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Learning Theories Flashcards

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1
Q

What is Classical conditioning

A

Learning by association
result of stimulus
occurs when two stimuli (UCS and NS) and repeatedly paired together, eventually producing same response from USC from NS

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2
Q

What is extinction

A

When a CS is experienced without US. over a period of time cashing the CR to be extinguished
CS ceases to trigger the CR making it extinct
(survival value- learning is flexible we can learn to stop fearing something)

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3
Q

What is spontaneous recovery

A

When extinct response activated again so CS elicits CR , generally weaker than it ones

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4
Q

Stimulus Generation

A

Conditioned to respond to one stimulus but find ourselves exhibiting same response to other stimulus

eg- salivate at hershey but also as dairy milk

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5
Q 
Pavlov study (AO1)
(NOT CLASSIC JUST FOR RESEARCH)
A

Pavlov’s aim was to test whether a unconditioned response can be linked with a neutral stimulus therefore causing learning to take place and producing a
conditioned response. To do this he set up an experiment where he placed a dog
in a box where it couldn’t smell or hear anything to avoid extraneous variables.
To measure the DV a tube was attached to its mouth to accurately measure saliva.
During the conditioning the neutral stimulus (a metronome) was paired with food
(UCS) about 20 times. During this pairing, the dog will salivate (UCR). After this the
sound was presented without the food. The results showed that the dog started to
salivate 9 seconds after hearing the buzzer, and after 45 seconds had produced 11
drops of saliva. It was concluded that a neutral stimulus when paired with an
unconditioned stimulus would turn conditioned and produce a conditioned
response like the production of saliva.

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6
Q

Classical conditioning strength

A

Supported by research
Pavlov (1972) demonstrated it in salivation and dogs, Watson and rayner demonstrated it in human baby and fear.
Overall there are good controlled studies that demonstrate that there is classical conditioning in human and animal learning

Counter: pavlov concepts of CC are being questioned, eg the essential factor linking the NS and UCS was contiguity (same place and time) , but rescolra and later researchers found that contingency is more important ( extent to which the NS predicts the UCS) therefore pavlova og explanation for cc is in accurate

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7
Q

Classical conditioning weakness

A

A weakness of classical conditioning as an explanation for learning is that it can only
explain a small range of behaviours that can be acquired. It can explain salivation, but
can’t explain complex chains for learned behaviour. For example it can explain why
someone learns to fear a dog, but does not explain how someone learns and maintains
behaviours that they used to avoid dogs. As such, classical conditioning can only be a
partial explanation of learning behaviours.

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8
Q

Classical conditioning weakness

A

• A lot of the supportive research was conducted on dogs and there is a problem
generalising the results of animal studies to humans. Humans have structurally
different brains from other species and may therefore respond differently. In particular
humans have a larger cerebral cortex than other species and this permits greater
complex cognitive processing, including conscious choice. Therefore Pavlov’s findings
might not be entirely true as his assumed they could be generalised to humans.

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9
Q

What is operant conditioning

A

Learning by consequence,

association is made between action and reward, what happens after behaviour determines whether it’s is repeated or not

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10
Q

what is the diff types of reinforcement and punishment

A

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT
Rewarding the subject removing painful) stimulus -more likely to repeat the desired behaviour
NEGATIVE PUNISHMENT
Punishing subject by removing liked stimulus - less likely to repeat
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
rewarding ppt by adding liked stimulus- more likely to repeat
POSITIVE PUNISHMENT
rewarding subject by adding unliked stimulus - less likely to repeat

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11
Q

What is the skinner box

A

Skinners operant conditioning chamber was designed to teach rags how to push a level, behaviour is not natural to rate so operant conditions with - and + reinforcement were used to teach the behaviour

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12
Q

what is primary reinforcer and secondary reinforcer

A

Primary- rewarding bc of biological significance, occurs naturally not learned
Secondary-rewarding through association w primary reinforcer, does not satisfy need but needs to do so

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13
Q

Classical study watson and rayner procedure

A

P–First, Albert’s emotional response baseline needed to be measured.
-He was presented with a white rat
-Albert showed no fear response to the rat.
He even reached out to it
-Aibert was then exposed to a loud noise
created by striking a steel bar and a hammer whenever he reached out to play with the rat
-7 trials was all it took to make him avoid the rat and cry

-A week later, Albert was exposed 5 times to the paired sight of the rat
and the loud noise behind his back
-He was also tested with dooen blocks at this point. To which he showed
no fear.
-This was to show he wasn’t getting more scared generally, rather was
only afraid of the loud noise and the rat.

