Learning Flashcards
what was the behaviourist approach towards learning mainly built on
animal models of learning
what was the aim of the behaviourist theories towards learning
to produce a general theory of learning and behaviour
what does the cognitive approach see as important in learning
thoughts, motivation, attitudes and beliefs
what does the cognitive approach see learning as being conceived within
an information processing framework
what does the cognitive approach postulate
the role of covert mechanisms - eg long term memory
cognitive neuroscience and learning
attempts to understand the relationship between cognitive mechanisms of learning and the underlying brain regions involved using imaging tech
what is habituation
- simplest form of learning
- repeated exposure leads to declined response
- innate
what is the evolutionary significance of habituation
if a once-novel stimulus occurs again and again without significance - no need to waste time and energy investigation
which researcher is associated with classical conditioning
- Pavolv
- dog salivation
- learning to associate the neutral stimulus
what is the initial NS in Pavlovs study
the bell
what is the UCS in Pavlovs study
the food
what is the initial UCR in Pavlovs study
salivation response
Which researcher is associated with fear conditioning
Watson & Rayner
*Little Albert
conditioned emotional response
phobic exposed to feared object in conjunction with stimulus elicting pain/fear eg. stuck in broken lift
counter conditioning
*treatment for phobias in clinical psychology
what occurs in classical condition and taste aversions that doesnt in the salivation response
single trial learning
what is the evolutionary significance of taste aversion
species survival
preparedness
certain organisms are biologically prepared to learn certain things
how is the CR acquired
*single pairing CS&US isnt sufficient therefore learning is required
what is the strength of the CR dependent on
- intensity of US
* timing of CS & US
simultaneous conditioning
CS and US presented at same time
delayed conditioning
- CS slightly precedes US BUT end together
* optimal for conditioning 1/2S
trace conditioning
CS presented and switched off before US presented
backward conditioning
- US precedes CS
* little evidence in animals
what is extinction
after conditioning:
- CA presented repeatedly without the US
- CR gradually disappears
spontaneous recovery
after extinction:
- CS presented and CR returns
- re-condition CR (US) or re-extinguished (no US)
implications of extinction and spontaneous recovery for therapy
extinguished phobias may return - requirement for future treatment
rapid reacquisition
- CR can be retained more rapidly following an extinction and after some delay then during its initial learning
- even if extinction sessions are repeated to a point where even spontaneous recovery ceases
what is extinction seen as
doesnt seem like memory loss more like a case of ‘new learning’
generalisation
*transfer of learning to other stimuli
*not confined to a single sight
eg Pavolvs dog salivated to other similar tones
Gradient of generalisation
greater similarity = greater transfer
evolutionary advantage of generalisation
react to novel situations in so far as they are similar to familiar ones
Discrimination
*stops generalisation
what are organisms taught in terms of discrimination
to distinguish similar but different stimuli
*eg Pavlov - some tones followed by food, others werent
differential inhibition
inhibition acquired to stimulus followed bu no food - NO CR
experimental neurosis
*pavlov trained dogs again but with more and more difficult discriminations between the CS+ and the CS-
what happend when Pavlov increased the discrimination difficulty - experimental neurosis
dogs showed signs of anxiety and distress as discrimination became more difficult
*all conditioning vanished and had to be re done
what did Pavlov assume about neurosis
all neuroses learned through conditioning and should in theory be removed through conditioning
over-shadowing
if we always give two CS’s together during training we may later find that only one will produce a CR alone
*the more vivid of the 2 tends to be the one where conditioning is established
second (higher) order conditioning
*after successfully training CS-CR pairing we can get a new stimulus to elicit a CR by pairing it with the now trained CS
how does second (higher) order condition work
in new CS is presented before old CS in new training phase then new CS would eventually produce CR on its own
instrumental (Operant) conditioning
- responses - instruments to achieve outcomes
* skinner sees learner as more active than Pavlov
Skinners experiment
Rat in cage with lever
*pressing leaver produces pellets
what is the extinction in Skinners rat experiment
lever press receives no pellet
what is the discrimination in skinners rat experiment
eg lever pressed only when light on
*light = discriminative stimulus
law of effect
stimuli that occur as a consequence of a response can increase or decrease likelihood of repetition
eg of positive reinforcement (law of effect)
eg food for lever press
eg of negative reinforcement (law of effect)
eg foot shock turned off
*removal of negative stimulus
what do positive and negative reinforcement increase the likelihood off
repeating a response
eg of punishment (law of effect)
eg foot shock turned on
response cost (law of effect)
response followed by the termination of an appetitive stimulus
what do punishment and response cost do
decrease the probability of response repitition
primary reinforcement
naturally reinforcement
eg food
secondary reinforcement
learned to associate with primary reinforcers
eg money
Wolfe
*chimpanzees reinforced by giving them poker chips which could be used to ‘buy’ food out of a vending machine
what is meant by schedules of reinforcement
how frequently and predictably reinforcement is given
ratio schedule (schedules of reinforcement)
linked to the number of responses
*high response rate
interval schedule (schedules of reinforcement)
linked to time elapsed
fixed schedule (schedules of reinforcement)
every n responses or secs
*predictable - higher responser ate than variable schedule
variable schedule (schedules of reinforcement)
average ever n number of responses/secs
*unpredictable - more resistant to extinction
fixed ration (schedules of reinforcement)
high response rate until reinforcer is received, may be followed by a discernible pause
variable ratio (schedules of reinforcement)
high and steady rate of response
fixed interval (schedules of reinforcement)
accelerated rate of response as the time of reinforcement approached
variable interval (schedules of reinforcement)
produces a steady rate of response
what is shaping
getting animals to perform an unnatural behaviour
what does shaping involve
rewarding successive approximations of the target behaviour
when does superstitious behaviour occur
when the delivery of a reinforcer occurs close in time with an independent behaviour, meaning it is accidentally reinforced - increasing the likelihood of it occurring again
cognitive theories Tolman
any theory about internal processes eg thoughts in behaviour must lead to testable predictions about behaviour
