Chapter 2 Flashcards
theories
- explain relationships between phenomena
- define concepts
what do the 3 learning theories have in common?
explain how aspects of the ENVIRONMENT (nurture) influence the learning of behaviours and emotions
3 learning theories
- Pavlov’s Classical conditioning
- Skinner’s Operant conditioning
- Bandura’s social-learning/social-cognitive
UCS vs. UCR vs. CS vs. CR
- UCS: something that naturally triggers a response (unlearned) - ex. food
- UCR: an unlearned behaviour or emotion triggered by the UCS (unlearned) - ex. saliva
- CS: something that is presented either just before or at the same time as the UCS (learned) - ex. bell
- CR: learned behaviour or emotion triggered by pairing together the UCS and CS - ex. saliva
operant conditioning
- how an individual’s behaviour can be intentionally modified, controlled, or managed by someone else
- focuses on the effects of consequences (response -> consequence -> frequency of future responses)
- ex. kid eats all veggies (response) -> get dessert (consequence) -> more motivated to eat veggies (future response)
- response is behaviour only
classical conditioning
- how 2 stimuli paired together than produce a learned response
- ex. UCS + CS -> CR
- response can be a behaviour or an emotion
operant conditioning/Skinner’s key concepts
- positive reinforcement
- negative reinforcement
- positive punishment
- negative punishment
reinforcement
- consequence that causes a person’s future behaviour to be either increased or maintained
positive reinforcement
add/give something pleasant (ie. give candy)
negative reinforcement
take away something unpleasant (ie. take away chores)
positive punishment
add/give something unpleasant (ie. give chores)
negative punishment
take away something pleasant (ie. take away candy)
punishment
consequence that causes a person’s future behaviour to decrease
shaping
- when a behaviour that is increasingly closer to the desired behaviour is reinforced
- used for complex behaviours like potty training
- ex. tell mom you have to pee -> reward; then tell mom early enough that you can make it to bathroom -> reward; etc.
social-learning theory/social-cognitive theory
- human behaviour is learned observationally through modelling
- 2 main concepts: observational learning and self-efficacy
Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment
- kids in experimental group watched an adult/model beat up the bobo doll. Kids in control group had no model/observational learning
- then, when asked to play with the Bobo doll, experimental group showed more aggression (either copying the models or inventing new ways to be aggressive towards the doll) while the control group played nicely with it
observational learning
- learning due to observing the behaviours of another
- requires a model (NOT reinforcements)
- learning can happen even if model isn’t trying to instill behaviour
self-efficacy
- the beliefs we have about whether (and to what degree) we will be successful at something
- people with strong self-efficacy view problems as things to be mastered, are committed to their activities and interests, and recover quickly from disappointments
- people with weak self-efficacy avoid challenging tasks and believe they’re beyond their capabilities, focus on personal failures and quickly lose self-confidence
- task-specific: high self-efficacy in one thing (ie. English), low self-efficacy in another (ie. math)
cognitive theories
- Piaget’s cognitive-development theory
- Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory
- information-processing theory
- Bandura (both learning and cognitive theorist)
Piaget’s cognitive-development theory
- how humans logically reason from infancy to adolescence
- maturation/age sets parameters for what’s possible (which is untrue - there are other influences)
- humans sort acquired info into mental schemas
schemas
- mind consists of infinite number of them
- guide how we perceive, interpret, and understand experiences
- info is either assimilated or accommodated into schemas
assimilation
- incorporating info into an existing schema
- INFORMATION is being modified to fit pre-existing schemas
- easier method
accomodation
- info makes us realize that our current schemas are inadequate, so we re-organize the schemas
- SCHEMA is being modified
- more effortful
- ex. Nathan’s clock scheme
According to Piaget, what else (other than maturation) accounts for gains in cognitive development?
experiencing COGNITIVE CONFLICT (dialectic tension), which promotes accomodation