Exam 2 Flashcards
Learning
Any relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that is due to past experience
Classical Conditioning
Type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus
(Forming associations based on past experiences)
Ivan Pavlov
- Presented dogs with meat powder
- Meat powder made dog salivate
- Bell to signal “dinner time”
- Over time, ringing bell made dogs salivate
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
Stimulus that evokes any natural response without previous condition
“Unlearned stimulus”
Ex. Meat Powder
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
Unlearned reaction to unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning
Ex. Salivating from food
Conditioned Stimulus (CD)
Previous stimulus that (through conditioning) acquired capacity to invoke conditioned response
“Learned stimulus”
Ex. Bell
Conditioned Response (CR)
Learned reaction to conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning
Ex. Salivating from bell
Tips with UCS, UCR, CS, CR
UCR and CR are the same (like salivating). UCS and CS change (from meat powder to bell).
Examples of Conditioned Responses
Fear
Anxiety
Immune suppression (decrease in production of antibodies)
Sexual Arousal
Preparedness
Species-specific predispositions can be conditioned in certain ways
Little Albert
- John B. Watson
1. Albert played with white rat
2. Played gong sound which scared Albert
3. Little Albert became afraid of rat
4. Also became afraid of anything that LOOKED like the WHITE rat - Stimulus Generlization
Stimulus Generalization
Similar stimuli elicit the same CR as original CS
Ex. Little Albert scared of white rat > becoming scared of anything white
Stimulus Discrimination
When ONLY the original CS and NOT similar stimuli elicit a CR
Ex. Happy when seeing a kitty, but not happy when looking at other animals
Taste Aversion
- Associating the taste of a certain food with symptoms like sickness or vomiting
- Adaptation to the environment, survival response
Ex: Bad experience with drinking
Elicited Responses
Instinct/involuntary
Ex. Reflexes
Acquisition
Refers to initial stage of learning a new response tendency
Acquisition
Initial stage of learning a new response tendency
Depends on stimulus contiguity
Contiguity
Occurring together in time and space
Ex. “That Was Easy” button and IMMEDIATELY after, shot with gun
Extinction
Gradual Weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency
SURPRESSES CR rather than ERASING
Spontaneous Recovery
Re-emergence of previously extinguished CR
Renewal Effect
Response is extinguished in a different environment than it was acquired
Extinguished response will reappear if animal is returned to the original environment where acquisition took place
Resistance to Extinction
Occurs when organism continues to make response after delivery of reinforce for it has been terminated
Operant Conditioning
Form of learning in which responses are controlled by consequences
B.F. Skinner
Skinner’s box
- Rat in box
- Rat hits lever
- Food dispenses
Positive reinforcement
Reinforcement
Occurs when an event following a response INCREASES tendency to make that response
Positive Reinforcement
-Followed by ADDITION of a rewarding stimulus
Ex. GIVING a dog a treat when doing a trick
Negative Reinforcement
-Followed by REMOVAL of an aversive stimulus
Ex. Parents STOP yelling at you when you do homework
Punishment
Occurs when event following a response WEAKENS tendency to make that response
DECREASES likelihood response will be repeated
Positive Punishment
Occurs when aversive is ADDED to situation
Ex. Spraying cat with water when ripping up couch
Negative Punishment
Occurs when something is TAKEN AWAY
Ex. Taking away car keys for a week
Primary reinforcers
Events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs
Secondary Reinforcers
- Conditioned
- Events that acquire reinforcing qualities by being associated with primary reinforcers
Contingencies
Circumstances or rules that determine whether responses lead to presentation of reinforces
Cumulative Recorder
- Creates graphic record of responding and reinforcement in a Skinner box as a function of time
- Roll of paper moving at steady rate underneath movable pen
Schedule of Reinforcement
Specific pattern of presentation of reinforcers over time
Continuous Reinforcement
Occurs when every instance of designated response is reinforced
Intermittent Reinforcement
Occurs when designated response is reinforced only some of the time
Fixed-Ratio (FR) schedule
Reinforcer is given after a fixed number of nonreinforced responses
Ex. Rat is reinforced after every tenth lever press
Variable-Ratio (VR) schedule
Reinforcer if given after a variable number of nonreinforced responses
Fixed-Interval (FI) Schedule
Reinforcer is given for the first response that occurs after a fixed time interval has elapsed
Ex. Rat is reinforced for first lever press after 2-minute interval.
