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5BBA2040 Psychology I > L1: Classical Conditioning > Flashcards

L1: Classical Conditioning Flashcards

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1
Q

What is habituation in classical conditioning?

A
  • when a novel stimulus initially produces a strong response from an organism,
  • but this response lessens over time with repeated exposure to the stimulus
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2
Q

Why does habituation occur?

A
  • because an organism tends to attend to novel stimuli as they may signal danger or reward (orienting reflex)
  • but if stimulus turns out not to signal imminent danger/ reward, intensity of response declines as organism learns that the stimulus does not warrant its attention
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3
Q

What is sensitization in classical conditioning?

A
  • involves an increase in the behavioral response to a stimulus
  • occurs when an organism becomes more responsive to certain aspects of the environment, often in response to noxious/fearful stimuli
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4
Q

When does sensitization typically occur?

A
  • when noxious or fearful stimuli are presented to an organism
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5
Q

provide an example of sensitization

A
  • when individual feels “touchy” or hypersensitive after experiencing an unpleasant/fearful event
  • in this case, the individual becomes more responsive to potential threats in their environment.
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6
Q

provide an example of sensitization

A
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7
Q

What are reflexes in the context of behaviour?

A
  • unlearned/innate automatic responses to specific stimuli.
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8
Q

Define species-specific behaviours (instincts)

A
  • Complex, unlearned behaviors genetically determined in certain animals
  • exhibited under specific circumstances - not subject to significant modification through learning
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9
Q

Provide examples of species-specific behaviours (instincts).

A
  • hibernation, nest building, mating behavior, and nut burying behaviours (squirrels)
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10
Q

What is imprinting, according to Konrad Lorenz?

A
  • combination of learned & instinctive behaviour, involving the formation of attachment between an organism and an environmental object.
  • occurs during a specific period of heightened sensitivity- known as the critical period.
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11
Q

Explain single-trial learning in the context of imprinting

A
  • refers to the process where an animal learns to fixate its attention on the first object
  • learning to follow the first object/stimulus encountered persistently
  • example: young ducklings, which imprint on the first moving object they see after hatching, usually their mother/another moving stimulus
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12
Q

Define learning.

A
  • relatively permanent behaviour change from experience, distinct from temporary factors. (fatigue, illness, maturation, intoxication)
  • translation of learning to behaviour may not occur immediately
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13
Q

What is associative learning?

A

process of learning by associating stimuli or behaviors with specific outcomes.

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14
Q

What are the two types of associative learning ?

A

Classical conditioning and instrumental (operant) conditioning

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15
Q

What is instrumental conditioning?

A

Learning how to obtain desirable outcomes and avoid undesirable ones

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16
Q

What is classical conditioning?

A
  • form of associative learning
  • an organism learns to associate two different stimuli
  • leading to a change in behaviour/response to one of the stimuli based on its association with the other
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17
Q

Give examples of classical conditioning in daily life.

A

Associating the perfume of a favorite teacher with favorable memories of school
OR
having difficult subjects in the morning leading to a mild dislike for mornings.

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18
Q

What experiment did Pavlov conduct to study classical conditioning?

A
  • Pavlov conducted an experiment on dogs
  • he fitted them with an oesophageal and gastric fistula.
  • The dogs could be fed, but the food did not reach their stomachs.
  • observed that stimulation of one part of the body (mouth) could cause a reflexive response in another (gastric fluids)
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19
Q

What did Pavlov notice during his experiment?

A
  • noticed that mere sight of food could cause the release of gastric fluids in the dogs,
  • which is known as a conditioned reflex.
  • an example of classical conditioning
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20
Q

What is the process of “Acquisition” in classical conditioning?

A
  • For the conditioned response (CR) to be produced, the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US) must be paired a number of times.
  • CS must be presented before the US
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21
Q

How is “Reinforcement” defined in Pavlovian conditioning?

A
  • US referred to as reinforcement because the entire conditioning process depends on it.
  • CR depends on the US for its existence, making the US a reinforcer.
  • NOTE: organism doesn’t have control over reinforcement, and it occurs when the experimenter wants it to happen, not contingent on any response by the organism
22
Q

What is “Extinction” in classical conditioning?

A
  • when the CR gradually disappears if the CS is continually presented without the US
23
Q

Describe “Spontaneous Recovery” in classical conditioning

A
  • when, after a period of time following extinction, CS is presented again, and the conditioned response (CR) reappears temporarily
24
Q

What is “Higher Order Conditioning” in classical conditioning?

