6) Learning Flashcards
Define classical conditioning.
A type of learning through which an organism learns to associate one stimulus with another
What is an unconditioned response? Give examples.
o A response that is elicited by an unconditioned stimulus without prior learning
o Examples: Salivation, startle, contraction of pupil, eyeblink response
What is an unconditioned stimulus? Give examples.
o A stimulus that elicits a specific unconditioned response without prior learning
o Examples: Food, loud noise, light in the eye, puff of air
What is a conditioned stimulus? Give examples.
o A neutral stimulus that, after repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus, becomes associated with it and elicits a conditioned response
o Example: Musical tone
What is a conditioned response? Give examples.
o The learned response that comes to be elicited by a conditioned stimulus as a result of its repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus
o Example: Salivation to the tone
In Ivan Pavlov’s classical experiment, what is the food?
Unconditioned stimulus
In Ivan Pavlov’s classical experiment, what is the salivation to the tone?
Conditioned response
In Ivan Pavlov’s classical experiment, what is the musical tone?
Conditioned stimulus
What is higher-order conditioning?
Conditioning that occurs when conditioned stimuli are linked together to form a series of signals
In classical conditioning, what is extinction?
In classical conditioning, the weakening and eventual disappearance of the conditioned response because of repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus
In classical conditioning, what is spontaneous recovery?
The reappearance of an extinguished response (in a weaker form) when an organism is exposed to the original conditioned stimulus following a rest period
In classical conditioning, what is generalization?
In classical conditioning, the tendency to make a conditioned response to a stimulus that is like the original conditioned stimulus
How could Ivan Pavlov’s classic experiment have been generalized?
By using a different musical tone
In classical conditioning, what is discrimination?
The learned ability to distinguish between similar stimuli so that the conditioned response occurs only to the original conditioned stimulus but not to similar stimuli
In Little Albert’s experiment, what was the conditioned stimulus, the unconditioned stimulus, and the conditioned response?
CS: White rat
US: Loud noise
CR: Fear reaction
What is operant conditioning?
A type of learning in which the consequences of behavior are manipulated so as to increase or decrease the frequency of an existing response or to shape an entirely new response
In operant conditioning, what is an operant?
A voluntary behavior that accidentally brings about a consequence
In operant conditioning, what is a reinforcer?
Anything that follows a response and strengthens it or increases the probability that it will occur
In operant conditioning, what is a punisher?
Anything that follows a response and weakens it or decreases the probability that it will occur
In operant conditioning, what is shaping?
An operant conditioning technique that consists of gradually molding a desired behavior (response) by reinforcing any movement in the direction of the desired response, thereby generally guiding the responses toward the ultimate goal
In operant conditioning, what is successive approximations?
A series of gradual steps, each of which is more similar to the final desired response
In operant conditioning, what is extinction?
In operant conditioning, the weakening and eventual disappearance of the conditioned response as a result of the withholding of reinforcement
In operant conditioning, what is generalization?
In operant conditioning, the tendency to make the learned response to a stimulus similar to that for which the response was generally reinforced
What is reinforcement?
Any event that follows a response and strengthens or increases the probability that the response will be repeated
What is positive reinforcement?
Any pleasant or desirable consequence that follows a response and increases the probability that the response will be repeated
What type of learning behavior is the example:
Person buys more lottery tickets after hitting a $100 jackpot
Positive reinforcement
What type of learning behavior is the example:
College student studies more often after getting an A on an exam for which she studied more than usual
Positive reinforcement
What type of learning behavior is the example:
Rat learns to press a lever to obtain a food pellet
Positive reinforcement
What type of learning behavior is the example:
Rat learns to press a lever to turn off an annoying stimulus such as a loud buzzer
Negative reinforcement
What type of learning behavior is the example:
College student studies more often in order to avoid getting another F on an exam
Negative reinforcement
What type of learning behavior is the example:
Individual calls his mother more often in order to keep the mother from nagging him
Negative reinforcement
What is a primary reinforcer?
A reinforce that fulfills a basic physical need for survival and does not depend on learning
What is a secondary reinforcer?
A reinforce that is acquired or learned through association with other reinforcers
What is a fixed-ratio schedule?
A schedule in which a reinforcer is given after a fixed number of correct, non-reinforced responses
What is a variable-ratio schedule?
A schedule in which a reinforce is given after a varying number of non-reinforced responses, based on an average ratio
What is the partial reinforcement effect?
The typical outcome of a variable ratio of reinforcement in which a slow rate of initial learning is coupled with resistance to extinction
Which schedule does the following example illustrate:
Your favorite coffee bar offers you a free cup of coffee for every 10 cups you buy
Fixed-Ratio
Which schedule does the following example illustrate:
Your favorite coffee bar offers you a chance to participate in a drawing every time you purchase a drink. You draw a card out of a jar that contains dozens of cars, 1 in 10 of which says “Get a free coffee next time you visit” and 9 in 10 saying “Sorry. Try again next time”
Variable-Ratio
What is punishment?
