Learning - Famous people/experiments Flashcards
John B. Watson
Behaviorism: created the view that psychology should only study an observable behavior without reference to mental processes; had help from Pavlov
- Little albert experiment
The Little Albert Experiment
Watson and Rayner classically conditioned 11 month old Albert to be frightened of white rats
- Ethical concerns
- This CR is generalized to other furry animals. However, he did not get scared of a big black lab (discrimination) because it isn’t furry.
Ivan Pavlov
- classical conditioning
- dog salvating experiment
Dog salvating experiment
NS - ringing of bell, US - dog food, UR - salvation from the dog, CS - ringing of bell, CR - salivating to the sound of the bell (CS)
Shepherd Seigel
- Rat drug experiment
Rat drug experiment
1.) rats developed tolerance to increasing amounts of heroine
2.)were injected with a dose of almost twice as much heroin as they had become used to getting
3.) Rats that were injected with the overdose of heroine (experimental group) in the same setting they had received heroin before were 2 times as likely to survive as were rats that were injected in a different setting —–> rats in the different setting mostly died
B.F. Skinner
Operant conditioning: type of learning that associates certain behavior with certain consequences; VOLUNTARY BEHAVIOR
Skinner box
makes an environment that you can control completely; many rats are used in these experiments
Edward Thorndike
“Law of effect”
“Puzzle Box”
Thorndike puzzle box
- First trials in box…
Cat was inside of puzzle box, it tried to scratch at bars, push at ceiling, dig at floor, howl …finally pressed lever - After many trials in box…
Pressed lever immediately
John Garcia
“Rat Taste Aversion” Experiment
“Rat Taste Aversion” Experiment
Exposed rats to a specific taste, sight, or sound (CS) followed by radiation or drugs (US) that caused nausea and vomiting hours after exposed to CS
Rats developed an avoidance to the taste of flavored water after getting sick hours after the initial exposure to the flavored water
Only had to happen once in order for rats to develop a taste aversion
Findings of rat taste aversion experiment
Violated normal classical conditioning in which the US must immediately follow the CS; the drug was given hours after a specific taste was presented
- Supports natural selection
Rescorla and Wagner
“Shocking rats” Experiment
“Shocking rats” Experiment
Shocking rats anytime a tone was heard
Group 1 found the tone to be reliable predictor of the shock as a result their heart rates increased every time they heard it
Group 2 experienced 20 random shocks with no tone in addition to the original 20 shocks with a tone; they had a much smaller fear response to the tone because it was not a reliable predictor of the shock
Shocking rat experiment findings
Rescorla and Wagner developed a theory emphasizing the importance of cognitive/mental processes in CC
Pointed out that subjects had to determine (think) whether the NS/CS was a reliable predictor of the UCS
Bell of reliable predictor that food would follow
E.C. Tolman
- Latent learning
- “Rat Maze” Experiment
“Rat Maze” Experiment
3 groups of rats were trained to run a maze
The control group, group 1, was fed upon reaching the goal
The first experimental group, group 2, was not rewarding for the first 6 days of training but found food in the goal on day seven and every day afterward
The second experimental group, group 3, was not rewarded for the first 2 days but found food in the goal on day 3 and every day afterward
rat maze findings
Both experimental groups showed fewer errors when running the maze the day after the transition from no reward to getting a reward
Suggests that the rats had learned the maze in the initial trials of no reward were able to use a “cognitive map” of the maze when the rewards were introduced
Albert Bandura
“Bobo Doll” Experiment
“Bobo Doll” Experiment
Child draws and from across the room a teacher is playing with tinker toys for a couple of minutes
Then, the teacher gets up, takes a large inflatable Bobo doll, and starts to scream and throw the doll across the room yelling, “Sock him in the face … kick him down … punch him!”
The child exposed to the teachers behavior is taken to another room with the doll and a few other toys
The child goes to the Bobo doll and starts imitating the teacher actions to the doll by being aggressive and “hurting” the doll
bobo doll findings
Children closely imitate more experienced, older humans
