Chapter 6 Flashcards
definition of learning
- a systematic, relatively permanent change in behaviour that results from cognitive experiments
- it’s relatively permanent as the info we learn can last quite a long time, but after a while, you tend to forget some things
what does the definition of learning specify “cognitive experience”
- a change in our behaviour can also be caused by other factors such as the age and trauma (a baby cant lift their head up yet, but as they grow, they are able to.)
- therefore, they aren’t thought of as “learning” as it didn’t come from a cognitive experience
how would you define learning if you couldn’t refer to mental processes that cant be seen
behaviourism: a systematic method to understand changes in behaviour without looking at mental processes, only observable behaviour
what do behaviourists believe about learning
that the learning principles are the same for humans and animals
- so a lot of studies and results that can also be applied to humans, were conducted in animals
what are the 3 types of learning
1) non-associative
2) associative
3) observational
what does the word associative refer to
connecting events or things
- if you’re only talking about 1 event/thing, it cant be an associate bond
what is non-associative learning
it involves procedures that only involve 1 event or stimulus without a reward or punishment
what are the types of non-associative learning
- habituation
- sensitization
- imprinting
what is habituation
- a decrease in response to a stimuli that is repeated and stays for a prolonged period of time;
“getting used to it, tuning it out, adjusting” - for instance, you can’t recognize the smell of your own home due to the constant exposure you have to it, but someone visiting for the first time can
why is habituation beneficial
- it allows your brain to focus on more essential input while ignoring information that is giving it little to no new/important information
what is sensitization
- the increase in a response due to a prolonged or repeated stimulus
- ex. watching a scary movie and being much more aware of insignificant sounds in ur surroundings
why do you experience habituation sometimes and sensitization at other times
- one factor is the intensity of the stimulus
- low-intensity stimuli tend to produce habituation while high-intensity tend to produce sensitization
what is imprinting
- an attachment or enduring behaviour during towards a certain individual
this bond is usually formed around the time of birth
ex. duckling hatches and forms a bond with its mother
who coined the term imprinting
Konrad Lorenz, an Australian zoologist (1930s)
what is associative learning
when an organism makes a connection btwn 2 stimuli or events
what do we refer to when we say the process of learning an association btwn 2 things
conditioning
what are the 2 types of conditioning
1) classical
2) operant
what happens in classical conditioning
organisms learn the association btwn 2 stimuli
- this causes organisms to learn to anticipate events before they happen
example: anticipating the sound of thunder when we see lightening
what happens in operant conditioning
- organisms learn the association btwn behaviour and a consequence
- as a result, organisms learn to continue/increase behaviours hat are followed by reward and stop/decrease behaviours that precede punishment
EX. trying to keep your grades up as your parents praise you when u do so
name a British associationist
John Stuart Mill
- he believed that we acquire virtually all of our knowledge by connecting stimulus with another
what type of learning accounts for the majority of what we learn
exposure to other performing a behaviour, or skill, rather than a result of direct consequences
what is observational learning
a type of social learning where an individual observes someone else’s behaviour
example: seeing your friend have a negative reaction to tasting a new food, you’re unlikely to try it afterwards
- it differs from associative learning as you’re learning indirectly through someone’s else’s experience
how do human infants differ from baby monkeys
- human babies rely on imitation quite strongly, while baby monkeys tend to figure things out for themselves
- this could be due to the vast amount of rather arbitrary social knowledge a human baby needs to learn
ex. clapping to show approval
how can a neutral stimulus come to trigger a reaction over time
- a neutral stimulus (seeing fingers o a blackboard) can become a meaningful stimulus (the sound of nails scratching a board) and can illicit an appropriate response (cringing) even before the sound is produced
- this is the process of classical conditioning
who is the psychologist credited for classical conditioning studies
Ivan Pavlov
- he was interested in how the body digests food, specifically in dogs
Pavlov’s conclusion
- with experience, neutral aspects of the environment can evoke responses through the connections with other stimuli
- he also sees that bodily processes are influenced by environmental cues
how did pavlov recognize the process of classical conditioning
in this experiment, he repeatedly placed meat powder in a dog’s mouth, causing the dog to salivate
- he also noticed that the dog salivated in response to seeing just the plate or the experimenter (who brought food)
