Learning and Motivation Flashcards
What is classical conditioning
Classical conditioning is a type of learning where an individual learns to associate two stimuli, resulting in a change of behaviour
What was Pavlov doing to discover classical conditioning
Pavlov was experimenting with dogs, and was interested in digestion. But he noticed that the dogs would salivate even before being presented food
Pavlov would ring a bell and then give food to dog, but the dog would salivate in response to other bell rings
What did Pavlov initially call conditioning
Psychic reflex
What are the 4 components to a classical conditioning example
Unconditioned stimulus (US), unconditioned response (UR), conditioned stimulus (CS), conditioned response (CR)
What is an unconditioned stimulus (US)
This is a stimulus which naturally elicits a response (i.e. food)
What is an unconditioned response (UR)
This is a natural response to an unconditioned stimulus (i.e. salivating in response to food)
What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)
This is a previously neutral stimulus, which is then paired with a US to produce a learned response (i.e. a bell)
What is a conditioned response (CR)
This is a learned response to conditioned stimulus alone (i.e. salivation in response to bell)
Why do you want a neutral stimulus for the CS
Because if not, it is hard to learn a new response because it could otherwise stimulate another behaviour
Why isn’t conditioning called stimulus substitution
This is because it isn’t true in some cases. Especially as sometimes in conditioning, the CR isn’t always the same as UR (i.e. case of salivation), which you would expect if the stimuli were substituted
For example, after providing a mildly painful /unpleasant experience as a US, the animal might try avoiding it, but eventually as you keep repeating it to get classical conditioning, the animal would stop trying to escape –> CR is just laying down or not trying to escape (Different CR to UR)
What is second order conditoning
This is where previous conditioned stimulus is used to condition a new, neutral stimulus, allowing for a chain of associations to form
Give an example of second order conditioning
Already associating a bell with food, and then associating the bell with exposure to light –> the dog might think that the presence of light indicates presence of food
What is appetitive conditioning? Give examples
This is where a pairing of stimulus with rewards –> +ve CR
I.e. Food preferences, place preferences
What is aversive conditioning? Give examples
This is where pairing of neutral stimulus with unpleasant US –> CR of fear/avoidance etc
I.e. Conditioned fear, anticipatory nausea, conditioned taste aversion, place avoidance
Explain how conditioning in advertising works
An individual might associate a certain person or the product with a feeling
I.e. Advertising operates by associating stimuli that elicits positive affective responses w/ a brand/product (such as a famous person with the brand or pdouct)
What is acquisition
This is the process of repeatedly presenting the CS with the US –> increase in conditioned response when CS is presented
What is extinction
It is where there is a repeated presentation of CS alone, following acquisition –> reduction in conditioned response (when CS is presented), which aims to break the association / memory by presenting the stimulus alone
However, extinction isn’t necessarily ‘unlearning’, but whats happening is that there are two memories being formed; an acquisition and an extinction memory, which both compete with each other, and certain ones are dominant in certain scenarios (i.e. could be dependent on place - an individual might be used to the extinction memory in a psych lab, but anywhere else, the acqusition memory might be doinant)
What is renewal
This is where a change in context might cause an acquired behaviour to come back.
I.e. if environment changes, extinguished response can return (contextual shifts from original/extinction context)
I.e. extinguished a few of the responses to dogs in psych office, but if encounters a dog in a park –> renewal can occur because of different context, and fear could come back
What is spontaneous recovery
This is where over time, even after the extinction phase, there might be some “spontaneous recovery” of the conditioned stimulis
Shows that learnt associations aren’t entirely erased from extinction
What is Thorndike’s Law of Effect
Given a particular situation, if an action is met with satisfaction the organism will be more likely to make the same action next time it finds itself inthat situation
WHat was Thorndike’s puzzle box
It was a small cage with a button/lever, which an animal had to press to get out and receive a reward (food)
What was the findings of Thorndike’s puzzle box
Animals learn to escape the puzzle box by trial and error, however there is a progressive improvement over many trials. However, there is no sudden “insight” (where they are successful once and can do the same over and over).
Long time to get out of the box initially
So there is no insight, rather there needs to be a reinforcement of a certain action to produce a reward and escape from the box
What was radical behaviourism
The belief that behaviour was only a result of environmental stimuli. It ignores the use of internal mental processes such as beliefs, motivations.
Rejects anything unobservable
Belief that all human psychology was reduced to relationships between stimuli, response and consequence
Thorndike was a behaviourist, but he wasn’t a radical one. WHat did he believe about cat incentivisation?
