Associative learning

Question 1

What are the two forms of associative learning?

Answer 1

Two forms = Pavlovian/classical conditioning and operant/instrumental conditioning

Question 2

What is Pavlovian/classical conditioning?

Answer 2

Learning about the environment/sensitive to the environment- two stimuli- second stimulus has reward properties

Question 3

What is operant/instrumental conditioning?

Answer 3

How you operate on the environment- what you do and the consequences of your behaviour

Question 4

What is Pavlovian conditioning?

Answer 4

Stimulus causes another stimulus causing a response e.g. bell and dog causing salivation (Pavlov’s dog).

Question 5

What is the experiment with Pavlov’s dog?

Answer 5

• Unconditioned stimulus (food) causes dog to salivate – unconditioned response
• Conditioned stimulus – bell is rung and dog is presented with food (UCR)
• Dog learns to associate bell with food – a conditioned response (usually 4-5 trials)

Question 6

What is temporal contiguity?

Answer 6

I.e. CS (conditioned stimulus) and UCS must be close in time- bell has to be presented close to food

Question 7

What is contingency?

Answer 7

• CS reliably predicts UCS- dog learns predictability

- a cognitive view – knowledge about the relationships between 2 stimuli

Question 8

What is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 8

• extinction is learning a new association- new piece of learning- if leave the bell for the day and then ring again- get a partial response
• dog remembers light used to predict food

Question 9

What is latent inhibition?

Answer 9

-past learning experience changes acquisition of new associations- try associate bell with new behaviour- will be slower in learning than a dog that never heard a bell

Question 10

What are the biological constraints- Seligman

Answer 10

SELIGMAN: sauce béarnaise -> vomiting
• CS (sauce) + UCS (sickness)-> UCR (vomiting) then CS(sauce) -> CR (unpleasant taste)
• Overcome time delay = gap between taste sauce and illness = 6 hrs
• Selectivity of conditioning, no aversion to wife/plates

Question 11

What are the biological constraints- Garcia & Koelling

Answer 11

• Exposed rats 3 forms of water: plain, flavoured, water bright and noisy
• Exposed to flavoured/bright and noisy = 3 groups: mild dose of x-rays on 3 occasions/dose of lithium/electrocuted
• If during conditioning the water resulted in sickness
o Avoided flavoured water, drank lots of plain/bright and noisy water
• If during conditioning = pain = avoid bright, noisy water

Question 12

What is someones response to chemotherapy?

Answer 12

Anticipatory nausea/vomiting (20-40%).

Chemo causes nausea-stimuli can become paired with nausea without even having chemo.

Take a child to next chemo session- see hospital sign- throw up, see on calendar wall chemo, child throws up

Question 13

What is the second order of conditioning?

Answer 13

Child becomes sick before chemo session

• new CS successively paired with old CS
• new CS able to elicit CR

Question 14

What is generalisation?

Answer 14

Greater similarity of new CS, more likely to elicit CR- bad experience with one dog- doesn’t like dogs anymore

Question 15

What is discrimination?

Answer 15

Responding to differences via reinforcement- scared of dogs but able to tolerate one certain dog

Question 16

What is the law of effect?

Answer 16

There is a Law of Effect – behaviours that are followed by good things happen more often.

Question 17

What are the different types of reinforcers?

Answer 17

• Primary (unconditioned) = natural desire e.g. food, sleep
• Secondary (conditioned) = non-natural desire e.g. money
• Social = behaviours such as smiling, praising, nodding

Question 18

What are reinforcers that increase response?

Answer 18

Those that increase responding

• positive reinforcement
• negative reinforcement

Question 19

What are the reinforcers that decrease response?

Answer 19

• extinction

- punishment

Question 20

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 20

Reward by doing something correct.

Question 21

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 21

Undesirable stimulus is removed

Question 22

What is shaping?

Answer 22

Changing behaviour to desirable through reinforcement

Question 23

What is chaining?

Answer 23

Complex behaviours broken into component parts. Each stage in sequence positively reinforced. Reinforcer cues next stage in sequence.

Question 24

What is Skinner’s rat?

Answer 24

Evidence of positive reinforcement: hungry rat put in chamber and presses lever to dispense and receive food. Takes less time to press lever second time - conditioned
Evidence of negative reinforcement: rat put in chamber with a strong (undesirable current) and presses lever to stop it. Takes less time to press lever second time - conditioned

Question 25

What are token economies?

Answer 25

Provide someone with something when they do well

-address behaves of groups of people
-wide range of target behaviours
• early programme daily spending vs. later accumulation
• peaked in adult psychiatry in 1960/70s
-community care, cost constraints, inflexibility
-negative press – coercive, degrading
• used in schools, learning disability

Question 26

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 26

• escape or avoidance of aversive event e.g. shock, loud noise
• parent negatively reinforced, so more likely to pick up baby as crying stops
• child positively reinforced for crying

Question 27

What is extinction?

Answer 27

E.g. baby crying- weak response like not picking up the baby will prevent the baby needing parent to pick baby up when crying

Question 28

What is continuous reinforcement?

Answer 28

Continuous = behaviours that are reinforced every time they occur. Quick reinforcement

Question 29

What is partial reinforcement?

Answer 29

Partial = behaviours that are intermittently reinforced take longer to extinguish

Question 30

1. What is fixed ratio?
2. What is variable ratio?
3. What is fixed interval?
4. What is variable interval?

Answer 30

1. Vending machine
2. Slot machine
3. Checking mail box
4. Checking email