learning theory Flashcards
classical conditioning
learner is forming a new association
US
Unconditioned stimulus; any stimulus that innately elicits a reflexive UCR. Don’t have to learn it
UCR
unconditioned response; a reflexive, innate response
CS
Conditioned stimulus; a stimulus that elicits a CR after pairings with a US
CR
Conditioned response; a response elicited by a CS
classical conditioning and pavlov’s dogs
noticed dogs were salivating when they heard footsteps because that meant food, wanted to experiment with it
US = food
UR = salivation
CS = sound of the bell
CR = salivation
tabular rasa
you came into the world on a blank slate, you are who you are due to your environment
generalization (classical conditioning)
conditioned with rat but expended to everything that was furry, when you extend association with similar stimuli
little albert
11 months old when experiment took place, tried to find the US, what babies were afraid of. Found that they were scared of being dropped and also really loud noises (easier to work with). took metal bar and hit it with a hammer, made a loud noise, which caused fear and crying. They paired this with a rat (Albert was not afraid of the rat until they did this experiment). Conditioned to be afraid of the rat
US = loud noise
UR = fear (crying)
CS = rat
CR = fear (crying)
second-order conditioning
pairing another stimulus with CS and get an association of that, the more times you pair something, the weaker it gets until it doesn’t happen anymore
acquisition
the sound of pipe connected with rat, pairing the US and CS
extinction
the fear should extinguish if after showing the CS without the US, breaking the association
spontaneous recovery
where it comes back, even if extinction was used, don’t have to train very hard to return it if you try to do the CS with the US again
discrimination (classical conditioning)
opposite of generalization, narrowed down to one specific stimuli (ex. for little albert not all rats but one particular rat or all rats and no other furry thing)
application of classical conditioning with drug cravings
Want them out of environment when they did drugs, environment will be associated with feelings (stop hanging with the same friends, going to parties), in patient type therapy used this
application of classical conditioning with sexual fetishism
Philias – irrational passions, theory that philias are formed by association (feeling with environment)
Seattle shoe bandit – steal women’s shoes off feet, tackle them and run away with shoes, did this hundreds of times, when they caught him, he had thousands of shoes, he loved his shoes, ex. Of philias
application of classical conditioning with phobias
Irrational fears, have phobias about just anything
Being exposed constantly to “extinguish” these fears
A young child goes to the doctor to receive an immunization. The shot is painful and the child cries. The next day the child sees the doctor at Target and the child cries. In this example, the pain from the shot is
US
A young child goes to the doctor to receive an immunization. The shot is painful and the child cries. The next day the child sees the doctor at Target and the child cries. In this example, the doctor is
CS
A young child goes to the doctor to receive an immunization. The shot is painful and the child cries. The next day the child sees the doctor at Target and the child cries. In this example the crying in response to the doctor is
CR
A young child goes to the doctor to receive an immunization. The shot is painful and the child cries. The next day the child sees the doctor at Target and the child cries. The following week the child goes to Target (no doctor) and cries. In this example Target is
second-order conditioning
operant conditioning
you ARE shaping behavior
law of effect
Showed the strength of a response is determined by the consequences (ex. Raised your hand, was wrong, didn’t raise hand again)
what idea did B. F. Skinner develop for operant conditioning?
skinner box
the idea of operants
operate in the environment to result in an effect
reinforcement
anything that increases the frequency of a behavior
positive reinforcement
positive doesn’t mean good, you added something to environment and the behavior increased
negative reinforcement
you took something away from the environment and the behavior increased
what are the two questions you need to ask to determine if it is positive or negative reinforcement or punishment?
did behavior increase (reinforcement), decrease (punishment), or stay the same? Was something added (positive) or subtracted (negative)
punishment
anything that decreases the frequency of a behavior
positive punishment
you add something in and behavior decreases
negative punishment
you take something away and behavior decreases
A student studies 40 hours for her psychology exam and gets an “A” The “A” acted as ______ on her studying behavior
cannot tell without further information
A student studies 40 hours for her psychology exam and gets an “A” For the next exam she studies 5 hours. The “A” acted as ______ on her studying behavior
positive punishment
generalization (operant conditioning)
sometimes hope things generalize, learned behaviors apply for multiple things (ex. learn to sit in class goes to sitting at dinner table)
shaping
slowly developing technique, reinforce approximations to get to complex behaviors (ex. Tiger sitting on pedestal then treat, jumping over pedestal then treat, jumping over pedestal through loop then treat, jumping through loop then treat, jumping through pedestal with a little fire then treat, jumping through hoop of fire then treat)
token economies
kids receiving stickers for good behavior and being able to trade stickers for prizes, used in prisons, schools, home environments, etc. (worked with chimpanzees with tokens for food)
schedules of reinforcement
nature of task dictates which one to use
ratio schedules
number, instances of a behavior, not reinforcing every time, partial schedules, sitting/discrete behaviors
fixed ratio
fixed number (ex. every three times someone sits you give them a treat), powerful but can be predictable
variable ratio
reinforce an average number of things (ex. About an average of every three times they get a treat), powerful since it cannot be predicted (ex. Slot machine)
interval schedules of reinforcement
amount of time, (seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years), want it to become a habit every time it is indicated
fixed interval
fixed amount of time (ex. Every five minutes)
variable interval
an average amount of time (ex. About an average of every five minutes)
Bandura’s infamous “bobo doll” experiments
Discovered that children will imitate an adult model. Showed kids videos of adults doing different violent things with the dolls and found kids imitated those specific behaviors. Established kids can and will learn without reinforcement
mirror neurons
frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so
