Chapter 6 Flashcards
Rudimentary Learning
- learning that’s built into the organism
- habituation- repetition of a neutral stimulus causes a decreased response
- sensitization- become more sensitive after a threatening stimulus
- imprinting- attachment of younger animals to older animals. Happen with birds 12-18 hours
Classical Conditioning
- learning through association. Can take place in womb
Pavlov experiment and terminology
- unconditioned stimulus- meat
- unconditioned response- saliva
- conditioned stimulus- bell
- unconditioned response- saliva
Unconditioned Stimulus
stimulus that provokes an unconditioned response
Unconditioned response
an unlearned reaction that occurs without conditioning
Conditioned Stimulus
a previously neutral stimulus that has acquired meaning through conditioning and the capacity to evoke a response
Conditioned response
a learned reaction due to previous conditioning
What makes the strongest association?
- contiguity- onset of conditioned stimulus (bell) before unconditioned stimulus (meat)
- novelty- newer stimuli lead to faster learning because we don’t know any other associations
- biological preparedness- we are prepared to associate certain stimuli with things
Explain Garcia’s Rats
- easier to condition taste or smell with nausea than light or sounds with nausea
- more biologically prepared to pair internal threats to internal stimuli (taste, smell)
Explain Mineka’s Monkeys
- example of biological preparedness
- monkey’s saw other monkeys scared of snake and flower- learned fear
- easier to teach monkey to fear snake than flower
- both stimuli neutral and novel
- we’re hardwired to be afraid of snakes
What are 4 ways conditioned responses can change over time?
- spontaneous recovery
- extinction
- discrimination
- generalization
What is extinction in classical conditioning?
if conditioned stimulus is repeated too many times without unconditioned stimulus, there will be no conditioned response - it will stop
What is spontaneous recovery?
when the conditioned response reappears after a time of no exposure to conditioned stimulus
What is discrimination in classical conditioning?
Learning becomes super specific. Not all bells signal meat, this tone does
What is generalization in classical conditioning?
When a conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus generalizes to other similar objects.
Ex- Little Albert was conditioned to be afraid of a white rat. Now, he’s afraid of all white fuzzy objects
Operant Conditioning
learning from consequences and association
What is reinforcement?
When the consequences of a response increases an organism’s tendency to make that response
- there’s positive and negative reinforcement
What is positive reinforcement?
- behavior continues because you there’s a presence of something good
- ex- cleaning room and getting allowance
What is negative reinforcement?
- behavior continues because there’s an absence of something bad/ you remove a negative
- Ex- if you clean room, nagging stops
What is punishment?
When presence of something negative decreases tendency to make that response
Positive punishment
presence of something bad decreases behavior
- spank if room isn’t clean
Negative Punishment
absence of something good
- take away TV if room not clean to decrease behavior
What does Skinner believe about reinforcement and punishment?
Skinner believed reinforcement was preferable to punishment. Favored positive punishment. He thought it’s better to reinforce desired behaviors than to punish unwanted ones.
- If you punish too much, you can associate punisher with fear and anxiety= abuser
In what ways does operant conditioning change over time?
- shaping
- chaining
- extinction
What is shaping?
Reinforcing closer approximations of behavior. Praise for not leaving dishes in bathroom, then for getting dishes closer to sink, then in sink.
What is chaining?
Building a chain of behaviors in a certain order through reinforcement. Happens when you want dogs to learn tricks
What is extinction?
If a behavior was previously reinforced, then becomes unreinforced, behavior stops over time
What is the over justification effect? This is one way extinction occurs.
If you reward behavior that was originally interesting, you reduce interest in engaging in behavior without reward.
- ex- rewarding a kid for playing piano can remove natural enjoyment
- you can also reward an unwanted behavior then decrease the reward. Ex- giving chocolate to a filthy room. Then weaning them off. They’ll want more chocolate, so they’ll clean the room.
What are primary and secondary reinforcers?
- primary reinforcers- events that satisfy biological needs. Ex- food, social approval
- secondary reinforcers- events that acquire primary reinforcer qualities through association. Ex- money, grades
What are the three schedules of reinforcement?
- continuous
- partial
- random
What is continuous reinforcement?
every instance of desired behavior is rewarded and reinforced. Good for house training a dog because they learn fast
What is partial reinforcement?
When desired behavior is only reinforced some of the time.
It could be on a fixed or unfixed schedule or a variable ratio- reinforcement after unpredictable number of times. Ex- gambling. Leads to greatest resistance in extinction
What is random reinforcement?
when desired behavior is reinforced randomly. Ex- pigeon gets fed randomly, but tries to find patterns.
This leads to superstitious behavior
Observational Learning
occurs when behavior is influenced by observation of others
Ex- kids are more aggressive because they’ve been desensitized to violence from gruesome video games
How can you make the greatest impact via observational learning?
- by evoking strong emotions, ex from parents
- association with high status or attracted celebrities, someone who is admired
Vicarious Reinforcement
We learn about an action’s consequences by watching others get rewarded or shamed for doing it
During observational learning what neurons are activated?
mirror neurons
Latent Learning
learning that takes place without reinforcement
What is insight learning?
learning that takes place without reinforcement
Emerges after a period of inaction or contemplation
An Ah Ha! moment
What is the Premack principle?
a more valued activity can be used to reinforce the performance of a less-valued activity. “Eat your spinach and then you’ll get dessert”