Then must wait 2 minutes before being able to earn next reinforcement.
Variable-Interval (VI) Schedule
Reinforcer is given for the first response after a variable time interval has elapsed
Interval length varies around predetermined average
Shaping
• Reinforcement of successive approximations of desired behaviors
Ex. Pigeons don’t usually bowl
- Positive reinforcement with pecking
- Then direction
- Then chamber
- Then bowl
Observational Learning
Albert Bandura
Occurs when an organism’s responding is influenced by observation of others, who are called models
Bobo Doll
Bobo Doll
- Children saw an aggressive model on film
- Each group was then placed into a room with bobo dolls and observed through a one way mirror to see their response and how they treated the dolls
- Children who had seen the more aggressive model engaged in more violent conduct toward the dolls
TV violence on behavior
Showed how the observation of filmed models can influence the learning of aggressive behavior in children
Memory
Group of related mental processes that enable us to acquire, retain, retrieve information
False Memory
Elizabeth Loftus
Distorted or fabricated recollection of something that didn’t occur
Loftus’s Research
- Participants watch slides of a crime involving a screwdriver
- They then read a description of crime in which a “hammer” was described
- Vast majority remembered a hammer later
Misinformation effect
Misinformation effect
Falsely reconstructing memories based off of faulty information
Basic Memory Process
- Encoding
- Storage
- Retrieval
Encoding
Forming of memory code
Requires attention
Attention
Focusing awareness on narrowed range of stimuli or events
Types of Encoding
Structural Encoding
Phonemic Encoding
Semantic Encoding
Structural Encoding
Shallow processing that emphasizes the physical structure of the stimulus
Phonemic Encoding
Emphasizes what a word sounds like
Semantic Encoding
Meaning of verbal input
Elaboration
Linking of stimulus to other information at time of encoding
Visual Imagery
Creation of visual images to represent words to be remembered
Ex. The word “Juggler”
You envision a juggler
Concrete vs. Abstract Object
Visual Imagery
Concrete- physical object like a juggler
Abstract- usually intangible objects like truth
Dual-Coding Theory
Memory is enhanced by forming both semantic and visual codes since either can lead to recall
Storage Memory Types
Sensory, Short-Term, Long-Term
Sensory Memory
- Storage
- Brief, original stimuli
- It preserves information in its original sensory form for a brief time
- Afterimage
Short-Term Memory
- Storage
- Limited-Capacity storage that can maintain unrehearsed info for about 10-20 sec
Chunking
- Grouping small bits of information into larger units of information
- Expands working memory
- Limited Duration
Working memory capacity (WMC)
One’s ability to hold and manipulate information in conscious attention
Limited Duration
Lasts about 20 seconds without rehearsal
Rehearsal
Process of repetitively verbalizing or thinking about information
Serial Position Effect
- Storage
- Subjects show better recall for items at beginning and end of a list than for items in middle
- Primary (beginning) and Recency (end) effect
Long-Term Memory
Unlimited Capacity store that can hold information over lengthy periods of time
- Can store info indefinitely
- May be permanent
Flashbulb Memory
Unusually vivid and detailed recollections of momentous events
Conceptual Hierarchy
- Multilevel classification system based on common properties among items
- Animals»_space;> Mammals and Birds»_space;> Canine, feline, rodents/Fowl, waterfowl»_space;> Dog, fox, cat, rat/chicken, turkey, goose, swan
Schema
Organized cluster of knowledge about a particular object or event abstracted from previous experience with object or event
Ex. People being shown a photo of a teacher’s room
-Will recall desks, chairs and books, but there weren’t any books
Semantic Network
•Consists of nodes representing concepts, joined together by pathways that link related concepts
•Spreading activation (When thinking of a word, thoughts naturally go to related words)
-Butter to bread, strawberry to jam
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
Temporary inability to remember something you know, accompanied by a feeling that is just out of reach
Cues that aid retrieval
Stimuli that help gain access to memories, such as hints, related information, or partial recollections
Retention
Retention
