Avoidance Learning and Learned Helplessness - Week 8 Flashcards
Avoidance Learning
- Learning via negative reinforcement
- Adapting by avoiding negative stimuli
- Maladapting by avoiding social situations
Shuttle-Box Studies
- Wynne
- Dogs shocked if stand on floor for too long
- Dogs learn to jump
- Learnt through 2-factor theory
2-Factor Theory
- Both classical and operant conditioning used
- Avoiding the shock through fear (Operant)
- Light out creates fear (Classical)
Calculating Behavioural Suppression
A/(A+B)
10/(10+10)
10/(20)
SR =0.5
Problems with 2-Factor Theory
- Dog will continue to jump, eventually eliminating the fear of the shock over time
- Dog will just jump, because that’s what its supposed to do
-This eliminates the classical conditioning
Sidman Avoidance Theory
-Rats postpone shock by pressing bar repeatedly
- Had problems: Rats feared the time since they last pressed the bar, including classicla conditioning
- Making it 2-factory theory
What is the best 1-factor theory?
-Herrnstein & Hineline experiment
1-Factor vs 2-Factor
- 2-Factor: Artificial because some animals aren’t usually given a warning in the wild
- Both factors have reason to be appropriate based on the context
Learned Helplessness
- No longer have the desire to escape, even if escape is possible
- Some dogs laid down on the floor and accepted the shock
Problems with Learnt Helplessness experiment
- Exposure to lack of control
- LH occurred to the lack of contingency
Why LH occurs?
- Motivational deficit: Losing motivation to respond
- Cognitive deficit: No response changes anything
Human LH
- Unlikely to accept defeat
- However tend to respond in less-accurate and slower ways
LH Theory of of Depression
- People that believe that nothing makes difference, they become depressed
- Exposure to repeated unsuccess leads to reduction of control and success expectation
Problems with LH
- Perception of non-contingency affects performance
- Less control will mean people will be punished more
- Sequential Effects: Last trials bias
- Individual Differences: LH does not occur in everyone
- Generalization: When past tasks are similar
Failure vs Non-contingency
- Fail: Punishment
- Non-contingency: Loss of control
Reformulated Theory
- Way people interpret events may be important\
- Attribution for events
- Internal vs External
- Global vs Specific
- Stable vs Unstable
Healthy/Unhealthy Attributional Styles
- Healthy: Believe in self to improve in future
- Unhealthy: Are doubtful of own abilities, and expect failure
Learned Optimism
-Learning a positive attirubutional style
