Associative Learning

Question 1

two types of learning

Answer 1

Classical (Pavlovian) conditioning

Instrumental (Operant) conditioning

Question 2

define Appetitive

Answer 2

an instinctive physical desire, ie food or drink (appetite)

Question 3

Pavlov’s dog experiment was an example of what conditioning

Answer 3

Appetitive

Question 4

Lloyd Morgan (1894)

Answer 4

suggested animals learn about contingencies through mental representations which connect
events through associations

Argued that neural centres represent certain
events, and when these events happen in close
temporal proximity, the representations are
activated and a connection is formed.

Question 5

Neural changes during Pavlovian Conditioning Comes from studying the nervous system of what

Answer 5

the sea slug

Question 6

who experimented on the sea slug to investigate Neural changes during Pavlovian Conditioning

Answer 6

Carew, Hawkins and Kandel (1983)

Question 7

The basis of associative learning seems to be related to what

Answer 7

the ease with which one neuron can excite another (change in effectiveness of the connections between the sensory and motor neurons).

Question 8

what type of reinforcers does animal work use?

Answer 8

Animal work only uses primary reinforcers (e.g. food/shock)

Question 9

what is an example of a secondary reinforcer that humans may use

Answer 9

money

Question 10

Delgado et al., 2011; Levy

& Glimcher, 2011

Answer 10

Neuro-imaging studies suggest that primary and secondary reinforcers activate some common brain regions (e.g., the striatum) but have some differences

Question 11

Logan and Graton (1995)

Answer 11

• Pairing conditioned stimulus with an air puff to the eye (unconditioned response)
• PET scan shows activity increases in the
cerebellum

Question 12

Gerwig et al (2005)

Answer 12

• People who have damage to the cerebellum
have weaker conditioned eyeblinks, and the
eyeblinks are poorly timed.

Question 13

Gottfried, O’Doherty and

Dolan (2002)

Answer 13

Found more activation in the orbitofrontal cortex
(OFC) and ventral striatum following the appetitive
Conditioned Stimulus compared to the aversive Conditioned Stimulus

Question 14

orbitofrontal cortex

Answer 14

– thought to be involved in sending the positive
olfactory information (Unconditioned Stimulus) to the visual system (Conditioned Stimulus)

Question 15

Ventral striatum

Answer 15

thought to be involved in the Conditional Response

elicited by the appetitive Conditional Stimulus (i.e. your response to a positive stimulus)

Question 16

Kumar et al. (2008)

Answer 16

Thirsty participants rewarded with
water following a visual Conditional Stimulus.

Healthy participants showed greater
activation in the ventral striatum to the
appetitive CS+ than patients with major
depressive disorder

Thus the stimulus is not as rewarding to
those with depression

Question 17

Cerebellum

Answer 17

involved in motor control (responses

to all Conditional Stimuli)

Question 18

Orbitofrontal cortex

Answer 18

involved in reward

learning (appetitive Conditional Stimuli)

Question 19

Ventral striatum

Answer 19

– involved in reward learning

appetitive Conditional Stimuli