5.1 : Classical + Operant Conditioning

Question 1

how many principles of conditioning are there? and what are they?

Answer 1

6 principles.
1) acquisition
2) time-sensitivity
3) spontaneous recovery
4) extinction
5) generalization
6) discrimination

Question 2

what is meant by acquisition?

Answer 2

a learned response doesn’t appear immediately. it is learned gradually by repeatedly pairing the UCS and the CS

Question 3

what is one property of acquisition?

Answer 3

it is time sensitive.

Question 4

what is the most effective way to learn?

Answer 4

showing the CS BEFORE the UCS.
and the shorter the time between these presentations, the more efficient the learning.

Question 5

what is backward conditioning?

Answer 5

showing the UCS BEFORE the CS.
and nothing happens

Question 6

what is learning?

Answer 6

it is anticipating effects. so cause (UCS) must occur before effect.

Question 7

is extinction the same as forgetting? if not, what proves that?

Answer 7

no. Ectinction is just the dominance of other more active associations, and the weakening of the original association.
It is different from forgetting, and a proof of that is spontaneous recovery.

Question 8

talk about the difference between generalization and discrimination. and give an example.

Answer 8

the red barn and panic at other barn presentations example.
discrimination is when my panic of to seeing one barn doesn’t repand to all barns. I can differentiate between them.
generalization is when bad experience in one barn = panic whenever i see ANY barn

Question 9

what is one reaction we feel that is based on classical conditioning?

Answer 9

disgust.
fudge that is shaped as poop is not eaten.

Question 10

in what types of situations is disgust seen the most?

Answer 10

in food poisoning. ‘one trial’ experiences -> not a build-up (not gradual, no acquisition)

Question 11

what is the concept followed to treat phobias?

Answer 11

to exstinguish the association betwen a CS and a CR by forming a new and more active association that is positive.
(a new CS that is more + to elicit a + CR)

Question 12

between reinforcement and punishment, what is the most efficient way of learning? Explain.

Answer 12

reinforcement is most efficient.
when we reinforce, the wanted behaviour is clear: u do X, you get a reward.
Whereas for punishment, the target behavior is very broad: I don’t know why I’m being punished. it’s very broad and open-ended.

punishment offers no guidance as to what is expected from me. I work towards avoiding punishment, but out of 1,0000 possible things i could do, it’s up to chance if i do the wanted thing or not, and i don’t get rewarded if i do it, i just AVOID punishment.

Question 13

what is learning through punishment analogous to?

Answer 13

negative reinforcement.
i remove the - thing (the punishment) from future unwanted behaviour

Question 14

what is the risk of punishment?

Answer 14

it can lead to unforeseen consequences.

Question 14

what is the risk of punishment?

Answer 14

it can lead to unforeseen consequences.

Question 15

explain extinction in operant conditionning.

Answer 15

when the behavior is no longer responded to with reinforcement, it is eliminated.

Question 16

in terms of behaviour predictability, what is special abt operant conditioning?

Answer 16

in operant, conditioning, there is no specific time when the behavior will happen, it could occur at any time, what matters is how consistent we are with reinforcing the behavior.

Question 17

what is the timing rule for acquisition in operant conditioning?

Answer 17

the closer in time a behavior is reinforced, the quicker the learning will happen

Question 18

what is the difference between continuous and partial reinforcement?

Answer 18

continuous reinforcement = more rapid learning
partial reinforcement = more robust learning.

Question 19

why is partial reinforcement better?

Answer 19

because the changes in the env. become more clear. (continuous: everytime i do X i get Y)
it s clear that sometimes, the behavior won’t be rewarded, more attempts in order to get the reward.

Question 20

how to train for complicated behaviour?

Answer 20

i start reinforcing for a specific behaviour. then i add a new behavior, and keep adding until it’s the complexity iwant. (gradual learning, acquisition)
(u do A i give u X. then, if u do A and B, i give u X. etc…)

Question 21

when we have phobias, we tend the avoid the stimulus to reduce anxiety and stress. what is this?

Answer 21

avoidance behaviour.
it’s negative reinforcement. (the phobia is created through classical conditioning, it is reduced through operant conditioning)
i avoid the stimulus (negative reinforcement)