Chap 6 - Learning

Question 1

BF Skinner

Answer 1

dismissed importance of mental states and questioned philosophical concepts such as free will, thought application of basic learning principles could create a better, humane world - wrote novel about raising kids with praise and incentives, no punishment

Question 2

Learning (definition, when does it occur)

Answer 2

a relatively enduring change in behavior, resulting from experience, occurs when animal benefits from experience so that its behavior is better adapted to the environment

Question 3

Conditioning

Answer 3

Associations develop through conditioning, a process in which environmental stimuli and behavioral responses become connected

Question 4

Classical conditioning aka Pavlovian conditioning

Answer 4

a type of learned response - a neutral object come to elicit a response when it is assocaited with a stimulus that already produces that response (ex - metronome and food)

Question 5

2 types of conditioning in psychology

Answer 5

Classical/pavolvian, and operant/instrumental

Question 6

Operant conditioning (aka instrumental conditioning)

Answer 6

occurs when you learn that a behavior leads to a particular outcome (this was skinner’s main interest)

Question 7

What did John B. Watson argue?

Answer 7

he argued that Freudian theory was unscientific and ultimately meaningless - rejected psychological principles that could not be observed directly, like people’s mental experiences (couldn’t be studied through scientific methods) - OVERALL - observable behav only valid was the only valid indicator of psychological activity (behavioralism!!! Watson’s thing - environment is the only thing that impacts, nurture not nature) - influenced by Locke and Pavlov

Question 8

John Locke

Answer 8

(1600’s) - tabula rasa (blank state) - infant born knowing nothing and acquires all of its knowledge through sensory experiences (these ideas influenced Watson and his behaviorism ideas)

Question 9

Ivan Pavlov

Answer 9

interested in the salivary reflex (automatic, unlearned response when presented with food), realized it was a behavioral response, decided to study learning

Question 10

Edwin Twitmyer

Answer 10

made same discovery about classical conditioning as Pavlov in humans - rang bell when doing knee tap, accidentally rang bell, and patient still did it

Question 11

Conditioning Trial (Pavlov’s experiments)

Answer 11

neutral stimulus (unrelated to salivary reflex, such as metronome), presented with stimulus that reliably produces reflex, like food - pairing called conditioning trial

Question 12

Critical Trials

Answer 12

metronome associated with salivary reflex, then removed, and metronome alone produces the salivary reflex

Question 13

unconditioned response (UR)

Answer 13

a response that does not have to be learned, such as a reflex (ex - salivation when presented with food)

Question 14

unconditioned stimulus (US)

Answer 14

a stimulus that elicits a response, such as a reflex, without any prior learning (ex - food)

Question 15

normal reflex response

Answer 15

US - unconditioned stimulus, such as food, triggers unconditioned response (UR) - salivation

Question 16

conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 16

a stimulus that elicits a response only after learning has taken place (metronome and salivation)

Question 17

conditioned response (CR)

Answer 17

a response to a conditioned stimulus - a response that has been learned (conditioned response usually weaker than unconditioned response, so metronome is weaker than food itself)

Question 18

Acquisition

Answer 18

the gradual formation of an association between the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli (when animal learns that metronome beat predicts the appearance of food)

Question 19

Contiguity

Answer 19

Pavlov found that the critical element in the acquisition of a learned association is that the stimuli occur together in time (strongest response when brief delay between the two)

Question 20

extinction

Answer 20

a process in which the conditioned response is weakened when the conditioned stimulus is repeated without the unconditioned stimulus (don’t continue behavior forever - after a while of the metronome without food, salivation no longer occurs and weakens over time)