A
  • occurs after several pairings of a neutral stimulus with the first CS, leading the neutral stimulus to become a second CS that elicits the CR
  • original CS becomes a secondary reinforcer, and the US becomes the primary reinforcer.
  • challenging to go beyond third-order conditioning during the study of extinction
25
Q

Explain “Generalisation” in classical conditioning.

A

During extinction, similar stimuli to the CS will produce similar but weakened conditioned responses (CR).

26
Q

What is “Discrimination” in classical conditioning?

A
  • caused by prolonged training or differential reinforcement
  • where the organism learns to respond to one specific stimulus and not others
27
Q

What is the optimal interval between the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (US) in classical conditioning?

A
  • up to 0.5 seconds, where the CS appears before the US, stays on until the US appears,
  • and backward conditioning (CS coming after the US) does not lead to conditioning bc CS does not predict the occurrence of the US.
28
Q

What is Inhibitory Conditioning?

A
  • Inhibitory conditioning occurs when the CS suppresses or inhibits a response, leading to a lack of CR
29
Q

How does Inhibitory Conditioning differ from Excitatory Conditioning?

A
  • In excitatory conditioning, the CS elicits a CR, while in inhibitory conditioning, the CS suppresses or inhibits a response, resulting in the absence of a CR
30
Q

What happens during discrimination in Inhibitory Conditioning?

A
  • As training progresses, discrimination occurs, and the compound stimulus or the CS alone (in inhibitory conditioning) fails to produce the CR
31
Q

What is external inhibition in Inhibitory Conditioning?

A
  • External inhibition, also known as distraction, occurs when a stimulus (e.g., a light) is presented with the CS, leading to inhibition of the CR
32
Q

What is Semantic Generalisation in Pavlovian Conditioning?

A
  • process where humans are conditioned not only to specific stimuli but also to the meaning/concept associated with the stimulus
  • . For example, if the conditioned stimulus (CS) is “4,” individuals may also respond similarly to “sqrt(16),” “8/2,” “2x2,” or “40/10.”
33
Q

How does language function as a second signaling system in humans?

A
  • humans respond to language & words as they would to actual stimuli that predict certain situations, demonstrating semantic generalisation.
  • e.g. responding to the word “danger” as if it predicts a threatening situation
34
Q

How does the level of language development influence semantic generalisation?

A
  • language development affects semantic generalisation
  • younger individuals may generalize to synonyms, while older individuals with more advanced language skills may generalize to antonyms
  • e.g. , an 8-year-old may generalize “CS = visual presentation of word ‘right’” to synonyms like “rite.” Older individuals with more advanced language skills may generalize to antonyms; for example, a 14-year-old may generalize “CS = visual presentation of word ‘right’” to antonyms like “wrong.”
35
Q

Is contiguity alone enough for classical conditioning to occur?

A
  • No, contiguity alone is not sufficient for classical conditioning
  • Organisms must be able to use the CS to reliably predict whether reinforcement will occur (information value).
  • Egger and Miller’s study showed that the reliable signal becomes more conditioned than the unreliable one.
36
Q

What is backward conditioning?

A
  • occurs when the CS is presented after the US
  • typically doesn’t lead to classical conditioning as CS is not informative (and does not predict the occurrence of the US)
37
Q

What is the relationship between contingency and conditioning?

A

-contingency (predictability) plays a crucial role in conditioning.
- Positive contingency (CS reliably predicts US) leads to increased responses, while negative contingency (CS does not predict US) leads to decreased responses

38
Q

What is learned helplessness?

A
  • a generalised belief that one can do nothing to terminate or avoid an aversive situation
  • not caused by the traumatic experience itself but by the perceived inability to change the situation
  • can lead to passivity, withdrawal, fearfulness, and even depression in humans
39
Q

What are conceptual categories in classical conditioning?

A
  • Conceptual knowledge is involved when humans generalize fear.
  • Conditioning at the category level of mental representation leads to the conditioned fear response generalizing more easily to typical category members compared to atypical category members
40
Q

How do different age groups respond to semantic generalisation?

A

-Different age groups respond differently to semantic generalisation.
- Younger individuals (8-year-olds) may generalize to synonyms
- while older individuals (11-year-olds) may generalize to antonyms, and even older ones (14-year-olds) may generalize to synonyms like “correct.”