He believed that the cat was incentivised to leave the box because of the internal process of a desire for a satisfying reward. However, radicals would have discounted this completely
What are reinforcers
These are stimuli that increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated
In the context of operant conditioning, reinforcer is any consequence that strengthens or maintains a behaviour. They can be classified as positive or negative
Give an exxample of reinforcer
food
WHat is a secondary reinforcer
They acquire reinforcing properties through exposure (not naturally beneficial)
I.e. money and clicker training
What is shaping? Give an example
This is a type of learning where gradual changes in behaviour are rewarded, until ultimately there is a more complex behaviour being performed
In other words, it is a technique to teach a new behaviour by reinforcing successive approximations of desired behaviour. I.e. reinforcing small steps that lead to target behaviour
I.e. reward for a dog for just touching a dog, followed by a reward by making the door move, and then a reward when the door closes –> ultiately trains the dog to close the door through small approximations of behaviour (gradual changes)
What is instrumental conditioning
This is a type of learning where individual’s behaviour is modified by its consequences / reinforcing benefits. These increase or decrease the likelihood of those behaviours being repeated
What is the difference between classical and instrumental conditioning
Instrumental actually involves a consequence, whereas classical is just associative
What is an appetitive vs an aversive consequence
Appetitive = a desired consequence (i.e. getting food)
Aversive = an undesired punishment (i.e. getting punished with a slap)
What is ‘response produces consequences’ vs ‘response prevents consequences
In the name
What happens when ‘Response produces consequence’ is combined with ‘appetitive consequence’? Give an example
Positive reinforcement
I.e. a dog successfully does a trick and is given some treats
What happens when ‘Response produces consequence’ is combined with ‘aversive consequence’? Give an example
Positive punishment
I.e. a dog biting someone gets punished with a reprimanding
What happens when ‘Response prevents consequence’ is combined with ‘appetitive consequence’? Give an example
Negative punishment
I.e. a dog bites someone and isn’t allowed to play outside
What happens when ‘Response prevents consequence’ is combined with ‘aversive consequence’? Give an example
Negative reinforcement
I.e. a dog runs away from a loud sound (behaviour allows them to escape the ‘punishment’)
What is meant by a ratio vs interval reinforcement
Ratio = responses
Interval = time
What is meant by a fixed vs variable reinforcement
Fixed = a reinforcement is given after a set number of times / set time
Variable = a reinforcement is given after an average number of times / average time
WHat happens when a ‘ratio’ is combined with a ‘fixed’ reinforcement? Give an example
This results in the reinforcement happening every ‘n’ times.
I.e. loyalty cards
WHat happens when a ‘ratio’ is combined with a ‘variable’ reinforcement? Give an example
This happens when the reinforcement happens on average ‘n’ times
I.e. Slot machine (would get a win on avg after 10 times for example)
WHat happens when a ‘interval’ is combined with a ‘fixed’ reinforcement? Give an example
This happens when the reinforcement is given after ‘n’ minutes/weeks/hours
I.e. paycheck (get a reinforcement every week)
WHat happens when a ‘interval’ is combined with a ‘variable’ reinforcement? Give an example
Reinforcement is available on average after n minutes / day
Explain the impacts of fixed, variable, ratios and intervals on the number of responses over time (i.e. explain the graph)
Fixed ratio causes the fastest time to reach 1000 responses, followed by variable ratio (these have steep lines)
Meanwhile the intervals are a more gradual line/slope, with the fixed intervals getting more responses than the variable interval
WHat is the stimulus control theory
Stimulus Control Theory is a behavioral theory that examines how environmental cues, or stimuli, influence behavior. According to this theory, behaviors are more likely to occur in the presence of specific cues that signal certain consequences. When a particular behavior consistently leads to a desired outcome in a specific context, that behavior becomes “under stimulus control” of the cues associated with that context.
