6) Learning Flashcards
Classical Conditioning
Pavlovian form of learning
automatically respond to a previously neutral stimulus by pairing with UCS that elicits automatic UCR
Learning
any relatively durable change in behaviour or knowledge that is due to experience
Ivan Pavlov
discovered classical conditioning through studies with dog & salivation
Unconditioned stimulus
stimulus that elicits a natural response, without conditioning
Unconditioned response
Natural behaviour in response to an unconditioned stimulus
Classical conditioning: what happens during the conditioning phase?
Neutral stimulus is paired with unconditioned stimulus
aka acquisition phase
Neutral Stimulus
some stimulus that normally causes no response
Classical conditioning: what happens after conditioning?
Neutral stimulus now causes the same automatic response (CR) as the UCS it was paired with
NS -> CS
UCR -> CR
Conditioned response
A learned association between unconditioned and neutral stimulus
Response previously associated with a UCS that is elicited by a NS thru conditioning
Acquisition
Learning phase where UCS & NS are paired and a CR is established
Classical conditioning: what makes associations strong during acquisition stage?
- NS must come BEFORE UCS
- Closer pairings in time make stronger associations
- Novel stimuli are stronger than common ones
Does classical conditioning work if UCS and NS happen at the same time?
no!!
Extinction
Gradual weakening / disappearance of a CR when CS is repeatedly presented without UCS
Spontaneous Recovery
Reappearance of extinguished (extinct) response after a period of non-exposure to the CS
Renewal effect
Sudden re-emergence of a CR following extinction when an animal is returned to the envo in which CR was learned
ex/ learn here, extinct there, come back here may elicit CR
Higher order conditioning
Conditioning of a second NS by pairing it with the CS, without the original UCS
Effects not as strong
Second NS is never presented with the UCS!
ex/ bell + food, then clap + bell
Conditioned Taste Aversion
Classical conditioning can lead us to develop avoidance reactions to the taste of specific foods
Evolutionary standpoint: adaptive cuz protects us by avoiding dangerous foods
When a eating specific food (NS) is paired with food poisoning or illness (UCS) resulting in getting ill from eating spoiled food (UCR)
Why is conditioned taste aversion special compared to our typical classical conditioning?
Only require one trial to develop conditioned taste aversion
Delay between CS and UCS can be very long
(6-8 hrs)
Super duper specific food
(little evidence of stimulus generalization)
Conditioned Compensatory Response
Physiological changes that occur as a result of conditioned cues associated with a particular drug, which increases the tolerance for that drug
ex/ drinking every friday at same place, body starts preparing itself for the alcohol.
If we go drinking on a tuesday night with someone else, alcohol will have more effect
If Joe goes drinking every friday night at the same place with a group of friends, it starts to take longer for him to get drunk. But if he suddenly goes drinking on a tuesday night with someone else, the alcohol has a greater effect. What is this an example of?
Conditioned Compensatory Response
Conditioning in Ads
ppl want audience to associate it with certain feelings
ex/ car in adventurous background
Latent inhibition
Difficulty in establishing classical conditioning to a stimulus we’ve repeatedly experienced alone, without the UCS
Stimulus Generalization
Responding the same way to new stimuli that are similar to original stimulus (after learning a response)
Stimulus Discrimination
Occurs (over time) when we learn a response to a specific stimulus and can discriminate it from other similar stimuli
Disgust Reactions
The way we react to odors or foods may be shaped by classical conditioning
very hard to overcome
rooted in learning & shaped by culture
Operant Conditioning
BF Skinner
A form of instrumental learning controlled by consequences of one’s behaviour
Can learn new VOLUNTARY actions
What did Edward Thorndike discover?
study whether cats can problem solve, and found that memory is stronger when it comes with a reward (law of effect)
i.e. behaviour changes due to the consequences of action
Law of Effect
Behavior changes due to consequences of actions
If a stimulus followed by a behavior results in a reward, that stimulus is more likely to make same behavior happen again
Reinforcement
when an event following a response INCREASES their tendency to repeat that response
Punishment
when an event following a response DECREASES their tendency to repeat that response
Describe the differences between positive & negative reinforcemnt and punishment
Positive reinforcement
- smt added strengthened response
Negative reinforcement
- smt removed strengthened response
Positive punishment
- smt added weakened response
Negative punishment
- smt removed weakened response
-> it’s not the intention, it’s the RESPONSE!
My child is having a tantrum and I want him to stop, so I yell and scream and threaten him. He screams more. This is considered…
A) Positive reinforcement
B) Negative reinforcement
C) Positive punishment
D) Negative punishment
A) Positive reinforcement
Electrifying the feet of rats, when it presses the lever, the pain stops. The rats learn to press the lever. This is considered…
A) Positive reinforcement
B) Negative reinforcement
C) Positive punishment
D) Negative punishment
B) Negative reinforcement
Describe the Skinner box
Small animal chamber to allow sustained periods of conditioning
Behaviors are recorded unsupervised!
Goal: train rat to press lever
Discriminative stimuli
Stimulus associated with the presence of reinforcement
Cues that influence operant behavior by indicating the probable consequences (reinforcement) of action
ex/ rain is discriminative stimuli that tells bird to peck at the ground
Can we generalize and/or discriminate discriminative stimuli?
oui oui
When people are hiking and hear thunder, they go seek shelter because they don’t wanna be soaked by the rain.
What is the discriminative stimuli?
