Learning theories Flashcards
what aspect of psychoanalysis do learning theorists reject?
Learning theories reject the idea of our behaviour being driven by inner motives e.g. instinct, unconscious drives, feelings of inferiority etc.
Instead they suggest that individual differences in behaviour are the result of different learning experiences that people have had and the different situations that they find themselves in
One must examine carefully the situation a person is in and explore past experience in similar situations when trying to understand why a person behaves in a particular way
explain Pavlov’s dogs experiment
In the 1890s, Pavlov was investigating the gastric function of dogs by externalising a salivary gland so he could collect, measure and analyse the saliva that was produced in response to food under different conditions.
When a dog encounters food, saliva starts to pour from the salivary glands located at the back of its oral cavity.
This saliva is needed in order to make the food easier to swallow. The fluid also contains enzymes that break down certain compounds in the food.
Pavlov noticed that the dogs tended to salivate before food was actually delivered to their mouths. Although no food was in sight, their saliva dribbled.
It turned out that the dogs were reacting to lab coats. Every time the dogs were served food, the person who served the food was wearing a lab coat.
Therefore, the dogs reacted as it food was in their mouth whenever they saw a lab coat.
Pavlov decided to change the focus of his research, carrying out a long series of experiments in which he manipulated various stimuli occurring before the presentation of food to evoke a reaction like salivation.
He thereby established the basic laws of ‘conditional reflexes’.
define classical conditioning
an association forming between two stimuli
what did Pavlov’s dog experiment demonstrate?
classical conditioning
what are unconditioned stimulus’?
a stimulus that elicits an automatic response in the absence of learning
what are reflexes?
Reflexes make us react in a certain way. These reflexes are automatic responses which are unconditioned. The body responds in the same fashion every time the stimulus is applied and we do not have to learn it.
what is classical conditioning?
the process whereby a previously neutral stimulus e.g. a bell becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus e.g. food and starts to evoke a response e.g salivation
what is a neutral stimulus?
a stimulus that does not elicit any response in the absence of learning
Through experience and learning, a neutral stimulus will eventually trigger a given reflex
Learn to connect a stimulus to a reaction
what is a conditioned stimulus?
an initially neutral stimulus that elicits a response because it is associated with an unconditioned stimulus
what is a conditioned response?
a learned response that is elicited by a conditioned stimulus
what happens before conditioning?
Bell ringing (neutral stimulus) –> no response or weak orientation reaction
Food (unconditioned stimulus) –> salivation (unconditioned response)
what happens during conditioning?
acquisition
Bell ringing (neutral stimulus) + food (unconditioned stimulus) –> salivation (unconditioned response)
what happens after conditioning?
association has been made
Bell ringing (conditioned stimulus) –> salivation (conditioned response)
what is an association?
Our minds naturally connect things that occur in sequence.
what does efficient timing of classical conditioning mean?
The strength of the association between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli depends on the sequence and timing of their occurrence.
what are the two types of efficient timing for classical conditioning?
Delayed conditioning
Trace conditioning
what is delayed conditioning?
conditioned stimulus occurs shortly before unconditioned stimulus and both stimuli last together
what is trace conditioning?
conditioned stimulus occurs and ends before unconditioned stimulus. Thus, unconditioned stimulus may be associated only with a memory of conditioned stimulus.
what does inefficient timing of classical conditioning mean?
These timings are inefficient because neutral stimulus that occurs after or at the same time as an important stimulus do not bring any additional information
Classical conditioning provides us with a way to learn about the stimuli that warn us that an important event is about to occur. Obviously, warning stimulus must occur prior to the event about which we are being warned. This ability to learn to recognise stimuli that predict the occurrence of an important event allows the learner to make the appropriate response faster (thus more effectively)
what are the two types of inefficient timing for classical conditioning?
Backward conditioning
Simultaneous conditioning
what is backward conditioning?
conditioned stimulus occurs after unconditioned stimulus - doesn’t work
what is simultaneous conditioning?
both conditioned and unconditioned stimuli occur at the same time
what is food/taste aversion?
This is an example of a useful naturally conditioned reflex.
If an animal eats something with a distinctive taste and it leads to nausea, the animal will try to avoid eating food with this taste the next time.
Linking nausea to taste is an evolutionarily successful strategy, since animals that failed to learn this lesson do not last very long.
explain Garcia’s study into taste aversion in rats
Garcia was interested in discovering how radiation can affect animals and humans to understand what we were dealing with in the midst of the Cold War.
