Learning Theory and Behavior Therapy Flashcards
learning
a relatively permanent change in behavior (or the capacity for behavior) due to experience
conditioning
creation of associations between environmental stimuli and the individual’s responses to those stimuli
classical conditioning
type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the ability to elicit the response that is naturally elicited by another stimulus;
useful for understanding how reflexive (automatic) responses to stimuli develop
operant conditioning
type of learning in which responses become controlled by their consequences;
useful for understanding how non-reflexive and more complex behaviors are acquired
unconditioned stimulus (US)
naturally produces the target response;
produces the response without conditioning trials
unconditioned response (UR)
response naturally produced by the unconditioned stimulus
conditioned stimulus (CS)
does not naturally produce the target response;
previously neutral stimulus that eventually triggers a learned (conditioned) response
conditioning trials
the CS is repeatedly presented with the US
conditioned response (CR)
the learned or acquired response to a conditioned stimulus
3 stages of Pavlov
Stage 1: food (US) presented alone produces salivation (UR) ringing bell (neutral stimulus) presented alone does not produce salivation
Stage 2: ringing bell (CS) and food (US) presented together produce salivation (UR)
Stage 3: ringing bell (CS) presented alone produces salivation (CR)
Factors That Affect the Effectiveness of Classical Conditioning
1) Number of Conditioning Trials: greater the number of conditioning trials (CS paired with US), the stronger the CR
2) Order and Timing of Presentation: CS and US must be presented in a way that ensures that they become associated - delay conditioning - optimal time interval between presentation of the CS and the US is usually 0.5 sec
delay conditioning
presentation of the CS precedes and overlaps presentation of the US;
optimal time interval between presentation of the CS and the US is usually 0.5 seconds
trace conditioning
CS is presented and terminated prior to presentation of the US
simultaneous conditioning
CS and US are presented at the same time
classical extinction
CS is presented repeatedly without the US, and the CR gradually disappears
spontaneous recovery
a CR that had supposedly been extinguished would sometimes suddenly return;
extinction trials don’t eliminate a CR but, instead, weaken or inhibit it
stimulus generalization
occurs when, following conditioning trials, stimuli similar to the CS elicit a CR
stimulus discrimination
the ability to discriminate between a CS and stimuli similar to the CS and respond only to the CS with a CR;
discrimination trials
repeatedly presenting the CS with the US and stimuli similar to the CS without the US
experimental neurosis
pathological condition induced in an animal during conditioning experiments requiring discriminations between nearly indistinguishable stimuli
higher-order conditioning
a conditioned response to a neutral stimulus can be established without pairing the neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus;
form of learning in which a stimulus is first made meaningful or consequential for an organism through an initial step of learning, and then that stimulus is used as a basis for learning about some new stimulus
blocking effect
didn’t attend to second paired CS during conditioning trials because it did not provide additional information about the US and, consequently, an association didn’t develop
Techniques Based on Classical Extinction
EXRP and implosive therapy;
CS-US pairing results in fear - can be extinguished by CS w/o US
exposure with response prevention (ERP)
exposing the individual to the fear- or anxiety-arousing stimulus while preventing him or her from engaging in the usual avoidance response
flooding
beginning exposure with stimuli that produce maximal fear or anxiety
graduated exposure
gradually progressing from stimuli that produce less anxiety to stimuli that produce more anxiety;
reduces the risk of paradoxically increasing a person’s anxiety
ERP study findings
1) exposure to anxiety-arousing stimuli and prevention of the usual avoidance response both contribute to the effectiveness of treatment
2) prolonged exposure is more effective than brief exposure, which can sensitize the person to the stimulus and increase anxiety
3) group exposure is at least as effective as individual exposure and has the advantage of being more efficient
4) exposure conducted as a self-help program and as a partner-assisted procedure have both been found to be effective for the treatment of Agoraphobia
5) virtual reality (computer-generated) exposure overcomes some of the limitations of in vivo exposure and is as effective as in vivo exposure for flying and height phobias
6) interoceptive exposure (exposes individual to physical sensations that are associated with fear and anxiety) is effective for panic attacks, PTSD, and other anxiety-related disorders
implosive therapy (Stampfl and Levis, 1967)
type of exposure in imagination in which the therapist exaggerates the scenes being imagined by the client so they elicit maximum anxiety and embellishes the scenes with psychodynamic themes that are believed to be the source of the client’s anxiety (e.g., hostility toward parental figures, sexual or aggressive impulses)
Techniques Based on Counterconditioning
systematic desensitization and behavioral sex therapy;
pair fear (CS) with presentation of an activity or stimulus (US) that naturally produces an incompatible response so that anxiety or fear is replaced by the incompatible response
systematic desensitization (Wolpe, 1958)
1) Training in Relaxation: taught to use progressive relaxation or other relaxation technique.
