Learning Flashcards
learning
the relatively permanent change in knowledge or behavior that is the result of experience
conditioning
behaviorist’s fundamental aspect of learning:
the ability to connect stimuli (the changes that occur in the environment) with responses (behaviors or other actions)
Classical conditioning
Ivan Pavlov
learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus (e.g., a tone) becomes associated with a stimulus (e.g., food) that naturally produces a behavior
unconditioned stimulus (US)
something (such as food) that triggers a natural occurring response,
unconditioned response (UR)
he naturally occurring response (such as salivation) that follows the unconditioned stimulus
conditioned stimulus (CS)
a neutral stimulus that, after being repeatedly presented prior to the unconditioned stimulus, evokes a similar response as the unconditioned stimulus
conditioned response (CR)
the acquired response to the formerly neutral stimulus
Extinction
the reduction in responding that occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus
spontaneous recovery
Pavlov found that, after a pause, sounding the tone again elicited salivation, although to a lesser extent than before extinction took place. The increase in responding to the CS following a pause after extinction
Generalization
refers to the tendency to respond to stimuli that resemble the original conditioned stimulus
discrimination
the tendency to respond differently to stimuli that are similar but not identical.
second-order conditioning
an existing conditioned stimulus can serve as an unconditioned stimulus for a pairing with a new conditioned stimulus
e.g., associating the whistle with a black square and getting the same CS from both
phobia
a learned strong and irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation
argued that we are innately wired to develop specific types of phobias due to evolution
innateness in conditionin
we are wired to make certain learning more easily, e.g., associating smells with illness vs sounds or light with illness
Operant conditioning
Edward L. Thorndike
learning that occurs based on the consequences of behavior and can involve the learning of new actions.
when a dog rolls over on command because it has been praised for doing so in the past
law of effect
the principle that responses that create a typically pleasant outcome in a particular situation are more likely to occur again in a similar situation, whereas responses that produce a typically unpleasant outcome are less likely to occur again in the situation
successful responses, because they are pleasurable, are “stamped in” by experience and thus occur more frequently. Unsuccessful responses, which produce unpleasant experiences, are “stamped out” and subsequently occur less frequently
Skinner Box/operant chamber
designed by BF Skinner - behavioral psychologist that expanded on Thorndike’s work
a structure that is big enough to fit a rodent or bird and that contains a bar or key that the organism can press or peck to release food or water. It also contains a device to record the animal’s responses
reinforcer
any event that strengthens or increases the likelihood of a behavior
punisher
any event that weakens or decreases the likelihood of a behavior
positive reinforcement
strengthens a response by presenting something pleasant after the response
negative reinforcement
strengthens a response by reducing or removing something unpleasant
taking aspirin to reduced the pain of a headache represents negative reinforcement
Positive punishment
weakens a response by presenting something unpleasant after the response
negative punishment
weakens a response by reducing or removing something pleasant
continuous reinforcement schedule
the desired response is reinforced every time it occurs; whenever the dog rolls over, for instance, it gets a biscuit
rapid learning and rapid extinction
partial (or intermittent) reinforcement schedule
a schedule in which the responses are sometimes reinforced, and sometimes not.
partial reinforcement schedules lead to slower initial learning, but they also lead to greater resistance to extinction
schedules are determined by whether the reinforcement is presented on the basis of the time that elapses between reinforcement (interval) or on the basis of the number of responses that the organism engages in (ratio), and by whether the reinforcement occurs on a regular (fixed) or unpredictable (variable) schedule
fixed-interval schedule
reinforcement occurs for the first response made after a specific amount of time has passed
variable-interval schedule
the reinforcers appear on an interval schedule, but the timing is varied around the average interval, making the actual appearance of the reinforcer unpredictable
tend to produce stronger response than fixed
fixed-ratio schedule
a behavior is reinforced after a specific number of responses
once the organism has learned to act in accordance with the fixed-reinforcement schedule, it will pause only briefly when reinforcement occurs before returning to a high level of responsiveness
variable-ratio schedule
provides reinforcers after a specific but average number of responses
Winning money from slot machines or on a lottery ticket
shaping
Used by Skinner in his boxes
the process of guiding an organism’s behavior to the desired outcome through the use of successive approximation to a final desired behavior.
e.g., reward first by rat moving close to bar, then only when pressing, then only when pressing twice
primary reinforcer
stimuli that are naturally preferred or enjoyed by the organism, such as food, water, and relief from pain
secondary reinforcer (sometimes called conditioned reinforcer)
neutral event that has become associated with a primary reinforcer through classical conditioning
the whistle given by an animal trainer, which has been associated over time with the primary reinforcer, food
or money
insight
the sudden understanding of a solution to a problem
Wolfgang Köhler
Köhler argued that it was this flash of insight, not the prior trial-and-error approaches, which were so important for conditioning theories, that allowed the animals to solve the problem
Latent learning
Edward Tolman
learning that is not reinforced and not demonstrated until there is motivation to do so
Observational learning (modeling)
Bandura
learning by observing the behavior of others
allows us to learn without having to actually engage in what might be a risky behavior
programmed instruction,
an educational tool that consists of self-teaching with the aid of a specialized textbook or teaching machine that presents material in a logical sequence
Skinner
commons dilemma
Garrett Hardin
basic dilemma of individual desires versus the benefit of the group as whole can also be found in many contemporary public goods issues, including the use of limited natural resources, air pollution, and public land
social dilemma
a situation in which the behavior that creates the most positive outcomes for the individual may in the long term lead to negative consequences for the group as a whole
because the long-term negative outcome (the extinction of fish species or dramatic changes in the earth’s climate) is far away in the future and the individual benefits are occurring right now, it is difficult for an individual to see how many costs there really are
prisoner’s dilemma game
Poundstone
represents a social dilemma in which the goals of the individual compete with the goals of another individual (or sometimes with a group of other individuals)
police believe that the two worked together on the crime, but they have only been able to gather enough evidence to convict each of them of a more minor offense.
each of the prisoners is interrogated individually in return for a promise of a reduced sentence if he confesses first. Each prisoner can make either the cooperative choice (which is to not confess) or the competitive choice (which is to confess).
prisoner’s dilemma matrix is arranged such that each individual player is motivated to take the competitive choice, because this choice leads to a higher payoff regardless of what the other player does
payoff matrix
numbers are used to express the potential outcomes for each of the players in the game, given the decisions each player makes
