234 in the thick blue text book)

Question 35

Describe how flooding/implosion works to treat phobias.

Answer 35

(see page 234 + 235 in the thick blue text book)

Question 36

Describe how modelling works to treat phobias.

Answer 36

(see page 235 + 236 in the thick blue text book)