Learning Theories Content Flashcards
What is classical conditioning?
Classical conditioning is learning through association
- when a conditioned response becomes associated with a specific stimulus
Who proposed classical conditioning?
Pavlov
Briefly describe pavlova experiment with dogs
- Pavlov aimed to see if associating a reflex with a neutral stimulus would cause learning to take place and produce a conditioned response
- he placed a dog in a sealed from and gave the dogs a tube in their mouth to measure saliva
- every time the dog was given food a bell was rang and the amount of saliva was measured
- when the bell was sounded without the food, the dog still salvated.
State an evaluative point for classical conditioning
It is hard to generalise from dogs to humans as humans have different brains from dogs and much more complicated thoughts, they are not strongly motivated by food unlike dogs and animals.
Why is pavlovs experiment unethical?
The dogs were kept in poor conditions (cages and tubes in their mouth), not in natural environment can be very harming for animals
What is operant conditioning?
Operant conditioning is learning through rewards and punishment.
Who proposed operant conditioning?
Skinner
Briefly describe skinners box experiment
Skinner created a Skinner box to assess how rates learnt
- there was a lever and a food tray, the leaver released food into the tray
- Skinner used the term reinforcer to apply to anything which made the rat repeat the response (pull the leaver)
What did skinner identify in his experiment?
Skinner identified positive and negative reinforcement and punishment
What is positive reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement is rewarding the desired behaviour by adding something pleasant (such as food or affection)
What is negative reinforcement?
Negative reinforcement is rewarding desired behaviour by removing something unpleasant (such as pain or distress)
What is punishment?
Punishment is when unpleasant behaviour produces unpleasant consequences (can be positive and negative punishment)
Name an evaluative point of operant conditioning
Credibility- lots of the research carried out is scientific, on animals in lab conditions, it is observable which adds to the credibility as it can be observed with our eyes
How can operant conditioning be applied?
Operant conditioning can be applied for therapy for conditions such as phobias and there treatments
What is social learning theory?
Social learning theory is a theory that suggests that observational learning (learning through watching the behaviour of others) is the main way in which we learn behaviour.
Who proposed social learning theory?
Bandura
What was banduras study
Bandura bobo doll study
What did Bandura propose?
Vicarious reinforcement
What is vicarious reinforcement?
Vicarious reinforcement is when the reinforcement is received by the model rather than the learner.
What does Bandura claim?
Bandura claims that there are 4 processes in observational learning.
What is a phobia?
A phobia is an irrational fear of something that other people think is harmless.
What does the learning approach view phobias as?
It views phobias as behaviour problems
How does social learning theory explain phobias?
Social learning theory explains how people might see role models reacting to feared objects with great panic and imitate that reaction. This might stick with them throughout their life.