-
what are reflexes
an example of automatic stimulus-response connections
they are the unlearned part of classical conditioning
- salivating in response to food for ex
what is an unconditioned stimulus
a stimulus that produces a response without prior learning
i.e food
what is an unconditioned response
a reaction that you have innate (unlearned) response to
- automatically elicited to the unlearned stimulus
(i.e. salivating when seeing food)
what is a conditioned stimulus
a previously neutral stimulus that eventually is a conditioned response after being paired with the unconditioned stimulus
ex. sounding a buzzer before giving the dog food
what is a conditioned response
the learned response to the conditioned stimulus that occurs after pairing a conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus
i.e. salivating at the sound of a buzzer that would give u food
what is instinctive drift
tendency of animals to revert to instinctive behaviour that interferes with previous learning
what is preparedness
species-specific biological predisposition to learn in certain ways but not others
who emphasized the purpose of behaviour
Edward Tolamn Clasz
- believed much of behaviour is goal directed
what is latent behaviour
unreinforced learning that is not immediately reflected in behaviour
what are the 4 main processes involved in observational learning
1) attention
2) retention
3) motor reproduction
4) reinforcement
what is vicarious reinforcement
seeing someone attain a reward for an activity increases the chances that an observer will repeat the behaviour
how does conditioned response relate to unconditioned responses
they are quite similar, but CR aren’t as strong as UR
as a summary: state a dogs reaction to US (unconditioned response) and CS (conditioned response) BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER conditioning
BEFORE CONDITIONING:
US —— UR
Food—-dog salivating
neutral stim—no response
buzzer-no salivation
DURING CONDITIONING
neutral stimulus + US —- UR
Buzzer + Food —- dog salivating
the CS is still neutral as we are still IN the conditioning process
AFTER CONDITONING
CS—–CR
Buzzer—-Dog salivating
what does acquisition mean
the phase in learning where the CS is paired with the US and a learned response is acquired
what factors contribute to whether the CR is acquired
contiguity and contingency
what does contiguity mean
means that the CS and US are presented close together in time, most commonly administered a second apart
- the more time in btwn the 2 stimuli, the less likely the CR is acquired
the actual term means: the state of bordering or being in direct contact with something
what does contingency mean
- that the CS must serve as a reliable indicator that the US is on the way
actual term means that a future event/circumstance is possible but cant be predicted with certainty
what is generalization
- the tendency of a new stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus to elicit a response that is similar to the conduit
what is the benefit of generalization
how can generalization be harmful
what is discrimination
what is extinction
what is spontaneous recovery
what does renewal refer to
when scientists demonstrated classical conditioning’s role in the development of fears
how did the previously mentioned scientists (John B Watson and Rosalie Rayner) use classical conditioning to explain the acquisition for fears
identify the key concepts of classical conditioning with alberts learned fear of rats
what is counterconditioning
what is aversive conditioning
how is classical conditioning in relation to environmental cues sometimes harmful
what is the placebo effect and how does it relate to classical conditioning
what is the link between classical conditioning and immunosuppression
classical conditioning can produce immunosuppression
what is an example of classical conditioning causing immunosuppression
what is taste aversion learning
what are they key concepts of classical conditioning in taste aversion learning
how is classical conditioning used in advertising
how does embedded marketing relate to classical conditioning
what is drug habituation
how does drug habituation relate to classical conditioning
what does it mean when we call behaviour respondent
what is classical conditioning good at explanation in terms of behaviour? what is it bad at?
why is operant conditioning better at explaining voluntary behaviours
how do we define operant conditioning
who established the term operant conditioning
what is thorndike’s law of effect
what did thorndikes experiments regarding operant conditioning consist of
what was skinner’s approach to operant conditioning
how did shiner utilize the operant conditioning chamber
what is shaping
what does reinforcement mean
what does positive reinforcement entail
what does negative reinforcement entail
what is avoidance learning
what is learned helplessness
what are the classifications of positive reinforcers
what is a primary reinforcer
what is a secondary reinforce
what is an example of generalization in operant conditioning
what are the schedules of reinforcement
what do the 4 main schedules of partial reinforcement entail
what is punishment
what does positive punishment entail
what does negative punishment entail
what is applied behaviour analysis
