behaviorism Flashcards
learning
A relatively permanent long term change in behaviour as a result of experience. (We learn through contingencies and discrepencies)
Behaviorism
School of thought that assumes a learner is passive, responding only to environmental stimuli.The learner is born as a clean slate (Tabula Rasa).
Behaviourists try to explain the causes of behaviour by studying only those behaviours that can be observed and measured. They believed that prior to behaviourism,‘unscientific’ methods: introspection (structuralism), the unconscious mind (Freud).
two types of learning processes (associative learning)
1) classicla conditioning
2) operant conditioning
Ivan pavlov (1878-1936)
Russian physiologist, psychologist and physician
John B. Watson (1878-1958)
Father of behaviorism (Little ALbert study), american psychologist, established the psychological school of behaviorism after doing research on animals
B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
american psychologist, operant conditioning, behaviorist, inventor, soical philosopher, famous for skinner’s box, rofessor of psychology at Harvard University from 1958 to 1974, first to study the behavioural effects of punishment and reinforcement
Classical conditioning
Unconditioned Stimulus (US): Causes a response automatically (ex. Food)
Unconditioned Response (UR): Innate reflex response caused by an unconditioned stimulus. (ex. Salivation)
Neutral stimulus: Stimulus that does not evoke a response. It didn’t mean anything before conditioning took place (ex. bell)
Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Stimulus (bell) that evokes a response (salivation) because it has been repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus (food).
Conditioned response (CR): learned response (salivation) elicited by a conditioned stimulus (bell)
Conditioned response same as unconditioned response.
Higher order conditioning
extending the conditioning process by a step. Higher-order conditioningis when you pair a 2nd neutral stimulus (ex. light) with the conditioned stimulus (the bell). So, you pair light-bell until the dog’s conditioned response to the bell, also becomes conditioned to the light.
stimulus discrimination
When an organism learns to respond differently to various stimuli that are similar
phobia
fear of a particular object may have resulted from Classical conditionning
generalization
Other stimuli (santa claus beard, white hair, etc) that are similar to CS (white rat) may also cause a response (crying).
Extinction
Weakening the CR (crying) through the removal of the US (hammer, loud noise). May take several tries to completely reverse conditioning
Spontaneous recovery
Reappearance of a conditioned stimulus response after apparent extinction.
operant conditioning
a method of learning that occurs through reinforcements and punishments for behaviour.
We learn to perform certain behaviours more often because they result in rewards and learn to avoid other behaviours because they result in punishment or adverse consequences.
Components of operant conditioning
reinforcement and punishment
reinforcement
any event that strengthens or increases the behavior it follows
punishment
any event that causes a decrease in the behavior it follows
positive reinforcement
favorable events or outcomes that are presented after the behavior. A response or behavior is strengthened by the addition of something(ex. a praise or a direct reward).
negative reinforcement
The removal of unfavorable events or outcomes after the display of a behavior. In these situations, a response is strengthened by the removal of something considered unpleasant.
skinner’s box
invented to prove the theory of operzant conditioning.
Designed to teach rats how to push a lever (a behaviour that is not natural to rats). Operant conditioning with positive and negative reinforcement were performed to teach the behaviour.
Positive Reinforcement: Rat rewarded with food when he pressed the lever
Negative Reinforcement: Rat was able to turn off electric shocks produced by the floor by pressing lever
Positive punishment
Involves the presentation of an unfavorable event or outcome in order to weaken the response it follows.
Negative punishment
Occurs when a favorable event or outcome is removed after a behavior occurs.
shaping
Used to teach: complex behavior or chain behaviours. Skinner used shaping to teach pigeons many complex behaviours, turning in circles, ping pong, telling difference between different words, etc.
Instead of rewarding only the target behavior, in shaping, we reward successive approximations of a target behavior.
schedule of reinforcement
A schedule of reinforcement determines when and how often reinforcement of a behavior is given. Behaviorists discovered that different schedules of reinforcement had different effects on the speed of learning.
different schedules of reinforcement
Fixed Interval Schedules: A reinforcement of appropriate behaviour that is delivered after a specified interval of time has elapsed. (Ex. After 5, 10, 15, and 20 minutes)
Variable Interval Schedules: This is a reinforcement of appropriate behaviour that is delivered at unpredictable time intervals (Ex. After 5, 7, 10, and 20 minutes).
Fixed Ratio Schedules: A reinforcement of a desired behaviour occurs only after a specified number of actions have been performed. (Ex. A reward is given for every 4 correct responses.)
Variable Ratio Schedules: A reinforcement of a desired behaviour occurs after a variable number of actions have been performed. (Ex. A reward is given after 3 to 7 correct responses, the actual number changes randomly. (Ex. Gambling)
Continuous Reinforcement: An animal or human is positively reinforced every time a specific behaviour occurs.
social learning theory
We learn by watching others and then imitating, or modeling, what they do or say. The individuals performing the imitated behavior are called models.
Vicarious learning
isa way of learning that allows individuals to learn from the experience of others. It is a conscious process that involves sensing, feeling, and empathizing with what people are doing and taking notes, and evaluating.
live model
demonstrates a behavior in person
verbal instructional
model does not perform the behavior, but instead explains or describes the behavior, as when a soccer coach tells his young players to kick the ball with the side of the foot, not with the toe.
symbolic model
can be fictional characters or real people who demonstrate behaviors in books, movies, television shows, video games, or Internet sources
steps of social learing theory
1-you must be focused on what the model is doing—you have to pay attention
2- you must be able to retain, or remember, what you observed; this is retention
3- Then, you must be able to perform the behavior that you observed and committed to memory; this is reproduction
Finally, you must have motivation. You need to want to copy the behavior, and whether or not you are motivated depends on what happened to the model. If you saw that the model was reinforced for her behavior, you will be more motivated to copy her.
