Kapitel 8 - The Adaptive mind

Question 1

Reflex

Answer 1

An inevitable, involuntary response to stimuli

Question 2

Instinct

Answer 2

An inborn pattern of behavior elicited by environmental stimuli

Fixed action pattern

Question 3

Learning

Answer 3

A relatively permanent change in behavior or the capacity for behavior due to experience

Question 4

Types of learning (3 types)

Answer 4

Associative learning

Nonassociative learning

Observational learning

Question 5

what is Associative learning and what are its subtypes?

Answer 5

The formation of an association between stimuli and behavior

Classical conditioning
association between a pair of sequential stimuli
Example:
Seeing a bee -> getting stung
you are now afraid of bees

Operant conditioning
Association between behavior and consequences
Example:
Study hard -> get good grades -> proud parents
You now study harder.

Question 6

what is Nonassociative learning and what are its two subtypes?

Answer 6

Changing the magnitude of responses to a single stimulus.

Habituation:
Reduces reaction to repeated harmless experiences
Example:
you have a hard time sleeping until you have gotten used to the noise in a hotel room

Sensitization:
increase reaction after exposure to one strong stimulus.
Example:
Following an earthquake people experience exaggerated reactions to movements.

Question 7

what is Observational learning?

Answer 7

learning by observing another organism

Observing to imitate:
copy a dance move from your favorite music video

Observing to avoid imitating:
watch people around you feel sick from drinking alcohol -> don’t drink as much

Question 8

what is UCS and UCR?
(unconditioned stimulus) and (Unconditioned response)

Answer 8

Unconditioned Stimulus:
A stimulus that elicits a response without prior experience. it has an innate meaning to the organism

example:
food that elicits salivation from a dog

Unconditioned Respons:
A response to an unconditioned stimulus that requires no previous experience

Example:
Salivation from a dog when seeing food

Question 9

What is CS and CR?
(conditioned Stimulus) and (conditioned response)

Answer 9

Conditioned Stimulus:
An environmental event whose significance is learned through classical conditioning. the meaning or behavior is learned not innate.

Example:
Metronome that elicits salivation from a dog

Conditioned Response:
A response learned through classical conditioning

Example: Salivation from a dog when seeing the metronome

Question 10

what is Acquisition?

Answer 10

The development of a learned response

Question 11

What is Extinction?

Answer 11

The reduction of a learned response

classical conditioning:
extinction occurs when a conditioned stimulus no longer follows the conditioned stimulus

Operant conditioning:
extinction occurs when the consequence no longer follows the learned behavior

Question 12

what is Spontaneous recovery?

Answer 12

During extinction training, Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of conditioned responses after periods of rest.

Metronom suddenly predicts food again -> conditioned response of salivation in dogs might return

Question 13

what is Inhibition?

Answer 13

When a Conditioned stimulus predicts the nonoccurrence of an unconditioned stimulus

if a mouse is conditioned that light= pain it will fear light but if we also teach it that light + Sound = no pain then the mouse will not fear light in combination with the sound. The sound (CS) predicts the nonoccurrence of pain (UCS)

Note to self, should be all stimuli that can be inhibited not just UCS since fear of the light is a conditioned stimulus.

Question 14

what is Generalization?

Answer 14

The tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to an already conditioned stimulus

Example:
Fear of bees can expand into fear of similar bugs such as wasps and yellowjackets

Question 15

What is discrimination?

Answer 15

A learned ability to distinguish between stimuli

example:
when a dog is given food after a high note but not low notes it first generalises the stimulus and both elicit salivation but in time discrimination happens and only the high note will elicit salivation

Question 16

higher-order conditioning

Answer 16

A conditioned Stimulus can further condition a stimulus

if you are bitten by a dog the pain of the bite can condition fear of dogs however now things that are predictive of dogs like a doghouse can also be conditioned to cause fear.

A conditioned stimulus acts like an unconditioned stimulus and creates further conditioned stimulus.