2) Construction of an Anxiety Hierarchy: client and therapist develop an anxiety hierarchy that contains 10 to 20 stimuli associated with the phobic response, beginning with the least anxiety-arousing stimulus and ending with the most anxiety-arousing stimulus.
3) Desensitization: client works through the hierarchy by pairing relaxation with each anxiety-arousing stimulus, starting with the stimulus that is least anxiety-arousing.
progressive relaxation
alternately tensing and relaxing different muscles, beginning with the face and ending with the toes
SUDS
subjective units of distress scale;
client rates each anxiety-arousing stimulus on a scale from 0 (absence of anxiety) to 100 (highest level of anxiety the client can imagine)
desensitization session steps
1) therapist instructs client to use the relaxation technique;
2) once client feels relaxed, therapist instructs client to imagine the anxiety-arousing stimulus as vividly as possible and to signal when feels anxious;
3) therapist instructs client to use the relaxation technique;
4) when client can imagine an anxiety-arousing stimulus without experiencing anxiety, moves on to the next stimulus in the hierarchy;
5) procedure repeated until the client can imagine the most anxiety-arousing stimulus without experiencing anxiety
dismantling strategy
involves comparing the effectiveness of the various components of a treatment
reciprocal inhibition (AKA desensitization)
involves inhibiting anxiety by substituting a reciprocal (incompatible) response;
incompatible responses involved in systematic desensitization are controlled by the autonomic nervous system – anxiety by the sympathetic nervous system while relaxation by the parasympathetic nervous system
sex therapy
incorporate counterconditioning and other behavioral techniques;
sensate focus: pairing activities associated with performance anxiety with activities that promote pleasurable physical sensations and relaxation. involves giving partners homework assignments that gradually progress from nongenital touching to genital pleasuring and, finally, to sexual intercourse
Techniques Based on Aversive Counterconditioning
in vivo aversive counterconditioning and covert sensitization;
used to treat substance abuse, paraphilias, and self-injurious behaviors
in vivo aversive counterconditioning
undesirable behavior or stimuli associated with the behavior are paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits pain, nausea, or other unpleasant reaction so that the undesirable behavior or associated stimuli produce the unpleasant reaction and are, therefore, avoided
research on aversive counterconditioning
effects are often short-term but can be extended when the individual returns for occasional “booster sessions” in which the target behavior is again paired with the aversive stimulus and when aversive counterconditioning is combined with other treatments
covert sensitization
conducted in imagination and may include alternating scenes in which the client engages in the target behavior with scenes in which the client engages in an alternative behavior;
therapist instructs client to imagine lighting up a cigarette and putting cigarette in mouth; when the client signals has a clear image, therapist instructs client to imagine feeling nauseous, stomach cramps, throwing up. therapist then instructs client to imagine throwing pack of cigarettes away and imagine feeling better
Edward Thorndike
investigated learning by observing cats in a puzzle box that allowed them to escape and obtain food by performing a simple act (pressing a lever, pulling a string);
cats engaged in various unproductive activities when placed in the box before they performed the response that allowed them to escape;
once cats made the correct response, they made that response sooner and sooner after being placed in the box
Thorndike “trial-and-error” learning
formation of connections that developed between responses and their consequences
law of effect
responses that are followed by a satisfying consequence are more likely to be repeated in the future, while responses that are followed by an unsatisfying consequence are less likely to be repeated
law of exercise
repeated practice (exercise) strengthens the connection between a response and its consequence
law of readiness
an organism must be ready (motivated) to act in order to form a connection between a response and its consequence
operant behavior
behaviors that operate on the environment to generate consequences;
voluntarily emitted (or not emitted) as the result of their consequences
respondent behavior
as the result of classical conditioning, are elicited by an antecedent stimulus
reinforcement
occurs when the stimulus that follows a behavior increases the likelihood that the behavior will recur;
stimulus (reinforcer);
positive reinforcer is applied following the behavior, while a negative reinforcer is removed following the behavior
punishment
