Learning 1 Flashcards
Define habituation
Simple words = Getting bored of the same stimulus once you get used to it
Proper definition = Decrease in response to a stimulus that has been exposed repeatedly, thus, you have become familiar with it
What does habituation rely on?
Memory
Why do we habituate?
When we habituate, we ignore familiar stimuli/info which allows us to concentrate on more important activities/info/stimuli
What are the 2 types of conditioning?
1) Classical conditioning
2) Operant conditioning
Who proposed the idea of Classical Conditioning?
Pavlov
Who performed Classical Conditioning on dogs to salivate?
Pavlov
What did Pavlov discover about dogs’ unconditioned stimulus and response?
1) He placed meat in the dog’s mouth (unconditioned stimulus)
2) Dog salivates due to meat (unconditioned response)
What did Pavlov discover about dogs’ conditioned stimulus and response?
1) The sound of the bell/person’s footsteps when meat is brought out (conditioned stimulus)
2) Dog salivate due to sound of bell/footsteps (conditioned response)
What is an unconditioned stimulus?
Stimulus that leads to an automatic response
What is a conditioned stimulus?
- Stimulus that leads to a response which requires training/learning beforehand
- AKA stimulus that can eventually trigger a condition response
Crabs retracting their eyes (Feinman et al) happens when (…) stimulus meets (…) stimulus
When a conditioned stimulus meets an unconditioned stimulus
Fish thrashing and octopus changing colour (Hanlon et al.) can happened when (…) stimulus meets (…) stimulus
When a conditioned stimulus meets an unconditioned stimulus
In human, training a conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus can (List 3)
1) Cause increased galvanic skin response/arousal to gun shot noises
2) Reflexive eye blinking to puff of air on the eye
3) Link words to sexual arousal
What does Acquisition mean?
- When a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus
For conditioning to occur best, does the neutral stimulus come before or after the unconditioned stimulus?
Before and about half a second time difference
“The ringing bell is repeatedly paired with dog food”. This is an example of…?
Acquisition as the bell is the NS and dog food is the US
Describe how a graph, showing the acquisition of a condition response, would look like
- There is a learning curve which forms an Ogive
1) There is a slow but gradual increase in response strength in the first few initial trials
2) A few trials later (middle of the graph), there is a rapid increase in response
3) In the later trials, the rate of response slows down but still increases, as a result of practice/training (negative acceleration)
What type of conditioning is this?
1) You salivate when there is meat
2) Meat is paired with the ringing of a bell repeatedly
3) You salivate when both meat and bell are present
4) You even salivate when the bell is present but not the meat
5) When the bell is paired with the smell of oranges you also salivate
6) When you smell the scent of oranges even without the ringing of the bell or the presence of meat, you still salivate
Acquisition of conditioned stimulus (Pavlov’s Classical conditioning)
What is Extinction?
The fading or disappearance of behaviour that was previously learned by association with another event
AKA. When a conditioned response is weakened and behaviour eventually stops and becomes extinct
” When the unconditioned stimulus does not follow the conditioned stimulus, the conditioned response begins to decrease and eventually becomes extinct” What does this describe?
Extinction
What is this an example of?
1) Wolf salivates when it sees cats
2) Wolf salivates when it sees cats and the “Cat Shack” signboard
3) Wolf salivates even when it sees the “Cat Shack” signboard alone
4) But for one week straight, the Wolf repeatedly does not see cats near the “Cat Shack” signboard
5) Wolf no longer salivates when it sees the “Cat Shack” signboard
Extinction
What is spontaneous recovery?
When the unconditioned stimulus is paired with the conditioned stimulus again, after a period of extinction, and the conditioned response spontaneously recovers
What is reconditioning?
- When you relearn a conditioned response after an extinction period
- When unconditioned stimulus and conditioned stimulus are paired again, the conditioned response returns to its original strength very quickly rather than starting from scratch
What is this an example of?
1) After a period of extinction, Wolf sees cats present near the “Cat Shack” signboard
2) Wolf immediately salivates to the sight of cats near the “Cat Shack” signboard
Spontaneous recovery and Reconditioning
What is Generalisation?
The tendency to perform a conditioned response in the same way you would to a conditioned stimulus, only now the new stimulus presented is not exactly the same but similar to the conditioned stimulus
What is this an example of?
1) Wolf salivates to the “Cat Shack” signboard and has officially been conditioned to respond this way once it recognises the signboard
2) However, Wolf also salivates when it sees the “Crab Shack” signboard as well as the “Tool shack” signboard because they share similarities with the “Cat Shack” sign
3) But once Wolf goes into the other shacks, it no longer salivates as there are no cats present
Generalisation
What is Discrimination?
The ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other similar stimuli that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus
What is this an example of?
1) In early trials, Wolf generalises to “Tool Shack” and “Crab Shack” signboards
2) Later, Wolf learns that the “Tool Shack” and “Crab Shack” do not have cats present and stops salivating to them
3) Thus, Wolf no longer salivates to other signboards other than the “Cat Shack” signboard
4) Wolf learns that tool shack with no cats/food is an inhibitor
Discrimination
What is the difference between classical and operant conditioning?
- Classical involves presenting CS with US to train a CR for an involuntary behaviour with stimulus
- Operant involves presenting reinforcements (rewards) and punishments which train voluntary behaviour with consequences
What is Conditioned Fear?
A state of fear/anxiety after a few pairings of a threatening stimulus with a formally neutral stimulus using classical conditioning
What is this an example of?