Give arguments for both positive & negative reinforcement.
thunder, because rain usually follows
Positive reinforcement = get rained on
Negative reinforcement = remove fear of getting soaked
Shaping
Process which consists of the reinforcement of closer and closer approximations to desired response
Extinction
Gradual weakening and disappearance of response because it’s no longer followed by reinforcement
Resistance to extinction
When one continues to respond even with no reinforcement
Possibly dependent on schedule of reinforcement
What are the different types of reinforcement schedules?
- Continual
Intermittent schedules:
2. Fixed Ratio
3. Variable Ratio
4. Fixed Interval
5. Variable Interval
Continual Reinforcement Schedule
1:1 fixed ratio
low resistance to extinction
Fixed Ratio Reinforcement Schedule
Reinforcement after a certain number of responses
Higher ratio = higher response rate
(Rapid Responding)
Short pause after reinforcement
Low resistance to extinction
ex/ food stamp cards
Variable Ratio Reinforcement Schedule
Reinforcement after variable number of responses around some average
Higher ratio = higher rates
Higher & steady rate without pauses
High resistance to extinction
ex/ gatcha, slot machines
Fixed Interval Reinforcement Schedule
Reinforcement provided after the first response following a set amount of time
Shorter intervals = higher rates
Scalloping Effect: long pause after reinforcement
Low resistance to extinction
Variable Interval Reinforcement Schedule
Reinforcement provided after the first response following a random time interval, varying randomly around some average
Shorter intervals = higher rates
Low, steady rate without pauses
High resistance to extinction
Ex/ radio shows give prize about every 4 hrs
Which reinforcement schedule yields a scalloping effect?
fixed interval
Which reinforcement schedule yield rapid responding ?
fixed ratio
Which reinforcement schedules are steady / have high resistance to extinction?
Variable Ratio & Variable Interval
Angela feels anxious because she worries that there’s an important message to be read on her phone. Once she checks the messages, anxiety is relieved, so she constantly checks her phone whenever the light blinks. This checking behavior is…
A) Negatively reinforced
B) Positively punished
C) Negatively punished
D) Positively reinforced
A) Negatively reinforced
Phobia
Persistent irrational fear of specific objects or situations that pose no real danger
AND
impacts daily functioning
Biological basis: snakes & spiders used to kill ppl
Two Process Theory
Require both classical & operant conditioning to explain persistence of phobias / anxiety disorders
Classical: acquisition of phobia
Operant: negative reinforcement of fear by avoiding whenever encountering it
Treating phobias
Reversing the effects of conditioning through extinction
Exposure Therapy: forcing ppl to confront rather than avoid
Joe has a dog phobia after being attacked by a dog at the beach. Having Joe encounter Whiskey at the therapist’s office, then at the beach is likely to address any chance of _____
A) rebound effect
B) spontaneous recovery
C) renewal effect
D) stimulus discrimination
E) stimulus generalization
Renewal Effect
Escape or Avoidance Learning
process where one learns a response that could stop a bad stimulus from happening
In a room where a shock comes after dimming lights, dog learns to jump over to safe side whenever the light dims.
This is an example of ______.
Discriminative stimuli is ______.
The dog has a conditioned fear of ____.
This fear will persist because fleeing is _____ reinforced and reduces the chances of _____.
Escape / Avoidance learning
Dimming lights, cuz it indicates incoming shock
Dimming lights
Negatively (cuz shock is removed)
Extinction
Classical VS Operant Conditioning
Classical
- target behaviour is elicited automatically
- due to stimuli that precede the behaviour
- autonomic nervous system (ANS)
Operant
- target behaviour is emitted voluntarily
- due to consequences after behaviour
- skeletal muscles (PNS)
Habituation
Learning not to respond to unimportant / repeated stimuli
Latent learning
Learning something not directly observable as a behavioral change until later
Can learn even in the absence of reinforcement!
What are some ways we can learn in the absence of reinforcement?
Latent learning
Observational learning
Habituation
Insight learning
etc
Cognitive map
A mental representation of how physical features of environment is organized
Observational Learning
Learning by watching others
When an organism’s responding is influenced by the observation models
Model behaviors can be reinforced or punished
What are the 4 basic processes of observational learning?
Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation
Mirror Neuron
Cell in prefrontal cortex
Activated by specific motions when one performs & observes action
Very selective, only active when seeing action!
Play central role in empathy
Diffusion Chain
Transmission of modeled behavior in which learners become models
Behavior passed through many people through observational learning
Study of observational learning in animals showed that
Raised by humans: they paid more attention to the human model, mimic exactly what they do
not raised by humans: more likely to use tools after watching, but uses it in diff way
Implicit Learning
Learning that takes place largely independent of awareness (of process and products of information acquisition)
We know but don’t really understand, can’t really explain to people
Little awareness of what we’re learning or how we learned it
ex/ learning first language, skills, habits
Habituation is an example of what kind of learning?
Implicit learning
Learning how to walk is an example of what kind of learning?
implicit
Why is implicit learning unique?
- Not linked to IQ
- Extends into old age
- Not impacted by amnesia
Insight Learning
grasping the underlying nature of a problem
aka problem solving
we think about the possible options even without reinforcement, do trial & error in our minds
Does knowledge = understanding?
NO
Unlearning can be _____
super difficult
Neuroplasticity
learning occurs within neural pathways
brain constantly changing
How do we acquire phobias?
genetics
preparedness
classical conditioning
Preparedness
“evolutionary memories”
Evolutionary predisposition to learn some pairings of feared stimuli over others owing to survival value
Can make us likely to develop illusory correlations between provoking stimuli and negative consequences
Instinctive Drift
Tendency for animals to return to innate behaviors following repeated reinforcement
We cannot fully understand learning without considering _____ cuz they place limits to what kinds of behaviors we can train through reinforcement
the innate biological influences
