Chapter 6.1 Flashcards
learning
- a change in an organisms behaviour or thoughts as a result of an experience
Habituation
is the process by which we respond less strongly over time to repeated stimuli
- highly adaptive process. Reduces focus on “safe” things
- has limits
Sensitization
- increase in vigour of behaviour that can result from repeated presentations, or by arousal from extraneous stimuli
Pavlov’s discoveries experiment
- studied digestive process in dogs
- dogs fed in the morning when hooked up to a device to measure saliva output
- found that after a few day, dogs began salivating before they could see/smell food
Pavlov’s findings lead to the discovery of
Classical (or pavlovian) conditioning
classical conditioning
- a form of learning in which neutral stimulus comes to signal the occurrence of a second stimulus that elicits an automatic response
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
- simulus that naturally elicits an automatic response
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
- the response by elicited by the UCS.
- this is the natural response to the UCS
Neural Stimulus (NS)
- a stimulus that does not naturally or normally elicit a response
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
- a previously neural stimulus that now elicits a response due to parings with the UCS
Conditioned Responce (CR)
- the responce that is elicited by the CS
Acquisition
- the process of learning that the CS predicts the imminent arrival of the UCS
- CS grows in strength with repeated pairings. This growth represents learning
Asymptote
- when the CR occurs with every presentation of the CS, and the CR is similar in magnitude to the UCR
- no further learning occurs
Extinction
- when the CS is presented without the US. The CS will slowly lose the ability to elicit a CR
- predictive relationship between the CS and the imminent arrival of the UCS is broken
Spontaneous recovery
- when a seemingly extinct CR reappears (often in a somewhat weeker form) if the CS presented again following a delay after extinction
Renewal Effect
- when a response if extinguished in a setting different from the one in which the animal acquired it
- when we restore the animal to the original setting, the extinguished response appears
what is an important consideration in treating phobias
the renewal effect
Stimulus generalization
- one a CS has been established, similar stimuli may also produce a CR
- magnitude of the CR produced by the new CS depends on its similarity to the old CS
Stimulus discrimination
occurs when we exhibit a less pronounced CR to CSs that differ from the original CS
can you pair a NS with CS and still get conditioning
yes
higher order conditioning
pairing a NS with a CS
example of first order conditioning
bell (NS): food(UCS) –> Starvation (UCR)
bell (CS) –> salivation (CR)
example of second order conditioning
light (NS2): bell (CS) –> salivation (CR)
light (CS) –> salvation (CR)
applications of classical conditioning
- advertising
- fetishism
- drug tolerance
- conditioned phobias
latent inhibition
familar stimuli are harder to condition than novel stimuli
how can advertising be a form of classical conditioning
(pairing product (NS) with attractive people having fun (UCS)
fetishism
- sexual attraction to non living things
- arises in part becasue of classical conditioning
How can Fetishims be a form of classical conditioning
Paring shoes (NS) with sexual cues (UCS) –> leads to sexual excitement (UCR)
shoes(CS)–>sexual excitement (UCR)
using drugs in the same location leads to
conditioned compensatory responces
conditioned compensatory response
- when the cue (room or environment) leads to the opposite physiological reaction as the drug should be coming soon
example of conditioned compensatory response
drinking at the bar vs. drinking at home
what is an example of conditioned phobias
the case of little albert
The case of little albert
- 11 month old baby
- afriad of noise but liked white rats
- shown white rat, which paired with the sound of a hammer blow to a gong
- evoked fear response
operant conditioning
is learning controlled by the consequences of the organisms behaviour
operant conditioning is also called
intremental conditioning
classical conditioning target behaviour is
elicited automatically
operant conditioning target behaviour is
emitted voluntarily
classical conditioning behaviour is a function of
stimuli that precede the behaviour
operant conditioning behaviour is a function of
consequences that follow the behaviour
classical conditioning behaviour depends primarily on
automatic nervous system
operant conditioning behaviour depends primarily on
skeletal muslces
the Law of Effect was discovered by
Edward Thorndike
The Law of Effect
- discovered by Edward Thorndike
- is the basis of operant conditioning
- if a response, in the presence of a stimulus, is followed by the satisfying state of affairs, the bond between stimulus and response will be strenghtened
The Law of Effect is the basis for
operant conditioning
Puzzle Boxes
- used by Thorndike to train cats to escape a puzzle box
- hungry cats placed in the box
- faster they get out of the box, faster they get food
- escaped more quickly each time they were placed in the box
- gradual process
what are the critical terms in operant training
- reinforcement
- punishment
- acquisition
- extinction
- spontaneous recovery
- stimulus generalization
- stimulus discrimination
reinforcement
any outcome that strenghtens the probability of a response
what are the two types of reinforcement
-postive
-negative
positive reinforcement
- behaviour is followed by the presentation of a stimulus (a reinforcer) and the behaviour is strengthened
negative reinforcement
- behaviour is followed by the removal of a stimulus (usually something unpleasant) and the behaviour is strengthened
punishment
any outcome that weakens the probability of a response
what are the two types of punishment
- postive
- negative
positive punishment
behaviour is followed by the presentation of a stimulus (a punisher) and the behaviour is weakend
negative punishment
behaviour is followed by the removal of a stimulus (usually reinforcer / appetitive stimulus) and the behaviour is usually weakened
is punishment effective for weakening behaviour
usually not effective
what are the disadvantages to punishment
- tells an organism what not to do. Does not tell it what is should do
- creates anxiety, which interferes with future learning
- encourages subversive behaviour
- may create a model for behaviour towards others
Discriminative stimulus
any stimulus that signals the presence of reinforcement
schedule of reinforcement
response requirement that must be met to obtain reinforcement
what are the two broad categories of schedules of reinforcement
- Continuous Reinforcement Schedules (CRF)
- partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule (PRF)
Continuous reinforcement schedule
- reinforces a behaviour every time it occurs
- fast learning, but labor intensive
- extinction can occur quickly
Partial Reinforcement schedule
- only some responses are reinforced
- slower learning, but less labour intensive and more resistant to extinction
Ration schedules
require a certain number of responces to be performed before a reinforcer is delivered
interval schedule
reinforce the first behaviour after period of time has elapsed
what are the 4 types of schedules
- fixed ratio (FR)
- variable ration (VR)
- Fixed interval (FI)
- variable interval (VI)
Fixed ration schedule
- reinforcer delivered after a fixed number of responses
- pause after reinforcer is delivered (post reinforcement pause) is common
- moderate rate of responding
Variable Ratio Schedule
- reinforcer delivered after a variable number of responses that average around a particular number
- no pauses seen in this schedule
- very high rate of responding
Fixed interval schedule
- first response after a specific period of time will lead to the delivery of a reinforcer
- response before the interval has elapsed lead to nothing
- scalloped-shaped response curve
Variable Interval schedule
- first response after a varying, unpredictable period of time, has elapsed
- period of time is centered around some average, but still unpredictable
- responses before the interval has elasped lead to nothing
- moderate rate of responding. No pauses
Applications of Operant Training
- animal training
- overcoming procrastination
- therapeutic uses
Animal training uses techniques known as
shaping by successive approximations
Premack principle
- can reinforce a lower probability behaviour (studying) using the opportunity to engage in a high probability behaviour (video gaming)
What is an example of where operant and classical conditioning interact
Mowers two-process theory of avoidance and fear
Two process theory states that
fears are aquired and maintained through an interactive process of operant and classical conditioning