occurs when the stimulus that follows a behavior decreases the likelihood that the behavior will recur;
stimulus (punisher);
positive punisher is applied following the behavior, while a negative punisher is removed following the behavior
Skinner box
contained equipment that allowed an animal to press a lever, peck a key, or perform another behavior and receive reinforcement, and it was connected to a cumulative recorder that provided information on the operant strength of the animal’s behavior (rate of the animal’s responding during acquisition trials when reinforcement was delivered following the target response and during extinction trials when reinforcement was no longer provided)
operant extinction
occurs when reinforcement is withheld from a previously reinforced behavior and, as a result, the behavior decreases or is eliminated
response burst
temporary increase in the behavior before it begins to decrease;
occurs during termination of reinforcement
spontaneous recovery
after a behavior has been extinguished, it may reappear after a period of time
behavioral contrast
when two different behaviors have been reinforced separately and reinforcement is withdrawn from one of the behaviors, there is often a temporary increase in the other behavior
primary reinforcers
inherently valuable;
their reinforcing value is not the result of prior experience;
food, water, shelter, contact comfort, sexual pleasure
secondary reinforcers
acquire their reinforcing value by being linked to a primary reinforcer
generalized secondary reinforcer
when a secondary reinforcer is linked to multiple primary and/or secondary reinforcers (e.g., money)
continuous schedule
when a behavior is reinforced every time it occurs;
rat receives a food pellet each time it presses a lever
continuous schedule pros and cons
pro: produces the quickest acquisition of a response;
cons: susceptible to satiation (reinforcer may eventually lose its reinforcing value);
associated with rapid extinction when reinforcement is no longer provided;
most effective strategy is to use a continuous schedule to establish a behavior at the desired level and then switch to an intermittent (partial) schedule
intermittent (partial) schedule
reinforcing the behavior some of the time; less susceptible to satiation and extinction
thinning the schedule
process of reducing the amount of reinforcement
fixed ratio (FR) schedule
reinforcement is provided after a fixed number of responses;
rat on an FR-10 schedule has to press the lever 10 times before getting a food pellet, piecework
variable ratio (VR) schedule
reinforcement is provided after a variable number of responses;
slot machines
fixed interval (FI) schedule
reinforcement is provided after a fixed period of time regardless of whether only one response is made or multiple responses are made during that period
variable interval (VI) schedule
reinforcement is provided after an unpredictable amount of time
intermittent schedules outcomes
1) variable ratio schedule produces the fastest and steadiest rate of responding during acquisition trials and the greatest resistance to extinction when reinforcement is no longer provided
2) fixed interval schedule produces a “scallop effect” which indicates that responding increases toward the end of each interval
matching law
when an organism is simultaneously provided with two or more opportunities for reinforcement, the rate of responding will be proportional to the relative rate of reinforcement
stimulus control
when an organism emits a particular response in the presence of one stimulus (Stimulus A) but not in the presence of another stimulus (Stimulus B)
discriminative stimulus (SD)
tells the person what behavior is going to get reinforced;
signals the availability of a particular reinforcer for a particular behavior
extinction or S-delta stimulus (SD)
stimulus in the presence of which the behavior is not reinforced
response generalization
occurs when a discriminative stimulus elicits similar responses
escape learning
when the organism learns to escape an undesirable stimulus by engaging in a particular behavior
avoidance learning
when the organism learns to avoid an undesirable stimulus by engaging in a particular behavior in response to a cue that signals that the undesirable stimulus is about to be delivered
factors that impact effectiveness of reinforcement techniques
1) positive reinforcement is most effective when the reinforcer is available only after the target behavior has been performed
2) The shorter the interval between performance of the behavior and delivery of the reinforcer, the more effective the reinforcement
3) Reinforcement is most effective when the behavior is reinforced on a continuous schedule until it is well-established and is then reinforced on an intermittent schedule
4) Reinforcement is most successful when verbal, gestural, and/or physical prompts are provided to establish the behavior and are then gradually removed (faded) once the behavior is being performed at the desired level