Learning Theories Flashcards
Define Classical Conditioning
Learning by association; when two stimuli are repeatedly paired with one another, an individual learns to associate one stimulus to another
What is an unconditioned stimulus
Something that triggers a natural reaction
What is an unconditioned response
A natural response which does not need to be learnt
What is a neutral stimulus
Something that doesn’t normally trigger a reaction
What is a conditioned stimulus
Something that triggers a learnt response
What is a conditioned response
A response which has been learnt through association
What is Spontaneous Recovery
After the extinction of the CS and CR the conditioned response suddenly reappears again in situations that are similar to those in which it occurred before the extinction.
What is stimulus generalisation?
Once animals are conditioned they will respond to other stimuli that are similar, like any tin opened makes a cat enter the kitchen.
Define Timing in the context of classical conditioning
If the Neutral Stimulus can’t be used to predict the Unconditioned Stimulus, then conditioning will not occur
What is extinction in the context of classical conditioning
The Conditioned Response isn’t permanent. A few presentations of Conditioned Stimulus in the absence of the Unconditioned Stimulus loses the ability to produce a conditioned response.
What were the aims of Pavlov’s experiment of Classical Conditioning?
To investigate associative learning and understand if a reflex response with a neutral stimulus produces a conditional reflex in a new situation.
What was the IV and DV of Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning experiment?
IV: behaviour of dog before and after conditioning
DV: the number of drops of saliva produced by the dogs
What was the methodology of Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning experiment?
Repeated measures design, as it studies the same dogs before and after their conditioning
What was the procedure for Pavlov’s experiment of Classical Conditioning?
- Dog was placed in a sealed room with no exposure to other stimuli, this was a controlled measure to prevent other situational variables from making the dog salivate.
- The dog was strapped into a harness to stop it from moving and the mouth was surgically linked to a tube that drained saliva away into a measuring bottle.
- The sound of a metronome was paired with the presentation of food to the dog which caused salivation. This paired association was repeated 20 times.
- After the dog was conditioned, Pavlov presented the dog with the sound of the metronome but no food and the number of drops of saliva were counted and collected in the measuring bottle.
What was the sample for Pavlov’s experiment of Classical Conditioning?
35 dogs of a variety of breeds, raised in kennels in the laboratory
What were the results of Pavlov’s experiment of Classical Conditioning?
- Pavlov found that the conditioned dog started to salivate 9 seconds after hearing the sound and, by 45 seconds - 11 drops of saliva were produced.
- Secondary conditioning can also occur if the first CS (metronome) causing the CR salivation is paired with another neutral stimulus (buzzer).
What were the conclusions of Pavlov’s experiment of Classical Conditioning?
- Pavlov discovered Classical Conditioning.
- Stimulus generalisation takes place when an organism responds to a stimulus that is similar to the conditioned stimulus. For example, Pavlov’s dogs began to salivate in response to another type of sound (doorbell/ wind chime) that has a similar tone to the metronome even though the dog was never directly conditioned to respond to those specific instruments.
Evaluate the generalisability of Pavlov’s experiment of Classical Conditioning
- Dogs have a much less complex CNS and anatomical brain structure than humans
- Humans are not as strongly motivated by food all of the time; different motives
Evaluate the reliability of Pavlov’s experiment of Classical Conditioning
+ Pavlov repeated this standardised experiment, with the dog harnessed and saliva volumes measured after 20 UCS (food) + NS (metronome) pairings.
+ Pavlov repeated the study multiple times over 25 years with different dogs and stimuli
+ Got different researchers to observe the dog and measure the saliva
+Many variations including a buzzer and whistle were used, therefore test-retest can determine if results are consistent
Evaluate the applications of Pavlov’s experiment of Classical Conditioning
+ His conclusions are used in programs for changing human behaviour
+ Aversion therapy
+ Systematic desensitisation
+ Flooding therapy
+ For example, in Aversion therapy alcoholics are given Antabuse a drug, causing nausea and vomiting if they consume alcohol
What is Systematic Desensitisation
Treats phobias/anxiety disorders. Involves counterconditioning, where the patient is graudally exposed to feared stimuli from the least to most feared in ranking.
