Learning Flashcards
Generalization
When a person learns a response to a particular stimulus and then makes the same response to similar stimuli.
Classical conditioning
A form of learning in which a new, involuntary response is acquired as a result of 2 stimuli being presented at the same time (e.g.: John Watson’s Little Albert):
Unconditioned stimulus: the loud noise
Unconditioned response: fear
Neutral stimulus: the white rat, which overtime becomes the conditioned stimulus, and the conditioned response is the fear reaction
Extinction
Gradual disappearance of an acquired response by the absence of the unconditioned stimulus.
Operant conditioning
A form of learning in which a response increases in frequency as a result of its being followed by reinforcement
Edward Thorndike’s law of effect (1911)
Behavioral responses to stimuli that are followed by a satisfactory response will be strengthened, but responses that are followed by discomfort will be weakened.
Reinforcer
Stimuli that increase the probability of the response occurring again.
Primary reinforcers: satisfy biological needs (food, shelter, oxygen)
Secondary reinforcers: money, praise, success
Extrinsic reinforcers: come from the outside environment (stickers, $)
Intrinsic reinforcers: come from oneself (enjoying an activity)
Reinforcement
The act of following a response with a reinforcer.
Positive reinforcement: reinforcing a consequence that increases the likelihood of the behavior (praise, food, $, intrinsic reinforcers); it strengthens the behavior.
Negative reinforcement: the strengthening of a behavior because something negative or unpleasant is removed from the situation (doing your homework to avoid trouble with the teacher); it strengthens the behavior.
Vicarious reinforcement: experienced in the imagination through the action of another
Shaping
The process of reinforcing successful closer and closer approximations to a desired terminal behavior; it uses a program, that is, a carefully designed series of discriminative stimuli and reinforcements for subtle changes in response (reinforcing successive approximations). It’s important to clearly define the behavioral objective and target behavior, and to know when to deliver or withhold reinforcement.
Shaping can generate complex behaviors that have almost a zero probability of occurring naturally in the final form.
Differential reinforcement
To increase desirable behaviors and to decrease undesirable behaviors without the use of punishments; it aims to get rid of undesirable behaviors by using positive reinforcement in a structured manner to increase desirable behaviors.
It uses extinction, which is the removal of the positive reinforcer that maintains the undesirable behavior.
Schedule of reinforcement
A rule stating which instances of a behavior will be reinforced.
Continuous reinforcement schedule: the desired behavior is reinforced each and every time it occurs; desired behavior learned quickly; difficult to maintain over a long period of time; behavior easily extinguished if reinforcement stops.
Intermittent reinforcement schedule: response reinforced only part of the time; more resistant to extinction; take longer to be acquired; 4 types: fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, variable interval.
Observational learning (modeling)
Observing and mimicking others; 4 steps:
Attention: critical to catching all of the important details
Retention: the process of taking the information in through your senses and committing it to memory
Motor reproduction: the act of putting to use the information taken in
Reinforcement: vicarious reinforcement is unique to observational learning
Insight learning (Wolfgang Kohler)
Insight learning is the abrupt realization of a problem’s solution. Insight learning is not the result of trial and error, responding to an environmental stimulus, or the result of observing someone else attempting the problem. It is a completely cognitive experience that requires the ability to visualize the problem and the solution internally - in the mind’s eye, so to speak - before initiating a behavioral response.
Insight learning is considered a type of learning because it results in a long-lasting change. Following the occurrence of insight, the realization of how to solve the problem can be repeated in future similar situations.
Taste aversion (The Garcia Effect)
A developed feeling of disgust for something; can disrupt the process of learning something through classical conditioning.
Differential Reinforcement of Lower Rates of Behavior (DRL)
The reinforcement is provided when the undesirable behavior occurs less often than it did before. DRL is useful when you want to decrease the frequency of behavior, but not entirely eliminate it right away. For example, suppose that there is a student that answers on average 30% of his math quiz questions incorrectly. A teacher may give a student verbal praise (reinforcement) if the student misses only 20% of the questions on his next quiz (reduction in frequency).
Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO)
The reinforcement is provided when the undesirable behavior has not occurred or is absent during a specified period of time. DRO is useful when you want to directly reduce undesirable behavior. For example, a parent tells their teenage daughter that for each week that she does not skip class (absence of undesirable behavior), the daughter will receive an extra $20 in her allowance (reinforcement). The undesirable behavior is skipping class.