-Albert was shown a wide range of
objects.
-Albert showed adverse reactions to
rabbits, a dog and a Santa Claus mask
-These had a resemblance to the white rat
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14
Q

Classical study Albert AIM

A

Aim- invest sugar if simple emotional responses like fear could be acquired by classical conditioning

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15
Q

Classical study Eval (baby) strength

A

High internal validity
Alberts response to wooden blocks was clever way to measure alberts responses were only phobic to furry objects not general increase in anxiety
The tests were conducted in controlled environments , albert was chosen cause he was less anxious, well controlled room external noises didn’t interfere
Eliminates extraneous valuables , can certify his responses were due to classical conditions and not anxiety

not all aspects controlled for
white rabbit was placed infront of him suddenly and dog was pushed towards him
sudden actions could’ve startled albert causing the fear rather than animal

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16
Q

Baby study weakness

A

Low pop validity
one single ppt, may be unusual compared to other kids, he was described as rarely crying, identity was also confidential so we have no way of seeing how representative of childrens behaviour overall
albert reactions are unique to him ,may not be generalisable

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17
Q

Baby weakness

A

Not ethical
,psychological distressed , deliberately alarmed by loud noise, not experience child is normally exposed to , not ethical

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18
Q

Baby strength

A

Real world applications,

explains how phobias and related symptoms can be acquired, leading to systematic desensitisation and flooding

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19
Q

Operant conditioning - Schedules of reinforcement

A

continuous reinforcement - desired behaviour rewarded every time ( good for initial stage of learning)
partial reinforcement

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20
Q

Types of partial reinforcement

A

Fixed interval- behaviour rewarded after specified amount of time has elapsed- interval training
high amounts of response near end but slower in beginning
Variable interval - behaviour rewarded after unpredictable amount of time , slow steady rate of response - varies around average (time)

Fixed ratio- after specific amount of time
high steady rate of response, brief pause after delivery
variable ratio-behaviour rewarded after number of unpredictable times, high steady rate

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21
Q

Operant conditioning strength

A

Practical applications, esp in treatment of mental disorders that use principles of operant conditioning, eg use of token economies to teach social skills to psychiatric patients, also within education like star charts( taking away break -negative punishment), can treat phobias , principles are useful in real world as much as theory

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22
Q

Operant conditioning Strength

A

Research evidence to support,
skinner- conducted many studies on animals demonstrating effects on modifying behaviour, classic example is skinners box study , rodent learns to push certain levers in response to lights for food pellet and no electrocution , studies on humans also have consistent conclusions
Strength as scientific nature and high controlled conditions allow cause and effect to be established

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23
Q

Operant conditioning Weakness

A

Says all behaviour is learned by reward and punishment but this doesn’t account for complex behaviours like language learning. Research shows children acquire language faster without correction
Nelson (1973) observed mothers responses to incorrect speech and found children who were systematically corrected expanded their vocab more slowly than forgiving parents. operant condition cannot explain all behaviour but more simple ones

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24
Q

operant conditioning weakness

A

There are alternative explanations
classical conditioning - through association
SLT- through observation
these explain how behaviours originate rather than how existing behaviours are strengthened/weakened
operant conditioning only explains extrinsic rewards not intrinsic like enjoyment,

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25
Q

Pavlov Evaluation

WEAKNESSES

A

Another weakness is a lack of validity. Pavlov recognised that he took the naturalness out of the situation. The dog was in a chamber and no other stimuli were present (except for the
stimuli being tested), which means ‘real-life’ behaviour is not being looked at, so data are not valid. However, Pavlov argued that, as stimuli in the environment are so complex and his studies are actually focusing on such stimuli, he must isolate them for study, and they are
‘natural’ stimuli so there is some validity. For example, the salivation of the dogs is valid - it is salivation.

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26
Q

pavlov strengths

A 
high internal validity 
the study utilised a soundproof
chamber to reduce the possibility of
external sounds distracting the dogs
or providing additional stimuli that
could be the inadvertent NS.

