Learning

Question 1

Operant Conditioning

Answer 1

learning to operate on the environment to produce a consequence (learning to behave in such a way as to get rewards and avoid punishments)
Uses reinforcement and punished to create learned associations to increase or decrease recurrence of certain behaviours

Question 2

Classical Conditioning (Pavlovian or Respndent Conditioning)

Answer 2

A type of learning that happens unconsciously and is associative. This learning process creates a conditioned response through pairing of an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus

Question 3

Behaviourism/Behaviour Analysis

Answer 3

Studies behaviour as a function of environmental influences - interested in observable cause of behaviour and looks to predict and control behaviour

Question 4

Non-associative Learning

Answer 4

Habituation - get used to a stimulus

Sensitization - hypersensitivity to a stimulus

Question 5

Extinction (Classical)

Answer 5

Repeated presentation of the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus eventually elimates the conditioned response

Question 6

Extinction (Operant)

Answer 6

The reinforcer no longer follows the behaviour - firstly the behviour will increase (extinction burst) then eventually decline and cease

Question 7

Shaping (Successive Approximation)

Answer 7

Reinforcing behaviour progressively to reach the target behaviour (small steps)

Question 8

Three Term Contingency (ABC’s)

Answer 8

Antecedent - Behaviour - Consequence (Operant Conditioning)

Question 9

Operants

Answer 9

Behaviours that are emitted instead of elicited by the environment - have an effect on the environment

Question 10

Primary reinforcer

Answer 10

An unconditioned stimulus that is biologically important such as food

Question 11

Discriminative stimulus (Sd)

Answer 11

An antecedent stimulus that signals that reinforcement will follow - increases the probability of a specific response

Question 12

Stimulus Delta (SΔ)

Answer 12

An antecedent stimulus signifying that a given response will not be reinforced

Question 13

Secondary reinforcer

Answer 13

A conditioned stimulus that is created by association - causes learned behaviour

Question 14

Stimulus generalization

Answer 14

Classical - a conditioned response is elicited from a stimulus that is similar to the CS (not identical)

Operant - learned behaviour occurs in the presence of stimuli that are similiar (but not the same) as when it was reinforced

Question 15

Two types of scedule reinforcement

Answer 15

Continuous - response it reinforced every time it occurs - fast to learn, fast to extinguish
(fixed ratio FR1)

Intermittent - responses sometimes reinforced

Question 16

Fixed ratio schedule

Answer 16

Response is reinfored every specified number of times (e.g a rat receiving food everytime it presses a button 5 times) - creates a high rate, stepped pattern

Question 17

Variable ratio schedule

Answer 17

Response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of times (e.g. pokie machines) - creates a high, steady rate

Question 18

Fixed interval schedule

Answer 18

The first response after a fixed period of time is reinforced (e.g weekly pay check)

Question 19

Variable interval schedule

Answer 19

A varying amount of time passes between each reinforcement (e.g checking emails)

Question 20

Interstimulus intervals

Answer 20

Forward conditioning - NS happens before US (most effective)
Simultaneous - NS and US at the same time
Backward - US happens before NS

Question 21

Latent learning

Answer 21

Learning has occured but isn’t currently manifested in behaviour