Learning Flashcards
define learning
a relatively permanent change in state due to experience
what is habituation
a general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduce in responding. usually isnt permanent, after time original response returns
what is the experiment about habituation
leaton 1976. rats exposed to 700 tones in 5 mins. other group one loud tone each day over 11 day period. first group showed quick habituation but showed startle response again each day. second group showed slow continuous decline in startle response.
describe classical conditioning
when a stimulus evokes a response because of being paired with a stimulus that naturally evokes a response.
define the US, UR, CS,CR
unconditioned stimulus- reliably ptoduces naturally occurring reaction in an organism.
unconditioned response - reflexive reaction that is reliably elicited by US
conditioned stimulus- stimulus that at first does not produce the response that is eventually conditioned by pairing with a US
conditioned response - a reaction to a conditioned stimulus produced by pairing it with a US
what is the process of acquisition
the phase of classical conditioning when the CS and the US are presented together - this starts slow rises rapidly then slowly tapers off
describe second order conditioning
conditioning where the US is a stimulus that acquired its ability to produce learning from an earlier procedure in which it was used as a CS
what is extinction
the gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the CS is no longer followed by the US
what causes extinction
presenting the CS without the result of the US consistently.
what is spontaneous recovery
the tendency of a learned behaviour to recover from extinction after a rest period. suggests extinction doesnt happen in one go needs multiple extinctions over days to eliminate association
what are the two types of association suggested by pavlov
excitatory association = process that increases the likelihood of a response
inhibitory association = process that decreases the likelihood of a response
what is generalisation
an increase in responding to stimulus because of its similarity to a CS that was paired with a US. prevents relearning for tiny changes.
describe discrimination
the capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli
little albert and heroin overdose pages
245 to 247
what kind of associations does classical conditioning include
fear. both in little albert and the norwegian massacre. neural component is the amygdala
define contingency in classical conditioning
the organism has an expectation about how well the CS signals the appearance of the US
what features does a cc association need to be survival enhancing
rapid learning occurs in one or two trials. if takes more animal could die e.g from toxic food
take place over long intervals e.g toxic food doesnt make you ill straight away
develop aversion to smell or taste not ingestion of the thing
learned aversions should occur more often with novel foods than familiar ones - not adaptive to develop aversions to everything the animal ate on the day it got sick
what is biological preparedness
a propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others
describe operant conditioning
a type of conditioning in which the consequences of an organisms behaviour determine whether it will be repeated in the future
state the law of effect
behaviours that are followed by a satisfying state of affairs tend to be repeated and those that are followed by a negative state of affairs are less likely to be repeated
what is operant behaviour
behaviour that an organism produces that has some impact on the environment which in turn changes because of that impact
define a reinforcer and a punisher
reinforcer = stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behaviour that led to it punisher = reduce likelihood of behaviour that led up to it
primary vs secondary reinforcers
primary = link to innate survival e.g food warmth etc. secondary = learned to be associated with a primary one
what is the premack principle
discerning which of two activities someone would rather means that the preferred activity can be used to reinforce a non preferred one. e.g no tv until homework is done
what is the overjustification effecr
circumstances when external rewards can undermine the intrinsic satisfaction of performing a behaviour
what are the 4 schedules of reinforcement
fixed interval - reinforcement become available when a fixed time period has elapsed following the previous reinforcement
fixed ratio - reinforcement delivered after a specific number of responses have been made
variable ratio - reinforcement will be delivered after a specified average number of responses have been made
variable interval - reinforcement becomes available after a varied time period from the previous reinforcement
why are ratio schedules better than fixed interval
provide intermittent reinforcement = an operant conditioning relationship in which only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement.
what is the intermittent reinforcement effect
operant behaviours that are maintained under intermittent reinforcement resist extinction better than those maintained under continuous reinforcement
describe shaping
learning that results from the reinforcement of successive approximations to a final desired behaviour e.g rewarding rat for turning in direction of the bar
describe superstition in operant conditioning
correlation doesnt mean causality e.g skinner pigeons received foos every 15 seconds left alone return and they were repeating random behaviours thinking it got them food
neural elements of operant conditioning
pleasure centres - nucleus accumbens, medial forebrain bundle and hypothalamus. organisms work to stimulute these pathways
describe neural element of operant conditioning
edward chance tolman - more to learning than stimulus response approach. proposed animal established a means-end relationship which is a belief that a behaviour will lead to a reward. a cognitive state is produced and then results in response
describe latent learning
a condition in which something is learned but it is not manifested as a behavioural change until some time in the future.
what is a cognitive map
mental representation of the physical features of the environment - tolmans rats in the maze
evolutionary elements operant conditioning
e.g rats foragers, if find food in right arm of T maze go left as they believe they have found all the food to be had. need to overcome the evolutionary instincts to learn through operant conditioning
why are rats so good at making cognitive maps
already have good spatial representations for foraging
what is observational learning and an example
learning through watching the actions of others. e.g bandura bobo doll
what is implicit learning
learning that takes place largely independent of awareness of the process and the products of info acquisition
ways to study implicit learning
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