Learning Flashcards
What is the definition of learning?
Experience that causes a permanent change
What is habituation?
Gradual reduction in responding
When was the behaviourist movement?
1930s-1950s
What does the behaviourist approach measure?
Observable, quantifiable behaviour
What is the theory of behaviourism?
All behaviours are acquired through conditioning
What does behaviourism disregard?
Mental activity; it is irrelevant and unknowable
What is another name for classical conditioning?
Pavlovian conditioning
What is the simplest definition of classical conditioning?
Learning by association
What is paired in classical conditioning?
Two stimuli
What are the two types of stimuli in classical conditioning?
Unconditioned stimulus (US), Conditioned stimulus (CS)
What are the two possible responses in classical conditioning?
Unconditioned response (UR), Conditioned response (CR)
What are the 5 basic principles of classical conditioning?
Acquisition, Extinction, Spontaneous recovery, Generalisation, Discrimination
What is a neumonic to remember the principles of classical conditioning?
After Eating, Sarah reads German Dictionaries
What is the first stage of classical conditioning?
Acquisition
What occurs during acquisition?
A neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an US
What happens to the neutral stimulus after the response has been acquired?
Becomes CS
What is the second principle of classical conditioning?
Extinction
What is extinction?
When occurences of CS decrease or disappear
What happens to the stimuli during extinction?
CS no longer paired with US
What happens to the strength of the CR during extinction?
Nonmotonic decrease in strength of CR
What is the third principle of classical conditioning?
Spontaneous Recovery
What is spontaneous recovery?
The reappearance of the CR after a rest period or period of lessened response
How is the CR different during spontaneous recovery?
CR not as strong when CS is presented
What is the fourth principle of classical conditioning?
Generalisation
What is generalisation?
The tendency for stimuli resembling the CS to elicit the CR
What is the fifth principle of classical conditioning?
Discrimination
What is discrimination?
The ability to tell the difference between the CS and similar (unpaired) stimuli
What type of response is conditioned in the ‘Little Albert’ experiment?
Fear response conditioning
What was the US in the ‘Little Albert’ experiment?
Loud (clanging) noise
What was the CS in the ‘Little Albert’ experiment?
White rat
What was the UR in the ‘Little Albert’ experiment?
Fear as a result of the noise
What was the CR in the ‘Little Albert’ experiment?
Fear in the presence of the white rat
What is habituation?
The gradual reduction in response after repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus
How did Pavlov teach his dogs to salivate to the sound of a buzzer?
He paired the tone over time with the presentation of food
Which period of training typically starts with a gradual increase in learning, which starts low, rises rapidly and then slowly tapers off?
Aquisiton
Which part of the brain is essential to fear conditioning?
Amygdala
What is instrumental behaviour?
Behaviour that requires an organism to act, solve a problem, or otherwise manipulate elements of its environment
When does stimulus control take place?
When a particular response occurs only when a particular stimulus is presented
What is a study where pigeons are trained to discriminate between different artworks investigating?
Stimulus control
Where is the reticular formation located?
In the medulla
What is the function of the reticular formation?
To regulate sleep, wakefulness and levels of arousal
What are three pleasure centres in the brain?
Nucleus accumbens, medial forebrain bundle, hypothalamus
What is observational learning?
Learning that takes place by watching the actions of others (without reinforcement)
Which type of conditioning is John B Watson associated with?
Classical conditioning
Which type of conditioning is B F Skinner associated with?
Operant conditioning
What is second-order conditioning?
When the CS becomes the US
Give an example of second-order conditioning
Money being valued in itself
What is the idea of the Rescorla Wagner model?
Learning is based on expectation and fulfilment - surprise increases learning
When does classical conditioning occur in the Rescorla Wagner model?
When the animal has learned to set up an expectation
What is the effect of a reinforcer?
Increases the likelihood of the behaviour that led to it
What is the effect of a punisher?
Decreases the likelihood of the behaviour that led to it
What did Tolman’s research focus on?
Latent learning and cognitive maps
What does latent learning contribute to?
The development of cognitive maps
What are cognitive maps?
Mental representations of the features of a physical environment
Is habituation adaptive?
Yes
Can neural changes remain even after extinction and no evidence of spontaneous recovery?
Yes
What happens when the same CS and US are paired again after extinction etc?
Acquisition phase is much faster than in earlier training
If you no longer want to eat a certain food after it once made you ill what is this called?
Food aversion
What does research say about rewarding people for doing what they love?
May undermine their love of the activity
What was Skinner’s theory of the development of superstitous behaviours?
Superstitious behaviour results from accidental reinforcement of some trivial behaviour
What would an evolutionary perspective suggest that rats would do when placed in a multi-option maze?
Rats would systematically travel from arm to arm in search of food as it is the best guarantee of finding food in an environment
How could Cecilia develop a fear of snakes without ever seeing a snake?
Through observational learning
What is the best thing to do before a test?
Study and then get a good night’s sleep
Why is “opiate overdose” often a misnomer?
Victims do not have unusually high levels of morphine in their blood
What role do homeostatic mechanisms play in heroin overdoses?
Failure to elicit them as a conditioned response leads to death
How were dominant chimps taught to not steal food from subordinates?
They were positively reinforced for performing an incompatible behaviour
What was a successful method for teaching rhesus monkeys to station and stay?
Differential reinforcement of successive approximations to the goal