He began to study the reaction of the brain to radiation performing a series of experiments on laboratory animals, mainly rats.
- Radiation leads to strong nausea and Garcia soon noticed that rats avoided drinking water from plastic bottles when in radiation chamber.
- But back at their cages, they drank water as usual. Water there was administered in glass bowls. A taste of water from glass is different to that of plastic. So Garcia discovered that the rats associated the ‘plastic tasting’ water with the sickness that radiation triggered.
what did Garcia discover?
What Garcia discovered is different from a regular taste aversion. He discovered conditioned taste aversion. The difference is that, as demonstrated by the rats, one may become nauseous after eating a certain food, but their nausea is unrelated to the food they ate.
how can Garcia’s study be seen in real-life experience?
Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy have a similar experience as some people refuse to eat as they connect the taste of food with the bad feelings of radiation treatment.
explain Garcia and Koelling (1966) study into preparedness
Garcia and Koelling (1966) decided to check if all stimuli can be conditioned with the same easiness or if there is a kind of biological preparedness to learn some things and not others, if it is easier to create some associations and more difficult to create other associations.
During the experiment, rats were exposed to 3 different stimuli at the same time: saccharin-flavoured water, bright light and loud sound.
Later half the rats would be exposed to radiation that would make them sick and vomit. Other rats would be given an electric shock.
As a result the rats that were exposed to radiation, experienced nausea and showed a taste aversion to the water but not the light or sound.
In contrast, the rats exposed to electric shock avoided the light and sound but not the water.
Thus half the rats learned to associate being sick with taste, and the other half of the rats learned to associate shock with light and sound.
what did Garcia and Koelling find?
What Garcia found makes sense because one would associate contaminated food most often with a taste. So there is a biological readiness to associate some stimuli together, but not others. This is an example of preparedness.
what is extinction?
the elimination of the conditioned response
how does extinction occur?
if the conditioned stimulus is still presented but it is not longer followed by an unconditioned stimulus then eventually the conditioned reaction will be eliminated
this only occurs if the conditioned stimulus occurs but not the unconditioned stimulus
if neither stimulus is presented extinction will not occur
what is spontaneous recovery?
sometimes, after responding has been extinguished, the conditioned reaction would suddenly reappear after conditioned stimulus.
If CS will be again followed by UNS, the conditional response will be acquired very quickly - much faster than before.
Classical conditioning is adaptable but the associations created must be updated often to be maintained
who is John Watson?
founder of behaviourism
what did John Watson believe about personality?
- personality is mainly a result of conditioning and personality is nothing else but a collection of various learned habits
- the only appropriate subject of psychology is behaviour because it is readily observable and it is a function of the environment.
- our behaviour is determined by the associations we learn to make between stimuli and outcomes.
- he argued that personality was best viewed as a collection of learned habits.
- claimed that control over stimuli is a control over personality.
explain Watson and Raynor’s study into generalisation (1920)
Laboratory research on Little Albert and the white rat
Illustration of the conditioning of an emotional reaction
Albert was given a white rat to play with and liked it
But then, every time a rat was present a loud noise was introduced.
Loud noise makes children cry and be afraid.
After several trials, the white rat brought forth a very strong fear response in Albert that generalised to similar furry objects.
define generalisation
a response produced by a particular conditioned stimulus will also occur when a similar stimulus is presented.
The more closely the other stimulus resembles the conditioned stimulus, the more likely it will elicit the conditioned reaction.
define discrimination
involves learning the difference between stimulus (when to respond to one stimulus and not to respond to a similar but different one)
therapies based on classical conditioning:
aversion therapy
flooding
systematic desensitisation
counter-conditioning
how do learning theorists believe these therapies work?
For learning theorists, psychopathology was a learnt maladaptive response to a situation, which could then be generalised to other situations and similar stimuli. If it could be learnt it can be unlearnt.
what is aversion therapy?
a form of psychological therapy that is designed to eliminate a behaviour (e.g. drinking behaviour) by associating an aversive stimulus (e.g. nausea with alcohol) thus creating a taste aversion towards alcohol
what is flooding?
a form of phobias treatment. Phobias are learned through association of an object and something negative. Using flooding we would expose a person to vast amounts of the feared stimulus e.g. lock someone scared of spiders in a room full of spiders. Whilst a person will initially be anxious, the body cannot stay anxious forever. When nothing bad happens, the person will begin to calm down and so from that moment on associate a feeling of calm with the previously feared object
what is systematic desensitisation?
a patient must use the relaxation skills learnt to overcome fearful situations. The fear hierarchy is established and patient must learn to cope with fears in each step of this hierarchy
what is counter-conditioning?
involves pairing the stimulus (CS) that elicits fear with a stimulus (US) that elicits position emotion (UR).
