Learning Flashcards
Classical conditioning
A procedure of which an animal or person learns to associate a reflex a response with a new stimulus
Classical conditioning schedule
The steps in the procedure to condition a new response
Unconditioned stimulus
The stimulus that produces a reflex response such as the food for Pavlovs dog
Unconditioned response
The reflex response to an unconditioned stimulus such as Pavlovs dog salivation
Conditioned stimulus
A new stimulus presented with the ucs such as the bell in Pavlovs experiment
Conditioned response
The response that is learnt, it now occurs when the cs is presented such as Pavlovs dogs salivation
Extinction
A conditioned response dies out
Spontaneous recovery
A conditioned response that has dissapeared suddenly appears again
Generalisation
The conditioned response is produced when a similar stimulus to the original conditioned stimulus is presented
Pavlov and his dog
Pavlov realised dogs learnt to salivate when they heard food coming.
Set up trials, each time the dog was fed a bell was rung, and amount of saliva measured, and then bell was rung and no food was measured.
Watson and rayner
Aim- to see if the emotional response of fear could be conditioned in a human being
Baby Albert liked white lab rats, and had no fear of white furry objects, a rat was shown to Albert and as he reached for it a metal bar out of sight was hit, then repeated.
After 7 times when Albert saw the rat he screamed and ran, even when the bar was not hit, also scared of a fur coat and Santa Claus mask
Conclusion- fear responses can be learnt and young children can learn in the way classical conditioning suggested
Evaluation of Watson and Rayner
Low ev because only tested on 1 age
Only tested on 1 person
Fits with evidence supporting phobias
Operant conditioning
Learning due to consequences of behaviour, though positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement
Law of effect
Behaviours that are followed by rewards are usually repeated; those that are punished are not usually repeated
Thorndike
Cat in a box and learnt to pull a string to escape box, after 20 times thorndike learned that the car learnt to escape by trail and error, the pleasant consequence taught the cat what to do
Punishment
A stimulus that weakens behaviour because it is unpleasant and we try to avoid it
Reinforcements
A consequence of behaviour that encourages or strengthens a behaviour, this might be seen as a reward
Positive reinforcement
A reward or pleasant consequence that increases the likelihood that a behaviour or action will be repeated
Negative reinforcement
When an unpleasant experience is removed after a behaviour or action has been made. This increases likelihood of that behaviour or action being repeated
Behaviour shaping
Changing behaviour in small steps
B F skinner
Hungry rat in a box, by accident it would press a lever and food was come out, everytime the lever pressed there was a positive reinforcement
Sometimes there was an electric shock, rat had to press lever to turn it off, negative reinforcement
Phobias
A persistent and irrational fear of an object activity or situation, the typical symptoms are intense feelings of fear and anxiety to avoid the object activity or situation
Flooding
A treatment for phobias that involves the immediate exposure of the person to the feared object, activity or event, UNTILL there is no fear response
Systematic desensitisation
A treatment for phobias of which the person is taught to relax and then is gradually exposed to the feared object activity or event
Hierarchy of fears
A series of feared events ranked from least frightening to the most frightening
Aversion therapy
A treatment for addictions such as drug and alcohol dependency which makes the addict have an extremely negative reaction to the addictive substance
Learning
A relatively permanent change in behaviour due to experience
