learning theories Flashcards
3 learning theories
classical conditioning
operant conditioning
social learning theory
what is classical conditioning ?
it explains how we can learn involuntary reflexes through associating stimuli and responses
unconditioned stimulus
anything that naturally has the power to produce a response in a human/animal
unconditioned response
natural reflex response to an unconditioned stimulus
neutral stimulus
something in the environment which does not initially cause a response
conditioned stimulus
neutral stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus when it acquires the ability to produce a specific response to it
conditioned response
learnt response to something
stimulus generalization
when stimuli similar to CS produce the CR
extinction
when CR declines and disappears because the CS is repeatedly presented in the absence of the UCS
spontaneous recovery
when the CR reappears in a weakened form in response to the CS
discrimination
the CR is only produced in response to the CS and not to similar stimuli
evidence for classical conditioning
- watson and rainer
little albert could be conditioned to become afraid of white rats by pairing the presentation of the rat with a loud noise
how good is the evidence for classical conditioning
- watson and rayner :
- controlled environment = highly scientific and would have reduced environmental variables which could affect results
however :
- lacks ecological validity so doesn’t show how conditioning occurs in the real world
comparisons and limitations to classical conditioning
- explains involuntary reflexes which other theories don’t
- reductionist - ignores influence of biology and focuses on nurture factors
- suggests we don’t have a choice - determinist, when we are conditioned which may not be true as people choose to overcome fears
applications of classical conditioning
- systematic desensitization
- flooding
- aversion therapy, associating an addiction with something unpleasant
what is operant conditioning
voluntary behavior can be influenced through reinforcement and punishment
reinforcement
encouraging behavior
positive reinforcement
encouraging a behavior by giving someone something pleasant,
e.g chocolate for tidying up
negative reinforcement
encouraging a behavior by taking away something unpleasant, e.g, taking away chores for doing well in a test
punishment
discourages a behavior by doing something unpleasant to stop it
positive punishment
discouraging behavior by giving someone something unpleasant e.g extra homework for messing around
negative punishment
discouraging a behavior by taking away something pleasant, e.g phone for being rude
difference between reinforcement and punishment
reinforcement is used when desired behavior occurs and punishment is used when undesired behavior occurs
contingency
reliability or predictability of the consequence following the behavior
for learning to occur, what should contingency be ?
consequence must clearly be linked to the behavior and the individual must perceive that performing a specific behavior will lead to a specific outcome
contiguity
refers to timing between behavior and the consequence
how should contiguity be for learning to take place ?
consequences need to follow the behavior immediately after if there’s a delay association weakens
primary reinforcement
refers to a reinforcement which directly satisfies advice biological needs, e.g drink shelter food warmth comfort
secondary reinforcement
things that help to indirectly meet a biological need, eg getting money to buy food
4 schedules of reinforcement
fixed interval
variable interval
fixed ratio
variable ratio
fixed interval
reinforcer is delivered after a set period of time as long as at least 1 behavior occurs during that time
variable interval
reinforcer is delivered after an unpredictable amount of time which averages to a certain level as long as 1 behavior occurs during that time
fixed ratio
a reinforcer is given after a specified number of behaviours
variable ratio
reinforcer is given after an unpredictable number of behaviors but it averages to a certain number
fixed interval example
getting a cup of tea at work every 2 hours if a good job was done
weakness of fixed interval
as there’s no suprise it may just be that just before the 2 hour interval good work would be produced, before that the work wouldn’t be as good
variable interval example
getting a cup of tea approximately every 2 hours but not being sure at what time period within the 2 hours the cup of tea would be given
strength of variable interval
you know a cup of tea is coming for working well but as you don’t know exactly when, you work well for most of the time in anticipation
fixed ratio example
getting paid at work for every 100 parts produced
variable ratio example
gambling using a slot machine- machine would be expected to pay out over time but person playing wouldn’t know when a reward is going to be given
shaping
idea of encouraging complex behaviors, this is done by reinforcing successive approximations of the behavior
successful approximations
rewarding behavior should occur in steps and should gradually be more selective with rewards until exact behavior is given
chaining
break down behaviors info steps which are taught and reinforced 1 at a time
shaping example
when babies start to babble when learning to speak they are initially reinforced by attention but this only continued if the child goes on to produce recognizable words and later a series of words
thorndike - operant conditioning
cats and puzzle box :
cats used trial and error to try and escape the puzzle box
with positive reinforcement cat food helped them to remember how to escape the puzzle box
behavior changes due to consequence
skinner - skinners box - operant conditioning
- box which animals are put in with levers which delivered a positive, eg food or negative reinforcement, eg shock
rats quickly learnt to go straight to the lever which delivered food (reward)
positive reinforcement
skinner - superstitious pigeon - operant conditioning
- pigeons placed in a box and were randomly dispensed food
- pigeons started to dance as they thought whatever action they did when food was delivered would reward them
- tried to repeat and get further rewarded
associated beauvoir with food - reward can reinforce behavior
strengths of operant conditioning
Applied
Reliable
Evidence
applications of operant conditioning
- helps to create effective learning systems, particularly for children and animals e.g training them to follow an instructions by giving a reward
- explains phobias as they are maintained through avoidance which is negatively reinforced
how is operant conditioning reliable ?