41
Q

Is the pairing of a CS and a US sufficient for classical conditioning to occur?

A
  • No, the pairing of a CS & a US (contiguity) alone is not enough for CC to occur
  • Factors like overshadowing and blocking show that organisms tend to pay attention to most valid predictors of significant events and ignore less useful ones
42
Q

What is learned helplessness?

A
  • a belief that one can do nothing to terminate or avoid an aversive situation.
  • It is not caused by the traumatic experience itself but by the perceived inability to change the situation, leading to passivity, withdrawal, and even depression in humans
43
Q

What are applications of classical conditioning theory?

A
  • Applications of classical conditioning theory include taste aversion (Garcia effect) and using conditioned stimuli to modify behavior, such as treating addiction to alcohol using counterconditioning or addressing phobias with systematic desensitization.
44
Q

What is the Garcia effect?

A
  • refers to the remarkable facility with which rats (and other animals) learn about the relationship between the taste of a particular food and subsequent illness
  • This taste aversion can develop after just a few pairings and is extremely resistant to extinction.
45
Q

What is evaluative conditioning?

A
  • occurs when a neutral stimulus becomes associated with the emotional valence (positive or negative) of an unconditional stimulus
  • leading to the neutral stimulus eliciting the same emotional response
46
Q

How does contextual learning occur during extinction in classical conditioning?

A
  • Contextual learning during extinction means that the context in which the CS is presented influences the inhibition of the CR, disrupting the previously learned CS-US association.
  • This process can occur without conscious awareness.
47
Q

: What is the role of cognitive expectancies in classical conditioning?

A
  • CC results from the formation of cognitive expectancies triggered by the presentation of the CS.
  • The CR may be similar to the UR, prepare the organism for the UR, or be antagonistic to the UR
48
Q

How does evaluative conditioning influence our preferences?

A
  • can influence our preferences by associating a neutral stimulus with something we already like/dislike.
  • advertisers often use this technique to associate products with rewarding or aversive stimuli.
49
Q

What are some examples of classical conditioning applications?

A

1, Chemotherapy-induced Taste Aversion:
- Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy may develop aversions to certain foods due to the nausea associated with the treatment.
- This taste aversion is highly resistant to extinction.
2. Addressing Predators Killing Livestock:
- In certain states in the USA, predators like coyotes may kill livestock. Researchers used aversive conditioning by feeding coyotes lamb and rabbit meat poisoned with lithium chloride (causing nausea).
- The coyotes learned to avoid eating those animals, reducing livestock predation.
3. Treating Phobias through Systematic Desensitization:
- SD is a technique used to treat phobias by gradually exposing individuals to feared stimuli while they are in a relaxed state.
- This process helps individuals overcome their fear responses in a controlled and systematic manner.

50
Q

How does chemotherapy-induced taste aversion work?

A
  • Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy may develop taste aversions to certain foods they consumed before treatment.
  • time delay between the CS (e.g., the taste of saccharin) and the US (e.g., nausea from chemotherapy) can be several hours. Despite the delay, a strong taste aversion can develop after just a few pairings.
  • The taste aversion is highly resistant to extinction, making it a significant challenge for cancer patients during treatment
51
Q

How was aversive conditioning used to address predators killing livestock?

A
  • researchers faced the problem of predators, such as coyotes, killing livestock in certain states in the USA
  • to address this issue, they used aversive conditioning by feeding coyotes lamb and rabbit meat poisoned with lithium chloride, causing nausea
  • coyotes quickly learned to avoid eating the animals whose meat made them ill, leading to a reduction in livestock predation
52
Q

What is systematic desensitization, and how is it used to treat phobias?

A
  • a technique used to treat phobias and anxiety disorders
  • involves exposing individuals to feared stimuli in a gradual and controlled manner while they are in a relaxed state
  • process typically involves the following steps:
    1. Creating an anxiety hierarchy
    2. Teaching relaxation techniques
    3. Exposure and relaxation (starting from the least anxiety-inducing item on the hierarchy, the individual is exposed to the feared stimulus while maintaining relaxation)
    4. Gradual progression (as the individual becomes comfortable with 1 item, they move on to the next, gradually progressing through the hierarchy until they can confront the most anxiety-provoking situation without fear)

5BBA2040 Psychology I (10 decks)

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