Chapter 7 (final) Flashcards
what does Learning involve
involves a relatively permanent change in one’s mental processes or behavior that is a function of interactions with the environment
what did Ivan Pavlov do
Pavlovian conditioning with dogs and salivation
what did John B. Watson do
Pavlovian conditioning with Little Albert and fear
what did E. L. Thorndike do
operant conditioning with cats and puzzle boxes
what did B. F. Skinner do
operant conditioning with pigeons and key pecking
what did Edward C. Tolman do
latent learning with rats in mazes
what sis Albert Bandura do
social learning with children and Bobo dolls
Pavlovian, respondent, and classical conditioning considered
terms used interchangeably, and they refer to situations when we have a signal that tells us when another event will occur, like a bell signals that food will be presented (we will use only Pavlovian when discussing this type of learning)
what are Instrumental and operant conditioning
terms used interchangeably that refer to situations when the consequences of our behavior control future responding. If a pigeon pecks a key, then he will get food. This makes him peck the key more frequently to again get food
Bandura developed a theory of what
social learning
Pavlov used the concepts of what
a stimulus and response, where a stimulus can be anything in the environment that is measurable and can evoke a response
Pavlov also made a distinction between what
unconditional responses, which do not require learning, and conditional responses, which are a result of learning
an unconditional stimulus (i.e., food) causes what
an unconditional response (i.e., salivation)
Pavlovian conditioning results when a______ is repeatedly paired with an unconditional stimulus so that the neutral stimulus becomes a_________
neutral stimulus; conditional stimulus
what is extinction
After conditioning, if the conditional stimulus is presented without the unconditional stimulus, the strength of the conditional response decreases over time in a process called extinction
Pavlovian extinction occurs when what
a conditional stimulus is presented without the unconditional stimulus. Because the conditional stimulus acquired the ability to elicit by being paired with the unconditional stimulus, its capacity to elicit an involuntary response (the conditional response) decreases each time it is presented alone. After repeated presentation by itself, the conditional stimulus no longer causes the conditional response; the association between the conditional stimulus and the unconditional stimulus has been extinguished, and it is again a neutral stimulus
The most effective pairing methods occur when what
the conditional stimulus precedes the unconditional stimulus
what is appetitive stimulus
appetitive stimuli are usually considered to be pleasant (and are not always food related)
what is aversive stimulus
aversive stimuli or events often involve some degree of physical discomfort and can include a loud noise, electrical shock, or a burn to the skin
- “What involuntary response was caused or elicited in the example?”
The answer is both the unconditional response and conditional response
“What originally caused the involuntary response in the example?
The answer is the unconditional stimulus.
What stimulus/event was paired with the unconditional stimulus?”
The answer is the neutral stimulus before it is paired with the unconditional stimulus, and it is the conditional stimulus after it has been paired with the unconditional stimulus
what is Stimulus Generalization
involves reacting in a similar manner to stimuli that share features associated with the original conditional stimulus. In other words, a different environmental event that has not been paired with the unconditional stimulus also elicits or causes the conditional response
what is Stimulus Discrimination
is a process that is the opposite of stimulus generalization. Unlike stimulus generalization, where conditional responses occur from exposure to stimuli that are physically similar to the original conditional stimulus, with stimulus discrimination, conditional responses only occur when the original conditional stimulus is introduced. Similar stimuli do not elicit a response.
what is higher order conditioning
Pavlovian conditioning can also occur when a neutral stimulus is systematically and repeatedly paired with an existing conditional stimulus
what is Biological preparedness
organisms are more predisposed for some neutral stimuli to become conditional than other neutral stimuli
who dd the little albert experiment
watson
what was the little albert experiment
fear conditioned a young child to white rats
what is Operant conditioning
describes situations in which we can choose among different options based on our previous experiences
what is instrumental learning
Because the cats learned how to manipulate an instrument (i.e., the lever),
what is law of effect
For Thorndike, the “effect” in law of effect referred to the consequences of behavior. The law of effect was twofold: (a) behaviors that yielded satisfying consequences are more likely to recur and (b) behaviors that result in discomfort are less likely to be repeated. Simply put, when we do things that lead to satisfaction, such as downloading our favorite artist’s music, those responses are more likely happen in the future; when we do behavior that lead to unpleasant outcome such as clicking on an email link that then crashes our computer, we are less likely to do them again
In the 1930s, B. F. Skinner renamed instrumental learning as what
operant conditioning because the processes and principles associated with it are more complex than simply operating instruments such as levers in Thorndike’s puzzle boxes
what is antecedent stimuli
Skinner, like Thorndike, recognized the importance of the environmental events that preceded behavior (antecedent stimuli)
what are contingencies
“if-then” relationships between responses and their consequences to describe these situations so that we can predict future behavior
what are the contingencies that skinner identified
Skinner explained that with reinforcement (there is positive and negative), the consequences of a response increase the probability of behavior, whereas punishment (there is positive and negative) decreases the likelihood of a recurrence of a behavior
what is positive reinforcement
If some behavior produces a stimulus which leads to more of that same kind of behavior in the future, then it is positive reinforcement (positive because of the consequence and reinforcement because of the effect on behavior)
what is negative reinforcement
If some behavior removes a stimulus which leads to more of that kind of behavior in the future, then it is negative reinforcement (negative because of the consequence removed and reinforcement because of the effect on behavior)
what is positive punishment
If some behavior produces a stimulus which leads to less of that kind of behavior in the future, then it is positive punishment (positive because of the addition of the consequence and punishment because of the effect on behavior)
what is negative punishment
some behavior removes a stimulus which leads to less of that kind of behavior in the future, then the procedure/process is negative punishment (which also is referred to as response cost)
are all operant conditioning responses equal
nope
It should be noted that negative reinforcement is not a part of (positive or negative) punishment. Why isn’t it?
