Learning Flashcards
Pavlov’s dogs
classical conditioning experiment that caused dogs to salivate when a bell was rung
US: food, UR: salivating, CS: bell, CR: salivating
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS/US)
something that creates a response automatically, doesn’t need to be learned
Unconditioned response (UC/UCR)
what happens naturally when stimulus is presented- does not need to be learned
conditioned stimulus (CS)
something that gets a response that is learned
conditioned response (CR)
what happens when the taught stimulus is presented
neutral stimulus (NS)
produces no response (CS before conditioning)
conditions for classical conditioning (2)
- CS has to happen before the US
- the time in between the two stimuli should be about 1/2 a secoond
acquisition
period of when the learning is occurring in classical conditioning (when you pair US to CS to get CR)
extinction
when US does not follow CS, CR begins to decrease and eventually stops
spontaneous recovery
after a rest period, the CR comes back- learning didn’t disappear, just suppressed
discrimination
only responds to US in certain contexts, learns to differentiate
generalization
apply learning broadly, not just to US
second-order/higher-order conditioning
pair a new CS to the old one to get the same response (starbucks->happy, pulling into parking lot->happy)
taste aversion- Garcia
when you eat something and it makes you sick, then when you see, smell, or even think of that food, you feel nauseous
Thorndike’s Law of Effect
principle that behaviors followed by a good result are strengthened, while ones with bad results are weakened
shaping
reward close enough behaviors, guide behavior towards target through successive steps
negative vs positive punishment vs reinforcement
neg punish: take away desirable stimulus
pos punish: administer an aversive stimulus
neg reinforce: removal of a punishment or aversive stimulus
pos reinforce: reward given
pos: add, neg: eliminate, reinforce: increases behavior, punish: decreases behavior
primary reinforcers
don’t need to be learned, everyone likes these rewards of behavior (food, drink, warmth)
secondary reinforcers
need to be learned, can be traded for primary reinforcers (money, attention, grades)
intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation
in: desire to perform behavior for its own sake
ex: desire to perform behavior for a reward or avoid punishment
overjustification effect
the effect of promising a reward for doing what one already likes to do. the person may now see the reward, rather than intrinsic interest, as the motivation, and become uninterested.
continuous reinforcement
rewarding the behavior every time it happens- teaches behavior fastest
fixed vs variable, interval vs ratio schedulers of reinforcement
fixed interval: after set amount of time passed
fixed ratio: after set number of performances
variable interval: after varying amounts of time passed
variable ratio: after varying number of performances
variable= teaches long term
counter-conditioning
a behavior therapy procedure that uses classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; includes exposure therapies and
aversive conditioning
systematic desensitization
a type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli.
flooding
type of exposure therapy exposing someone directly to a stimulus or situation that produces maximum anxiety.
aversive conditioning
a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol).
modeling
the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior
Bandura’s Bobo experiment
Children mimicked the violent actions of adult models (lesser effect with positive models). Also showed we are especially likely to imitate people we perceive as similar to ourselves, as successful, or as admirable
mirror neurons
frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so
latent learning
learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.
instinctive learning
Biological constraints predispose organisms to learn associations that are naturally adaptive. even when trained, animals reverted to their biologically predisposed patterns.
chaining
linking a series of individual behaviors into a sequence (ex. obstacle course)
avoidance vs escape learning
avoidance: a response that enables subject to avoid an unpleasant stimulus altogether (preemptive)
escape: response that allows subject to leave an aversive situation (present)