The collection of the dog’s saliva in a
cannula helped prevent the loss of
saliva and provide an objective
measurement of the salivation.
control make it clear salivation is in response to bell
demonstrating cause and effect between conditioning and new behaviour

clinical application, helps with eating disorders 
obesity can be explained by the responses in the dogs 
jensen et all suggest overweight children have very strong associations between cues and predict good and the salivation response, overeating follows expose of those cues 
Application of Pavlov's
research has been
applied in
understanding this
behaviour and then in
developing therapies
such as systematic
desensitisation that
could help treat these
people.
27
Q

phobia definition

A

anxiety disorder that interferes with daily living, irrational fear

28
Q

how does CC explain phobia

A

A UCS that produces a strong emotional reaction( fear) and a situation where UCS is associated with NS
for example
being bitten (UCS) = pain (UCR)
bitten(UCS) + Dog (NS)= pain (UCR)
dog (CS)= pain (CR) - fear we want to avoid

29
Q

Operant conditioning explaining phobia

A

reinforcement positive or negative
individual gets attention when they shower fear, this reinforces behaviour and leads to development and maintenance of phobia
for example they walk around park to avoid dog so their anxiety ( unpleasant stimulus) is removed ( negative reinforcement)

30
Q

Aim of Bandura original study 1961

A

To see whether young children will imitate behaviour they have seen at a later time even if it’s not rewarded

31
Q

Procedure of Bandura original

A

Matched pairs design
36B 36G from Stanford uni nursery
Several Iv: sex of model or child , type of aggro being modelled
potential confounding variable- existing levels of aggression was controlled for ( teachers and classmates rated the childrens aggression- kids with similar scores, in the same group)
kids put into groups of 3s of same sex and were assigned to one of conditions
aggression group- observed an aggressive adult man or female , punching kicking and shouting at inflatable bobo doll, ( hit with mallet) or verbal aggression ( sock him on the nose)
Non aggression group- observed model who was just assembling a mechanical toy clamly
control group- no model present
after observing kids were told to play with toys in the room and were made frustrated by being shown new toys meant for other children , after 10 minutes ppt were taken into playroom and urs range of dolls such as bobo and were covertly observed

Bandura looked out for
Imitative verbal aggression
imitative non aggressive behaviour
imitative physical aggression

32
Q

Findings of Banduras Original study

A

non aggressive condition- showed no aggression
aggressive conditions- significantly more physical and verbal aggression imitating model
Boys showed 2X imitative aggression than girls
girls showed even amounts of aggression in physical and verbal
boys had higher physical compared to verbal

33
Q

conclusion of Bandura original

A

social behaviour such as aggression can be acquired by imitation of models
more likely when modelled behaviour was gender typical ( eg physical aggression in males)

34
Q

Bandura imitation for carTOOOON

aim

A

investigate whether filmed model would have the same effect as live model on childrens aggression
and too see if cartoon aggression had impact compared to realistic filmed aggression

35
Q

Bandura Cartoon Procedure

A

48B 48G
Independent groups
39-52 months old from stanford university nursery
Spilt into 3 conditions
Live aggression - the watched adult aggro to doll
filmed- watched same aggressive behaviour on screen
cartoon- watched tv model dress as cartoon cat perform same aggressive behaviours
control group- didn’t not watch

36
Q

Bandura cartoon Findings

A

All 3 experimental groups had higher aggression, the mean was highest in cartoon then filmed then in live
differences between experimental conditions- not significant, but were significant from the control condition
which had lower mean aggression

37
Q

Bandura cartoon Conclusion

A

Exposure to live or fumed aggression increases aggression in response to frustration even if aggression is modelled by cartoon cat

38
Q

State two differences between results of original bandura study (1961) and bandura cartoon (1963)

A

Original study - significant diff in aggression scores of boys and girls, boys showed x2 imitative aggression than the girls, whereas bandura et al (1963) aggression was measured by n° of aggressive acts and there were no reported differences between G and B
Also in Bandura OG study results for diff types of aggression eg physical and verbal were significantly different for boys whereas bandura cartoon in 3 results live aggression cartoon and filmed were not significantly diff

39
Q

Bandura (1965) vicarious reinforcement

A

to investigate whether reinforcement or the punishment of an aggressive model would influence the aggression displayed in children in response to frustration

40
Q

Bandura (1965) vicarious reinforcement procedure

A

33B 33G
independent groups
stanford uni 47-71 months
3 conditions
Model reward condition- children saw a second adult praise model for their aggression with drink and chocolate
Model punished condition- second adult disapproved by saying ‘ u big bully i won’t tolerate it’ and spanked them w rolled newspaper
no consequence control condition- model not reinforced or punished
children followed researcher into room and watched tv, after words children were delib frustrated and taken into playroom like other two bandura studies

