Learning Flashcards
Defintion
A relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a results of experience
Classical Conditioning
- Pavlov
- Watson & Raynar
Learning through association
Pavlov- A dog automatically salivates (UCR) at the presence of food (UCS). Pavlov then paired the food with the ringing of a bell (NS) which alone produced no response. After numerous repeated pairings the dog would salivate (CR) at the ringing of the bell alone (CS). The dog had learn to associate the bell with food.
Behaviour can be unlearnt- extinction
and re-learnt- Spontaneous recovery
Stimuli can also be generalised… eg. Watson & Raynor; Little Albert Experiment
Little Albert learnt to fear rats through them being paired with a loud noise which triggered a fear response. He generalised his fear to all white, fluffy objects including cotton wool
Operant Conditioning
- Skinner
- Thorndike
Learning through reinforced consequences:
- Positive reinforcement
- Negative reinforcement
- Positive punishment
- Omission punishment
Thorndike- Through trial & error the cat learns to release the latch to open the cage and get the food. The first few successes are likely to have occurred by chance and not intentional method. the food acts as a positive reinforcer for the behaviour, making it likely to be repeated
Skinner- Rats learnt to press a leaver when the light turns on in order to receive a food pellet. When the reinforcer was eliminated the behaviour became extinct
Learned Helplessness: Defintion
If an animal or child feels they do not have control they will not develop in other situations
Learned Helplessness: Maier & Seligman
Task One: one of the dogs had control over the electric shock for both dogs, as they could turn it off with their nose
Task Two: the dog who previously had control learnt to move into the ‘safe zone’ when the sound alarmed for an electric shock. The dog who had learnt helplessness didn’t even move as he believed he, again, had no control
