Associative learning Flashcards
What are the two forms of associative learning?
Two forms = Pavlovian/classical conditioning and operant/instrumental conditioning
What is Pavlovian/classical conditioning?
Learning about the environment/sensitive to the environment- two stimuli- second stimulus has reward properties
What is operant/instrumental conditioning?
How you operate on the environment- what you do and the consequences of your behaviour
What is Pavlovian conditioning?
Stimulus causes another stimulus causing a response e.g. bell and dog causing salivation (Pavlov’s dog).
What is the experiment with Pavlov’s dog?
- 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)
What is temporal contiguity?
I.e. CS (conditioned stimulus) and UCS must be close in time- bell has to be presented close to food
What is contingency?
- CS reliably predicts UCS- dog learns predictability
- a cognitive view – knowledge about the relationships between 2 stimuli
What is spontaneous recovery?
- 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
What is latent inhibition?
-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
What are the biological constraints- Seligman
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
What are the biological constraints- Garcia & Koelling
• 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
What is someones response to chemotherapy?
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
What is the second order of conditioning?
Child becomes sick before chemo session
- new CS successively paired with old CS
- new CS able to elicit CR
What is generalisation?
Greater similarity of new CS, more likely to elicit CR- bad experience with one dog- doesn’t like dogs anymore
What is discrimination?
Responding to differences via reinforcement- scared of dogs but able to tolerate one certain dog
What is the law of effect?
There is a Law of Effect – behaviours that are followed by good things happen more often.
What are the different types of reinforcers?
- Primary (unconditioned) = natural desire e.g. food, sleep
- Secondary (conditioned) = non-natural desire e.g. money
- Social = behaviours such as smiling, praising, nodding
What are reinforcers that increase response?
Those that increase responding
- positive reinforcement
- negative reinforcement
What are the reinforcers that decrease response?
- extinction
- punishment
What is positive reinforcement?
Reward by doing something correct.
What is negative reinforcement?
Undesirable stimulus is removed
What is shaping?
Changing behaviour to desirable through reinforcement
What is chaining?
Complex behaviours broken into component parts. Each stage in sequence positively reinforced. Reinforcer cues next stage in sequence.
What is Skinner’s rat?
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
What are token economies?
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
What is negative reinforcement?
- 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
What is extinction?
E.g. baby crying- weak response like not picking up the baby will prevent the baby needing parent to pick baby up when crying
What is continuous reinforcement?
Continuous = behaviours that are reinforced every time they occur. Quick reinforcement
What is partial reinforcement?
Partial = behaviours that are intermittently reinforced take longer to extinguish
- What is fixed ratio?
- What is variable ratio?
- What is fixed interval?
- What is variable interval?
- Vending machine
- Slot machine
- Checking mail box
- Checking email