Cannot be anxious and happy at the same time
what did Skinner’s box demonstrate?
operant conditioning
define operant conditioning
association forming between a behaviour and a consequence
what did Skinner believe about operant conditioning and behaviour
Operant conditioning tells us about the relations between environmental stimuli and our own behaviour (instrumental learning) and how the environment will respond to the given behaviour.
Our own behaviour is an instrument to get something or to avoid something
Skinner believed that what we learn and how we behave in everyday life are heavily influenced by the conditioning experiences we have had throughout our lives.
explain Thorndike’s law of effect study
Placed a wild cat in a puzzle box. The animal could escape only after it pulled the string opening the door.
At first, the cat engaged in random behaviour and eventually it would accidentally open the door. Thorndike would then catch the cat and put it back in the box.
On successive trails, the animal’s behaviour would become more and more efficient until it would be pulling the string without hesitation.
what is the Law of effect?
when particular action has food consequences, the action will tend to be repeated. When it has bad consequences or no consequences it will not be repeated. The favourable outcomes strengthen the response that produced them
Responses to a situation which are followed by a rewarding state of affairs will be strengthened and become habitual responses to that situation
explain Skinner’s box study
The animals that Skinner worked with were rats and pigeons. The rats pressed levers and the pigeons pecked keys.
These were the behaviours that they “emitted” in response to rewarding stimuli (e.g., food pellets) and punishing stimuli (e.g., electric stocks).
All this took place in a “Skinner Box”.
Skinner also made a special “box” for his daughter, called a “baby tender” or “air crib”. It was a “climate-controlled, glass-lined enclosure that he considered far superior to the standard baby crib.“ Basically, it kept his daughter warm without the need for bedclothes, which have to be washed, and restrict movement.
His daughter said: “He spent an enormous amount of time with us […] He was a wonderful father.“ “I loved my father dearly. He was fantastically devoted and affectionate.”
what are the kinds of consequences?
- positive reinforcement
- negative reinforcement
- positive punishment
- negative punishment
define reinforcement
consequence that causes a behaviour to occur with greater frequency
define positive reinforcement
a behaviour is followed by the addition of a pleasant stimulus, thereby increasing that behaviour’s frequency
define negative reinforcement
a behaviour is followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus, thereby increasing that behaviour’s frequency
define punishment
consequence that causes a behaviour to occur with lower frequency
define positive punishment
a behaviour is followed by the addition of an unpleasant stimulus, thereby decreasing that behaviour’s frequency
define negative punishment
a behaviour is followed by the removal of a pleasant stimulus, thereby decreasing that behaviour’s frequency
what are the different schedules of reinforcement?
continuous reinforcement
partial reinforcement
fixed interval
variable interval
fixed ratio
variable ratio
define continuous reinforcement
desired response is reinforced every time it occurs; preferable until behaviour is mastered
define partial reinforcement
desired response is reinforced on a ratio or interval schedule; greater resistance to extinction
define interval
passage of time
define fixed interval
reinforce the behaviour after a fixed period of time e.g. monthly pay-check
define variable interval
reinforce the behaviour after an unpredictable period of time e.g. crew of fishing boat is reward with a catch after 20 minutes or 2 days
define ratio
number of behavioural responses
define fixed ratio
provides reinforcement after a fixed number of responses e.g. piecework in a factory
define variable ratio
provides reinforcement after an unpredictable number of responses e.g. payouts on a slot machine
what was concluded about operant conditioning?
The results of many experiments lead to the conclusion that responses (behaviours) that have been reinforced partially, on some schedule, are more resistant to extinction.
This is because, where reinforcement has been continuous (after every response), and then stops, the difference is clear.
However, where reinforcement has been partial (or intermittent, only after some responses), it is not clear whether it has stopped yet.