41
Q

Bandura(1965) vicarious reinforcement

findings

A

children in model punished were less aggression compared to other two
once reward was offered to children they were given a chance to play with bobo doll again and differences were wiped out and increased aggression in all 3 groups

42
Q

Bandura 1965 vicarious reinforcement conclusion

A

vicarious punishment reduces imitated aggression but promise of reinforcement is amore powerful influence on aggression

43
Q

Strength of Banduras design

A

High internal validity
children matched based on existing aggression, reducing potential effects of individual differences being extraneous variable
multiple conditions, included non aggressive conditions, allowing researchers to control for spontaneous aggression, children were also observed one at time preventing conformity effects
levels of controls were useful as we can be reasonably sure that observed aggression was due to observing the aggression models

44
Q

Another strength with Bandura

to do with real life

A

Real life applications
for example film/cartoon study can be applied to influence of media on young people, Bandura claimed that the findings how that violence on TV is likely to be imitated by those watching if they are the same sex as observer, therefore based on his research we could reduce aggro behaviour in society by reducing aggressive behaviour people can watch on Tv

45
Q

Bandura weakness

A

Ethical issues
Wortman, Loftus and Waves argue studies were morally wrong as ppt were manipulated make them act in an aggressive way, they argue children were trained to be aggressive by not letting them play with certain toys, child may have been psychologically distressed as result of research

46
Q

Bandura Counter/ Weakness

A

Doesn’t provide explanation for long term aggression, bandura only observed immediate effects of aggression in children. Having no explanation for whether those aggressive changes were long term or not, we cannot know if children will
apply this behaviour outside of study
So study provides explanation on how aggressive behaviour can be learned but not how it’s maintained

47
Q

Weakness Bandura

A

Both of the studies procedure could have cue the children as to how they were expected to behave
one child was reported to have said look mummy there’s the doll we have to hit in the 1965 study, suggesting the believed they had to hit the doll and this is what the adults wanted them to do, meaning experimental procedure may have lower internal validity, researchers cannot be sure that aggression reflects learning or were affected by demand characteristics

48
Q

Becker aim

A

to investigate eating behaviour and attitudes following prolonged exposure to television among ethnic fijian adolescent girls

49
Q

Becker procedure

A

Natural experiment( IV naturally occurring) and out experimenters control
Cross sectional study- takes info from one group at a particular moment in time, multiple factors considered, measures dominant characteristics of population in the given time
Group1 - 63G 17 in 1995
Group2- 65G 17 in 1998
both groups did modified version of EAT-26 survey which investigates binging and purging behaviours in people
Self reporting method
Ppt scoring higher than 20 were asked to do a semi structured interview, translator present, answered were recorded and transcribed

50
Q

Becker findings

A

weight did not differ between two groups of girls with BMIs respectively
Television viewing did increase 41% in 1995 and 71% in 1998 having tv at home
scores of dysfunctional eating increased by 29.2%to 12.7 scoring over 20 on eat in 1998 compared in 1995
11.3 reported purging in 1998 compared to none in 1995

30% of girls considered TV characters to be role models, 1998 interviews 74% felt too large 69% dieted

51
Q

becker conclusion

A

Tv had influenced changes in eating attitude in women, opposite to traditional attitudes and norms
example of harm by rapid social change

52
Q

Becker strengths

A

Good reliability and findings
draws similar findings to other studies that found link between media exposure and body image ( Furnham and husain) and furthermore (Rivas) found eat-26 was highly reliable, meaning differences in 1995 and 1998 group was not due to scale being unreliable but actually reflects real change over time, study’s conclusion that media affects body image occurs consistently across different contexts and cultures

Real life application
becker found tv exposure changes attitudes to eating in negative manner, such as induced vomiting
limit exposure of television or adapt it
more diversity, discourage ed
to spread awareness

53
Q

Becker strength

A

•Becker gathered both qualitative and quantitative data from semi-
structured interviews and EAT-26 survey.
•This is a strength because she was able to understand in detail the
reasons as to why the attitudes towards eating changed in the Fijian
girls between 1995 and 1998 when they scored highly on the EAT-26
• This meant she was able to establish that TV exposure did influence
the changes in attitudes, as 77% reported that television had
influences their own body image. This eliminates the possibility that
this attitude change towards food and their bodies was caused by
other factors, such as friends or parents
.Lacked pop validity
2 groups and 60 17 year olds from fiji
means influence of tv on eating attitudes cannot be generalised to older agee groups or different cultures, perhaps influence of tv will not be as great