The removal of pleasant stimulus or the application of an unpleasant stimulus, thereby lowering the probability of a response
What is positive punishment?
A decrease in behavior that results from an added consequence
What is negative punishment?
A decrease in behavior that results from a removed consequence
What type of learning behavior is the example:
Rat stops pressing a lever when doing so causes a loud, annoying buzzing sound
Positive punishment
What type of learning behavior is the example:
Student stops staying up late after sleeping through an important exam
Positive punishment
What type of learning behavior is the example:
A driver avoids taking a particular route because it has caused him to become bogged down in traffic jams in the past
Positive punishment
What type of learning behavior is the example:
A driver who speeds less often after suffering through a 6-month suspension of his licence
Negative punishment
What type of learning behavior is the example:
Rat stops pressing a lever when doing so causes a dish of food to disappear from his cage
Negative punishment
What type of learning behavior is the example:
Teenager stops coming home late after parents take away her going-out privileges for two weeks
Negative punishment
What are the 5 types of learning?
- Facts
- Procedural
- Social cues
- Motor skills
- Phobias
What is the following statement an example of:
Pairing a positive stimulus (good looking actor) with a neutral stimulus (product) in a TV commercial
Conditioned emotional response
What is vicarious conditioning?
Learning by looking at parents or movies
What are the 4 factors that influence classical conditioning?
1) Number of pairings and strength of CR
2) Intensity of US
3) Reliability of the NS predicting the outcome of the US
4) Timing delay between the CS and the US
What does the Law of Effect state?
The consequence, or effect, of a response will determine whether the tendency to respond in the same way in the future will be strengthened or weakened.
Who is behind the Law of Effect?
Thorndike
Who believed that all behavior is controlled by the environment?
B.F. Skinner
What is a discriminative stimulus?
A cue given as to WHEN the reward will be given
What was the discriminative stimulus in the Skinner box?
Light
Which learning behaviour is the following:
You study with your friend, and you both get 95% on the first exam. You are likely to study together for the second exam
Positive reinforcement
Shaping behaviour is linked to __________
successive approximation
What is successive approximation?
You are rewarded for each part of your behaviour, which gets you closer to the finla goal
What is a token economy?
Good behaviour is rewarded with tokens
What is negative reinforcement?
The reward is the REMOVAL of the negative reinforcers
Drugs are _______
negative reinforcers
Differentiate escape behaviour and avoidance behaviour.
Escape: noxious stimulus is there
Avoidance: noxious behaviour is not there
Which learning behaviour is the following:
Turning the stereo down because it is so loud it hurts your ears.
Escape behaviour
Which learning behaviour is the following:
Buckling your seatbelt to avoid hearing the annoying beeping noise
Avoidance behaviour
What does the Premark principle state?
Low probability event (studying) is paired with a high probability event (watching the hockey game)
What is continuous reinforcement? Who is it best for?
- EACH correct response is rewarded
- Best in early learning; beginners
Which learning schedule has the higher resistance to extinction?
Variable-Ratio
Which learning behaviour is the following:
Gambling
Variable-Ratio
How can we determine which learning schedule is more effective?
By bringing two groups that were taught a behaviour using different schedules under a circumstance without an reward
What are the three factors influencing operant conditioning?
- Magnitude of the reinforcement
- Immediacy of reinforcement
- Level of motivation of the learner
Fear response is a side effect of what? What does it cause?
- Punishment
- Individual becomes aggressive or timid
Over-punishment causes ______________
learned helplessness
What is restorative punishment?
Doing something that restores your mistake; has a connection to the mistake
When a boy is misbehaving, he gets punished. But, when he is behaving correctly, he is also punished. What could this cause?
Learned helplessness through over-punishment
In observational learning, the learner observes the _________
consequences
When is the modelling effect highest?
When the model is similar to the observer
Is observational learning purely about observing and imitating?
No, individuals also make a cognitive assessment about the situation they witness (judgmental)
Who executed the Bobo doll study?
Albert Bandura
What is the Bobo doll study?
- Children were shown a short-movie where adults were kicking a Bobo doll
- They were shown different endings
- After, they were allowed to play with the dolls, and the children with the most aggressive behaviour saw adults conduct aggressive behaviour
When people work hard, and it doesn’t pay off, what does that cause?
Learned helplessness
Individuals who have undergone learned helplessness believe in what?
An external locus of control; believe nothing they do will change their lives
Martin Seligman conducted a study with ____
dogs
What was Martin Seligman’s study about? What was it?
- Learned helplessness
- Experimental group: could not escape shock
- Control group: no previous inescapable shock
- Experiment: put both groups in a situation of ESCAPABLE shock
- Experimental did not even try to escape
- Control group successfully escaped
