Lecture 7: Learning operant Flashcards
What are the 2 different ways of learning?
Classical and operant conditioning
What is learning?
Any enduring change in the way an organism responses based on its experience
What is classical conditioning?
The learning of a new association between two previously unrelated stimuli
We learn that a stimulus predicts a certain event and we respond accordingly
All responses are reflexes
Who discovered classical conditioning?
Ivan P. Pavlov
Nobel prize for research in medical physiology
How is a behaviour elicited in classical conditioning?
It becomes elicited by a previously neutral stimulus that has acquired it’s power through an association with a biologically significant stimulus
What is classical conditioning the study of?
Reflexes or autonomic responses
What is the unconditioned stimulus?
Any stimulus that naturally elicits a behaviour
What is the unconditioned response?
The behaviour elicited by the unconditioned stimulus
What is the conditioned stimulus?
A neutral stimulus that is able to elicit behaviour only after association with the unconditioned stimulus
What is the conditioned response?
The behaviour elicits to the conditioned stimulus
In the example of pavlov’s dogs with the tone, what is the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR before, during and after conditioning?
BEFORE:
UCS = food, UCR = salivation
CS = tone, No response or irrelevant response
DURING:
CS = tone, followed by UCS (=food), elicits UCR (=salivation)
AFTER:
CS = tone, CR= salivation
What is acquisition?
Process by which the conditioned response is first elicited
Timing is critical!!!
What are the 5 processes of conditioning?
Acquisition Extinction Spontaneous recovery Stimulus generalisation Stimuli discrimmination
What are the 4 types of conditioning in classical conditioning
Delay conditioning,
Trace conditioning
Simultaneous conditioning
Backward conditioning
What is trace conditioning?
The onset of the conditioned stimulus precedes the onset of the unconditioned stimulus and the tone goes off before he food powder begins
What is delay conditioning
CS comes on and stays on for a period of time before the US is presented.
What is backward conditioning?
The onset of the unconditioned stimulus precedes the onset of the conditioned stimulus
What is extinction?
Where after a period of times the link ( between CS and UCR) is broken this results in weakening of the conditioned response
E.g. Child stops throwing tantrums when their parents ignore the bad behaviour
What is Simultaneous conditioning?
The conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus occur at the sametime
What is spontaneous recovery?
Sudden reappearance of conditioned response after a rest period without further exposure to the UCS
What is stimulus generalisation?
Automatic extension of conditioned response to similar stimuli e.g. Little Albert scared of everything furry
What is stimuli discrimination?
Learning to respond differently to stimuli that differ from the conditioned stimulus
What is shaping?
A procedure which a complex behaviour is trained/taught by reinforcing closer and closer approximations of the desired response
E.g. Progressively training a dog to fetch the paper used to train animals to assist the disabled
What are the reinforcement contingencies for behaviour modification and behavioural therapy?
How can you DEFINE the behaviour that you would like to reinforce or eliminate?
How can you define the CONTEXTS in which a behave is appropriate or inappropriate?
Have you unknowingly been REINFORCING some behaviours?
