Chapter 7: Learning and Conditioning Flashcards

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1
Q

What are 3 basic forms of learning?

A
  1. Habituation
  2. Cognitive Learning
  3. Conditioning (classical and operant)
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2
Q

What is habituation?

A

adaptation; learn we don’t need to respond to stimulus that doesn’t change (not noticing the socks on your feet)

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3
Q

What is cognitive learning?

A

When people start to think differently about behaviour and its relationship to environmental influence.

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4
Q

What is conditioning?

A

When behaviours are directly connected to specific stimulus in the in the environment.

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5
Q

How is learning studied?

A

Through experiments.

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6
Q

What do people learn?

A

Associations.

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7
Q

What are associations influenced by? (3)

A
  1. Frequency
  2. Contiguity (timing)
  3. Contingency (prediction)
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8
Q

Who was the founder of classical conditioning and what experiment did he do to discover it?

A

Pavlov, tested what ways he could condition a dog to salivate.

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9
Q

What is conditioning?

A

Systematic procedure through which associations and responses to specific stimuli are learned.

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10
Q

What is a stimulus?

A

An event that has an impact on an organism

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11
Q

What is a response?

A

A reaction of an organism

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12
Q

What is an unconditioned stimulus?

A

A stimulus that is elicits and unconditioned response without an form of learning

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13
Q

What is an unconditioned response?

A

A response elicited by an unconditioned stimulus without any form of learning (reflex)

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14
Q

What is a neural (orienting) stimulus?

A

A stimulus that does not elicit the response of interest (unconditioned response)

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15
Q

What is a conditioned stimulus?

A

The stimulus which elicits a new response as a result of the conditioning process.

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16
Q

What is a conditioned response?

A

A response to a previously neural stimulus learned through association.

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17
Q

What are the 3 stages of classical conditioning? Describe stimulus and response.

A
  1. Before Conditioning- unconditioned stimulus and response.
  2. During Conditioning- conditioned stimulus, unconditioned response
  3. After Conditioning- conditioned stimulus and response
    e. g. dog responds to bell with salivation after it is paired with food
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18
Q

What is extinction of classical conditioning?

A

The disappearance of the conditioned response. In operant conditioning it will disappear if there is not reinforcement.

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19
Q

What is spontaneous recovery of classical conditioning?

A

The sudden reoccurrence of a previously extinguished response.

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20
Q

What is second-order conditioning?

A

When the conditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.

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21
Q

What is stimulus generalization?

A

Similar stimuli produce a conditioned response. (little Albert)

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22
Q

What is stimulus discrimination?

A

Response doesn’t occur when stimuli are too different from conditioned stimuli. In operant conditioning reinforcement is delivered when animal discriminated properly.

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23
Q

What is discrimination training often used for?

A

Used extensively in dogs (different whistle tones associated with specific behaviours)

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24
Q

What is counter conditioning?

A

Undesirable responses are replaced with desirable ones. e.g. giving someone who is afraid of something something pleasurable (cookie) whenever the stimulus that provokes fear is around (peter)

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25
Q

What is systematic desensitization?

A

Reduction of phobias by gradually exposing fear-provoking stimulus (very slow process)

26
Q

What is flooding?

A

Client is exposed to fear-provoking stimulus until the fear response is extinguished (fast process but very unpleasant)

27
Q

What are operant behaviours?

A

Behaviours that are spontaneously emitted and are non reflexive

28
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A

Something which occurs when behaviour is associated with its consequence.

29
Q

Who are key figures in the study of operant conditioning? (2)

A

Thorndike and Skinner.

30
Q

What were Thorndike’s cat experiments for instrumental conditioning?

A

Hungry cats in cages learned to escape by hitting a lever.

31
Q

What is the Law of Effect?

A

That rewards encourage useful responses and lack of reward discourages useless ones. (e.g. ignore child when they have a temper tantrum –> lack of reward)

32
Q

Who introduced the word “operant”?

A

Skinner with his operant chamber (skinner box)

33
Q

What was the skinner box?

A

An operant chamber with mice that contained a responding mechanism and delivered a consequence (food tray)

34
Q

What is shaping of behaviour?

A

When successive approximations of behaviour are rewarded until final desirable behaviour is learned.

35
Q

What are 2 types of consequences of behaviour?

A

Reinforcment and punishment

36
Q

What do reinforcers do?

A

Increase the probability that a behaviour will occur.

37
Q

What is a positive reinforcement?

A

Presentation of a pleasant stimulus to increase behaviour

38
Q

What is negative reinforcement?

A

Removal of a aversive stimulus to increase behaviour.

39
Q

What are primary reinforcers?

A

Reinforcers that have survival value and do not need to be learned.

40
Q

What are secondary reinforcers?

A

Reinforcers that were initially neutral with no intrinsic value. (e.g. money and good grades)

41
Q

What are superstitious behaviours?

A

Accidental reinforcement that leads to an increased behaviour

42
Q

What is punishment?

A

A process by which a stimulus follows a response and reduces the frequency of a response.

43
Q

What is positive punishment?

A

When an aversive stimulus is presented to decrease the frequency of a behaviour.

44
Q

What is negative punishment?

A

When a pleasant stimulus is removed to decrease the frequency of a behaviour. (more effective)

45
Q

What are 4 types of schedules of reinforcement?

A
  1. Fixed interval schedule
  2. Variable Interval schedule
  3. Fixed ratio schedule
  4. Variable ratio schedule
46
Q

What is a fixed interval schedule?

A

One which reinforces the first response after a given amount of time has passed

47
Q

What is a variable interval schedule?

A

One which reinforces the first response but the amount of time varies

48
Q

What is a fixed ratio schedule?

A

Reinforcement comes after a set number of responses.

49
Q

What is variable ratio schedule?

A

Reinforces after a number of response, but the number varies.

50
Q

What does behavioural self-regulation assume?

A

That people will engage in behaviours that seem optimal.

51
Q

What is Behaviour modification/ applied behaviour analysis?

A

The application of operant conditioning techniques to teach new responses or reduce problematic behaviour.

52
Q

When is punishment most effective?

A

Immediately after undesirable behaviour occurs. Consistency is more important than severity.

53
Q

Why isn’t punishment often affective? (6)

A
  1. Punishment administered inappropriately
  2. Recipient of punishment responds with fear/anxiety/rage
  3. Effectiveness of punishment is temporary
  4. Behaviour is hard to punish immediately
  5. Punishment conveys little information
  6. Punishment may mistakenly reinforce because it brings attention
54
Q

What did Hebb believe about learning?

A

That the structure of the brain changes with learning and temporary changes in neurons occur with initial exposure to new stimulus.

55
Q

What is consolidation?

A

The evolution of temporary changes in neurons into permanent circuits.

56
Q

What is insight?

A

Discovering relationships between events.

57
Q

What is latent learning?

A

non-visible learning that occurs without direct reinforcement. (e.g. rats developing mental maps of mazes without reinforcement for running maze)

58
Q

Who is credited with social learning theory?

A

Albert Bandura

59
Q

What did Bandura theorize about obervational learning?

A

Children who watched aggressive behaviour were significantly more violent when presented with ‘bobo doll’ –> kids learn through modelling

60
Q

Does media violence make people more violent?

A

Meta-analyses show that the greater the exposure to violence in movies/TV, the stronger the likelihood of behaving aggressively but this could be because children and adults who are already aggressive are drawn to aggressive media and it therefore effects them more.