Lecture 6 Flashcards
What is learning?
an acquisition, from experience, of new knowledge, skills, or responses that resulting a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner
Can learning be conscious or unconscious?
yes
What are the 4 ways that learning occurs?
classical conditioning, operant conditioning, observational learning, and implicit learning
What is the main concept of behaviorism?
all behavior is learned from the environment
What does behaviorism focus on?
observable behaviors, not internal events (emotions, thoughts)
What are the two takeaways about behaviorism?
there is no such thing as free will and everyone is born with a blank slate
What is the overview of Pavlov’s experiment?
Pavlov examined the reflex of saliva production. He examined the salivation when food was given to the dog, when a bell was rung, when a bell was rung and food was given to the dog, and when the bell was rung by itself
What is classical conditioning?
when a neutral stimulus evokes a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally evokes a response
What is an example of an unconditioned stimulus?
food
What is an example of a conditioned stimulus?
the bell
What are the unconditioned and conditioned responses?
salivating in the mouth
What do you have to do in order to pair the conditioning?
introduce the the conditioned stimulus before the unconditioned stimulus
What is an unconditioned stimulus?
something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism
What is an unconditioned response?
a reflexive reaction that is reliably excited by an unconditioned stimulus
Why are drug overdose deaths puzzling?
the dose is not larger than usual but the deaths tend to occur in unusual settings
What happens during drug overdoses (stimulus and responses)?
a controlled stimulus includes the context and man y controlled responses can be compensatory reactions to the uncontrolled stimulus
What are the 6 principles of classical conditioning?
acquisition, stimulus generalization, stimulus discrimination, higher order conditioning, extinction, and spontaneous recovery
What is acquisition?
the moment when a response is established based on conditioning (the result of a conditioned stimulus being connected to an unconditioned stimulus)
What is stimulus generalization?
when a stimulus that resembles the conditioned stimulus also elicits the conditioned response (salivating to one bell will make me salivating to any bell sound)
What is stimulus discrimination?
the tendency to respond differently to at least 2 stimuli (middle C on piano evokes a conditioned response but not the middle C on a guitar)
What is higher order conditioning?
a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus when paired with an already established conditioned stimulus
What do companies do with higher order conditioning?
control consumer’s behavior (make a symbol/icon to get customers hungry)
What is extinction?
sudden disappearance of a large response
What is spontaneous recovery?
sudden reappearance of a previous extinguished experience or response
What did Watson believe about behaviorism?
entire array of rich human emotions and behavior can be accounted for by conditioning principles
What did Watson believe he can do with babies?
control their environment and ensure they become what he wants them to become (can persuade a baby to become a doctor or a criminal)
What was different about Watson’s belief?
he believed that what people become is not influenced by their race
What is learning to like?
classical conditioning plays a role in our emotional response to objects, people, places, events, symbols
What is learning to fear?
learn to fear almost anything if paired with something associated with pain or embarrassment
What is one example of learning to fear?
phobias
Describe the case of Little Albert.
Albert had a fear instinct to loud noise. He was taken to be experimented on was exposed to a white rat. The researchers paired the neutral stimulus of the white rat and the unconditioned stimulus of the loud noise. They introduced the white rat and them presented the loud noise. Eventually, Albert was afraid of the white rat because it was associated with a loud noise. The white rat became the conditioned stimulus and the cry from Albert became the conditioned response.
What did the case of Little Albert teach us?
fear can be learned just as any other behavior
When does classical conditioning only occur?
when an animal has learned to set up an expectation
When is conditioning easier to learn?
when the conditioned stimulus is an unfamiliar event than a familiar one (there are no pre-existing expectations)
Describe the case of Little Peter.
Little Peter already had a phobia of rabbits. He was taken into a research lab and paired a rabbit with something he likes (candy). The researchers only let Peter eat the candy when there was a white rabbit in the room. Eventually, the phobia of rabbits disappeared.