Chapter 6 - Learning Flashcards
what is learning? what does it include?
Change in an organism’s behavior or thought as a result of experience
includes physical changes to the brain
what is habituation?
a decrease in response to repeated stimuli
adaptive
when does habituation happen?
Happens all the time (sitting in the classroom and the fan comes on to circulate the air – may notice at first but will adapt). You’ve habituated to the presence of that stimulation
what is sensitization?
increase in response to repeated stimuli
another form of simple learning
more common for intense, irritating, dangerous stimuli
what is classical conditioning
a form of learning in which animals come to reasons to a previously neutral stimulus that is paired with another stimulus that elicits an automatic response
form associations
what is Pavlov’s pioneering research?
investigating digestion
found that dogs would begin to salivate when they heard the footsteps of the feeders
The dogs began to drool in response to even hearing the footsteps of the people coming to feed them
Dogs associated the food with the stimulus which predicted the arrival
Physiology in the brain had this natural response
what is the unconditioned stimulus? (UCS)
stimulus that elicits an automatic response without prior conditioning
unconditioned response (UCR)
automatic response to a non-neutral stimulus that does not need to be learned
conditioned stimulus (CS)
initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a response due to association with an unconditoned stimulus
Conditioned response
Response previously associated with a non-neutral stimulus that is elicited by a neutral stimulus through conditioning.
what is acquisition?
learning phase during which a conditioned response is established
conditioned response (CR) increases frequency over repeated pairings
Learning is highest when controlled stimulus and uncontrolled stimulus are presented close together in time
what is extinction?
gradual reduction and eventual elimination of the conditioned response after the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus
an active process, not merely “forgetting”. A form of learning
what is spontaneous recovery?
sudden reemergence of an extinct conditioned response after a delay following an extinction procedure
CR appear, is often __ than after __ phase
often WEAKER than after ACQUISITION phase
what is stimulus generalization?
the process by which conditioned stimuli that are similar. but not identical to the original condition stimulus (CS) elicit a response
generalization gradient
the more similar the stimulus is to the original CS, the stronger the response of the condition (CR) will be.
Stimulus Discrimination
The process by which organisms display a less pronounced conditioned response (CR) to conditioned stimuli that differ from the original conditioned stimulus (CS)
what is higher-order conditioning?
developing a conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus by virtue of its association with another conditioned stimulus
Ex: Pair metronome (neutral) with food (UCS) –Metronome becomes CS that elicits salivation
what does each progressive level of association result in? (higher-order conditioning)
results in a weaker conditioning
what was the stimulus generalization in the Little Albert Study?
Fear of a rabbit, dog, furry coat
what was the stimulus discrimination in the Little Albert Study?
no fear of cotton balls
how do classical conditioning and advertising work together?
advertisers pair their product (CS) with the stimuli that elicit positive emotions (UCS)
what is latent inhibition?
difficult in establishing classical conditioning to a conditioned stimulus we’ve repeatedly experienced alone (without UCS)
what is operant conditioning?
Learning is controlled by the consequences of the organism’s behavior
- Response-consequence learning
examples of operant conditioning
Teaching a dog to lie down and roll over using food as a reward
Fastening a seatbelt because the warning sound kept dinging
what is another term for operant conditioning?
also called instrumental conditioning
what is the law of effect?
if a stimulus followed by a behavior results in a reward, the stimulus is more likely to give rise to the behavior in the future
- A response followed by satisfying
consequences become more probable - A response that is followed by dissatisfying
consequences become less probable
reinforcement
Outcome or consequence of a behavior that strengthens the probability of the behavior
- Positive or negative
positive reinforcement
the presentation of a stimulus following a behaviour that strengthens the probability of the behavior
- Appetitive stimulus is given to the organism
negative reinforcement
the removal of stimulus following a behavior that strengthens the probability of the behavior
an aversive stimulus is removed
example of positive reinforcement
For example, giving a child a piece of candy after they complete their homework serves as positive reinforcement, increasing the likelihood that the child will do their homework in the future.
example of negative reinforcement
For example, turning off a loud alarm when someone buckles their seatbelt serves as negative reinforcement, increasing the likelihood that the person will buckle their seatbelt in the future.
what is punishment?
Outcome or consequence of a behaviour that weakens the probability of the behaviour
positive punishment
administering a stimulus that the organism wants to avoid
Administering an aversive stimulus
negative punishment
Removing a stimulus that the organism wants to experience
Removal of an appetitive stimulus
when is punishment most effective?
works best when delivered consistently and immediately following undesired behaviour
what is typically less effective than reinforcement in changing behavior?
punishment.
only tells the organism what not to do, not what it should do.
Punishment may encourage subversive behaviour
Punishment may provide a model for undesired behaviour
What is a discriminative stimulus
a stimulus that is associated with the presence of reinforcement
Sets the occasion for a response
how does discriminative stimulus work?
Cues the organism to perform a behavior because it has been reinforced in the presence of the cue
example of the discriminative stimulus
Grandparents – child asks for Candy
difference between discriminative stimulus and stimulus discrimination!
a discriminative stimulus is a stimulus associated with the presence of reinforcement
Stimulus discrimination is the weakened CR to a CS that differ from the original CS
Acquisition
learning phase in which an operant response is established
Extinction
The gradual reduction and eventual elimination of an operant response when reinforcement for that response is no longer presented
spontaneous recovery
the re-emergence of an extinguished operant response after a delay following extinction
stimulus discrimination
the organism displays a less pronounced response to stimuli that differ from the original discriminative stimulus
stimulus generalizatoin
the organism shows an increased probability of responding in the presence of stimuli to the original discriminative stimulus
what is schedule reinforcement?
pattern of reinforcing a bhaviour
what is continuous reinforcement?
the behavior is reinforced every time it occurs, resulting in faster learning, but also faster extinction than other forms of reinforcement
partial reinforcement
occasional reinforcement of a behavior, resulting in slower extinction than if the behavior had been reinforced continually
what are the two dimensions of reinforcement?
- Consistency of reinforcement: Fixed or
variable - Basis of reinforcement: Ratio or interval
what is a fixed ratio schedule?
a pattern in which reinforcement is provided following a regular number of responses
Variable Ratio Schedule:
a pattern in which reinforcement is provided after a specific number of responses on average, with the number of responses varying randomly.
Fixed Interval Schedule:
a pattern in which reinforcement is provided for a response at least once following a specified time interval
Variable Interval Schedule:
a pattern in which reinforcement is provided at least once during an average time interval, with the interval varying randomly
Shaping by Successive Approximations:
Conditioning a target behavior by progressively reinforcing behaviors that successively approximate the target behavior
primary reinforcer
item or outcome that naturally increase the target behaviour
secondary reinforcer
neutral objects that become associated with a primary reinforcer
