Associative Learning - EXAMINABLE

Question 1

What is associative learning?

Answer 1

Learning the relationship between two events

Question 2

What is classical (pavlovian) conditioning?

Answer 2

Association between two environmental stimuli

Survival benefits

Question 3

What is operant/instrumental conditioning?

Answer 3

Association between conscious action and its consequences on the environment

Question 4

Why is event 2 of conditioning also called a reinforcer?

Answer 4

It has meaning - it is either worth doing or worth avoiding

Question 5

What are the building blocks of learning?

Answer 5

Simple conditioned associations

Question 6

Are the laws of learning the same regardless of what is being learned or who is learning?

Answer 6

Yes

Question 7

Explain Pavlov’s dog experiments

Answer 7

The dog salivates when he smells food = unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response
Flashing of light/ringing a bell gives no response = unconditioned stimulus
The dog is conditioned that a light and a bell mean food is coming, so starts salivating when he hears a bell = conditioned stimulus

Question 8

What is the acquisition phase of learning?

Answer 8

Learning that a certain environmental stimulus gives a certain response - very quick and adaptive

Question 9

What is extinction in terms of classical conditioning?

Answer 9

The initial conditioned response is being extinguished - the bell no longer brings food

Question 10

Why is temporal contiguity an issue with classical conditioning?

Answer 10

Food must be presented AT THE SAME TIME as the ringing of the bell - or the association between the two won’t be made

Question 11

Define contingency

Answer 11

A future event or circumstance which is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty.

Question 12

Why is contiguity an issue with classical conditioning?

Who confirmed this? (1967)

Answer 12

Does conditioning reliably predict the unconditioned stimulus? Animal cognitively weights up whether the stimulus is a RELIABLE predictor for food
Rescorla

Question 13

What is sponteaneous recovery?

Answer 13

The animal does not forget that the bell predicts food, but it is learning a new association - dog remembers that light used to predict food but it doesn’t any more
learning builds on top of other learning

Question 14

What is latent inhibition?

Answer 14

Past learning experience changes the acquisition of new association - dog may have prior learning history toward ringing of a bell which can cause it to be slower/quicker to react

Question 15

What are the biological constraints to classical conditioning?

Answer 15

Concept of preparedness - some associations are biologically advantaged
Phobias
Conditioned taste aversions - like Holly can’t eat subway anymore because she was sick

Question 16

Who did the bright, noisy water experiment?

Answer 16

Garcia & Koelling 1966

Question 17

What was the bright, noisy water experiment 1966? Garcia & Koelling

Answer 17

Water is flavoured and it lights up and clicks (bright, noisy, tasty water)
They are then put into 3 groups. 2 groups exposed to nausea (x-rays, lithium), 1 group exposed to pain (shock).
They are then exposed to flavoured water on some days and bright, noisy water on same days
Nauseas animals will drink bright, noisy water but not flavoured water
Pain animals will drink flavoured water but not bright, noisy water

demonstrates selective conditioning

Question 18

What does the bright, noisy water experiment demonstrate? Garcia & Koelling

Answer 18

Selective association

Question 19

How is chemotherapy related to selective conditioning?

Answer 19

Anticipatory nausea/vomiting (20-40%)
Causes people to disengage from treatment

chemo (unconditioned stimulus) causes nausea/vomiting (unconditioned response)
sights/smells/thoughts preceding treatment are the conditioned stimulus - vomiting/nausea is the conditioned response

Question 20

What is second order conditioning?

Answer 20

New conditioned stimulus successively paired with old conditioned stimulus, so the new conditioned stimulus elicits the conditioned response
(smell of hospital used to cause vomiting, but now just seeing the hospital (which is linked with smell) causes vomiting etc)

Question 21

What is the issue of generalisation of conditioning?

Answer 21

Greater similarity of new conditioned stimulus is more likely to elicit conditioned response

(e.g. smell of dentist makes you feel sick because it reminds you of the smell of the hospital)

Question 22

What is the issue of discrimination in conditioning?

Answer 22

Responding to differences via reinforcement

scared of most dogs BUT likes the family dog because she had excessive friendly exposure

Question 23

What is operant/instrumental conditioning?

Answer 23

Behaviour/action is linked to reinforcing consequences

e.g. in secondary school you get merits for doing well and these relate to prizes

Question 24

What are the two basic principles of operant conditioning?

Answer 24

Association - things that occur together become associated

Law of effect - behaviours that are followed by good things will happen more often

Question 25

What are the 3 types of reinforcers?

Answer 25

Primary (unconditioned) - inherently reinforcing (e.g. food when you’re hungry)
Secondary (conditioned) - e.g. money
Social consequences of behaviour - smiling, nodding, attention, praise

Question 26

What is shaping?

Answer 26

Reinforcements of successive approximations of desired act/behaviour

e.g. like shaping a rat - every time the disc moves it dispenses a pellet onto a bar - if the rat presses the bar it releases a pellet

Question 27

What is chaining?

Answer 27

Teaching complex behaviours - breaking them into component parts with each stage in the sequence positively reinforced
the reinforcer cues the next stage in the sequence

(e.g. 4 stages to putting sock on properly and social praise at each stage)q

Question 28

What is backward chaining?

Answer 28

Start at END of sequence because thats the most rewarding bit. they associate that end bit with positive reward and can then work backwards to achieve each stage.

Question 29

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 29

Behaviour that you use to AVOID a certain situation - you are rewarded by avoiding situation and so it will be reinforced because you’ll do it again

Question 30

Types of reinforcement that increase responding

Answer 30

positive reinforcement

negative reinforcement

Question 31

Types of reinforcement that decrease responding?

Answer 31

Extinction

Punishment

Question 32

Give an example of positive reinforcement

Answer 32

Rewards for a 4 year old with social anxiety when she plays (cuddles, food, tokens)

Question 33

Give an example of negative reinforcement

Answer 33

Play with 4 year old with social anxiety when she ISN’T playing with others

Question 34

What are token systems?

Answer 34

Systematic reinforcement of a wide range of target behaviours for a group of people (e.g. in an office)

Question 35

Baby cries, parents pick her up, stops crying, parents put her down, baby cries etc etc…

how are the parents reinforced?
how is the baby reinforced?

Answer 35

Parents = negatively (avoiding crying)
Baby = positively (crying = picked up)

Question 36

What are some types of reinforcement schedule?

Answer 36

Continuous
Partial (extinction effect)
Ratio (e.g. every 5 responses)
Interval schedules (fixed or variable time periods)

Question 37

What are ratio and interval schedules?

Answer 37

fixed ratio: vending machine
variable ratio: slot machine
fixed interval: checking mailbox
variable interval: checking email

there are differences in response patterns

Question 38

What is positive punishment?

Answer 38

An aversive stimulus or condition is added

e.g. smacking

Question 39

What is negative punishment?

Answer 39

A positive stimulus or condition is subtracted

e.g. time out