54
Q

Treatments for phobia

Systematic desensitisation

A

Systematic desensitisation
based on classical conditioning
Wolpe founded concept of reciprocal inhibition- meaning we can feel fear and relaxation simultaneously
number of sessions depends on strength of phobia
process can be vivo ( exp to real obj) or vitro(imagined situation)
Three phases
deep muscle relaxation technique and breathing exercises, patient creates fear hierarchy, starting w stimuli with least anxiety to most
works way up fear hierarchy w relaxation technique

55
Q

Flooding

A 
Thomas stampfl, Individual is exposed repeatedly and
in an intensive way with their phobia.
There is no option to escape, the
phobic stimulus is continually
presented.
Without the option for avoidance
behaviour, the patient quickly learns
that the phobic stimulus is harmless
this process is called extinction

Unavoidable exposure- introducing u in an immediate and unavoidable way to fear
extinction- learning to associate the thing you fear with something neutral

56
Q

Social Learning theory key terms

A

modelling- demonstration of specific behaviour normally from role model
role model- significant individual in someone’s life
imitation- most important part in social learning, copying observed behaviour
vicarious reinforcement- learning through consequence of another person
self efficacy- persons knowing their ability to do something and be confident w it

57
Q

Steps social learning theory

A

1.ATTENTION
attention placed on behaviour of model
2. RETENTION
main cog element of SLT, observed behaviour is stored in memory
3.REPRODUCTION
behaviour replicated in appropriate situations, needs motor function and self efficacy,
4.MOTIVATION
what drives someone to repeat behaviour is vicarious reinforcement or punishment
Intrinsic- feeling/ inherent satisfaction
extrinsic- tangible like something u can hold trophy

58
Q

Social learning theory bandura

Research strength

A

• A strength of social learning theory is that there is research evidence to support it
• For example, Bandura’s studies on children demonstrate that children were more
likely to imitate an aggressive model if the model was the same sex, furthermore
in his 1965 study he demonstrates that if the model was given a reward for their
actions, the children are also more likely to imitate the aggression.
• This evidence supports Bandura’s claims that behaviour can be acquired by
observation and imitation, and that vicarious reinforcement affects the likelihood
of the imitations.

59
Q

Social learning theory Bandura

real life applications strength

A

• Another strength of social learning theory is that there are practical
applications.
• This theory can explain the link between media violence and aggression,
particularly identified in children. There is widespread concern that violent
games and violence in media that children consume (such as in movies) can
lead to them imitating aggression in real life is explained.
• Therefore this theory has helped us understand the harmful effects of viewing
violent behaviour in others. As a result of this knowledge parents can limit
screen time, or censor violent programmes as a way of reducing aggression.

60
Q

Social learning theory Weakness

what does it not expalin

A

weakness of social learning theory is that evidence shows that genetic factors are
important as well as environmental’influences.
Kendler et al (2015) showed that identical twins are more similar in their levels of aggression over non identical twins, strongly suggesting individual differences in social behaviour like aggressiveness are genetically influenced and not simply a product of different experience of modelling and therefore slt is not a complete explanation for the acquisition of all types of behaviour.

Bandura did not entirely ignore biological factors. He claimed that behaviours are not
solely determined by social learning - it is the way it is expressed that is learned, not the actual urge to be aggressive

61
Q

Systematic desensitisation Evaluation

A

evidenced to be Good form of treatment
most people who did SD improve in therapy than those without
Mcgrath et al found 75% of individuals with SD respond to this therapy and also a treatment people can self administer using computer simulations
viable useful therapy for phobias improving quality of life for those w irrational fears

Cannot fully treat phobias , some fears such as dark, dangerous animals are not affected by SD because they are instinctual and from our survival instincts. Furthermore can only be effective for specific situations and objects, less effecting treating generalised anxiety
disorders. cannot treat all patients

62
Q

Flooding evaluation

fast

A

Very fast form of treatment
much faster than other therapies and at times being affective in a single session
leads to lower costs of therapy do they can lead symptom free lives of their phobia faster

63
Q

flooding eval

effectiveness for social phobia

A

Not very affective in treating social phobia, most social phobia have a
cognitive aspect, the patient isn’t anxious just due to social situation but the accompanying unpleasant thoughts or feelings, therefore treatment could only apply to some phobias and tackles behavioural responses but not cognitive aspects

Psychology (8 decks)

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