Module 4 Lesson 3 - Social Learning Flashcards
Classical Conditioning
Learning through behavior that is already present, manipulating a stimulus to get a response.
Operant Conditioning
A psychological behavior training that uses a similar behavior of the animal or person to reach the desired behavior.
Observational Learning
Learning through observation that is sometimes completed through attempted tasks, originally started by Albert Bandura.
Latent Learning
Learning that occurs without recollection or conscious thought of when we learned it.
Ex. A baby making sounds like their parents, holding a poon, or learning how to walk.
Insight Learning
This is learning when you spontaneously come up with a way to work out a problem or issue.
Biological Taste Aversion
Applying a consequence after an undesirable behavior through additional stimulus. This is also conditioned as taste aversion. People or animals can have a bad experience once with a specific taste and develop a lifelong aversion to it, as stated by John Garcia.
Superstitious Behavior
When people practice certain habits or acts repeatedly to get a specific result.
Learned Helplessness
When a person learns (grasps) the absence of control over their own behaviors.
Predisposition (Or constraints) on learning
When something can stop or limit learning. This can be psychological (from the mind) or biological (a genetic trait).
Psychological constraint
When learning is limited due to past experiences like taste aversion from eating food that we got sick from.
Biological constraint
When learning is limited due to traits that are inherited, like an illness or disorder.
What are the three ways in which we learn?
Classical conditioning - We learn by association
Operant conditioning - We learn through rewards and punishments
Observational learning (through working tasks)
Latent learning (unconscious learning as infants do when learning how to jump).
Describe the Bobo doll experiment.
This is the idea that behavior is learned through observation. Can be cited in debates like “should violent video games be banned?”
In the Bobo doll experiment, a bunch of kids were in a room doing an arts and crafts project. Suddenly, a man entered the room and started to aggressively kick and punch a Bobo doll for 10 minutes straight, yelling ‘hit it, kick it.’ Some kids observed the behavior, some didn’t. Then, the researchers needed the kids to be frustrated by giving them an impossible puzzle to solve (the pieces don’t fit).
The kids were then brought to a room filled with toys, including the bobo doll. Many of the kids decided to beat up the bobo doll, yelling “hit it, kick it.” This proves that not only do kids learn, they can also perform through observation. However, some of the kids didn’t perform the violent act, but could if it was necessary. This is known as the Learning-Performance Distinction.
Explain Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
Ex. drawing a star
1. Attention - Needed to observe drawing a star
- Memory - Remember how to draw a star
- Imitation - Copy the way someone else drew the star (attention span and memory are needed)
- Motivation - The reasons behind drawing a star
Latent Learning
Learning that occurs without recollection or conscious thought of when we learned it (like learning how to walk or holding a spoon).
Insight Learning
When the “aha” moment occurs. The “answer” suddenly comes to you.
Biological Taste Aversion
Also known as conditioned taste aversion, where people or animals can have a lifelong aversion to a food or specific taste because of a single bad experience with it. (ex. Getting sick because of a food)
Superstitious Behavior
An example of this is seeing athletes refusing to shave during playoff games, or when you wear “lucky” accessories on test day. It is a repeated act or “ritual” believing it will change what happens.
Learned Helplessness
When a person realizes they cannot control the world around them so they are no longer motivated to change.
Ex. A person who has failed all tests in English class this term realizes that there is nothing they can do to perform well in the class. As a result, the student lacks the motivation to change the situation, so even tutoring or asking for help is believed to not be worth it since the grade will not improve.
What are predispositions?
Constraints that prevent learning; is divided into two types, which are psychological and biological
What are psychological constraints?
Taste aversion would be a psychological constraint. It is something that prevents learning due to past experiences. In taste aversion, the person who had a bad experience with a food at a young age will refuse to try foods that are similar, which limits their learning.
What are biological constraints?
This can be a learning disability (like ADHD), a disease (diabetes), a physical disability (like blindness or deafness), or an inherited/genetic disorder (like autism). Any of these biological constraints can limit a person’s learning.
Albert Bandura
Responsible for the Social Learning Theory (behavior is learned and can happen from observation of the social cognitive perspective). He is known for his experiments with learning on children, especially measuring aggression towards Bobo the doll (also known as Bobo the Clown).
John Garcia
A psychologist that discovered the Garcia Effect (taste aversion) by experimenting on rats with radiation. His research is linked with taste aversion in cancer patients after chemotherapy treatment.