Question 17

Latent inhibition

Answer 17

new stimulus Condition much faster since we have no previous experience to compare to.

eating a pizza and feeling bad won’t make you associate pizzas with feeling bad however, if you tried chocolate-covered ants and they made you sick you would probably associate them with the sickness

Pizza = good but made you feel bad once
Chocolate-covered ants= make you sick

Question 18

Taste aversion experiment and implication

Answer 18

in the realm of classical conditioning, all stimuli are not equal. Rats had a much easier time associating drinking water with nasua than with electrical shocks.

It stands to reason that while conditioning stimuli the CS should be close to the UCS in themes.

Question 19

Exposure therapy

Answer 19

using extinction to reduce the magnitude of fear responses through stimulus exposure and finally removing the conditioning.

by showing a subject that a spider is not dangerous and exposing them to contact with the spider the subject can start to let go of the conditioning.

Question 19

Albert Fear experiment

Answer 19

Pairing a white lab mouse with a scary sound proved that we can condition fear in humans since Albert learned to fear the rat after this.

This fear also generalized into fear of other white fluffy objects such as rabbits, dogs, and fur coats.

Fear can be caused by classical conditioning.

Question 20

Aversion Therapy

Answer 20

Application of counterconditioning where a Conditioned stimulus that’s been previously paired with a pleasant Unconditioned stimulus is instead paired with an unpleasant one

Example:
a compound containing silver that reacts with tobacco to make cigarettes taste awful.

CS - Smoking
pleasant UCS - Nicotine
Unpleasant UCS - Bad taste

Question 20

systematic desensitization

Answer 20

After guiding the subject into relaxation the fear stimulus is introduced gradually to associate it with relaxation.

Question 21

What are Schedules of reinforcements?

Answer 21

different ways to reward behavior

Continuous reinforcment

Partial reinforcement:
Fixed ratio (FR) schedules
Variable ratio schedule
Fixed interval schedule
variable interval schedule

Question 21

Fixed ratio Schedules

Answer 21

a schedule of reinforcement in which reinforcement occurs following a set number of behaviors

Reward after a set amount of button presses

Question 21

Types of Consequences

Answer 21

We can increase behavior by adding stimulus to the environment through positive reinforcement or removing stimulus from the environment through negative reinforcement

We can also decrease behavior by adding stimulus through Positive punishment or removing stimulus through negative punishment

Positive reinforcement:
Giving treats

Negative reinforcement:
stopping an electric shock by pressing a button

Positive punishment:
Spanking a kid

Negative punishment:
Taking away toys

Question 22

Partial reinforcement

Answer 22

Reinforcement of desired behavior on some occasions but not on others

Sometimes when you press the button you get a reward

Question 23

Variable ratio schedule

Answer 23

Reinforcement following a variable number of desired behaviors

after (a continuously changing number) of button presses you get a reward.

Question 24

Fixed interval schedule

Answer 24

reinforcement following the desired behavior but only once within a fixed interval

once per two minutes you can press the button for a reward.

Question 25

Variable interval schedule

Answer 25

reinforcement following the desired behavior but only once within a variable interval

once per (Changing interval), you can press the button for a reward.

Question 26

Shaping

Answer 26

also called The method of successive approximation

you can shape behavior by reinforcing gradual steps of the final behavior we want to train.

you get a reward when you step into the gaming room ->
-> You get a reward when you sit by the computer ->
-> You get a reward when you press the button.

Question 27

Latent learning

Answer 27

Learning that occurs in the absence of reinforcement

Question 28

Token Economies

Answer 28

Tokens that can be exchanged for other reinforcers are used to increase the frequency of desirable behaviors

while money is on its own technically useless it would still work as good reinforcement.

Question 29

Imitation

Answer 29

copying a behaviour that is unlikely to occur naturally and spontaneously

Dancing moves from a music video.

Question 30

Meme

Answer 30

The basic unit of cultural transmission passed to others through observational learning

symbol, melody, words, practices

Question 31

why is Attention important for
observational learning?

Answer 31

We are more likely to model the behavior of people who get our attention

Question 32

What promotes observational learning?

Answer 32

Keeping a memory of the behavior

Having the ability to reproduce the behavior

Reinforcement of a behavior motivates us to perform it too.