conditioning and learning Flashcards
Outline the behaviouristic approach
- Classical and operant conditioning are the building blocks of all learning
- Laws of learning same in all species
- Learning is to be understood solely by recourse to incidental processing of associations between external events
define learning and responce in terms of behaviourism
Asscoiative learning:
Learning: Relatively permanent change in behaviour due to experience
• Response: Any identifiable behaviour
outline classical conditioning
Ivan Pavlov: Russian physiologist studying digestion
• Studied salivation in dogs when they were presented with meat powder
• Food elicited reflex (salivation in this case): Automatic, non-learned, response
• Pavlov’s key discovery: An arbitrary (or neutral) stimulus (e.g., sound of a bell) paired with the meat powder began to elicit the reflex (salivation) * Also known as Pavlovian conditioning
what are the stages to classical conditioning
NS = Neutral stimulus US = Unconditioned stimulus UR = Unconditioned response (or reflex) CS = Conditioned stimulus CR = Conditioned response (or reflex before: bell (NS) meat powder (US) --> (relfex) salivation (UR) Aquisition: meat powder (US) +(associated) Bell (CS) --> UR post coditioning: CS--> CR
what is trace conditioning?
Trace conditioning- all the animal has is a memory trace to associate with food
what happens if you delay the time between a stimulus and US
delayed conditioning trace conditioning simultaneous conditioning delayed> trace> simultaneous Simultaneous learning- the association isn't so powerful because the food is already there
what is critical for classical conditioning
Temporal contiguity of CS and US? (Pavlov assumed this)
Or…
Validity with which the CS predicts the US (contingency theory)
Outline a study which looked into the differences between temporal contiguity and validy with which the CS predicts the US
Classic study by Rescorla (1967) sought to tease apart these two possibilities…
Exposed dogs to electric shock.
On some trials, shock (US) was preceded by a tone (CS)
• Two groups (A and B) presented with same number of temporally contiguous US-CS pairs.
• But only in Group A was a shock ALWAYS preceded by a tone
• Group A learned the association quickly, Group B did not
Extintion trials- if the bell doesn’t come with food, response will gradually become unlearned.
describe classical conditioning spontaneous recovery
Reappearance of a conditioned response (CR) following its (apparent) extinction
• Without further pairings of the CS with US; CR not recovered to full strength however
what is higher order classical conditioning?
regular conditioning carried out so eventually bell (CS) = salivation (CR)
then add CS2 e..g a clap preceeding bell
eventually CS2 –> CR
what is stimulus generalisations?
Stimulus Generalisation A tendency to produce the conditioned response (CR) to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus (CS)
e.g. note signals shock
Eventuallly show stress response at note w/o shock
Response generalises to similar notes
what is stimulus descrimination training?
Don’t hear any other note becomes selective
Baer and Fuhrer (1968)
as responce to CS1 increases responce to CS2 decreases
outline how clasical conditining can explain conditioned emotional responces and phobias
Vicarious Classical Conditioning: Learning to respond emotionally to a stimulus by observing another’s emotional reactions
Desensitisation: Exposing phobic people gradually to feared stimuli while they stay calm and relaxed
explain aversive therapy
Aversive therapy
Treatment of abnormal behaviour: Pair an unacceptable response with a punishment to produce a new, ‘acceptable’, response
Classical conditioning in the movies!
outline a study looking into spontaneous recovery in humans
Spontaneous recovery from retroactive interference (RI) in memory
Briggs (1954): • (Human) participants learned paired associate words (A1-B1, A2-B2…etc) Concrete example: ‘pineapple – dog’, ‘desk – cushion’, …etc… • Then new list of paired associates but first word of previous pairs was presented again i.e., A1-C1, A2-C2,…etc) e.g., ‘pineapple – hammer’, ‘desk – scissors’, …etc…
Then presented an A item; participant to say the pair that “came to mind” (-B or -C).
