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.
What is an example of pairing a neutral stimulus with an adverse stimulus?
When you eat something that makes you sick and then avoid that food for years. The food is neutral and paired with vomiting.
In operant conditioning what is reinforcement and what is punishment?
reinforcement is cheering (positive reaction) and punishment is booing (negative reaction)
What is operant conditioning?
a type of learning in which the consequences of an organism’s behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future
What is law of effect?
principles and behaviors followed by a satisfied state of affairs
What happens during a pleasant state of affairs and an unpleasant state of affairs?
Pleasant: more likely to behave in that behavior again
Unpleasant: less likely to behave in that behavior again
What are neutral consequences?
neither increase nor decrease the probability that something will occur
What is a reinforcer?
strengthens a behavior or makes it more likely to occur
What is a punisher?
weakens behavior or makes it less likely to occur
Describe the BF Skinner experiment.
Skinner trained pigeons to move in a circle. He provided positive reinforcement by giving the pigeon a treat if they turned 90 degrees. This continued until the pigeon was all the way around 360 degrees.
What is a primary reinforcer?
inherently reinforcing that satisfies physiological needs
What are examples of primary reinforcers?
food, water, and stroking skin
What is a primary punisher?
pain or extreme heat/cold
What is a secondary reinforcer?
learned; associated with primary reinforcers through classical conditioning
What are examples of secondary reinforcers?
money or gold stars
What are secondary punishers?
fines and bad grades
What is shaping?
reinforcing successive approximations towards and entire goal
What are successive approximations?
behaviors that are ordered to increasing similarity to a desired behavior
What is he overjustification effect?
circumstances when external rewards can undermine the inartistic satisfaction of performing a behavior
What is an example of the over justification effect?
When a child is not a huge reader and is okay with receiving a 7/10 score on a spelling test, the parent should not say that the child can earn a reward for finishing a book because it will take away the joy of finishing a good book.
What is an example of positive reinforcement?
getting a pizza party for earning a good grade on an exam
What is an example of negative reinforcement?
don’t have to make bed in the morning if you get an A
What is an example of positive punishment?
having to do more weekly chores for getting caught steeling money
What is an example of negative punishment?
having your car privileges taken away for disobeying a curfew
What is stimulus generalization?
a behavior that has been reinforced/punished in presence of one stimulus, will/will not occur in the presence of other similar stimuli
What is an example of stimulus generalization?
a pigeon reinforced for pecking circles, will also peck at ovals
What is stimulus discrimination?
behavior will/will not occur in presence of stimuli that differ from initial reinforced/punished stimuli
What is an example of stimulus discrimination?
a pigeon that is only reinforced for circles will not peck at a square
What is a discriminative stimulus?
one that is associated with reinforcement
When does a discriminative stimulus occur?
right before a stimulus
What is an example of discriminative stimulus?
if the light is on, the pigeon will be reinforced when he pecks on the circle
What does discriminative stimulus indicate?
something that comes before to give you a clue
What is extinction?
the weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response
What is an example of extinction?
When the child and a mother are in the store. The child asks the mother for candy and when the mother refuses, the child starts having a tantrum. The mother ignores the tantrum. The child realizes that their tantrum did not work and they flip out even more.
What is continuous reinforcement?
when all responses are reinforced
What is intermittent reinforcement?
when only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement
What is schedule of reinforcement?
when/how an organism is reinforced for a particular behavior
What is an interval schedule?
time intervals
What is a ratio schedule?
ratio/number of responses
What is fixed interval schedule?
reinforcements are presented at fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made
What is an example of fixed interval schedule?
Checking every 5 minutes if the child is sitting in the chair properly. If they are, they will be reinforced.
What is variable interval schedule?
reinforcements are based on an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement
What is an example of variable interval schedule?
Checking on average every five minutes (sometimes 1 and sometimes 9) if the child is sitting in the chair properly. If so, they get reinforced.
What is fixed ratio schedule?
reinforcements are presented after a specific number of responses have been made
What is an example of fixed ratio schedule?
after eating 10 peas, the child will get reinforced
What is variable ratio schedule?
reinforcements are based on a particular average number of responses
What is an example of variable ratio schedule?
after eating on average 10 peas (sometimes 2 and sometimes 22), the child will get reinforced
What is the most effective schedule of reinforcement?
variable-ratio schedule
What are real-world examples of variable ratio schedule?
- gambling: will win on average every number of players
- social media: do not know if there will be a sponsorship every 1 or 5 swipes
What is ABA?
Applied Behavior Analysis
What is used as reinforcement for children with autism?
words of affirmation, touching, high-fives
What do class clowns lack?
attention because they are punished at home and will take the negative attention because they are starved of attention
What is observational learning?
learning takes place by watching the actions of others
What is a model?
someone whose behavior might serve as a guide for others
Describe the Bobo the Clown experiment.
A researcher brought in children to perform an observational learning experiment. He grouped the children into two: one group was put into the room with Bobo the Clown and the others watched a video of a woman beating Bobo before being put into the room. Ultimately, the children that watched the video of the woman were more aggressive with the doll.