• Proportion of material retained (remembered)
• Retention Interval
(Length of time between presentation of materials to be remembered and measurement of forgetting)
Methods of Measuring Retention
Recall
Recognition
Relearning
Recall
Requires participants to reproduce information on their own without any cues
Ex. Look at list of 25 words, then write as many down on blank sheet from memory
Recognition
Requires participants to select previously learned information from an array of options
Ex. Shown a list of 100 words and asked to choose 25 words you had memorized
Relearning
Retention requires a participant to memorize information a second time to determine how much time or effort is saved by having learned it before
Ex. Measure how much time a person needs in order to memorize something
Interference Theory
People forget because of competition from other material
Retroactive interference
Proactive Interference
Retroactive Interference
New info impairs the retention of previously learned info
Ex. Skier that snowboards for a long time has trouble skiing again
Proactive Interference
Previously learned info interferes with retention of new info
Organic Amnesia
Extensive Memory loss due to head injury
Retrograde Amnesia
Involves loss of memories for events that occurred PRIOR to onset of amnesia
Anterograde Amnesia
Involves loss of memories for events that occur AFTER onset of amnesia
Declarative Memory
Handles factual information
Nondeclarative/Procedural Memory
Houses memories for actions, skills, conditioned responses and emotional memories
Types of Motivational Theories
Drive Theory
Incentive Theory
Evolutionary Theory
Drive Theory
Clark Hull
Biological needs must be met
If unmet, a person experiences an internal drive
Clark Hull
Founder of Drive-Reduction theory
Homestasis
Drive Theory
State of physiological equilibrium or stability
Drive
Drive Theory
Internal state of tension that motivates you to engage in activities to reduce tension
Primary vs. Secondary Drives
Primary- vital to survival, instinct, unlearned
Ex. hunger, thirst, sleep
Secondary- Motives that indirectly satisfy primary, acquired through learning
Ex. Money
Incentive Theory
Proposes that external stimuli regulates motivation
Incentive
External goal that has the capacity to motivate behavior
Can be a type of reinforcement
Intrinsic Motivators
Doing something for its’ own sake
Ex. Playing soccer because you love it
INTernal
Extrinsic Motivators
Doing something for its’ results
Ex. Playing soccer because of your scholarship
EXTernal
Incentive Experiment Results
When people have more autonomy, performance goes up.
Ex. Google’s 20% Time where engineers get 24 hours to do anything they want
Evolutionary Theory of Motivation
Motives are products of evolution
Natural selection favors behaviors that maximize reproductive success
-Passing on genes to the next generation
Evolutionary Adaptive
Traits must meet two criteria:
Heritable
Increase reproductive success
Motivation
Directing behavior toward particular goal
Biological (Hunger, thirst, sleep)
Social (achievement, autonomy)
Hypotheses of motivation of Hunger and Eating
Early Hypothesis: Stomach
- Contractions in stomach caused hunger
- WRONG
Current Hypothesis: The Brain
-Hypothalamus regulates eating, drinking, body temperature
Biological Factors Involved Hunger and Eating Pt. 1
Brain: Hypothalamus regulates hunger and eating
-Prader-Willi Syndrome
Hormonal Regulation
-Insulin, Leptin, Ghrelin
Biological Factors Involved Hunger and Eating Pt. 2
Set-point theory
-Your body has a natural stability weight point
Weight cycling
-Repeated dieting, weight loss & weight gain tends to result in higher weight & reduced metabolism (set-point increases)
Environmental Factors Involved Hunger and Eating
Stress
Highly palatable food
-We eat because it tastes good
Cafeteria Diet Effect
-More food and more variety leads us to eat more
David Buss’s Research on sexual motivation
Women approached by males:
50% yes to date
6% yes to apartment
0% yes to sex
Men approached by females:
50% yes to date
69% yes to apartment
75% yes to sex
Parental Investment Theory
The parent who invests less:
Usually the male
Looks for young, healthy partners
Larger # of sex partners
The parent who invests more: Usually female Looks for partners with more resources Fewer # of sex partners Less importance on physical attractiveness
Social Roles Theory
Men historically tend to have dominant social status in society.
