Ch 3: Learning and Memory Flashcards
habituation
a decrease in response after repeated exposure to the same stimulus
Dishabituation
- the recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occurred, usually when a second stimulus is presented late in the habituation process of the first stimulus
- Example: highway driving and then exiting onto a different highway makes you aware of the stimuli on the new highway, even though it it more or less the same as the original one.
- Dishabituation is temporary and always refers to changes in response to the original stimulus, not the new one
Associative Learning
- the creation of a pairing or association between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response
- Two types: classical and operant conditioning
Classical conditioning
- a type of associative learning
- takes advantage of biological, instinctual responses to form associations between two unrelated stimuli
- Ivan Pavlov: Pavlov’s dogs
Unconditioned stimulus
Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
any stimulus that brings about a reflexive response (meat in Pavlov’s dogs)
Unconditioned response
Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
innate or reflexive response to stimuli (salivation in response to meat in Pavlov’s dogs)
neutral stimuli
- Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
- stimuli that do not produce a reflexive response
- can be referred to as signaling stimuli if they have the potential to be used as conditioning stimulus
- Bell ringing in the case of Pavlov’s dogs
conditioned stimulus
Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
a normally neutral stimulus that, through association, now causes a reflexive response called the conditioned response (dogs salivating at the sound of the bell in Pavlov’s dogs experiment)
extinction
Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented enough times without the unconditioned stimulus, leading to habituation of the conditioned stimulus aka extinction (dogs stop salivating to the bell)
spontaneous recovery
Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
recovering of a weak conditioned response to the originally conditioned stimulus some time after extinction
Generalization (with experiment example)
- Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
- a broadening effect where a stimulus that is similar enough to the conditioned stimulus results in the conditioned response
- Little Albert being afraid of all white fuzzy things because of a loud noise and a white mouse
discrimination
Part of classical conditioning (associative learning)
an organism learns to distinguish between two similar stimuli
Example would be if pavlov’s dogs had two tones of bell- one with meat and one without
Operant Conditioning
A type of associative learning which links voluntary behaviors with consequences in an effort to alter the frequency of those behaviors.
Associated with B.F. Skinner, considered the father of behaviorism
Behaviorism
the theory that all behaviors are conditioned
BF Skinner is considered the father of Behaviorism
Reinforcement
- process of increasing the likelihood that an individual will perform a behavior
- Reinforcers can be either positive or negative
Positive reinforcement
increasing behavior by adding positive consequences or incentive following the desired behavior
Negative Reinforcement
- increasing the frequency of a desired behavior by removing something unpleasant following the behavior.
- Divided into escape learning and avoidance learning
escape learning
the role of the the behavior is to reduce the unpleasantness of something that already exists
avoidance learning
the role of the behavior prevents something unpleasant from happening
primary reinforcer
- a part of classical and operant conditioning
- a treat or positive reinforcement that the subject responds naturally to
- Example: meat for the dogs or fish for a dolphin
Conditioned or secondary reinforcer
- a conditioned stimulus that elicits the same positive reinforcement as a primary enforcer
- Example: clicker=fish, bell=meat
Discriminative Stimulus
- indicated that the reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm
- Example: the trainer being present, the Pavlov dog researcher being present
Punishment
- conditioning in the attempt to reduce the occurrence of a behavior
- Can be positive or negative punishment
Positive punishment
adds an unpleasant consequence to an undesired behavior such as flogging a thief
Negative punishment
the reduction of a behavior through removing a pleasant stimulus such as a child being grounded from TV
Factors that affect a reinforcement schedule and the 4 types
- whether the reinforcement is fixed or variable
- whether the reinforcement is based on ratio or an interval
- Fixed ratio schedules
- Variable ratio schedules
- Fixed interval schedules
- Variable interval schedules
Fixed Ratio Schedules (FR)
- reinforce a behavior after a specific number of performances of that behavior
- Example: rat gets food every third time it presses the button
- Continuous reinforcement is a FR schedule where the behavior is rewarded every time
Variable Ratio Schedules (VR)
reinforcement of the behavior does not occur in regular intervals, but the average number of performances to receive an award is relatively constant
- This type works the fastest for learning a behavior and is most resistant to extinction
Fixed Interval Schedule (FI)
reinforce the first instance of a behavior after a specific time period has lapsed
example: rat gets food every time it presses the bar after 60 seconds. (bar, treat, 60 sec, bar. etc…)
Variable Interval Schedule (VI)
reinforces the behavior the first time the behavior is performed after a varying amount of time.
Shaping
Used in operant learning
the ides of rewarding increasingly specific behavior
takes a long time, but can train incredibly specific behaviors
Latent Learning
- learning that occurs, but you don’t really see it (it’s not exhibited) until there is some reinforcement or incentive to demonstrate it.
- Example: riding in a car to school every day you learn the route, but you never drive so it is unnecessary to exhibit this knowledge until your driver gets sick and you must call upon the information.
Problem Solving
trial and error method to learning outside the behaviorist approach
Types of learning outside the behaviorist approach
- Latent
- Problem Solving
- preparedness
Preparedness
the predisposition of a subject to learn (or not learn) behaviors that are based on their natural abilities or instincts
Instinctive drift
difficulty in overcoming instinctual behavior when attempting to use opperant conditioning
Observational Learning
- the process of learning through watching others
- Famous example: Bobo clown doll experiment (Albert Bandura)
- Note that observational learning is not just imitation because it can also be used to teach behavior avoidance if another person is punished for a behavior
Neurological factors that affect observational learning
- Mirror Neurons: located in the frontal and parietal lobes. Fire when an individual performs an action or when they see someone else perform that action
- Modeling: do as I say AND as I do. People learn acceptable behavior by watching
The tree major processes of forming memories
encoding
storage
retreival
Controlled (effortful) processing
- actively working to gain information.
- Example studying flashcards.
- controlled processing can become automatic processing over time (Ex learning a new language)
automatic processing
information gained without effort such as noticing the temperature or the route you take when walking home
encoding
the process of putting new information into memory. Can occur vie controlled or automatic processing
types of controlled processing
visual
acoustic
semantic- put into a meaningful context (strongest)
self reference effect
we recall information best when we can put it into the context of our own lives
sensory memory
- lasts only a very short time (under 1 second)
- consists of iconic (visual) and echoic (auditory) memory