Final Exam Flashcards
Observational Learning
Ability to learn by observing the experience of others
Examples of Observational Learning
– Lab-reared monkeys were initially unafraid of
snakes (never had a bad experience with snakes)
– They observed other monkeys (reared in the wild)
behaving fearfully toward snakes
– The lab-reared monkeys soon became intensely
fearful of snakes too.
– It is now known that even classical conditioning of
phobias can be produced through observation (a
“real” aversive personal experience not required)
Observational Learning:
the Octopus and the Crab
• Get an octopus • Place a crab (yummy for an octopus) in a jar with a lid. • If the octopus unscrews the lid, it can eat the crab. • The basic law of effect at work.
Vicarious Reinforcement
Observer looks
on as a model is reinforced for a behavior
– Observer more likely to imitate the behavior of
the model.
Vicarious Punishment
Observer looks on as
a model is punished for a behavior.
– Observer more likely to refrain from behaving
like the model.
Rosecrans & Hartup (1967)
• Nursery school children observed an adult
playing aggressively with toys (poking,
hitting, etc.)
– Reinforcement condition: model was praised by
another when behaving aggressively.
– Punishment condition: model scolded and
criticized when behaving aggressively.
– Children then allowed to play with the toys, and
their aggressive play was measured.
Miller-Dollard Reinforcement
Theory of Observational Learning
• Observational learning is a subset of operant
conditioning
• Observer’s behavior changes due to
consequences of the observer’s behavior, not
the model’s.
• Based on the notion of generalized imitation
Generalized Imitation
• We learn to imitate others via operant conditioning.
• Through prior experience with observational
learning, we learn that imitating others’ behavior
may provide reinforcement to ourselves.
• We generalize from one imitation situation to
others.
• If we were often punished when we imitated others
(even if the other was reinforced), we would
probably stop imitating others.
• So, we learn to imitate others because doing so
often brings rewards to us.
Tolman & Honzik (1930)
– Food-deprived rats were placed in a maze with
only one route of escape. Studied over three
weeks.
– Rats placed in 1 of 3 conditions:
• Always Reinforced: Rats reinforced with food upon
escape from maze.
• Never Reinforced: No food provided upon escape.
• Wandering Group: For 10 days, rats not reinforced upon
escape. From day 11 onward, rats reinforced upon
escape.
– Outcome variable: Number of errors (wrong turns)
until escape.
Tolman: Latent Learning
• The idea of latent learning suggests that
learning may occur in animals without being
demonstrated until the reward is presented.
• Learning remains latent (hidden) until the
organism has a reason to use it.
• For Tolman, reinforcement doesn’t create
learning. Instead, reinforcement creates
motivation for using what was already learned.
Learning vs. Performance
• Learning occurs constantly regardless of
reinforcement or motivation.
• Motivation can lead to a demonstration of
learning.
• Performance: The translation of learning
into behavior.
Tolman: Cognitive Maps
• Tolman said the rats who were allowed to
wander and explore had acquired a “cognitive
map” of the maze.
• A cognitive map is a mental representation in
the brain of the layout of an environment and
its features.
• The wandering rats simply learned the maze
by observation, so they could get to the food
quicker than rats who had not built up a
cognitive map
Critics of Latent Learning and Cognitive Maps
• Most textbooks cite this study as a conclusive
demonstration that learning does not require
reinforcement.
• This is true.
• But no one ever claimed that all learning
requires reinforcement.
• Skinner acknowledge classical conditioning
and observational learning and many other
influences on behavior.
• The appeal to “cognitive maps” as explanatory
constructs is problematic.
• Many studies by biologists have failed to show
that rats behave in ways that could be called
“following a map.”
• People, too, are terrible at making maps of
even well-traversed areas.
• When using maps, people are constantly
scanning the environment for landmarks and
cues. How do rats use their maps?
Stimulus Discrimination
• Stimulus discrimination is the tendency for
behaviors to occur in certain situations and
not others.
