Learning Flashcards
underlying machinery that makes behavior happen
physical machinery of the CNS
What isn’t learning
- fatigue
- change in stimulus conditions
- alteration in physiological or motivational state
- maturation
habituation
a decrease in response as a consequence of repeated exposure to stimulus
stimulus- stays constant
response- decreases
Which response is learned and which is innate in habituation
initial response is innate- not learned
decrease in response is learned
dishabituation
habituated response is restored by exposure to strong extraneous stimuli paired with stimulus to which animal has habituated
sensitization
increase in responsiveness produced by repeated stimulation
generally temporary effects
duration determined by intensity of sensitizing stimulus
stimulus- constant
response- increased
Classical Conditioning
aka Pavlovian Conditioning
simplest mechanism whereby an organism learns about relationships between stimuli and comes to alter its behavior accordingly
association type learning
unconditioned stimulus
stimulus that elicits a particular response without necessity of prior training
unconditioned response
response that occurs to a stimulus without the necessity of prior training
conditioned stimulus
stimulus that does not elicit a particular response initially but comes to do so as a result of being associated with a US
conditioned response
response that comes to be made to the CS as a result of classical conditioning
called conditioned response when it is elicited by the conditioned stimulus
extinction
if animal is repeatedly exposed to CS without further pairing with the US then the animal’s response to CS will eventually cease
extinction vs habituation
extinction: loss of learned response
habituation: loss of innate response
What is learning?
enduring change in mechanisms of behavior involving specific stimuli and/or responses that result from prior experience with similar stimuli and responses
Operant Conditioning
Also called instrumental conditioning
behavior is affected by its consequences
- pleasant consequences= likely to be repeated behavior
- unpleasant consequences= less likely to be repeated
eliciting stimulus
gives the animal information about the immediate consequences of a given behavior
appetitive stimulus
pleasant event
aversive stimulus
an unpleasant event
reinforcement
the probability that the behavior will recur is increased
punishment
the probability that the behavior will recur is decreased
positive operant conditioning term
the controlling stimulus is present or occurs as a consequence of the response occurring
response produces the stimulus
appetitive or aversive
negative operative conditioning term
controlling stimulus is absent or removed as a consequence of the response occurring
response eliminates or prevents the occurrence of the stimulus
-appetitive or aversive
operant conditioning: positive and negative reinforcement
positive reinforcement: probability that the behavior will occur increases as consequence of the CS being present or occurring immediately subsequent to behavior
negative reinforcement: the probability that the behavior will recur increase as a consequence of the controlling stimulus being absent or removed if the behavior occurs
prompting and fading
initially getting animal to do desired behavior
-gently guide the animal into position while giving an eliciting stimulus such as sit
fading- once desired behavior is attained- give reinforcer and with repetition gradually fad the intensity of the prompt
shaping
start by eliciting a behavior that would be the first step towards final behavior
- done without touching-
- gradually require the animal to engage in behavior that is more like the final behavior before it is rewarded
what research showed about negative and positive reinforcement
dogs from positive reinforcement group were less stressed- better for welfare?
positive punishment
usually referred to as punishment
probability that the behavior will recur decreases as consequence of the CS occurring immediately subsequent to the behavior
negative punishment
“time out”
probability that behavior will recur decreases as consequence of CS being absent/removed if behavior occurs
3 conditions for effective punishment
punishment must be immediate
punishment must be consistent
punishment must be appropriate for individual animal
research on electric collar training
no consistent benefit from e-collar training but greater welfare concernss
ratio of schedules for reinforcement
continuous
fixed ratio
variable ratio = intermittent reinforcement
interval schedules
reinforcement depends on the amount of time that has passed between a response and the delivery of the reinforcer
- fixed interval
- variable interval
reinforcers and motivation
animal’s motivation affects how fast and how well learning occurs
secondary reinforcers/punishers
due to classical conditioning a neutral stimulus can come to have a similar regarding or punishing value as an unconditioned stimulus
learned helplessness
interference with the learning of new instrumental responses as a result of exposure to inescapable and unavoidable aversive stimulation
flooding
deliberate exposure of animal to a stimulus until the response extinguishes or the animal habituates
-once a flooding session is initiated, exposure to stimulus must continue until response ceases
desensitization
expose animal to low level stimulus
- stimulus elicits low level response that can be easily interrupted/diverted
- gradually increase intensity of stimulus
counter conditioning
response is elicited that is behaviorally and physiologically incompatible with another response
-reverses animals previous response to a stimulus