- lots of evidence to support it
- standardized procedures in controlled conditions
evidence for operant conditioning
- skinners box
- skinner - superstition pigeons
- cats puzzle box
operant conditioning lovaas theory
- used behavior modification to treat children with autism
- therapy of reinforcement and punishment
weaknesses operant conditioning
- ethics
- fails to consider intrinsic motivation
operant conditioning ethics
behavior modification gives therapists power to determine behavior of patients
open to abuse not protected from harm
- animals used in experiments may be distressed
how does operant fail to consider intrinsic motivation
- properties of reinforcement provide complete account of human motivation
- reinforcement is linked to extrinsic motivation which are outside factors
- but we can also be intrinsically motivated by our own enjoyment
is classical conditioning voluntary or involuntary
involuntary, NS causes UCS
is operant conditioning voluntary or involuntary work responses
- voluntary - behavior is associated with consequence
what is the role of the learner in classical conditioning
passive - learner internalizes their natural environments and learns information
role of learner operant conditioning
involved active participation of the learner - consciously changing behavior
timing of stimulus classical conditioning
interval between C + UCS
timing of stimulus operant conditioning
reinforcement schedule dictates when and how often behavior will be reinforced
what was the aim of vaughan et al study
- researchers wanted to find out about urination of cows and defactation habits of cows
- used both operant and classical conditioning to see if they could get cows to urinate in a specific place
sample vaughan et al
24 cows
12 calves given UCS of a diuretic which caused USR of ruination
12 calves milk allowance was cut to make milk a better reward -
how were the 12 cows classically conditioned
given diuretic which caused UCR of urination
cows were given diuretic in the stall which made them urinate in the stall
when diuretic was no longer used cows were conditioned to urinate in stall
how were 12 cows operant conditioning
12 calves milk allowance was cut to make milk a better reward
when calf urinated bell rang and they were given milk as a reward whenever they urinated in the stall
vaughan et al which condition worked better ?
operant conditioning
strengths of evidence operant conditioning
- highly scientific
- well controlled environment
weakness of experiments operant conditioning
- lacks ecological validity
- often uses animals which can’t always be generalized to humans
limitations of operant conditioning
- ignores cognitive processes such as specific behavior patterns
- reductionist - ignores influence of biology
what is the social learning theory
learning occurs through observation someone we look up to or relate to (role model) after we observe behavior we can imitate them
what characteristics are important for a role model ?
whether they are of high status
if they share similar characteristics or interests
same gender
similar age
what factors affect imitation
- characters of the observer, self esteem, self efficacy
- consequences of behavior of the model, whether they are rewarded or punished
what is vicarious learning
we learn through others mistakes or successes
vicarious reinforcement
when you imitate the behavior of someone who has been reinforced for that behavior
example of vicarious reinforcement
avoiding hot water after seeing another person get burnt by it
vicarious punishment
tendency to engage in a behavior is weakened after having observed negative consequences for another engaging in that behavior
vicarious extinction
occurs when it is noticed that the person who has bdddn observed in engaging in a behavior jd no longer rewarded for that behavior
what are the stages of social learning theory
observation / attention
retention
reproduction
motivation
observation
active process through which observer chooses to focus their attention on the modeled behavior
retention
individual must retain or store what they’ve seen
assisted by imagery or language and stored by mental images
reproduction
person shows behaviors they have seen modelled
self efficacy is important here
influence of self esteem social learning theory
people are more likely to copy role models who were similar to them, getting positive feedback
influence of self efficacy social learning theory
- having previous successful experiences, observing and imitating peoples responses
motivation social learning theory
- final stage, refers to incentive
if reward is offered we are more likely to reproduce behaviors
vicarious reinforcement
people learn new behaviors by observing and imitating others - a behavior is learnt by observing others being rewarded for it
vicarious punishment
someone sees another person experience negative consequences of a behavior
extrinsic motivation
- if behavior is rewarded, something tangible
- revolves around a physical outcome
intrinsic motivation
- inherent satisfaction that comes from within
3.g excitement
what were the studies to support social learning theory
- bandura 1961
- bandura 1963
- bandura 1965
bandura 1961 aim
to investigate if aggressive behavior is learnt by children imitating an aggressive role model
bandura hypothesis 1961
- children will imitate same sex role models
- boys are likely to be more aggressive than girls
- observing an aggressive model will reproduce aggressive acts
- observing a non aggressive role model or no role model at all will lead to to less aggressive behavior
sample bandura 1961
- 72 children from stanford nursery school
- aged 37-69 months
- 36 boys 36 girls
aggressive model - bandura 1961
- children observed adult aggressively
non aggressive model (bandura 1961)
- children observed a non aggressive adult
no model bandura 1961
- children observed no adults at all
how were children matched and assigned to watch each model bandura 1961
- matched on levels of natural aggression before their experiment
how were the children’s natural levels of aggression assigned
- children’s nursery teacher and the experimenter rated their aggression levels out of 5 looking for physical and verbal aggression and aggression inhibition, towards objects
who saw the aggressive model ?
