Learning psychology

Question 1

evaluate classical conditioning

Answer 1

S. watson and rayner/ pavlov

O. reductionist- only explains acquisition of simple reflex responses like salivation, anxiety. cant account for more complex chains of learned behavior e.g. acquisition of fear of dogs not maintenance

D. operant conditioning

A. treatments e.g. systematic desensitization used to treat phobias by breaking the association of cs with cr

Question 2

describe the process of classical conditioning

Answer 2

• UCS stimulated an unconditioned responce such as salivation, anxiety or sexual arousal
• Pairing of NS with UCS stimulates an UCR
• NS is now CS which elicits the CR

Question 3

evaluate operant conditioning

Answer 3

S. skinners rats

O. only explaining how existing behaviours are strenghtened or weakened, not how they originate. can explain complex chains of behaviours

D. classical conditioning

A. reinforcement in schools, star everytime they do good work

Question 4

name and explain the schedules of reinforcement

Answer 4

fixed ratio- every n times the behaviour is displayed e.g. trick or treating one sweet per house

variable ratio- random n of times- gambline machine pays on average every 50th go

fixed interval- every n amount of time- getting payed £8 per hour

variable interval- random amount of time- fish bited on average every 15 minuits

Question 5

stages of social learning theory

Answer 5

• attention
• retention
• reproduction
• motivation

Question 6

evaluate social learning theory

Answer 6

S. bandura

O. kendler- identical twins are more similar in levels of aggression than non-identical twins. individual differenced are genetically influenced

D. classical conditioning

A. role models promoting healthy eating

Question 7

bandura procedure

Answer 7

• 36 boys, 36 girls age 3-6 stanford uni nursery
• match pair- same gender, 3 groups- agressive model, non agressive model, no model
• children allowed to play with toys
• agression arousal, children shown shiny new toys and told they were for other children
• room with bobo doll, 1 way mirror. imitative, partially imitative, non imitative

Question 8

bandura findings

Answer 8

• non agression, control group displayed much less agression (none 70% of the time)
• boys- physical, girls-verbal
• more likely to imitate same sex models

Question 9

evaluate banduras procedure

Answer 9

+ validity- matched for agression and gender

+ reliability- behaviour observed through a one way winow. inter rater

• external validity- lab study and situation in which agression was measured is different to the typical situation which tey would have normally displayed agression. lacks mundane realism
• generalisability- all children from stanford university nursery

Question 10

explain the 2 process model

Answer 10

acquisition- classical conditioning. ns becomes conditioned responce

maintenance- operant conditioning. reward or punishment

Question 11

evaluate the 2 process model

Answer 11

+ watson and rayner- acquisition though classical conditioning

+ maintenance- skinners rats

+ application- treatments e.g. systematic desensitization

• cant be explained by learning alone- evolutionary explanation

Question 12

3 stages of systematic desensitization

Answer 12

anxiety hierarchy- phobic stimuli are ranked from least to most frightening

relaxation techniques- excersises e.g. breathing techniques are taught to client by therapist

gradual exposure- client is fully exposed to stimuli when in relaxed state

Question 13

evaluate the use of systematic desensitisation

Answer 13

+ gilroy- compared clients recieving SD for arachnophobia with controle group. 3 months after treatment, SD group were less fearful than control group

+ ethics- patient is in full control of exposure to stimuli

• effectivness- not all clients can learn the relaxation techniques
• expensive, longer process than flooding

Question 14

explain the process of flooding

Answer 14

imediate exposure to a very frightening situation e.g. treating arachnophobia may have a spider crawling over them

without the options of avoidance behaviour the client quickly learns that the phobic stimulous are harmless

Question 15

evaluate the use of flooding

Answer 15

+ cost effective and quick- only a couple of session

+ most people can have the treatment

• cant be used for all phobias e.g. house fires
• client experiences high anxiety, sometimes strengthenes the phobia e.g. client exposed to snakes saw them everytime they closed their eyes

Question 16

describe the procedure of watson and rayner

Answer 16

• little albert chosen for his emotional stability, 9 months old at the start of the experiment
• presented with a white rat
• every time he reached for the rat the researcher hit a hammer against a metal bar behind his head
• wooden block used as control
• other white fluffy stimuli used e.g. santa hat and white fluffy coat

Question 17

watson and rayner findings

Answer 17

• baseline testing- displayed no fear to objects but responded to loud noise
• after conditioning he cried and tried to rapidly crawl away
• session 4 and 5- alberts fear remained but less extreme when he was in a different enviornment and over time

Question 18

evaluate watson and rayners study

Answer 18

+ validity- emotional stability, wooden blocks used, took place in a well controlled room

+ development of treatment’s (systematic desensitisation, flooding)

• generalisability- only 1 ppts, 9 months old
• validity- some aspects not well controls e.g. rabit was suddenly placed infront of albert and a reluctant dog was pushed towards him. this action may have triggered a fear responce rather than the action itself
• ethics - couldn’t decondition him

Question 19

describe beckers procedure

Answer 19

• multi wave, cross sectional, naturalistic design. looking at the imact of western t.v. in fiji
• initial study- 63, second sample of 65 fijian girls
• ppts interviewed and completed the eat-26 questionire
• 1988 group asked additional questions e.g. do you ever think you should eat less
• girls who scored over the threshold for dysfunctionl eating based on the eat-26 questionaire were given futher interviews

Question 20

evaluate beckers study

Answer 20

+ ecological validity- t.v. was naturally being introduced introduced at the time so different social norms were naturally inroduced

+ reliability- eat 26 questionaire widely used throughout the psychological community. it is recognised as a relible survey

• generalisability- sample was specific to Fijian culture at the time which has traditionally different attitudes towards eating than Western culture.
• extraneous variables e.g. tourism. Seeing other cultures in person may have had a greater impact on body image than seeing it on television

Question 21

beckers findings

Answer 21

self inflicted vmiting increased from 0-11.3%

eat-26 score of 20+ over doubled

body dissatisfaction increased

Question 22

describe positive reinforcement

Answer 22

reward of something good is given because of the behavior

the behavior is repeated

Question 23

describe negative reinforcement

Answer 23

the reward of removing something unpleasant is given because of the behavior

behavior is repeated

Question 24

define positive punishment

Answer 24

something unpleasant happens because of the behavior

behavior is not repeated

Question 25

define negative punishment

Answer 25

something pleasant is taken away because of the behavior

behavior is not repeated

Question 26

what are the 4 schedules of reinforcement

Answer 26

fixed ratio
variable ratio
fixed interval
variable interval