• i.e., to occur in the presence of certain
stimuli but not in their absence.
• A behavior that occurs only in certain
contexts is said to be under stimulus
control
Discriminative Stimuli (DS)
A DS is a stimulus that signals that a behavior will or will not be reinforced (or punished) The light could be used as a DS: On=(reinforced if bar is pressed) Off=(not reinforced if bar pressed)
Discrimination Training
• Any procedure for establish stimulus control is called
discrimination training.
– You are trying to get the organism to behave in the right way in
the right circumstances (in the presence of particular stimuli).
• Porter & Neuringer (1984): Pigeons were trained to
discriminate between the music of Bach and Stravinsky.
– They were reinforced when pecking a “Bach disk” only when
Bach’s music was playing.
– They were reinforced to pecking a “Stravinsky disk” only when
Stravinsky’s music was playing.
– Eventually, through stimulus generalization, they could
discriminate between music similar to Bach or Stravinsky, even
when they had never heard the music before.
Discrimination Training 2
• Simultaneous Discrimination: a choice is
made between two stimuli, only one of
which is reinforced.
• Eventually, the organism will choose the
stimulus that results in reinforcement.
Stimulus Control
• When the presence of a discriminative
stimulus reliably affects the probability of a
behavior, we say that the behavior is under
stimulus control.
• Example:
– A tone signals that lever pressing will lead to
water.
– Tone: Lever press water
– Lever pressing is under stimulus control when
pressing only occurs when the tone is on.
Examples of Stimulus Control
• At red lights, we stop; at green lights, we
proceed.
• If someone smiles at us, we smile at them.
• When we hear an ambulance siren behind us,
we slow down or pull our car to the roadside.
• When the professor begins lecturing, students
cease talking among themselves.
• Whether a sign says “open” or “closed” controls
whether we try to enter a store.
• When the phone rings, we answer it.
– How often do you pick up a non-ringing telephone
and say “hello”?
Work/study habits often under stimulus control
• German poet Friedrich Schiller (Ode to Joy). – Early notable writing near an apple orchard. – Later, when traveling, he placed rotten apples in his desk to motivate writing. – Apples were a DS for writing. • Favorite places to study, types of pen, paper, etc. might reflect our history of reinforcement for working
Third Wave Behavior Therapies
• 1
st wave: Classical Behavior Therapies: Operant,
Classical Pavlovian, and skill modeling methods
(includes Applied Behavior Analysis)
• 2
nd wave: Cognitive Behavior Therapies (CBT):
Eclectic use of classical conditioning, operant
conditioning, modeling, and cognitive restructuring
(changing thoughts).
• 3
rd wave: Newer approaches that incorporate wave 1
with newer “acceptance” or “mindfulness”
techniques.
– Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
– Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
– Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy
Cognition in Therapy
• CBT correctly notes that disturbed people
have certain typical thoughts (“I’m a loser,”
“That will harm me,” “No one likes me.”)
• CBT proposes that the content of the
thoughts are the problem (they are
irrational, over-generalized, unsupported by
evidence, etc.).
• In CBT, the contents must be challenged and
replaced.
Cognition in Therapy 2
Third Wave perspective acknowledges that private
events (words, images) are associated with
disturbance.
• However, the content of thoughts aren’t necessarily
important.
• It is their function that matters: how we respond to
them.
• Many different words and images might have the
same function of disturbing us and inhibiting our
behavior, just as external stimuli do.
• Do not have to change thoughts; change their
function, their effect on us.
Relational Framing and Pathology
• Being bit by a dog is a real punishing event; we will
feel pain and avoid the dog in the future, just like any
other organism would (that is adaptive).
• But when bit, people also behave privately and
verbally, putting the experience in relational frames.
• We think “dog” (or “jumjaw”), “pain,” etc., and have
images of dogs.
• Unlike other organisms, we might not merely be
distressed when we see a dog, but we might respond
to words, thoughts, images as well, even though
these are not real contingencies in our environment.