Result: men & women have developed different preferences for partners
Sex
Biological category of male/female
Gender
Cultural, social and psychological meanings associated with masculinity and femininity
Gender Identity
Person’s psychological sense of being male/female
Achievement Motivation
High achievers choose moderately difficult tasks to increase likelihood of success & also a sense of achievement
Components of Emotion
Behavioral component Physiological component
Cognitive component
Behavioral Component
Overt expressions
6 basic emotions
Happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, anger, disgust
Physiological Component
Bodily arousal
We often have physiological responses to emotion:
- Sadness > metabolism slows; tears
- Fear > heart rate increase; sweat
Cognitive Component
Subjective Conscious experience
Facial-Feedback Hypothesis
Behavioral Component
Facial muscles send signals to the brain that aid in the recognition of emotions.
Facial expressions are not only the results of our emotions, but are also capable of influencing our emotions.
Polygraph
Detect emotionality that accompanies lying
-Blood pressure, pulse, respiration
- Low accuracy
- People telling the truth can experience arousal when asked incriminating questions
- People might not experience anxiety when lying
Theories of Emotion
James Lange Theory
Cannon-Bard Theory
Schachter’s Two-Factor Theory
James Lange Theory
A physiological response occurs due to an event which we understand as emotion
Environmental influence (event) → physiological change (arousal) → psychological experience (emotion)
Ex: I feel sad because I’m crying
Cannon-Bard Theory
The experience of emotion and physical responses happens at the same time
Environmental influence (event) → physiological change (arousal) & psychological experience (emotion)
Ex: This movie makes me cry and feel sad
Schachter’s Two-Factor Theory
Physiological arousal occurs and we search for an explanation within the environment and this understanding (appraisal) influences our emotional experience
Environmental influence (event) → physiological change (arousal) → appraisal → psychological experience (emotion)
Ex: I label my crying as sadness because I appraise the situation as sad
Developmental Psychology
Branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout life span
Prenatal Development Stages
Germinal Stage
Embryonic Stage
Fetal Stage
Germinal Stage
Conception at 2 weeks
Zygote (formed by union of sperm & egg)
Rapidly multiplies
Placenta begins to form
Embryonic Stage
2 weeks- End of 2nd month
Embryo forms
Formation of vital organs and physiological structures
Fetal Stage
2 months- birth
Age/Threshold of viability
-Between 22 and 26 weeks, the time at which baby can survive in event of premature birth
Baby kick
Influences of Prenatal Development
Nutrition
Maternal Stress
Drugs and Alcohol
Environmental Toxins
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Mental and physical defects that can develop in fetus due to alcohol consumption during pregnancy
Most common known cause of intellectual disability
Facial Abnormalities, learning disabilities, etc.