• Due to RI, fewer B item responses than C item responses
• But…24 hours later, participants tested again; now, B item responses more frequent than C item responses (i.e., spontaneous recovery of initial association)
Acquisition phase = the period where a response is learned
define operant conditioning
Learning based on the consequences of responding; responses are associated with their consequences
also known as instrumental conditioning
explain the law of effect
Law of Effect (Thorndike): The probability of a response is altered by the effect it has; responses that lead to desired effects are repeated, those that lead to undesired effects are not
• Thorndike studied how cats learned to open a latch to get food through positive reinforcement
give the classical study that looks into operant conditioning
B.F. Skinner (e.g., 1938)
• Built a Conditioning Chamber (or Skinner Box): Apparatus designed to study operant conditioning in animals
• Used Response-Contingent Reinforcement: Reinforcement given (only) after a desired response
explain positive and negative reinforcement
as well as Punishment
Positive Reinforcement: When a response is followed by a positive stimulus that makes that response more likely
• Negative Reinforcement: When a response is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus that makes that response more likely
• Punishment: When a response is either:
i) Followed by an aversive stimulus that makes that response less likely
ii) Followed by the removal of a positive stimulus that makes that response less likely
explain how pigeons were onditioned for sea-rescues
When pigeon saw something red, orange or yellow it would peck it’s disk e.g. a person in a life jakcket, know the direction by which pigeon triggered their lever
Unfortunately the company arranging this, 2 of their helicopters crashed and so they had to drop the programme for financial reasons
Skinner- thought to use Kamikaze pigeons as missile navigation systems.
Outline different types of reinforcers
Primary Reinforcer:
Non-learned and natural; satisfies biological needs (e.g., food, water, sex)
– Intracranial Stimulation (ICS): Natural primary reinforcer; involves direct activation of brain’s “pleasure centers”
• Secondary Reinforcer:
Learned reinforcer (e.g., money, grades, approval, praise)
– Token Reinforcer: Tangible secondary reinforcer (e.g., money, gold stars, poker chips)
– Social Reinforcer: Provided by other people (e.g., learned desires for attention and approval)
define operant extinction
When learned responses that are NOT reinforced gradually fade away
• Negative Attention Seeking: Using misbehavior to gain attention!
• Not giving attention can extinguish the behaviour (e.g., Williams, 1959)
What is the difference between stimulus generalisations and discrimination
Stimulus generalisation e.g., child petting other dogs following positive reinforcement of petting the family dog
Stimulus discrimination e.g., Through selective reinforcement of petting only family dog
Outline the importance of timing in operant conditioning experiments
Rats in a Skinner box show a rapid drop in learning as delay between the response and the reinforcer increases
what is the token economy?
e.g., Ayllon and Azrin (1965): Shaping desirable behaviour on a mental hospital ward
give na example of operant conditioning in humans
Socialisation of a disturbed child
Matson, Sevin, Fridley, and Love (1990)
if please was reinforced after 35 sessions responded 100% correct
how is operant conditioning seen when we’re learning to talk?
Child says “doll,” “duh,” “dat” when wanting a doll.
• Day 1 - parents give doll only if child says “doll”
• Day 20 - child only says “doll” to get doll - Job done!
what is the ethiological approach?
Laws of learning not the same in all species • Ethologistsemphasise biological (genetic) predispositions over learning
• Evidence for ethological view:
> Chicken’s instinctive food-gathering behaviour competed with the desired learned response (Breland & Breland, 1961)
> The selectivity of associability in classical conditioning:
rats learned an association between taste and sickness but not between a tone and sickness
give 2 aspects fo the ethiological apprach
• Imprinting
There is a critical period for developing attachment behaviours
• Bird songs
Birds have inborn template for acquiring their own species’ song
give the cognitive challenge to conditioning
Learning and intelligence relies on the animal’s inner mental representations of the world
• Kohler (1920s): ‘Insight’ in apes
Mental note-taking in rats (e.g., Olton & Samuelson, 1976)