What is a discriminative stimulus
A signal that an aciton will produce a consequence or outcome
What is discrimination training
Individuals learn to associate specific stimuli with particular outcomes
What are the 3 components to Skinner’s Tripartite Contingency
ABC model
Antecedent, Behaviour, consequence
What is antecdent
The stimulus controlling behaviour
What is behaviour
What is the response being reinforced/punished
What is consequence
What is the immediate outcome of the behaviour
What are important factors influencing stimulus control
How effective the stimulus is learnt
How similar or different the stimulus is to previous learnt stimulus
How can ‘how effective the stimulus is learnt’ affect stimulus control
How can ‘how similar or different the stimulus is to previous learned stimulus’ affect stimulus control
What is generalisation
This is the extent to which behaviour transfers to a new stimulus (i.e. transferring behaviour/knowledge to new situations, despite differences)
Explain the experiment and the findings of the generalisation with Little Albert
Little Albert was classically conditioned to fear a white rat. He was then given different things like white, furry objects such as rabbbits, dogs, a fur coat and even santa claus mask with a white beard –> Little Albert feared all of them because he generalised his fear from white rat
What is the generalisation gradient, and what does it tell us
Involved an experiment training pigeons to peck whenever a green colour appeared, but experiment slightly changes so the gradient of the green colour changed (i.e. from light blue –> green –> yellow gradient), and examined if pigeons would peck at these different colours
Found that generalisation is stronger to stimuli which is closest to original stimuli
Explain why generalisation in humans is more complicated
Because humans can consider various things like:
Physical attributes
Semantic similarity
Rules/anaologies that link otherwise dissimilar events
What did Razran (1939) find about generalisation in humans
Words (CS) was paired with food (US) —> salivation was measured using cotton wool under tongue
Trained CS : Style, urn, freeze, surf
Tested responses to phonologoically similar words: stile, earn, frieze, serf
Tested responses to semantically similar words: fashion, vase, chill, wave
Found a greater CR to items which are semantically similar –> humans generalise based on meaning rather than spelling (or looks)
What is discrimination
Extent to which behaviour doesn’t transfer to new stimuli (i.e. learning to only close a certain door instead of all doors)
How can discrimination be learnt. Give an example
Training with reinforcement to different stimuli which could be considered very similar
A normal example:
High pitched tone –> food US
Low pitched tone –> no US
The US is only contingent on higher tone, and CR will differ
WHat is social learning? What could it result in
Social learning is when an individual/animal learns a behaviour or changes their behaviour based on their observation of others.
It doesn’t involve direct reinforcement or punishment, but rather people watch a model and the consequences of the model’s actions
It could result in people changing their behaviours
What is proof of social learning in terms of monkeys (and how they learn from conspecific)
They found that a monkey’s fear of snake was learnt by observation of their conspecific (other monkeys).
Lab raised monkeys had no fear of snakes. However, when shown another monkey being fearful of snakes –> the lab raised monkey acquires a fear of snakes
What social process affects learning
Preparedness for learning
Explain the idea of ‘preparedness for learning’, and the experiment which proves it
Suggests that we have potentially evolved to learn fear quicker for certain threats than others. We have prepared to learn certain things faster than others.
For example, Cook and Minkea spliced videos of a monkeys fear reaction to (flower fear and toy snake safe, flower safe, and toy snake fear), and found that monkeys didn’t learn a fear of flowers, but did for snakes. There wasn’t an innate fear of snakes but they learnt the fear of snakes faster.
Suggests that we have evolved to learn more quickly about potential threats
How can classical conditioning occur by observation
It just does
What is emulation? Give an example
Emulation is when an individual/animal understands the goal behind an action, but uses a different method to achieve the goal
For example, chimps obtaining food placed on a plate by pulling on the block underneat or nudging the block etc)
What is imitation? Give an example
Imitation is when an individual/animal understands the goal behind an action and does the same method to achieve the goal
For example, two action tests have a reward in the box, but could be opened in two different ways; child watches a model do it one of two distinct ways, and the child imitates exactly that
Give an exammple of social learning (maybe) - blue tits?
Blue tits learning to open milk bottles and steal cream
What is social facilitation
This is where a group provides the opportunity to learn from direct experiences about certain things (not social learning)
How can social facilitation be achieved
Goal enhancement
Stimulus enhancement
Increased motivation to act/explore
How does goal enhancement improve social facilitation
Access to appetitive consequence facilitates later trial and error learning (e.g. access to cream not usually readily available) –> more chance to access a reward –> more likely to adopt a behaviour
(MIGHT CHECK GPT)
How does stimulus enhancement improve social facilitation
Following others in a group and being more likely to approach certain places which may contain certain stimuli –> more chance to access stimuli –> enhancement of access to stimuli
(MIGHT CHECK GPT)
How does increased motivation to act/explore improve social facilitation
The individual is more likely to try things in the company of friends and parents
For example, on your own you might not be influenced to fly towards the milk
Why is behaviour changing in social facilitation?
