Module 3 - Learning Flashcards
reflexive behaviour
a response to stimuli that are involuntary and free from conscious control
e.g. eye blinking, sucking and grasping (babies reflexive behaviour)
Homing
an ability of an organism to find it’s way back home
Imprinting
an instinctual behaviour where an offspring when they are born will imprint on the first moving objects that they see and they will then follow that object
Learning
a relatively permanent change in behaviour or knowledge as a result of experience
Habituation
is the decline in the tendency to respond to stimuli that have become familiar due to repeated exposure
Classical conditioning
a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with a stimulus that automatically elicits a particular response
the previously neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that also elicits a similar response
Ivan Pavlovs
developed the theory about classical conditioning
What are the two types of behavior selected evolution?
Reflexive and instinctual
Instinctual Behaviour
an adaptive response to a stimulus in one’s environment
e.g. homing, imprinting and migratory behaviours
4 behaviours that are selected by experience
1) Habituation
2) classical conditioning
3) instrumental conditioning
4) observational learning
What happens during Habituation if stimulus presented is harmless?
Habituation is a behavior where it causes a first response to the stimulus introduced, but our system will learn to ignore it of proven that it is benign
meaning that if the same behavior is explicit and is proven to be benign, we will no longer react to the stimulus presented
-this occurs because repetition of response to the stimulus is very expensive and disruptive in terms of energy
- not time efficient for distraction of current task being performed
Unconditioned response
this is an animals natural response to stimulus (food) presented (salivation)
Conditioned response
this occurs when the addition of a neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus results in a conditioned stimulus which produces a conditioned response
Why do we still get an unconditioned response when NS + US occurs?
this is due to the presence of the unconditioned stimulus
Conditioned Emotional responses
Neutral stimulus associated with emotional events can elicit emotional responses
Stimulus substitution
this is the conditioned stimulus came to elicit a conditioned response via process whereby the conditioned stimulus comes equivalent to the unconditioned stimulus
- CS = US
Classical conditioning
this is a preparatory response
- conditioned stimulus act as a predictive stimulus
Compensatory-Reaction Hypothesis
this is when the unconditioned response and the conditioned response are opposite to each other
Acquisition
the process by which the conditioned stimulus comes to a conditioned response
i.e. process of how the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus
Relationship between the number of NS and US pairings & US intensity
The more intense the US, the stronger the CR, and the quicker the rate of conditioning
Forward conditioning
where the conditioned stimulus occurs before the unconditioned stimulus
CS - US
Backward conditioning
where the conditioned stimulus occurs after the unconditioned stimulus
US - CS
Simultaneous conditioning
occurs when the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus are occurring at the same time
What is the best condition to produce a classical conditioned response?
the simultaneous conditioning because it does not give organisms time to prepare for the upcoming stimulus
Contingency
the assumption that classical conditioning depends on a contingent relation between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus
- the strength of conditioned response depends on how often the conditioned stimulus accompanies the unconditioned stimulus, and how often the conditioned stimulus accompanies no unconditioned stimulus
Extinction
If the conditioned stimulus presented without the unconditioned stimulus, then the conditioned response will gradually decrease
- the rate of decrease depends on factors such as initial response strength
Stimulus generalisation
a condition response formed from a conditioned stimulus will also give the same response to other stimuli which are similarly associated with feature of the conditioned stimulus
e.g. little albert was conditioned to have a fear response to a white rabbit, his fear response to other objects which had associated similar feature, in general from a rabbit was the same
stimulus discrimination
occurs when an organism learns to differentiate between the conditioned stimulus and other similar stimuli
e.g. Pavlov’s dogs discriminated between the basic tone sounded before they were fed and other tones (e.g. doorbell, because the other sound did not predict the arrival of the food
Generalisation Gradient
the more similar the stimulus to the training stimulus, the bigger the effect
Systematic Desensitization
combines ideas from extinction, stimulus generalisation and counter conditioning
- treatment for phobias and anxiety problems
Blocking
Classical conditioning does not occur if a good predictor of the unconditioned stimulus already exist
- classical conditioning is restricted
High-order conditioning
once a stimulus has become an effective conditioned stimulus for a certain conditioned response, then that stimulus can be used to conditioned other stimuli
Sensory Preconditioning
learning occurs in the absence of an unconditioned response. classical conditioning reveals the association already learnt between two events
Sensory preconditioning results
Even if a stimulus was absent during classical conditioning, if this stimuli was associated with the other stimuli used during classical conditioning then presenting this stimuli alone would trigger the same response as the conditioned stimuli
Taste aversion learning
this allows evolutionary benefits; this allow individuals to prevent interaction with the harmful stimulus tested
- special form of classical conditioning
Latent Inhibition
If an organism is familiar with the stimulus, it is harder for classical conditioning to occur
Law of Effect
Positive consequences increased the likelihood or probability of a response
Punishment
Events or consequences that decreases the likelihood of behaviours
Classical conditioning vs Instrumental conditioning
Classical conditioning is a relation between two stimuli (CS and US). The CS elicits the CR
whereas,
