Learning Flashcards
how often should you text someone if you want them to stay interested
variable amounts, not fixed so people cannot predict
types of learning
habitual, classical and operant conditioning
describe what learning is
change in behavior as result of experience
describe what behaviorism is
collection of theories that emphasize learning based on experience/environment rather than mentalism (features of human mind)
nurture / empiricism
things are a result of environment and learning (behaviorism)
nature / nativism
things are a result of the mind (mentalism)
describe habitual learning
non-associative
decline in response to environmental stimuli after repeated exposure
what is sensory adaptation
neural mechanism where cells no longer fire in response to same stimuli
describe classical conditioning
learning of association based on repeated presentation of paired stimuli
what is an unconditioned stimulus
physiological thing that causes response
food, shock that causes reflective response
what is a conditioned response
pairing neutral stimulus that does not cause reflective response
requirements for classical conditioning
conditioned stimulus has to be timed right (not too long)
extinction
if the conditioned stimulus occurs without the unconditioned stimulus, response will start to be less eventually be extinct
stimulus generalization
stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus will predictably cause the conditioned response
scope and application of classical conditioning
applies to various animals
humans: fear, hunger, sex
systematic desensitization
slowly start presenting objects more similar to conditioned stimulus to gradually reduce response
why do we learn through classical conditioning
adaptive response: helps organism prepare / predict
describe garcia effect / taste aversion
we immediately avoid foods that make us sick
why can taking a drug in a new environment be fatal?
there are less cues to prepare body for toleration of drug
why is garcia effect / taste aversion important or exist
organisms biologically prepared to learn association between food and sickness, showing conscious awareness is not necessary for association
response was NOT close in time (sickness occured hours later)
define operant conditioning
organisms learn the relationships between actions and consequences
engage in behaviors that reward
skinner theory of radical behaviorism
emphasized learning only through conditioning (rejected any innate skills or knowledge)
successive approximation
reward behavior that is close to the desired behavior until obtain desired behavior
positive reinforcement
a reinforcer is the thing that increases behavior
primary: food
secondary: money
negative reinforcement
rewarding someone by removing something bad from the environment
punishment
negative consequences in response to an unwanted behavior
momentarily changes behavior but not long-term
partial reinforcement
rewarding a behavior, but not every time
fixed ratio partial reinforcement
rerward after every nth response
variable ratio partial reinforcement
reward on average once in every n responses
fixed interval partial reinforcement
reward every x seconds/minutes/hours
variable interval partial reinforcement
reward once in every x seconds/minutes/hours
Which partial reinforcement method is the best?
variable over fixed so people do not have an expectation
how successful was behaviorism
led to scientific research
conditioning close to laws
spontaneous recovery
re-exposure to conditioned stimuli after extinction can sometimes evoke the conditioned response again
Imagine a scenario where a dog is conditioned to salivate (conditional response) at the sound of a bell (CS) because it was consistently paired with food (unconditioned stimulus). If the dog undergoes extinction training (repeatedly hears the bell without food), the salivation response diminishes. However, if the dog is then exposed to the bell in a new context (a different room or environment), the conditioned response may spontaneously reappear.
renewal effect
renewal effect
recovery of conditioned response in a new environment
The finding that an animal will stop performing an instrumental response that once led to a reinforcer if the reinforcer is separately made aversive or undesirable
reinforcer devaluation effect
If a rat presses a lever and gets cheese but also gets sick, will they press it again and why?
no, reinforcer devaluation effect
when something is no longer affected by reinforcer devaluation effect, what is this called
habit
vicarious reinforcement
learning that occurs by observing the punishment of someone else
