Chapter 4- Types of learning Flashcards
Types of learning
- Non-associative
- Associative
- Observational (social)
Non-associative learning
Learning about a single stimulus
- Habituation and Sensitization
Associative learning
Learning a relationship between 2 stimuli or between a stimulus and response
- Classical and Operant/Instrumental Conditioning
Observation (social) learning
Learning by watching how others behave or by instruction
- Modeling and Vicarious Learning
Non-associative learning: Habituation
- Decline in the intensity of an organism’s response to a stimulus, once that stimulus becomes familiar
- In contrast to DISHABITUATION- Sensitivity to any change in the parameters of a stimulus to which one has previously habituated
Non-associative learning: Sensitization
- If an organism is repeatedly exposed to a stimulus that is biologically relevant, they can become sensitized to it – That is, they become more sensitive than would be expected.
Diagram showing the difference between classical and operant conditioning
Overview of classical conditioning
- Ivan Pavlov (1849 – 1946)
- Received Nobel Prize for his work on the
digestive system of dogs - We know him best for his work on
what he called “Conditioned Reflexes” - A previously neutral stimulus comes to
elicit a response through its association with a stimulus that always elicits that response.
Components of classical conditioning
Appetitive conditioning
An appetitive conditioning procedure is one in which the US is desirable or appetitive.
Aversive conditioning
An aversive conditioning procedure is one in
which the US is undesirable or aversive.
- Food aversions
Basic principles of classical conditioning
- Acquisition
- Extinction
- Spontaneous recovery
- Generalization
- Discrimination
- Second‐order conditioning
How is behavior changed from the US to the UR?
Graph showing acquisition period of classical conditioning
Extinction
-‘Undoing’ classical conditioning
- Extinction: Repeated presentations of the
CS in the absence of the US
- Results in decreased CR activity
Graph showing second portion of classical conditioning graph (CS alone)
Spontaneous recovery
- Subject is removed from the context where the CS is presented, and later put back in that context
- A spontaneous increase in CR activity will occur, even in the absence of the US.
Last part of classical conditioning graph- spontaneous recovery
Watson- father of behaviorism
Stimulus discrimination
Fine discriminations of stimulus conditions of what will and what won’t elicit the CR
What factors are important in classical conditioning?
Contiguity:
- Optimal time interval between presentation of CS
and the occurrence of the US ½ second to a few
seconds
Contingency:
- The CS should reliably lead to the US
- The US should only rarely appear without the CS
appearing first
Why?
- Need to learn that the CS is a signal for US.
Higher/second order conditioning
- Sometimes, a conditioned stimulus does not become directly associated with an unconditioned stimulus.
- Instead, the conditioned stimulus becomes associated with other conditioned stimuli that are already associated with the unconditioned stimulus.
- Once an association between a CS and US is well learned so that it consistently produces a CR, the CS itself can take on value. For example, we value money because of its associations, not because of its physical characteristics.