1) Wolf fears getting electrocuted and stops salivating when it sees the electrocution machine
2) Wolf repeatedly hears footsteps before it gets electrocuted
3) After a few trials, when the Wolf hears the sound of footsteps, it stops salivating and expects to be electrocuted
4) Wolf suppresses salivation when it hears footsteps and feels fear instead
Conditioned Fear
Who performed and introduced the Conditioned Emotional Response Procedure?
- Estes and Skinner
- Kamin
What is this an example of? (Type of response to a stimulus)
When exposed to a taser, Wolf jumps and howls
Unconditioned response to the taser
What is this an example of? (Type of response to a stimulus)
When exposed to the sound of footsteps, after being conditioned to expect being tasered afterwards, Wolf freezes and goes tense in anticipation
Conditioned response to the footsteps, following the taser
How does Classical Conditioning apply to Diabetes and drug use?
- Diabetic patients inject insulin to lower their blood sugar levels
- After many injections, the sight of the needle starts to trigger an early physiological response (increase in blood sugar levels)
- Body strives for homeostasis and conditioned response prepares for the unconditioned stimulus (compensatory reaction)
What is this an example of?
- Diabetic patients inject insulin to lower their blood sugar levels
- After many injections, the sight of the needle starts to trigger an early physiological response (increase in blood sugar levels)
- Body strives for homeostasis and the conditioned response prepares for the unconditioned stimulus (compensatory reaction)
Classical Conditioning for Diabetic patients
Who introduced Operant Conditioning?
- BF Skinner
- Edward L. Thorndike
What does Operant Conditioning explain?
A learning process in which the behaviour is repeated either through reinforcement or punishment
If a dog salivates, they are rewarded with meat. What type of conditioning is this?
Operant conditioning
Who believed that actions are not just reflexes, but are voluntary?
BF Skinner
What term is used when:
1) A behaviour that is followed by a pleasant consequence is likely to be repeated
2) A behaviour that is followed by an unpleasant consequence is less likely to be repeated
Law of effect
What does the Law of effect explain?
1) A behaviour that is followed by a pleasant consequence (reward) is likely to be repeated
2) A behaviour that is followed by an unpleasant consequence (punishment) is less likely to be repeated
Which experimenter tested operant conditioning with rats?
BF Skinner
What is this an example of?
1) Rats are put in a box
2) Box has a lever that drops food if pressed
3) Rat learns that if it presses the lever, food will drop and continues to repeat this response
Operant conditioning with positive reinforcement
What are the conditioned response and reinforcement/punishment in this example?
1) Rats are put in a box
2) Box has a lever that drops food if pressed
3) Rat learns that if it presses the lever, food will drop and continues to repeat this response
CR = Pressing the lever
Reinforcement = Food
What did Edward Tolman contribute to the research of conditioning?
Tolman’s Maze
What happened in Tolman’s Maze?
- Rats were left in the maze for a week
- They were given rewards (food)
- Findings show that rats learned to navigate around the maze quicker when given rewards than when they were not given rewards
What is Contiguity?
For learning to occur, the US must occur very soon after the CS is presented, or else an association will not occur
What term is used to describe that for learning to occur, the US must occur very soon after the CS is presented, or else an association will not occur
Contiguity
What is Contingency?
- Stimulus must reliably occur before the event
- Stimulus must have a link/relationship with the event
What term is used to describe when stimulus must RELIABLY occur before the event and must have a link/relationship with the event
Contingency
Which theory argues that other types of learning are not explained by operant and classical conditioning?
Contingency effects theory
Which theory argues that in order for learning to occur, a stimulus must provide the subject with information about the likelihood that a certain event will occur?
Contingency effects theory
What does the Contingency effects theory explain?
In order for learning to occur a stimulus must provide the subject with information about the likelihood that an event will occur
What did Rescola investigate about contingency effects?
Rescorla
1) Rats are exposed to tone (CS) and shock (US)
2) Tone is not always presented before the shock
3) In 2 groups of rats, tone indicated 40% chance of shock
4) Group 1 = Rats were given extra shocks without warning, tones were less used and rats learned to ignore the tone
5) Ground 2 = Rats had a much lower chance of shock and were not given a tone
6) Findings = Tone was somewhat useful as rats showed conditioning
How do animals learn?
- By surprise
- If the result is unexpected, the animal changes their sensitivity to a situation
Who introduced the blocking effect?
Leon Kamin
What is the blocking effect?
- When the conditioning to a stimulus is blocked
- Happens when a stimulus (associated with target behaviour) is presented with a 2nd stimulus that was previously a reliable predictor (contingent) of that outcome
- AKA if CS2 is presented at the same time as CS1 (a CS already associated with US), it is more difficult to associate between CS2 and US
Who introduced Latent Learning?
Tolman and Honzik
What is Latent Learning?
- The acquisition of new knowledge without change in behaviour
- Knowledge that is not that obvious at the time of learning but manifests later when there is a suitable motivation
Which researchers tested Latent Learning in desert ants?
Harkness and Marouda
What did Harkness and Marouda discover about Latent Learning in desert ants?
1) Desert ants leave nests to look for food
2) After finding food, the ants head straight back to the nest
3) Food can be as far as 50m away from the nest
6) Ant uses movement velocity to update their position to carry the food
7) Findings indicate learning without conditioning
8) The ants had subconsciously retained info without motivation or reinforcement
Who introduced Cognitive Map theory?
Tolman
What does the Cognitive Map theory suggest?
- Memories of RECENTLY travelled routes are combined with memories of PREVIOUSLY travelled routes to create an integrated map of the environment
- The reason why individuals can successfully navigate via spatial positioning is that they can use a map in their memory as a representation of space during navigation
What explains non-result based learning?
Cognitive Map theory
What type of conditioning uses the law of effect?
Operant conditioning
What type of conditioning can be used to condition fear responses
Classical conditioning
