Chapter 7 - Learning and Social Cognition Flashcards
Learning
Acquiring or changing behavior
How does learning occur
through observation or association
Classical conditioning
Two unrelated stimuli being paired to create a response without the other stimulus present
Operant conditioning
behavior changes based on punishment or reinforcement
Reinforcement
increasing probability of future responding
Positive reinforcement
something positive added
Negative reinforcement
something negative taken away
What is the most effective reinforcement
when it occurs immediately
Punishment
anything that decreases chances of repeated behavior
Positive punishment
something negative added
negative punishment
something positive removed
Extinction
not reinforcing or punishing a behavior
Reinforcement schedule
how often and regularly a reinforcement is in place
Why CJS punishments fail
Intensity
Immediacy
Consistency
No good behavior replacements
Social learning
Learning by observing others
Model
Person who originally performed a behavior
Acquisition
Observing model and memorizing behavior
Imitation
Performing acquired behavior
Expectancy theory
Behavior is based on the expectation that behavior will lead to a specific outcome
Bobo Doll experiment
Children will be aggressive after seeing aggressive behavior
Differential association-reinforcement
people act after observing reinforced behavior
Social cognition
Empathy towards others, solving interpersonal problems, developing values
Cognition
Perceptions, thoughts, memories, decisions
Kohlberg’s theory of..
moral development
Nonsocial cognition
how we understand the physical world
Preconventional level
Stage 1 - avoiding punishment
Stage 2 - aiming for reward
lowest level of morality
Conventional level
stage 3 - good boy/girl attitude
stage 4 - loyalty to law and order
societies norms and laws - obedience to law
postconventional level
stage 5 - justice of spirit and law
stage 6 - universal principles of ethics
create their own set of laws based on morals
which moral level is most considered a risk factor for crime
postconventional
Moral disengagement
psychological mechanisms to avoid feeling bad for violating personal morals
Four Disengagement Domains
1) Reconstructing immoral behavior
2) Obscuring Personal responsibility
3) Misrepresenting injurious consequences
4) Blaming the victim
Deindividuation Theory
People feel more confident in crowds explaining collective violence
Bystander effect
when a bystander will ignore a victim in public from fear of harm or risk of getting involved
Milgram experiment
testing subjects obedience at risk of their own morals
Agentic state
when people act on orders from someone else so they don’t feel responsible