In addition, a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement both (i) produces a steady high rate of response and (ii) is often the most resistant to extinction. This is because there is only a short gap between trials (unlike in the fixed and variable interval cases), keeping the responses steady; and because the number of responses needed to secure the reward is unpredictable (unlike in the fixed ratio case), so it keeps the animal or person actively producing responses to see how many are needed. Hence: slot machines can be addictive!
define habit
stable connection between stimulus and response
personality is composed mainly of learned habits
explain what Dollard and Miller theorised
Dollard and Miller tried to apply the concepts derived from learning theory and from psychoanalytical approach to personality. According to them our behaviour does not consist only of responding to environmental stimuli, but we can also respond to inner stimuli. They treated thoughts and memories as behaviour. And according to them people are capable to plan ahead and anticipate events.
Learning theorists believed that personality is composed mainly of learned habits. Dollard and Miller developed a theory about the ways habits develop. People (and animals) are born with some primary drives – these are physiological drives associated with survival (hunger, thirst, the need for sleep, avoidance of pain). Reduction of these drives is the most powerful reinforcement. The primary reinforcers are food, water, sleep and so on. Secondary drives are learned to help us cope with our primary drives. Secondary reinforcers are initially neutral stimuli consistently paired with a primary reinforcer (money, smiles, recognition).
For Dollard and Miller behaviour is motivated by the need to reduce our primary or secondary drives. It is again a deterministic perspective in human development.
how is a habit created?
the process of learning:
- the initial drive (e.g. hunger) – drives stimulate the person to act (I want something)
- the cue to act (information how to act – e.g. advert of ready meals)
- the response (buying a ready meal)
- reinforcement (the meal was good, I am happy)
If the response satisfies the drive, the habit may be created.
If the meal was nasty (or portions very small), the probability one will buy a ready meal again decreases.
4 types of conflict situations faced when trying to satisfy the drives whilst learning according to Dollard and Miller:
approach-approach conflict
avoidance-avoidance conflict
approach-avoidance conflict
double approach-avoidance conflict
what is approach-approach conflict?
there are two equally desirable but incompatible goals (which of two great girls to choose for a girl-friend, to go to the pub with a good friend or to watch an interesting film on TV?)
what is avoidance-avoidance conflict?
there are two undesirable alternatives (to study or to clean the house?)
what is approach-avoidance conflict?
there is one goal, but some aspects of it are attractive, some are unattractive (to go to a great party with someone I hate?)
what is double approach-avoidance conflict?
This is a choice between two alternatives, with advantages and disadvantages to each. For example, I might be trying to decide which of two political candidates to vote for. One is moral, but incompetent. The other is competent, but immoral. It is like a combination of an approach-approach conflict (e.g., moral vs competent) and avoidance-avoidance conflict (e.g., incompetent vs immoral).
define personality according to behaviourists
collection of learned habits
behaviour is determined by external environment
no place for free will
overlooked fact that people think
what is social learning theory?
perception, thinking, and other mental events in its view of personality
what did Bandura say about SLT?
father of SLT
Said we have to study the environment carefully to understand why people behave as they do but also believes that cognitive processes are important in determining how someone will behave.
Individual differences in behaviour in a given situation occur in part because individuals differ in their cognitive processes
An individual is an active player responding both to inner stimuli and the external environment
explain Bandura’s theory of triadic reciprocal determination
Concluded that environment causes behaviour but that behaviour causes environment too
Referred to this idea as ‘triadic reciprocal determination’ believing that an individual’s actions and the actions of the world around him are intertwined. In this theory, personality is an interaction of outside influences (environment), behaviour and an individual’s psychological processes
Bandura does not believe that either personal characteristics (traits) or the environment alone determines our behaviour and our personality. He argues for reciprocal determinism, the idea that behaviour, environmental variables and person variables such as perception or expectations interact to determine personality.
Our actions can affect the environment. The environment can affect our behaviour. Likewise our thoughts may affect the ways in which we behave to change the environment, and in turn, these changes can influence our thoughts.
how did Bandura’s SLT differ from behaviourism
In contrast to Skinner, Bandura believes that people possess free will
According to behaviourism to learn we have to experience things. Bandura argues that people represent external events symbolically and later use verbal representations or imaginal representations to guide our behaviour. Thus, we can solve problems symbolically, without performing actual, trial-and-error behaviour. We foresee the probable consequences of our behaviour and modify our actions accordingly.