Evaluate the ecological validity of Pavlov’s experiment of Classical Conditioning
-Low because an artificial laboratory environment was used for example dogs were bred in the laboratory, and harnessed in place so stimuli and responses were isolated, therefore ‘real-life’ behaviours were not being observed
- Low mundane realism
Evaluate the internal validity of Pavlov’s experiment of Classical Conditioning
+ Carefully controlled setting makes his findings objective and scientifically credible due to the lack of extraneous variables
+ Quantitative data was collected, e.g. the number of drops o saliva, which increases the scientific internal validity because cause and effect can clearly be established
Evaluate the ethics of Pavlov’s experiment of Classical Conditioning
- The dogs were surgically implanted with a catheter/ measuring bottle into salivatory glands and kept in a sealed room.
- No BPS ethical guidelines were established in 1927 (first introduced in 1947), however, the study does not abide by the current ethical standard of ‘Refinement’ in the Scientific Procedures Act of 1986)
What is Aversion Therapy?
- A form of behavior therapy in which an aversive (causing a strong feeling of dislike or disgust) stimulus is paired with an undesirable behaviour in order to extinguish the behaviour.
- For example, in Aversion therapy alcoholics are given Antabuse a drug, causing nausea and vomiting if they consume alcohol
- Homosexuality was ‘treated’ 50 years ago by electrocuting or giving gay people medication which caused them to feel nauseous and vomit whilst they were shown homosexual images which prompted sexual arousal.
What is Flooding Therapy?
- People with phobias are not allowed to avoid their fear, they must face it head on by being immersed in it.
- Initially the client will experience full fear (e.g. Sweating, heart racing etc).
- The body cannot maintain this high level of arousal so the symptoms (heart rate, dizziness, etc) will subside and they will feel relaxed.
- A new association is then formed between feeling relaxed and the feared object/situation.
What were the aims of Watson and Raynor’s study?
- To investigate if classical conditioning can be generalised to human behaviour by conditioning the fear response in to a 9 month old baby
- To investigate if stimulus generalisation occurs in humans to cause the fear response by other stimuli similar to the white rat.
What was the IV and DV of Watson and Raynor’s study?
IV:
1. Before conditioning compared with after conditioning
2. Being presented with the white rats compared to being presented with other fluffy, white animals/objects
DV:
The number of fearful behaviours Albert shows when presented with the stimuli.
What was the methodology of Watson & Raynor’s study?
Repeated measures design, since they studied Albert before and after his conditioning, and since Albert experiences every condition
Describe the sample of Watson & Raynor’s study?
- 1 male 9 month old baby Little Albert, conditioning experiments started at age 11 months.
- Little Albert was chosen because he was healthy and ‘fearless’.
- Opportunity sampling
What was the procedure of Watson & Raynor’s study?
- Little Albert was presented with a range of animals and objects to test his fears and identify a neutral stimulus. A white rat was chosen as NS which Little Albert was NOT fearful of.
- Little Albert was tested for an innate fear response by striking a hammer on a steel bar which caused him to cry. The noise from the hammer banging a steel bar is the UCS and fearful crying is the UCR.
- Little Albert was conditioned at 11 months old, the white rat was presented paired with the striking of a hammer and steel bar 3 times. The NS and UCS to UCR pairing occurred 7 times.
- This procedure was repeated a week later. Little Albert was then presented with the white rat without the iron bar noise causing him to cry.
- A week later, Little Albert was tested for stimulus generalisation by observing his fearful behaviours towards a rabbit, a dog and Watson wearing a Santa mask.
- 5 days later, they transferred him to a brighter room with more people present.
- Brought him back 31 days later - to see if the associations lasted through time.
What were the conclusions of Watson & Raynor’s study?
- The fear response can be conditioned into humans using Classical Conditioning. This supports the generalisation of Pavlov’s research with dogs to humans.
- Stimulus generalisation and transferal of response is observed in humans.
- 31 days after all tests, Little Albert still demonstrated all the same conditioned responses, so Watson proposed that conditioned fear would last a lifetime.