Instrumental conditioning concerns the probability or likelihood of a response changing as a function of its consequences. The subject emits the response in order ti produce a reward
Instrumental conditioning
Also called “operant conditioning” because we are interested in the effect that the response has on the environement
- operant is the response, in terms if it’s environmental effect
Skinner’s Version of the Law of Effect
when a response is followed by a reinforcer, the strength of the response increases. When a response is followed by a punisher, the strength of the response decreases
Acquisition
behaviour are shaped by successive approximation
Successive approximation
a method of shaping operant behaviour by reinforcing responses similar to the desired behaviour
e.g. the rat’s behaviour was “shaped” to get it to press the lever
Reinforcement
this occurs in learning when the consequences increases the likelihood of a behaviour occurring again
Positive Reinforcement
adding a stimulus or event contigent upon a response increases that behaviour
Negative reinforcement
removing something aversible (undesirable) in a response will increase that specific behaviour
- still increases the rate of behaviour
Positive punishment
A behavior occurs and a stimulus is presented that decreases the likelihood that the same response would occur again
Negative punishment
behaviour leads to the removal of a stimulus or event that decreases the behaviour
Token reinforcer
these are like conditioned reinforcement on steroids because it can be exchanged for primary reinforcers later
Schedule reinforcement
a specific pattern of presenting reinforcers over time
Continuous reinforcement
every instance of a response is reinforced
- useful for leaning new behaviours and influencing ongoing patterns of behaviour quickly
Satiation
occurs when a person has been exposed to a reinforcer continuously until the item or activity loses it’s motivating effect on their behaviour
Partial (intermittent) reinforcement
a designated rsponse is reinforced only some of the time (not every response is rewarde)
Ratio schedule
this is dependent on the number of responses
Interval schedule
largely depends on the passage of time (but behaviour still needs to occur)
Fixed-ratio schedule
the reinforcer is given after a fixed number of non-reinforced response
e.g. a rat receives food for every tenth response
Cumulative record for Fixed-ratio schedule
post-reinforcer pause, burst of responses until next reinforcer
Variable-ratio schedule
The reinfircer is given after a variable number of non-reinforcerd responses. The number of non-reinforced responses varies around the predetermined average
e.g. A rat is reinforced every tenth response on average, but the exact number required varies across trials
cumalative record for Variable-ratio schedule
high steady rate of response. occasional pauses
Fixed interval schedule
reinforcers are given for the first response after a fixed period of time has elepsed
e.g.
Variable-interval schedule
time has to elapsed, after that a response will produce a reward but it is unpredictable on how time would have to elapsed before the next response will produce that reward
Difference between Variable interval and Variable Ratio
Pattern behaviour of VR is more steeper than VI and because it is steeper means that there are more responses happening per unit time
extinction
if a response is no longer followed b a reinforcer, the strength of the response decreases
Partial-reinforcement extinction effect
when a behaviours are only reinforced partially, they are more resistant to extinction than behaviours being rewarded all the time
rewards
reinforces and strengthens behaviours
What are some issues that associates with extinction?
- extinction “burst” of response
- induced aggression
- increase in response topography (the way a behaviour looks)
Problems that typically occurs in extinction?
- inability to control all of the reinforcement for the behaviour
- failure to provide alternative behaviours leading to the same reinforcer
- spontaneous recovery
Time out
- not extinction but a negative punishment
Deprivation
means changing probabilities of certain behaviours in a situation
Reinforcement as behaviour
reinforcement occurs when a low probability behaviour leads to a high probability behaviour being able to eat food
Antecendent stimuli
are stimuli that control the instrumental behaviour that is likely to have a positive otuecomes in that particular context
Selective stimulus control
even when you train an animal with a complex stimulus, there is no guarantee that it will learn all the feautures of that complex stimulus
Latent learning
learning from experience when there appears no obvious reinforcement or punishment for that specific behaviours
Observational learning
occurs when an organism responding to its behaviour is influenced by the observation of others beahviour (called demostrators or “models”)
Evolutionary rationale
a mechanism for acquiring adaptive behaviours, it compares favorably with other learning mechanisms
What are the four key processes required for modelling to occur?
1) attention: have to be focusing in other individual’s behaviour
2) retention: needs to remember the behaviour that had been watching
3) production: needs to have the ability to actually perform the action
4) motivation: tends to be things that are useful (less BI and more positive consequences for inhibiting behaviour)
Habituation
the decline in the tendency to respond to stimuli that have become familiar due to repeated exposure
“Little Albert” and J.B. Watson & Rosalie Raynor
they experimented whether fear could be conditioned into a child
- this experiment was successfully done
spontaneous recovery
the reemergence of conditioning responses from an extinguished conditioned stimulus
- the ability of a response to fear to comeback after absence of the stimulus for a long period of time
Difference between reinforcement and punishment?
Reinforcement
- increase the likelihood of a behaviour
Punishment
- decreases the likelihood of a behaviour
Premack’s principle
this is an idea where a less desired behaviour can be reinforced by the opportunity to engage in a more desired behaviour
e.g. parent telling children’s to eat vegetables so that they can have a dessert after eating
Feature for selecting models for observational learning?
1) Models similarity to the observer
2) Models competence
3) Model’s prestige
4) observer’s previous experience with model
5) multiple models