Because of increased access to goal, stimulus or motivation to act by following or being near others. Then, learning is through direct experience.
Behaviour of others facilitate greater opportunities for your direct learning without any observational learning
What is social modelling
Copying of the behavioural style of others
generating new behaviours in same style or concept as others
I.e. Bandura, Ross & Ross 1961 - bobo doll violence where the child did what was modelled by the model
What was Bandura’s findings on social modelling
Children won’t only imitate adult’s specific behaviour, but also model the general styles of behaviour
E.g. after watching the model be violent to a bobo doll, the children adopts the aggressive behavioural style –> aggressive actions and language towards the bobo doll
Suggests the presence of a cognitive aspect of social learning in humans
What did Bandura find about reinforcement on social modelling
Modelling is dependent on reinforcement/punishment towards modeller
Modelling can occur through media, not just in person
Ultimately, providing a reinforcement does encourage greater social modelling
What factors affect conditioning
Frequency (number of pairings)
Intensity of conditioning
Contiguity (timing - how far apart the events occur)
Contingency (statistical relationship between events)
How can frequency (number of pairings) affect conditioning
As number of pairings (frequency of conditioning) increases, the strength of CR increases. However, CR is increasing at a decreasing rate, and it will get stronger until it hits an asymptote
How can intensity affect conditioning
Intensity defined as the salience of the CS or the US. An intense CS could be a louder sound, whilst weak CS is more quiet. Normally, a more intense CS –. greater strength of conditioning
Moreover, an intense US (might be like how much reward you’re giving in terms of food), might also increase strength of conditioning
How can contiguity (timing - how far apart the events occur) affect conditoning
Closer together the CS and US are, the better it is.
Inter stimulus interval (ISI): time between ‘CS on’ and ‘US on’
If ISI is too close, its hard to learn that both CS and US are associated. However this is also the case if ISI is too far. Ideal ISI depends on what relationship there is
How can contingency (statistical relationship between events) affect conditioning
Greater contingency –> greater learning
Describes how well two events are related to each other
Needs 2 pieces of information; What is probability of US given CS (I.e. do I provide US everytime presentation of CS occurs? or only 50%)
What is probability that US occurs anyways (i.e. if you get pocket money regardless of doing chores) –>lower association
The CS must increase probability of a reward/US occurring
How can learning and performance differ?
Learning is often reflected by a change in behaviour.
Performance is affected by learning, but it also depends on opportunity, motivation and sensory/motor capabilities
Learning is a process of acquiring skills, knowledge etc, which may not always be immediately observable. Meanwhile, performance is the observable execution of knowledge or skills, which might be influenced by temporary factors like motivation
What is learning
Learning is an enduring change within an organism brought about by an experience that leads to a change in behaviour
What isn’t learning
Reflexes
Instincts
Maturation
Fatigue
What are reflexes
Reflexes are automatic, usually very fast and learning isn’t required.
An eliciting stimuli is followed by corresponding response
Reflexes arc is when sensory nerves detect stimuli –> motor nerves stimulate muscles
Give an example of a reflex
I.e. food –> salivation
airpuff –> eye blink
Pain –> withdrawl
What are instincts
Behavioural sequence which are largely genetically determined
An instinct is a typically more complex sequence of behaviours than a reflex
Give an example of an instinct
I.e. turtles get released after hatching. their instinct is to swim towards light
Bird migration, nest building etc
Explain what maturation is
Changes that take place in your body and behaviour as you get older. I.e. learning to walk - this is thus not considered learning
What is fatigue and its relation to learning
Fatigue is a transient state of discomfort and loss of efficiency as a normal reaction to emotional strain, physical strain, boredom or sleep deprivation
This can lead to physical inability to perform a learned response, but isn’t evidence for a lack of learning
What is habituation
Decreased responding to a stimuli produced by repeated stimulation
I.e. a rat jumps less with each presentation of a loud noise
What is habituation NOT
Fatigue - muscles become incapactitated so organism can’t perform response
Sensory adaptation - sense organs become temporarily insensitive to stimulation
What is sensitisation
Increased responding to a certain stimulus produced by repeated stimulation –> decrease in the threshold required to elicit a response
I.e. rats run more in response to a certain amount of cocaine if they have been pre-exposed
However, this is more common in situations involving pain, threat or strong emotional arousal
