Learning & Conditioning Flashcards

1
Q

What is classical conditioning?

A

Learning by association

Pavlov's dogs experiment
UCS (food) = UCR (salivation)
NS (tuning fork/bell) = No response
UCS + NS = UCR (salivation) 
CS (tuning fork/bell) = CR (salivation)

Dog associated the tuning fork/bell (NS -> CS) to the salivation response (CR)

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2
Q

What are the stages of learning in classical conditioning?

A

Acquisition - initially the NS means nothing

Reinforcement - repeatedly presenting the NS with food, creates predictability for dog

Extinction - removal of food so NS only but over time dog unlearns association of food and NS

Spontaneous recovery - after not being presented NS for long time, presenting it again makes dog expect food with NS (made the association)

Generalisation - generalises this association

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3
Q

Describe taste aversion learning conducted in rats

A

Garcia - rats were exposed to ionising radiation with food, became sick due to radioactivity and so came to avoid food

Rationale - rats associated effects of radiation with food

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4
Q

Describe taste aversion learning in humans

A

Bernstein - cancer patients often develop aversion to foods encountered during chemotherapy

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5
Q

Describe conditioned fatigue

A

Bovbjerg, Montgomery and Raptis (2005)

Conducted study on patients receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer

Pts developed conditioned fatigue responses to clinical cues due to the repeated pairing of treatment and the clinical environment

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6
Q

Describe how classical conditioning can be used to treat phobias

A

Systematic desensitisation

Works by gradually exposing fearful or phobic participants to the object they fear

Starts with analogues of the real object and builds upto the exposure to the real mainn fear e.g. start with pictures, then plastic models and then the real thing

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7
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A

Learning by consequences
Involves reinforcement and punishment

Positive reinforcement = giving something in response to behaviour = creates sense of reward (behaviour more likely to be repeated)

Negative reinforcement = removing something unpleasant/bad to make something better (behaviour of removing the unpleasant thing is more likely to be repeated)

Punishment = giving something which is followed by an unpleasant feeling/response (so behaviour won’t be repeated to ensure no unpleasant feeling)

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8
Q

What are reinforcement schedules?

*FR, VR, FI, VI

A
Fixed ratios (FR) - giving reinforcement after a fixed period of time e.g. every 3rrd day
Variable ratios (VR) - mixing the time periods e.g. can be every 2 days or 3 days
Fixed intervals (FI) - every 10mins
Variable intervals (VI) - changing the intervals e.g. 30 mins sometimes 10mins
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9
Q

Primary reinforcers

A

Linked to survival and biological needs e.g. food and water

Functions as a reward irrespective of prior learning

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10
Q

Secondary reinforcers

A

Items that are reinforcing due to their association with other reinforcers e.g. money = can buy you food or a house

These are learned

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11
Q

How is reinforcement relevant clinically?

A

Illness can be a consequence of reward (attention) e.g. small children will often become ‘ill’ as they know they will get more attention that way

Cognitive therapy for depression and behaviour modification programs use these ideas

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12
Q

Describe the experimental evidence of the operant model of chronic pain (Fordyce 1976)

A

Positive and negative reinforcement of behaviours elicited by pts in pain e.g. crying, moaning may lead to exacerbation or cause chronic pain

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13
Q

Describe the experimental evidence of operant conditioning in chronic back pain patients (Flor et al 2002)

A

Found that chronic back pain pts were more easily influenced by operant conditioning than healthy controls

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