Learning Theory - Flash Cards
In Vivo Aversion Therapy/Covert Sensitization
In vivo aversion therapy utilizes counterconditioning to reduce the attractiveness of a stimulus or behavior by repeatedly pairing that stimulus or behavior in “real life” (in vivo) with a stimulus that produces an undesirable or unpleasant response. Pairing alcohol consumption with electric shock to reduce alcohol use is an example of in vivo aversive counterconditioning. In this situation, the alcohol is the CS, the electric shock is the US, and fear or discomfort is the UR/CR. Covert sensitization is similar to in vivo aversion therapy except that the CS and US are presented in imagination.
Escape and Avoidance Conditioning
Escape conditioning is an application of negative reinforcement in which the target behavior is an escape behavior - i.e., the organism engages in the behavior in order to escape the negative reinforcer. Avoidance conditioning combines classical conditioning with negative reinforcement. With avoidance conditioning, a cue (positive discriminative stimulus) signals that the negative reinforcer is about to be applied so that the organism can avoid the negative reinforcer by performing the target behavior in the presence of the cue.
Schedules of Reinforcement (Continuous and Intermittent)
Continuous reinforcement follows each target response. It yields rapid response acquisition with high susceptibility to satiation and extinction. Intermittent schedules of reinforcement are: fixed intervals that provide reinforcement at predetermined time intervals in which the subject makes at least 1 response; variable intervals that provide reinforcement at varying times with a predetermined average time interval; fixed ratios that provide reinforcement after a predetermined number of responses; and variable ratios that provide reinforcement after a varying number of responses with the average number being predetermined. The variable ratio schedule yields high, stable response rates and the greatest resistance to extinction.
Serial Position Effect
Research on the serial position effect has found that, when people are asked to recall a list of unrelated items immediately after reading the list, the items in the beginning and end of the list are recalled much better than those in the middle. Apparently, the “primacy effect” occurs because items in the beginning of the list have already been rehearsed and stored in long-term memory, while the “recency effect” occurs because items at the end of the list are still in short-term memory.
Interference Theory (Retroactive and Proactive Interference)
Interference theory proposes that the inability to learn or recall information is due to the disruptive effects of previously or subsequently learned information. Retroactive interference occurs when newly learned information interferes with the recall of previously learned information, while proactive interference occurs when prior learning interferes with the learning or recall of subsequent information.
Reciprocal Inhibition
Reciprocal inhibition is a form of counterconditioning developed by Wolpe to alleviate anxiety reactions by pairing a stimulus (CS) that produces anxiety with a stimulus (US) that produces relaxation or other response that is incompatible with anxiety.
State Dependent Learning
Research on state-dependent learning has shown that recall of information tends to be better when the learner is in the same emotional state during learning and recall.
Response Cost
Response cost is a form of negative punishment that involves removing a reinforcer (e.g., a specific number of tokens or points) following a behavior in order to reduce or eliminate that behavior.
Self-Control Therapy/REHM
Self-control therapy is a brief form of therapy that is based on the assumption that deficits in three aspects of self-control increase a person’s vulnerability to depression and make it difficult to deal effectively with depressive symptoms. The three aspects are self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement.
Overcorrection
Overcorrection is an operant technique that is used to eliminate an undesirable behavior. It involves having the individual correct the consequences of his/her behavior (restitution) and/or practice corrective behaviors (positive practice). It may also require constant supervision and/or physical guidance.
Systematic Desensitization
Systematic desensitization was developed by Wolpe as an application of counterconditioning (reciprocal inhibition) for eliminating anxiety responses and involves pairing hierarchically arranged anxiety-evoking stimuli with relaxation. Research using the dismantling strategy suggests that extinction (rather than counterconditioning) is responsible for its effectiveness.
Latent Learning/Tolman
Tolman’s model of latent learning proposes that learning can occur without reinforcement and without being manifested in performance improvement. Tolman’s research showed that rats formed “cognitive maps” of mazes without being reinforced for doing so.
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)/Ellis
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) regards emotions and behaviors as the consequence of a chain of events - A-B-C - where A is the external event to which the individual is exposed; B is the belief the individual has about A; and C is the emotion or behavior that results from B. In other words, an emotional or behavioral response to an external event is due to beliefs about that event rather than to the event itself. According to Ellis (1985), the primary cause of neurosis is the continual repetition of certain common irrational beliefs which are the targets of therapy.
Higher-Order Conditioning
Higher-order conditioning occurs when a previously established CS serves as a US to establish a conditioned response for a new conditioned (neutral) stimulus - i.e., the new neutral stimulus is paired with the established CS so that, eventually, the new neutral stimulus produces a conditioned response.
Mnemonic Devices (Method Of Loci, Keyword Method, Acronym, Acrostic)
Mnemonic devices are formal strategies for improving memory. The method of loci is a mnemonic that employs imagery in which items to be remembered are mentally placed, one by one, in pre-memorized (familiar) locations; and recall involves mentally “walking through” the location and retrieving the items. The keyword method is another imagery technique and is useful for paired associate tasks in which two words must be linked. Acronyms and acrostics are verbal mnemonics that are both useful for memorizing a list of words or phrases. An acronym is a word that’s formed using the first letter of each item, while an acrostic is a phrase or rhyme that is constructed from the first letter of each word.
Law Of Effect/Thorndike
Thorndike’s law of effect proposes that, when behaviors are followed by “satisfying consequences,” they are more likely to increase or occur again. This theory was originally derived from studies in which hungry cats were placed in “puzzle boxes” and had to perform a particular behavior in order to escape from the box and obtain food.
Classical Conditioning
In classical conditioning, a neutral (conditioned) stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus alone eventually elicits the response that is naturally elicited by the unconditioned stimulus. In Pavlov’s original studies, the meat powder was the unconditioned stimulus and salivation was the unconditioned response. A tone was the conditioned stimulus; and, as a result of its pairing with meat powder, the tone eventually elicited a conditioned response of salivation.
Prompts/Fading
Prompts are verbal or physical cues that facilitate the acquisition of a new behavior, and the gradual removal of a prompt is referred to as fading. (Note that the term fading is also used to describe the procedure that is used to eliminate an inappropriate stimulus-response connection by gradually replacing the inappropriate stimulus with appropriate stimuli so that the response becomes associated with the latter.)