• Our private events have new derived functions, and
we become miserable (clip: nonverbal organism).
Relational Framing and Pathology
2
• We can frame events as good (reinforcing, pleasing)
or as bad (punishing).
• We have learned the rule: “Avoid what is bad.”
• Not all real dogs are bad, and the word “dog” and
images of dogs are not bad.
• Yet we might avoid all dogs and any private events
that reminds us of dogs.
• This is called experiential avoidance.
• By letting private events affect us, by following verbal
rules, we might become dysfunctional and unable to
get what we want out of life.
According to RFT and ACT
Normal language & cognition are at the heart of most suffering. If that is true, why don’t we all struggle with anxiety, depressed moods, insecurities, fears, etc….?
… we do
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ACT
- A-ccept your reactions and be present
- C-hoose a valued direction
- T-ake action
The aim of ACT
• Help people create a full and meaningful life,
while effectively handling the pain that life
inevitably brings
• ACT does not necessarily aim at symptom
reduction.
• ACT teaches you psychological skills to deal
with your painful thoughts and feelings
effectively– in such a way that they have much
less impact and influence over you.
• You are changing their function.
Sources of Pathology: FEAR
• F-usion with your thoughts
– Failing to make a distinction between self and your
thoughts, images, language
– We often have a frame: I am (=) my thoughts, and my
thoughts are (=) me. (clip: you are your thoughts)
• E-valuation of experience
– Judging and reacting to thoughts, images, and language
(because of fusion)
• A-voidance of your experience
– Avoiding stimuli, thoughts & images via distractions,
compulsions, drugs, social isolation, etc.
• R-eason giving for your behavior
– Trying to make sense of, or explain, your thoughts, images,
or language (possibly creating even more words & worries)
Traditional CBT
CBT increases your evaluation and reason-giving
• From an ACT point of view, these kinds of interventions
could elaborate and complicate the network, and
paradoxically increase the functions of negative thoughts
Thought Suppression and Change of Beliefs
• Thought Rebound
– When people try to suppress unwanted thoughts,
they later experience the thoughts more
frequently (Daniel Wegner’s “White Bear” study)
– Robust finding for emotion-laden and neutral
thoughts.
– Experiential avoidance (trying to avoid certain
thoughts and images) often makes things worse
• CBT effects are not lasting: the so-called “automatic
thoughts” that people try to change or “put out of
mind” do often return after treatmen
Some ACT skills:
• 1. Cognitive defusion (aka de-literalization): recognizing
that thoughts are just thoughts; they are not the real
world and they are not you.
– Treat thoughts and feelings as external events, almost like
another person (Hayes: name your mind, e.g. George).
• 2. Acceptance: Instead of avoidance, be aware of what’s
going on inside, but do not try to change it.
– Acceptance does not mean liking or agreeing; it means a
willingness to simply experience without reacting.
• 3. Self-as-context:
– Develop a secure “I” from which to view experience, but
distinct from what is viewed.
– Notice who is noticing things
After Acceptance, what next?
Values & Committed Actions
• Values are chosen directions in life.
• Committed actions are specific behavioral
goals that are in service of your values.
• Many standard operant methods and other
learning principles can be used to facilitate
these committed actions.
Bubble in the Road Metaphor
You are a soap bubble moving along a path
you have chosen.
• Another bubble blocks you and says “stop”
and you can’t get around it.
• You have two choices:
– You can stop moving in a valued direction, or
– you can touch the other bubble, and continue
with it inside you.
• The other bubble is your thoughts, feelings
and memories.
Evidence for Efficacy
• ACT is considered an empirically validated
treatment “with modest support” by APA
• ACT has shown evidence for efficacy (over 30
clinical trials) for a variety of problems
including chronic pain, addictions, smoking
cessation, depression, anxiety, psychosis,
workplace stress, and diabetes management.
Different Change Processes
Pre-Post reductions in the believability of depressive thoughts