I.e. Providing a noxious food to a rat repeatedly –> more sensitive (probably)
How can we test habituation
Present a different sound that is loud and startling –> should see a startled response if they haven’t fatigued or adapted sensorily (sign of habituation)
Why do we habituate and sensitise
It helps sort out what stimuli to ignore and what to respond to, and ultimately help us organise and focus our behaviour
Habituate = prevents wasting energy on safe stimuli/situations
Sensitise = helps avoid harmful situations
What is motivation
An internal process that initiates, guides and sustains goal-driven behaviours
What is Hebb’s analogy of motivation
For a car to move, there must be an engine (provides power), and steering (determines direction)
Motivation is said to be the engine –> provides power to the behaviour
What is aa fixed action pattern
Innate set of behaviour displayed by all members / sex of a species in response to the same ‘sign stimulus’
FAP is a sequence of behaviours often regulated by specific biological status
Sometimes FAP could be performed without respect to a goal (i.e. removing egg in the middle of an action, the goose still dragged the ‘egg’, which shows that once FAP started, for geese, it continues regardless if the egg is there)
As such FAP is typically an instinct as it isn’t motivated by a consideration of the end goal
What is a sign stimulus
It is an external stimuli that signals the fixed action pattern - i.e. an egg shaped object triggers FAP in geese to bring it back
What is a supernormal stimulus
It is an exaggerated version of a sign stimulus which motivates stronger behavioural tendencies
I.e. a bird showing preference for a larger egg and leaving its own egg for that larger egg, even if its not theirs
How can we tell if a behaviour is instinctive or learnt?
Biological basis (test for genetic component for certain behaviours, or does this behaviour normally occur in different situations)
Cross species similarity
Cross cultural similarity (people in diff cultures = diff environments –> observe differences in behaviours of these cultures)
Twin studies (can look at twins separated at birth, helps determine whether genetic or enviro has the largest role in determining behaviour)
Developmental studies (innate reflexes in babies)
Cross cultural tests on human behaviours
Eibl - Eibesfeldt used a side viewing camera to capture ‘natural’ human facial expressions (non verbal communication)
Cross cultural similarities of different facial expressions suggest a biological basis for behaviour
Proposed that identifiable compoments of human behaviour can be seen across cultures (i.e. smiling)
What are the problems with evolutionary/biological explanations for behaviour such as instincts
Circular reasoning (when the end of an aargument comes back to the beginning (e.g. behaviour is innate –> behaviour wasn’t learnt –> behaviour is innate and it keeps repeating)
Proliferation (tendency to overuse instincts as the explanation for a range of behaviours, i.e. observe ‘n’ diff behaviours = n different instincts)
What are habits
A habit is a learnt response performed without consideration of the value of the goal (i.e. autopilot)
i.e, driving home and doing certain turns out of habit –> shows that it is quite habitual in how you drive
How can you tell if a behaviour is habit or goal directed
De value the outcome to see effects on behaviour. If goal directed, response should be influenced by value of outcome.
I.e. letting a rat eat as much food as it wants before chucking it into skinner’s cage to press a lever which releases food. If action is goal directed, there shouldn’t be a press for food, but if it is a habit, the rat will press even if it doesn’t take the food
What are goals
Long term motivations for behaviour
Requires an understanding of incentive value –> anticipated reward / pleasure (beyond biological needs), how much an individual wants something
Our goals often centre on intrinsic motivation (e.g. satisfaction from achieving success or feeling good from helping people)
What is incentive value
The degree to which rewards attract an individual’s behaviour
Can be acquired through conditioning (stimuli that have been associated w/ highly rewarding outcomes)
Can change mmoment by moment (biological state, liking vs wanting)
What is incentive motivation
It is a type of motivation driven by desire to achieve rewards or avoid undesirable outcomes –> can encourage or discourage behaviour
What is delayed reward discounting
Refers to the tendency for people to perceive a reward as less valuable when its delayed in time –> the longer someone has to wait for a reward, the less appealing it is
Give an example of the experiment for delayed reward discounting and the findings of it
I.e. experiment asks for $20 today vs $100 in 3 months
Motivational properties of incentivies follow economic findings, where the value of reawrd decreases over time. This is correlated with impulsitivity and abuse disorders
What was the delayed gratification experiment
One marshamllow offered or two later
2/3 ate marshmallow in 15 mins
Follow up: children who waited had better life outcomes (academic and social)
Preferences are also predicted by SES and enviro scarcity (low SES or high scarcity –> no waiting)