So most of our behaviour is not controlled by immediate external reinforcement. As a result of earlier experiences, we tend to expect that certain kinds of behaviour will have effects we desire and others will produce unwanted outcomes. Our behaviour is therefore regulated to a large extent by anticipated outcomes. We make decisions based on our anticipation of consequences.
how does observational learning/ modelling occur?
Occurs as a consequence of watching the behaviour of some other person
Less self-confident individuals are more likely to imitate the model
Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behaviour if the model is similar to them or if the model is competent and powerful
Individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behaviour if it results in outcomes they value (vicarious reinforcement)
Tend to learn from others as trial and error behaviour is too costly due to its dangerous consequences - learn from the mistakes of others
3 factors that are important in modelling
1) The characteristics of the model – we tend to follow people who are similar to us, competent and powerful, trustworthy, attractive
2) The characteristics of the observer – less confident individuals with lower self-esteem and those who feel incompetent in a given situations are more likely to imitate the model
3) The consequences of the observed behaviour also matters: film with Bobo doll: a man behaved aggressively towards the doll, another film - the same man was rewarded (with soda pop and candy) or punished (spanked with a rolled-up newspaper and threatened with beating if aggressive behaviour happens again). Children left with Bobo doll displayed aggressive behaviour after watching only the first film or when the model was rewarded for his behaviour (but not when they had seen model being punished).
explain Gergely, Bekkering and Kiraly’s study (2002)
14-months infants watched an adult model turning on the light using his forehead and not hands. If the model’s hands were free, 69% of infants copied his behaviour. When his hands were not free – only 21% copied the behaviour.
what did Bandura believe about media?
Bandura believes that media facilitate aggression in people: By the time the average child graduates from elementary school, he or she will have witnessed more than 8,000 murders and about 100,000 other acts of violence on television. And about 75% of these acts would go unpunished
explain the idea of self-efficacy beliefs
Efficacy expectations are individuals’ beliefs that they can produce certain behaviours. Efficacy expectations are not equal to people’s actual skills. Sometimes people know what to do and have skills required to do it, but they don’t perform well because they have serious self-doubts about their capabilities. Thus, different people with the same skills may perform poorly, adequately or extraordinarily. Competent functioning requires not only skills but the judgement of self-efficacy to permit their effective use.
Efficacy expectations influence people’s choices of activities and determine how much effort people will expend on these activities and how long they will persist on challenging tasks in the face of aversive experiences.
people with low efficacy expectations are likely to…
avoid threatening situations as they are sure they could not cope with them.
If they have to perform in threatening situations they focus on possible negative outcomes, expend little effort and give up after a short time.
As a result they remain defensive and fearful as they have no chance to get the experiences that would enhance their sense of efficacy.
people with high efficacy expectations are likely to…
want to engage in challenging tasks where they have an opportunity to develop new skills.
If these challenging situations they expend maximum effort and persist in pursuing their goals against possible obstacles.
This increases the probability of eventual success.
people with weak belief in their self-efficacy:
- Shy away from difficult tasks (personal threats)
- Have low aspirations and weak commitment to the goals they choose
- Maintain a self-diagnostic focus (rather than how to perform)
- Dwell on personal deficiencies, obstacles and adverse outcomes
- Attribute failures to deficient capabilities
- Slacken their efforts or give up quickly in face of difficulty
- Are slow to recover their sense of efficacy after failures or setbacks
- Are prone to stress and depression
people with strong belief in their self-efficacy:
- Set challenging goals and sustain strong commitments to their goals
- Approach difficult tasks as challenges rather than as threats
- Maintain a task diagnostic focus
- Attribute failures to insufficient effort
- Heighten effort in face of difficulties
- Quickly recover their sense of efficacy after failure or setback
- Display low vulnerability to stress and depression
explain Rotter’s locus of control
Locus of control describes general expectancies.
On the basis of learning experiences people come to believe that either reinforcement is controlled by outside forces (higher power, luck, other people etc.) or that it is controlled by their own behaviour. Rotter has shown that the fact that individual possesses rather internal or rather external locus of control has impact on their behaviour in many different situations.
Rotter also described differences in reinforcement value. These also affect likelihood of engaging in a behaviour. Rotter also emphasized how reinforcement value was often partly subjective: people found different rewards and punishments to be more or less rewarding and punishing for them personally. However, reinforcement value was independent of locus of control (i.e., general expectancies). Indeed, generalized expectancies, like internal or external locus of control, combined with reinforcement values, to determine behaviour potential: the likelihood of engaging in a behaviour.
