Lecture 3 Flashcards
Is blocking slower or faster learning?
Slower
Is super conditioning slower or faster learning?
Faster
What happened in the Kamin experiment? (blocking)
- Rats divided into two groups
- Rats in the control group saw a light, heard a sound, and got shocked. This continued until there was a CR
- The rat responded to the light on its own
- In blocking group rats heard a noise and were shocked until a CR was developed
- The rat rat then heard the noise and saw a light and got shocked
- The rat did not react to the light by itself
What happened in the Rescorla experiment? (super conditioning)
- A tone was played with the absence of a shock (tone became safety inhibitor)
- Tone and light were followed by a shock
- Rats were presented with the light alone with no shock. This was surprising and the rats showed stronger conditioning to the light
You are one of Pavlov’s dogs. One particular guy always brings you food. You always salivate when you hear his footsteps or see him coming towards you. He starts bringing a friend along with him when he brings the food. One day that friend comes along and your mouth is dry. What is this an example of?
Blocking
You are one of Pavlov’s dogs. All sorts of people bring you food, but there is this old guy with a beard that never does. One day he comes along with a new person and you get some food. When that new person comes to visit you alone, you are salivating a lot. what is this?
Superconditioning
Is CS pre-exposure due to habituation?
No, habituation is not context specific (it occurs regardless of the context)
What is generalisation?
Other (similar) stimuli may also produce the CR. The more similar to the original CS, the more likely it is to elicit the CR (little Albert)
What is discrimination
Early on during acquisition, generalization may cause the learner to respond to a variety of stimuli. As learning continues, the organism learns which CS seems to be best associated with US (they discriminate)
Why are formal models used for classical conditioning?
So that there can be testable predictions
What does the Rescorla-Wagner model assume?
It assumes that a CR gets stronger if the CS-US pair is surprising. The level of conditioning is a result of an internal comparison between the expected strength of the US and the actual strength of the US
What is a limitation of the Rescorla-Wagner model?
It has difficulty explaining/predicting CS pre-exposure (latent inhibition)
Why is taste aversion different in learning?
We can acquire a taste aversion after one single association. But its good to know what foods are bad to eat.
What is the Garcia effect? (preparedness)
A study by Garcia found that some associations are learned faster than others
How is Pavllovian conditioning applied in clinical settings?
In clinical psychology, a program of presenting the CS without the US is called systematic desensitization