Evaluate the generalisability of Watson & Raynor’s study
- Only 1 participant: a 9-month old baby
- Unrepresentative sample
- Age and gender not considered in the experiment
- After his death he was confirmed to have a brain disorder (hydrocephalus), so the findings may not be applicable to other children who don’t have neurological issues
Evaluate the reliability of Watson & Raynor’s study
+ Standardised procedures
+ The pairing of the unconditioned stimulus (hitting steel bar with hammer 3 times) and the neutral stimulus happened 7 times
+ Easy to replicate and check for consistency
Evaluate the applications of Watson & Raynor’s study
+ Treatment of phobias, e.g. flooding therapy
+ Extreme behavioural therapy where the subject is exposed to the most intense situation immediately for an extended amount of time
+ This confirms that the fear response following the unconditioned stimulus generates a conditioned response, in this case curing the phobia
Evaluate the validity of Watson & Raynor’s study
- Low ecological validity
- Low task validity; hearing a steel bar being hit by a hammer 3 times
- Laboratory experiment; dark room is not reflective of real life
Evaluate the ethics of Watson & Raynor’s study
- Little Albert developed a phobia that could potentially last a lifetime (as seen by the phobia still being present after 31 days).
- This means that Little Albert was subject to psychological harm, as seen by his distressed response (crying and moving away)
Define Operant Conditioning
A form of learning where voluntary behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences
What is the ABC model?
- It proposes that behaviour is based on Antecedents which cause an organism to perform a particular behaviour which has consequences
- To change the behaviour, it is easier to change the consequences rather than the antecedent
Define Reinforcement
Pleasant consequences which makes the behavior more likely to be repeated
Define Positive Reinforcement
Rewarding the desired behaviour by adding something pleasant
Example: giving someone a compliment if they do well in an exam
Define Negative Reinforcement
Rewarding the desired behaviour by removing something unpleasant
Example: Stopping criticism if they do well in an exam
Define Primary Reinforcement
When the reward is a basic need which we desire, such as food
Example: Food
Define Secondary Reinforcement
When the reward is something that can satisfy a basic need but it is not itself a basic need.
Example: Money to buy food
Define Punishment
When the undesired behaviour is punished with unpleasant consequences, making it less likely to be repeated
Define Positive Punishment
Punishing the undesired behaviour by adding something unpleasant
Example: Detention when a student misbehaves
Define Negative Punishment
Punishing the undesired behaviour by removing something pleasant
Example: No pocket money allowance when a student misbehaves
Describe Skinner’s Box Experiment
Skinner took a rat/pigeon starved to 75% of its natural body weight and put it in a box, where there was a lever that could be pressed to deliver a food pellet to the animal. Skinner would leave the animal in the box and measure how frequently the animal pressed the lever over time.
What were the results of Skinner’s Box Experiment
Positive Reinforcement:
- Animal accidentally presses the lever causing a food pellet to be released. Rat learns pressing the lever results in the pleasant consequence of a food pellet and is more likely to repeat this behaviour.
Negative Reinforcement:
- Animal is exposed to an unpleasant electric current causing discomfort and the rat rapidly moves around in the box. The rat accidentally hits the lever and electric current stops.
Therefore the behaviour that is reinforced will be repeated.
Describe continuous reinforcement
The consequence (reinforcement) occurs every time the behaviour occurs)
Learning is fast
Extinction is fast
Describe partial reinforcement
The consequence only occurs some of the time the behaviour occurs
Learning is medium
Extinction is medium
Describe fixed interval reinforcement
There is a fixed time for the reinforcement, e.g. every 10 seconds
Learning is medium
Extinction is medium
Describe variable interval reinforcement
There is a variable time for the reinforcement, e.g. every 1 minute followed by every 2 minutes followed by every 5 minutes.
Learning is fast
Extinction is slow
Describe fixed ratio reinforcement
The number of behaviours observed for the reward is always a set number, e.g. 5 presses of a button results in a reward
Learning is fast
Extinction is medium
Describe variable ratio reinforcement
The number of behaviours observed for the reinforcement is variable. e.g. 2 presses = reward, 5 presses = reward, etc.
Learning is fast
Extinction is slow
Describe Social Learning Theory
It assumes that behaviour is learnt through observation and imitation of a role model that the individual identifies with
Define Vicarious Reinforcement
Learning through observation of the consequences of other people’s actions
Define Role Model
Someone that the observer identifies with, e.g. similar appearance, gender, interests