Learning Theory

Question 1

What are the 3 types of conditioning?

Answer 1

Classical conditioning – learning the association between events and what they signal

Operant conditioning - learning one thing leads to another (learning consequences of behaviours)

Observational learning - learning from others (imitational modeling of others)

Question 2

What are CS, UCS, CR and UCR?

Answer 2

UCS -reponse that is native gives UCR

CS - associated with UCS to give UCR

UCR - natural response paired with UCS

CS - response from CS only

Question 3

Pavlov’s dogs

Answer 3

UCS: Food
CS: Bell ring
UCR: Salivation when the food is presented
CR: implied salivation/physiological response and expectation of food when the bell rings

UCS -> UCR
UCS+CS -> UCR
CS -> CR

Question 4

When is classical conditioning strongest?

Answer 4

• repeated UCS-CS pairings
• UCS is more intense
• short time interval

Question 5

What is extinction?

Answer 5

Behaviours are relatively stable as long as the pairings exist. However after a while, when the conditioned stimulus (bell) is being presented alone without the unconditioned stimulus (food), the strength of the response (salivation) starts to become reduced. The response is not fully extinguished, because it doesn’t fully disappear.

Question 6

What is stimulus generalisation?

Answer 6

A tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar, but not identical, to a conditioned stimulus. This is exploited in advertising and branding

Question 7

What is stimulus discrimination?

Answer 7

The ability to respond differently to various stimuli.

• E.g. a child will respond differently to various bells (alarms, school, timer)

Question 8

What may classical conditioning explain?

Answer 8

A proportion (25-30%) of patients undergoing chemotherapy experience anticipatory nausea and vomiting

Chemotherapy (UCS) -> Nausea (UCR)

Related cues (e.g. sight of chemotherapy unit) (CS) -> Anticipatory nausea (CR)

Question 9

What did John Watson do?

Answer 9

At first, a child would play with a white rat without it evoking any particular response

Watson introduced a conditioned stimulus of a loud noise during interaction with the rat

Eventually (after a few pairings), the rat itself evoked fear in a child

Question 10

What can classical conditioning also explain?

Answer 10

Why phobias develop

Question 11

What is the two factor theory of maintenance of classically conditioned associations?

Answer 11

Maintained via operant conditioning

E.g. by avoiding injections, you remove the aversive stimulus, and the response of the fear. You tend to do this more (negative reinforcement).

Question 12

What is the law of effect?

Answer 12

A response followed by a satisfying consequence will be more likely to occur. A response followed by an aversive consequence will become less likely to occur.

Question 13

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 13

Behaviour is learn and maintained by its consequence as shown by Skinner

Question 14

What is positive and negative reinforcement?

Answer 14

Occurs when a response is strengthened by the subsequent presentation of a reinforcer

Question 15

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 15

Occurs when a response is strengthened by the removal/avoidance of an aversive stimulus

Question 16

What are primary and secondary reinforcers?

Answer 16

Primary Reinforcers: those needed for survival e.g. food, water, sleep, sex

Secondary Reinforcers: stimuli that acquire reinforcing properties through their association with primary reinforcers e.g. money, praise

Question 17

What is positive and negative punishment?

Answer 17

Positive Punishment:
- Occurs when a response is weakened by the presentation of a stimulus (e.g. squirting a cat with water when it jumps on dining table).

Negative Punishment:
- Occurs when a response is weakened by the removal of a stimulus (e.g. phone confiscated).

Question 18

What is the difference between reinforcers and punishers?

Answer 18

Reinforcers INCREASE behaviour.

Punishers DECREASE behaviour.

Question 19

What is operant extinction and resistance to extinction?

Answer 19

Operant Extinction: the weakening and eventual disappearance of a response because it is no longer reinforced

Resistance to Extinction: the degree to which non-reinforced responses persist

Question 20

What is the importance of reinforcement schedules?

Answer 20

Continuous reinforcement produces more rapid learning than partial reinforcement
as the association between a behaviour and its consequences is easier to understand. However,continuously reinforced responses extinguish more rapidly than partially reinforced responses.

Question 21

What is fixed interval schedule, variable interval schedule, fixed ratio schedule and variable ratio schedule?

Answer 21

Fixed interval schedule: reinforcement occurs after fixed time interval.

Variable interval schedule: the time interval varies at random around an average.

Fixed Ratio Schedule: reinforcement is given after a fixed number of responses.

Variable Ratio Schedule: reinforcement is given after a variable number of responses, all centered around an average.

Question 22

How is operant conditioning implicated in medicine?

Answer 22

Patients with chronic pain being reinforced by family and staff e.g. by being over empathetic etc. Patients recieves positive rewards for being in pain which encourages it.

Question 23

What is the cognitive approach?

Answer 23

Humans are active information processors and think about the relationship between their behaviour and its consequences (due to cognitive skills)

Question 24

What is social learning theory?

Answer 24

Observational (vicarious) learning - We observe the behaviours of others and the consequences of those behaviours

Vicarious reinforcement – If their behaviours are reinforced we tend to imitate the behaviours (the more often something is reinforced, the more likely it is going to be imitated)

Question 25

What are the steps involved in learning from a model?

Answer 25

• Pay attention to model
• Remember what was done
• Must be able to reproduce modeled behavior
• If successful, or if behavior is rewarded, the behavior is more likely to recur

Question 26

What is the Bobo doll experiment?

Answer 26

• 72 children (mean aged 4 years) recruited from Stanford University Nursery
• All children spent time in a playroom with an adult who modelled either non-aggressive (building tinker toy) or aggressive play (punching and striking the Bobo doll with mallet)
• All children then spent a further 20 minutes in the room alone and their behaviour was observed
• Aggressive behaviour both imitative and non-imitative was recorded
• Children who observed aggressive behaviour showed a much higher level of aggression towards the dol

Question 27

When is social learning more likely to occur?

Answer 27

When model is:

• Seen to be rewarded
• High status (e.g. medical consultant in an advertising campaign for cigarettes)
• Similar to us
• Friendly

Question 28

When is social learning used in hospitals?

Answer 28

• In hospitals, there are many programmes and groups for newly diagnosed patients
• There is often an expert patient in the group – they talk about their experiences
• These patients have been selected because they are successfully managing their condition
• They provide a role-model for other patients to follo