Chapter 6: Learning Flashcards
What is learning?
A change in behavior (from experience)
Pavlov’s example - what was the… NS; US; UR; CS: CR
NS - bell US - food UR - salivation CS - bell CR - salivation
What’s the difference between acquisition and extinction?
Acquisition - gradual association between CS and US
Extinction - when an action/behavior is repeated with no desired outcome; the action/behavior is extinguished
What is stimulus generalization?
When an individual generalizes about a stimulus (ie. Little Albert generalized a fear of rats to all soft things)
How is learning involved in the development and treatment of phobias and drug addiction?
An individual can be classically conditioned to stop fearing an object (desensitization)
Addiction can be treated by exposing addicts to drug cues
What happened to Little Albert? (before and after)
Little Albert was shown soft, white animals and then a loud noise was made to scare him; he was conditioned to fear soft, white things (the fear generalized beyond rats and rabbits). He was later desensitized to his fears.
What’s the difference between classical and operant conditioning?
Classical = pairing 2 stimuli together that you would not naturally (ie. bell and salivation) Operant = learning a behavior leads to an outcome (ie. reward/punishment)
What was Thorndike’s Puzzle Box experiment? What is his Law of Effect?
Puzzle box - a cat trapped in the box will learn a way to get out (time decreases after trials)
Law of Effect (idiot’s rule) - you’ll repeat an action/behavior with a satisfying effect
What are reinforcers? What’s the difference between primary and secondary reinforcers?
Primary: biological (Sex, food, water)
Secondary: learned to be desired (Trophies, money)
What is the Premack Principle?
A valued activity could be used to promote a non-valued one; cleaning your room (not valued) in order to go to a party (valued) - the valued one acts as a reward
How do positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment differ?
Positive reinforcement - INCREASE behavior; add stimulus
Positive punishment - DECREASE behavior; add stimulus
Negative reinforcement - INCREASE behavior; remove stimulus
Negative punishment - DECREASE behavior; remove stimulus
What are the different schedules of reinforcement? (VR, FR, VI, FI)
Ratio: # of times behavior/action occurs
Interval: after specific amount of time
Fixed: at the same rate
Variable: at different rates
Variable-Ratio: slot machine
Fixed-Ratio: paid each time you do a chore
Variable-Interval: hear a song on the radio; don’t know when you’ll hear it again
Fixed-Interval: when quizzes are scheduled at FIs, students only study when there will be an exam
What is behavior modification?
Using operant conditioning (reinforcement) to diminish behavior (Penny from the Big Bang Theory)
What did Tolman find? (Latent & Insight learning)
Argued that learning could occur without reinforcement;
Latent - learning that occurs without the introduction of a reinforcer
Insight - a solution happens after a period of contemplation
What is observational learning?
Modification of behavior after exposure to at least one performance of the behavior
What did Bandura find? (Bobo Doll) What is modeling?
Found that observing violence can increase aggression; modeling
Modeling - imitation of behavior
What are mirror neurons?
Automatically triggered neurons that fire when they observe another individual engaging in an action
How are dopamine and the nucleus accumbens involved in the experience of reinforcement?
Pleasure usually results from activation of dopamine neurons in the nucleus accumbens (part of the limbic system); Responds to natural reinforces - food, water, drugs (primary reinforcement)
What is habituation?
The decrease in behavior response because you get used to it (wearing earrings - you don’t notice them)
