CHAPTER 4: LEARNING

Question 1

approaches to learning

Answer 1

behaviourist approaches to learning:
* classical conditioning
* operant conditioning
social-cognitive approaches to learning:
* observational learning

Question 2

learning

Answer 2

a relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience

Question 3

classical conditioning

three-phase learning process

Answer 3

• the process of acquiring knowledge or skills that results in the involuntary association between a neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response.
• the learner is passive during classical conditioning
• a three-phase learning process :
  
  • before conditioning: the neutral stimulus has no associations and does not produce any significant response.
  • during conditioning: the neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with the unconditioned stimulus, producing an unconditioned response.
  • after conditioning: the neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus, producing a conditioned response.

Question 4

ivan pavlov’s experiment

Answer 4

Ivan Pavlov developed equipment to measure the amount of saliva that dogs produced in response to food being placed in front of them.

• He noticed that the dogs started to salivate as soon as the technician who fed them entered the room, before the food even appeared.
  • therefore he experimented with other stimuli to see if they also produced salivation.
• Originally the dogs had no natural response to these stimuli, but eventually they started to unconsciously salivate at the stimulus because of repeated association with the food.

Question 5

neutral stimulus

Answer 5

stimulus that produces no naturally occurring response

Question 6

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 6

the stimulus that produces an unconscious response

Question 7

conditioned stimulus

Answer 7

a stimulus that when repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus, produces a conditioned response.

Question 8

conditioned response

Answer 8

a learned response that occurs upon presentation of a conditioned stimulus.

Question 9

unconditioned response

Answer 9

a naturally occurring behaviour in response to stimulus

Question 10

acquisition

Answer 10

the period of initial learning in classical conditioning in which the learner begins to associate a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus will begin to elicit the conditioned response

Question 11

extinction

Answer 11

when the conditioned response no longer occurs for an extended period of time

Question 12

operant conditioning

Answer 12

a learning process in which the likelihood of a voluntary behaviour occurring is determined by its consequences of that behaviour
* If the consequences are desirable, behaviour is likely to be repeated.
* if the consequences are undesirable, behaviour is not likely to be repeated.

Question 13

classical conditioning vs operant conditioning

Answer 13

• role of the learner
  
  • c: passive participant
  • o: active participant
• nature of response
  
  • c: involuntary responses
  • o: voluntary responses
• timing of stimulus and response
  
  • c: stimulus presented before the response
  • o: stimulus (consequence) presented after response (behaviour)

Question 14

three-phase model of operant conditioning

Answer 14

• antecedent
  
  • The stimulus or event that precedes and often initiates, stimulates or triggers the particular behaviour.
• behaviour
  
  • (In relation to operant conditioning) The voluntary
    actions that occur in the presence of the antecedent; an individual acts upon their environment.
• consequence
  
  • The outcome of the behaviour, which determines the likelihood that it will occur again, and shapes or guides future behaviour.

Question 15

positive / negative reinforcement

types of consequences

Answer 15

positive reinforcement: the addition of a desirable stimulus -
increases likelihood of behaviour occurring
* e.g. getting a gold star for doing your homework

negative reinforcement: the removal of an undesirable stimulus - increases likelihood of behaviour occurring
* e.g. being let off doing chores at home for getting a good SAC result

Question 16

positive / negative punishment

types of consequences

Answer 16

positive punishment: the addition of an undesirable stimulus - decreases likelihood of behaviour occurring
* e.g. getting detention for not doing your homework

negative punishment: (also known as response cost) – the
removal of a desirable stimulus - decreases the likelihood of behaviour occurring
* e.g. losing TV privileges for swearing at home

Question 17

effectiveness of consequences

Answer 17

• order of presentation
  – A reinforcement or punishment should always occur after the desired response (and it should be consistent).
• timing
  – The punishment or reinforcement is most effective when given immediately after the response has occurred.
• appropriateness
  – We need to take into account the personal characteristics of the individual and the individual situation when deciding whether the stimulus will act as a reinforcer or punishment for them personally.

Question 18

stimulus generalisation

Answer 18

occurs when the same behaviour is produced in response to a different stimulus, in the hopes of receiving the same consequence.
* e.g. getting a good SAC result in Biology after studying hard, so doing the same or other subjects as well.
* e.g. getting a warning for swearing at work, so stopping swearing not just at work but also at home.

Question 19

stimulus discrimination

Answer 19

occurs when a behaviour is only produced in response
to the original stimulus.
* e.g. good behaviour for mum but not for dad.
* e.g. working hard in one subject but not others.

Question 20

spontaneous recovery

Answer 20

the return of a previously extinguished conditioned response again, following a period of extinction
* e.g: A dog learns that sitting on command will result in the
reward of a treat, however if they no longer get the treat, they may start ignoring the command. Following extinction and a rest period, the dog may once again sit on command in the hope of getting a treat.

Question 21

b.f. skinner’s experiment

Answer 21

When lab rats press a lever when a green light is on, they receive a food pellet as a reward. When they press the lever when a red light is on, they receive a mild electric shock. As a result, they learn to press the lever when the green light is on and avoid the red light.

Question 22

observational learning

Answer 22

a social-cognitive approach to learning that occurs when a learner observes a model’s action and their consequences to guide their future actions.
* observational learning is known as modelling because the person who the learner is observing is ‘modelling’ the behaviour to be learned

Question 23

model in observational learning

Answer 23

the individual who is performing the behaviour that is being
watched/observed

• Albert Bandura identified three types of models: live (behaviour is demonstrated), verbal (behaviour is described) and symbolic (characters)

Question 24

stages of observational learning

Answer 24

• attention: involves the learner actively watching the model.
• retention: involves the learner storing mental representation of the behaviour.
• reproduction: when the learner has the mental and physical ability to perform the behaviour.
• motivation: when the learner has a desire to imitate the behaviour.
• reinforcement: when the learner experiences a positive outcome after performing the behaviour, which makes them more likely to repeat it in future.

Question 25

albert bundura’s experiment

Answer 25

bobo doll experiment, study on aggression led by psychologist Albert Bandura
* demonstrated that children are able to learn through the observation of adult behaviour.
* the experiment was executed via a team of researchers (the models) who physically and verbally abused an inflatable doll in front of preschool-age children.
* led the children to later mimic the behaviour of the adults by attacking the doll in the same fashion.

Question 26

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing

Answer 26

• country: the whole system of living entities in which humans are just a part, including the landscape, animals and plants, climate and waterway
• The multimodal methods of learning and communicating knowledge through cultural activities such as painting, song and dance, as well as cultural practices such as food gathering and medicine, among other aspects.

Question 27

observational learning in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Answer 27

• When human beings interact as communal people, the connection to each other and the modelling of behaviours in ‘natural’ contexts are picked up and replicated generationally.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people model behaviours to their young people, those young people in return mimic and replicate the same or similar behaviours.
• Relationship to each other and to story of the land, living by the values that were taught has been pivotal in learning and sharing the behaviours associated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Question 28

factors that influence classical conditioning

Answer 28

• nature of the response
• association of stimuli
• timing of NS and UCS pairing

Question 29

factors that influence operant conditioning

Answer 29

• order of presentation
• timing
• appropriateness