Learning Flashcards
Associative learning
process of associating multiple things together
Learning broadly involves these three steps
1.) Process
2.) Acquiring information
3.) New information
Classical conditioning
Pavlov Dogs
Stimulus
Event or situation that evokes or creates a response
Conditioned equals…
Learned
Unconditioned equals…
Unlearned (has not been learned yet)
Two primary ways we learn (conditioning)
1.) Classical
2.) Operant
(association)
Observational learning
Trying to imitate based on what kids see; just observation so not one of the two primary ways we learn but definitely common way we learn is through observation
Pavlov
Studying salvation levels of dogs and noticed that when dogs are presented with meat, they would salivate more (natural response).
When the meat was paired with a bell over time, meat wasn’t creating a response but bell was causing them to start salivating (which didn’t make sense to him but was caused by CLASSICAL CONDITIONING)
Classical conditioning
Neutral stimuli that can cause us to have certain responses
- ALL BEHAVIORISM framework so classical conditioning is seen as a field of behaviorism
Paradigm
Recipe to build classical conditioning process
5 “Ingredients” for a paradigm
1.) Unconditioned stimulus
2.) Unconditioned response
3.) Neutral stimulus
4.) NS becomes CS (conditioned)
5.) UR becomes CR (conditioned)
Unconditioned stimulus (US)
Unlearned stimulus that causes a response
- Unlearned AND naturally occurring; will cause a response of some sort
Unconditioned response (UR)
Unlearned response; built in; naturally occurring
- US always causes UR
Neutral stimulus (NS)
Something neutral that should NOT initiate a certain feeling on its own
EX. Bell is neutral in Pavlov’s dogs example
NS becomes CS
EX. Bell in Pavlov’s dogs example becomes a conditioned stimulus (evokes a response)
- learning has happened
(In EX., bell is now enough to cause a response; don’t need the meat anymore [CS])
UR becomes the CR
Response doesn’t change but now it is conditioned
ex. bell evokes salivation
Examples of paradigms
Food eversions
Trauma triggers
is NOT always bad; can be positive response too!!
5 processes that build on Classical Conditioning
1.) Acquisition
2.) Extinction
3.) Spontaneous Recovery
4.) Generalization
5.) Discrimination
Acquisition
Initial learning
Extinction
Extinguished/break the chain of unconditioned response
-This is the premise of trauma therapy to break the connection so trigger doesn’t cause fear/anxiety response anymore
Reduction of CR but hard to break… and never fully eliminated
Spontaneous recovery
Reappearance of an extinguished CR
- Conditioning process is quicker this time around so conditioning NEVER fully disappears, just buried
Generalization
CS elicits a response
- Similar CS’s can also elicit a response
EX. Trauma about almost hit by a particular car can generalize to being afraid of all vehicles
Discrimination
Can discriminate one CS from another…
Clinical example is Antabuse
Antabuse
Used in the treatment of alcohol abuse (dependent on alcohol and interfering with life so trying to refrain from use)
Biological and learning route
*This is a medication that prevents the breakdown of different pieces of alcohol
- get really sick and hung over times ten
- incentive not to use alcohol because don’t want to get sick
- can break that chain of alcohol abuse
What is the point of Antabuse?
Patients develop aversive response via classical conditioning (avoiding alcohol so they don’t get sick)
- sight or smell of alcohol can cause nausea
Does Antabuse work in the long-term?
No because people can just stop taking the medication to avoid the response, which breaks the classical conditioning (from a behavioral standpoint)
Operant conditioning
Trying to strengthen or reduce a response