Kapitel 8 - The Adaptive mind Flashcards
Reflex
An inevitable, involuntary response to stimuli
Instinct
An inborn pattern of behavior elicited by environmental stimuli
Fixed action pattern
Learning
A relatively permanent change in behavior or the capacity for behavior due to experience
Types of learning (3 types)
Associative learning
Nonassociative learning
Observational learning
what is Associative learning and what are its subtypes?
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.
what is Nonassociative learning and what are its two subtypes?
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.
what is Observational learning?
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
what is UCS and UCR?
(unconditioned stimulus) and (Unconditioned response)
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
What is CS and CR?
(conditioned Stimulus) and (conditioned response)
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
what is Acquisition?
The development of a learned response
What is Extinction?
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
what is Spontaneous recovery?
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
what is Inhibition?
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.
what is Generalization?
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
What is discrimination?
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
higher-order conditioning
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.
Latent inhibition
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
Taste aversion experiment and implication
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.
Exposure therapy
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.
Albert Fear experiment
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.
Aversion Therapy
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
systematic desensitization
After guiding the subject into relaxation the fear stimulus is introduced gradually to associate it with relaxation.
What are Schedules of reinforcements?
different ways to reward behavior
Continuous reinforcment
Partial reinforcement:
Fixed ratio (FR) schedules
Variable ratio schedule
Fixed interval schedule
variable interval schedule
Fixed ratio Schedules
a schedule of reinforcement in which reinforcement occurs following a set number of behaviors
Reward after a set amount of button presses
Types of Consequences
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
Partial reinforcement
Reinforcement of desired behavior on some occasions but not on others
Sometimes when you press the button you get a reward
Variable ratio schedule
Reinforcement following a variable number of desired behaviors
after (a continuously changing number) of button presses you get a reward.
Fixed interval schedule
reinforcement following the desired behavior but only once within a fixed interval
once per two minutes you can press the button for a reward.
Variable interval schedule
reinforcement following the desired behavior but only once within a variable interval
once per (Changing interval), you can press the button for a reward.
Shaping
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.
Latent learning
Learning that occurs in the absence of reinforcement
Token Economies
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.
Imitation
copying a behaviour that is unlikely to occur naturally and spontaneously
Dancing moves from a music video.
Meme
The basic unit of cultural transmission passed to others through observational learning
symbol, melody, words, practices
why is Attention important for
observational learning?
We are more likely to model the behavior of people who get our attention
What promotes observational learning?
Keeping a memory of the behavior
Having the ability to reproduce the behavior
Reinforcement of a behavior motivates us to perform it too.