Maternal Stress
Intense fears and anxieties can result in physiological changes in fetus (Adrenaline)
Stress associated with an increase in stillbirths, below-average cognitive development, social deficits
Motor Development
Progression of muscular coordination required for physical activities
Basic motor skills
-Grasping objects, sitting, crawling, walking
Attachment
Close, emotional bonds of affection that develop between infants and caregivers
Proximity-seeking and contact maintaining behavior
Separation Anxiety
Separation Anxiety
Emotional distress seen in many infants when they are separated from their attachment figure
Behaviorist Theory
Infant-Mother Attachment develops because mothers are associated with powerful, reinforcing event of being fed
Evolutionary Theory
John Bowlby
Biological Basis for attachment, not based on feeding
Proximity = Survival
Harry Harlow’s Experiment
Terry Cloth and Wire Mother
When scared, they fled to the cloth mother even if they were not fed from it
Strange Situation (Mary AInsworth)
Caregiver & a stranger move in and out of the room
While their mothers are present, they play and explore comfortably, but become visibly upset when she leaves, and are quickly calmed by her return
Patterns of Attachment
Secure Attachment
Avoidant Attachment
Anxious-Ambivalent Attachment
Disorganized Attachment
Secure Attachment
Good, most powerful
Infant plays and explores freely when caregiver is present
Distressed at separation, but are calmed when caregiver returns
Avoidant Attachment
Seeks little interaction with caregiver and not upset when caregiver leaves
Little emotional range
(Disinterested, unresponsive)
Caregiver: Disengaged, needs are mostly not met
Anxious-Ambivalent Attachment
Infant appears anxious even when caregiver is near
Over-interest with caregiver that prevents exploration
Upset by caregiver leaving, but NOT comforted when she returns
Disorganized Attachment
Dazed behavior, confused in presence of caregiver
Contradictory behaviors upon reunion
Caregiver: neglectful/abusive
Reactive Attachment Disorder
Failure to form normal attachments (Abuse, neglect, separation/change in caregivers)
Developmentally inappropriate ways of relating socially in most contexts
Piaget’s Stage Theory
Proposed children progress through 4 major stages of cognitive development
Cognitive Development
-Transitions in young child’s patterns of thinking including reasoning, remembering, and problem solving
- Sensorimotor
- Preoperational
- Concrete Operational
- Formal Operational
Sensorimotor (Birth to 2 years)
Think by using stress
Reflexes
(Sucking, Grasping, Swimming, Listening)
Object Permanence develops
- When something isn’t visible, it’s still there
- Peek-a-boo
Preoperational Stage (2 to 6 years)
Children have not yet mastered principle of conservation
Irreversibility
Egocentrism
Animism
Centration
Conservation
Ex. Same amount of liquid
was poured into thinner, taller container
Kids choose the taller one
Irreversibility
Inability to envision reversing an action
Egocentrism
Incomplete differentiation of the self & the world, including other people
Tendency to perceive and interpret the world in terms of the self.
Animism
Belief that all things are living
Centration
Focus on one feature of a problem
Concrete Operational (7-11 years)
Can perform operations only on images of tangible objects & actual events
Better understanding of mental operations
Begin thinking logically about concrete events, but have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts
Formal Operational (11 years+)
Ability to understand & enjoy abstract concepts and hypothetical possibilities
Systematic, logical, reflective
After children achieve formal operations, further developments in thinking are changes in degree rather than fundamental changes in the nature of thinking
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
Children acquire most of their cognitive and problem-solving strategies through dialogues with more experienced members of their society
Private Speech
- Children talk to themselves
- Plan strategies, regulate actions, accomplish goals
- Serves as foundation of cognitive processes
Kohlberg’s Stage Theory
Focuses on moral reasoning, not behavior
Preconventional
Conventional
Postconventional
Preconventional
Young children think in terms of punishment and reward
Will I get caught?
Will I get in trouble?
What will I gain?
Conventional Level
Children recognize that rules are important
Approval/Disapproval
I want to be a good kid.
Will people like me if I steal?
Post-conventional
Recognize that rules are not absolutes
Is saving a human life more valuable than the property rights of another person?
