learning approach

Question 1

What is Classical conditioning?

Answer 1

A form of learning through association. takes place when we associate two stimuli together.

Question 2

What is the unconditioned stimulus?

Answer 2

a stimuli that triggers a unlearned response. e.g. a dog salivating when it sees food (the stimulus)

Question 3

What is an unconditioned response?

Answer 3

An unlearned response to a stimulus. e.g. a dog salivating (unconditioned response) at the sigh of food.

Question 4

What is a neutral stimulus?

Answer 4

A stimulus that doesn’t produce a wanted response. e.g. the sound of a bell will not make a dog salivate before conditioning.

Question 5

How did Pavlov condition his dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell?

Answer 5

Pavlov repeatedly exposed his dogs to the unconditioned stimulus (food) and the neutral stimulus (bell) at the same time so that the dogs eventually learned to associate the neutral stimulus (bell) with the unconditioned stimulus (food). After enough pairings, the neutral stimulus (bell) on its own produces the same response as the unconditioned stimulus (food). This means that the neutral stimulus (food) is now a conditioned stimulus and the response it produces (salvation) is an unconditioned response.

Question 6

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 6

when we form links between a behaviour (the operant) and its consequences (the response)

Question 7

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 7

occurs when behaviour is followed by a pleasant consequence. reward can be tangible e.g. food or money or intangible e.g. a smile or compliment.

Question 8

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 8

Occurs when behaviour is followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus e.g. the removal of an annoying noise

Question 9

What is positive punishment?

Answer 9

when a behaviour is followed by an unpleasant consequence e.g. a slap or harsh words.

Question 10

What is a negative punishment?

Answer 10

occurs when behaviour is followed by the removal or something pleasant e.g. being fined or grounded

Question 11

What does reinforcement do?

Answer 11

reinforcement increases the probability of behaviour being repeated.

Question 12

What does Punishment do?

Answer 12

makes it less likely for a behaviour to be repeated.

Question 13

What two experiments were conducted for classical conditioning?

Answer 13

• Pavlov’s dogs
• Little Albert

Question 14

What is the Little Albert experiment and what did they find?

Answer 14

The baby Albert fear experiment. They tested baby Albert for fear reactions, they presented him with a white rat, rabbit, cotton wool, dog etc. and no fears were noted. They then banged a steel bar and he started to cry showing a fear response. Then 2 months later they presented him with the same animals and when he reached out to touch the white rat, they banged the steel bar and he showed a fear reaction by jumping. He then reached out again and the bang happened again and he started to whimper. A week later they continued the experiment and he wouldn’t touch the white rat and even attempted to get away from it. This shows that fear can be s learned response.

Question 15

Strengths and weaknesses of Little Albert Study.

Answer 15

+good experiment controls
- poor generalisability
- ethical issues

Question 16

What experiment did Skinner carry out in 1932?

Answer 16

Skinner box and rats

Question 17

What was discovered because of the Skinner box experiment and what did they do? What type of conditioning is it?

Answer 17

4 rats individually spent time in a Skinner box. To begin with, food was dispensed to ensure the rats knew thar it was food. After this the lever was released. Upon pressing the lever, a piece of food was released. For 2 rats, it took one press of the lever for them to start pressing it at a higher rate meaning they had learned that it dispensed food. It took one rat two presses for it to start pressing it at a higher rate and it took the last rat 5 times with 2 hours between the 1st and 5th press. In conclusion, the rats were reinforced into pressing the lever. This is operant conditioning.

Question 18

Give some positives and negatives about Skinners rat experiments.

Answer 18

+it was controlled
+it was repeatable to get the same results
+very scientific approach
-not a complete explanation of learning
-not generalizable to humans
-not a naturalistic experiment
-unethical

Question 19

What is motivation?

Answer 19

motivation is the desire to achieve your goal or satisfy your needs, it is driven through rewards.

Question 20

What is intrinsic motivation?

Answer 20

motivation that originates from within yourself such as your own enjoyment or pleasure. e.g. hobby for a challenge

Question 21

What is extrinsic motivation?

Answer 21

motivation that usually comes from the environment and other people such as teachers and parents. it is by gaining a reward and avoiding punishment. e.g. writing an essay to gain a grade or avoid being told off.

Question 22

What is the self-determination theory?

Answer 22

a theory of human motivation that suggests that people become more self determined when their needs for happiness and reaching goals is fulfilled. people become more motivated when pursuing things along with their goals.

Question 23

What does self determination mean?

Answer 23

the ability of an individual to make choices and determine their own actions.

Question 24

Give a positive and a negative about the motivation theory…

Answer 24

+it has practical application meaning the theory can be useful in highlighting several ways to increase motivation in a variety of situations.
- simplistic approach, it only focuses on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation alone when there are many more types of motivation.

Question 25

What is social learning theory?

Answer 25

how learning often occurs without direct reinforcement and instead by observing or imitating other individuals behaviour that has been reinforced.

Question 26

What is modelling?

Answer 26

when a behaviour is demonstrated by another person.

Question 27

What is observation?

Answer 27

the observer completely focuses their attention on the models behaviour and watches how it is performed.

Question 28

what is imitation, what makes it more likely to take place?

Answer 28

when the observer copies the models behaviour, it is more likely to happen if the observer identifies with the model.

Question 29

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 29

the behaviour is only imitated if the learner is motivated to do so. Also, when the observer sees a model performing an action that is being reinforced, they are more likely to repeat it.

Question 30

What experiment did Bandura do?

Answer 30

The Bobo doll experiment.

Answer 31

Q
What did Bandura do in the Bobo doll experiment? what did they find?

A
he got 36 boys and 36 girls to take place in an experiment (mean age of 4.5) where the children were taken to two rooms where one half watched an adult play nicely with the bobo doll and the other half watched the adult display violent behaviour towards the doll. The children were then taken to another room where they were allowed to play with some attractive toys however their play was disrupted abruptly so the children felt frustrated. The children were then taken into another room with a bobo doll where the children who observed the aggressive adult displayed violent behaviour towards the doll and the children that observed the adult play nicely with the doll also did the same. Boys were also discovered to imitate male adult models more than female.

Question 32

Give some positives and negatives about the Bandura Bobo doll experiment…

Answer 32

+shows that children can learn aggressive behaviours
+lab experiment meaning it could be easily repeated to achieve the same result
- its not a complete explanation
-unethical
- not all the same age