Negative reinforcement involves an aversive stimulus (something you will work to avoid) like punishment, but the probability of behavior increases with reinforcement, not decreases (as in punishment), when the response removes the aversive stimulus. Thus, it is a reinforcement contingency
what is Extinction
not a contingency in and of itself. It’s actually the absence of a contingency
Negative reinforcement occurs in two forms what are they
escape and avoidance.
what is Escape
is a situation in which the aversive stimulus is already present and a response removes or stops the otherwise ongoing aversive stimulus
what is Avoidance
is a situation in which the aversive stimulus is not currently present but will occur unless you emit a response to cancel the scheduled aversive event
avoidance conditioning (i.e., the checkups allow for any problems to be treated before they become unpleasant).
There are three behavioral effects of extinction what are they
(a) temporary increase in responding—an extinction burst, (b) emotional and aggressive responding, and (c) responding eventually stops
what is partial reinforcement extinction effect
behavior exposed to a continuous reinforcement schedule will extinguish faster in extinction than behavior exposed to an intermittent reinforcement schedule
what are Reinforcers
events or stimuli that follow behavior and increase the future likelihood of that kind of response
what is the difference between reinforcers and reinforcement
(Some people use “reinforcers” and “reinforcement(s)” interchangeably; however, they are not the same: Reinforcers are stimuli and reinforcement is a process [i.e., how behavior changes] or a procedure [i.e., if this response, then this consequence].)
Reinforcers are called positive if they_____; they are negative if they________
strengthen responses they follow; strengthen responses that lead to their removal
Both positive and negative reinforcers are subdivided into whether they are
primary or secondary
what is primary
Primary (or unconditioned) reinforcers are not learned; they naturally affect responses they follow. Primary positive reinforcers generally are stimuli/events needed to maintain life: food, water, air, and sleep.
what is secondary
Secondary (or conditioned) reinforcers, both positive and negative, acquire their capacity to affect responses they follow because they have been associated or paired with primary or already-conditioned secondary reinforcers. As a result, an event that functions as a secondary positive reinforcer for one person may not be one for another person (“different strokes for different folks”), resulting from their different learning histories.
There are five categories of secondary reinforcers what are they
Consumables. Exchangeables.
Tangibles
Social reinforcers activities;
what are Consumables
are things we eat but do not need in order to live (chips, candy, gum, soda, etc.). Tangibles
what are Exchangeables
such as money and tokens are used in bartering and have value because they can be used to purchase other reinforcers
what are Tangibles
are physical objects that we can touch, such as clothes, cell phones, etc
what are Social reinforcers
involve attention from others and include smiles, eye contact, verbal praise, proximity, etc.
what are activities
these include going to a movie, listening to music, playing a game, etc.
what is Premack principle
based on how often two behaviors occur. If behavior A occurs more frequently than behavior B, access to behavior A can be made contingent on first doing behavior B. While this may be the first time you have ever heard of the Premack principle, it is quite likely you have personally experienced it in your life. For example, when you were a kid and wanted to go out and play, your mom or dad may have invoked the Premack principle when one of them told you to, “First do your chores, then you can go play.” In this instance, the high-probability response is playing, and the low-probability response is doing one’s chores
what is schedules of reinforcement
Collectively the schedules of reinforcement specify when a particular response triggers a consequence
Schedules of reinforcement fall into two categories what are they
ratio and interval
and each Schedules of reinforcement category has two sub-divisions what are they
fixed and variable
interval schedules require what
that a specific amount of time elapse before an occurrence of the targeted response will trigger the delivery of a positive reinforcer
what is social learning
This form of learning does not negate the behavioral approaches to learning. Instead, it expands human (and animal) learning into the cognitive domain
do not need reinforcement for learning to occur
just by watching others, children do as they do (if the adults are aggressive, the child will act aggressively on the doll and vice versa)
who came up with social learning
Bandura
Bandura’s theory specifies that observational learning entails four phases/processes/stages what are they
Attentional, Retention, Production, and Motivation
what is attentional phase,
the learner must notice the behaviors being modeled
Additionally, not all models are equal. Observational learning is enhanced when the observer likes and respects the person doing the modeling
what happens in the retention phase
the learner covertly practices and encodes the performance being observed.
what happens in the production phase
the learner imitates the behavior observed
what happens in the motivational phase,
the imitated performance is likely to trigger similar types of consequences (positive or negative) that may or may not have been observed during the attentional phase.
what is learned helplessness
When the organism’s escape responses are ineffective at decreasing the painful events being experienced, the escape and avoidance responses eventually stop; the person has acquired learned helplessness.
For example, a student who is failing a math class may try several different strategies (e.g., longer and more frequent study sessions; using different study techniques, etc.) to escape/avoid failing the math class. If these attempts do not work, the student may simply stop trying to succeed in math (learned helplessness to a specific situation), while continuing to study for other classes