6 - boys dee aggressive make model
6- boys see aggressive female model
6- girls see aggressive male model
6 - girls see aggressive female model
who saw non aggressive model - bandura 1961
same as aggressive but with non aggressive model instead
what was stage 1 of bandura 1961
- modelling = children were collected and taken into the experimental room
- to keep kids interested they give them a high interest task, eg potato prints
- once settled they are taken to see bobo doll
- if in aggressive model condition the model is physically and verbally aggressive to the doll
give examples of physical and verbal aggression the aggressive model showed the bobo doll
- punching
- kicking
- throwing doll
- hitting doll with mallet
- “hit him down”
- “he keeps coming back for more”
- “sock him in the nose”
- “pow”
how long does the aggressor spend being aggressive ?
10 mins
stage 2- bandura 1961
aggression arousal - child is taken into another room of colorful attractive toys
after 2 mins the child is told the toys are for other children and taken out of the room to annoy the children
stage 3 bandura 1961 ?
- delayed imitation test
- kids are taken to another room with new toys which are either aggressive or non aggressive, mallet, gun
stage 3- bandura 1961 how are children observed
experimenter another researcher and model is watching behind a one way mirror
except for 1 experimenter who watched kid in room pretending to do work
how long is the child observed for in stage 3-
20 mins recorded every 5 seconds
what were the observers looking for during stage 3 bandura 1961
- imitative aggression
- partial imitation
- non imitative aggression
findings bandura 1961
children who saw aggressive model were more imitavely aggressive towards bobo doll
boys were more likely to imitate same sex models then girls
boys were more physically aggressive than girls
bandura 1963 aims
investigate whether a filmed model would hood to have the same effect as a live model on children’s aggression
second aim was to investigate whether cartoon aggression would have a similar impact to realistic filmed aggression
experiment type bandura 1963
lab experiment
independent groups designs
sample bandura 1963
48 boys
48 girls
aged 39-52 months
stanford university nursery
independent variable bandura 1963
- model
dependent variable bandura 1963
- level of aggression child displayed
bandura 1963 live aggression condition
- watched an adult aggressive bobo doll in real life
filmed realistic aggression bandura 1963
watched tv model aggressive vovo on screen
cartoon aggression bandura 1963
watched tv modem dressed as black cat do some aggressive actions to a bobo doll
control group bandura 1963
- did not watch aggression
procedure bandura 1963
- same as original surfy children are frustrated and observed in a playroom
conclusion bandura 1963
- exposure to live or filmed aggression increases likelihood of aggression in response to frustration even if aggression is modeled by a cartoon figure
bandura 1965 aim
- to consider whether reinforcement and punishment of an aggressive model would influence the aggression displayed by observers in response to frustration
sample bandura 1965
- 33 boys 33 girls
- 42-71 months
- stanford nursery
independent variable bandura 1965
- observed consequence for model
dependent variable bandura 1965
- children’s aggression
what were the 3 conditions bandura 1965
- model rewarded condition
- model punished condition
no consequence condition
model rewarded condition bandura 1965
- children saw adult praise model for aggression they were gifted chocolate and a drink
no consequences condition bandura 1965
- model neither reinforced or punished
bandura 1965 process -
- children were taken into a playroom and frustrated like before but all 3 groups were offered rewards to aggress towards the doll
bandura 1965 findings
- children in model punished condition were less aggressive than other 2 groups however adding a reward wiped out the difference increasing scores significantly for all groups
conclusion bandura 1965
- vicarious punishment reduces aggression however reinforcement is a more powerful influence on aggression
evidence - social learning theory
- bandura
showed learning occurs through observation as the children behaved more aggressively if the behavior demonstrated was aggressive particularly if it was a similar role model
how good is evidence - social learning theory bandura
- highly controlled environment so more internal validity
- lacks ecological validity
- ethically questionable as we are unsure over consent
social learning theory comparisons and limitations - kendler et al
1 found identical twins are more similar in aggression than non identical twins suggesting genetics plays a role
reductionist - ignoring biology
social learning theory applications
A violence in the media
violent tv shows are shown after 9pm
violent video games have she rating to avoid children copying behaviors
explains acquisition of phobias and how kids could gain phobias from parents
