PSY 1101 - Chapter 07: Learning (Pt. 01)

Question 1

What is Learning?

Answer 1

A relatively permanent change in how we think, feel, and behave as a result of experience

Question 1

How can Learning be used?

Answer 1

Learning can be used as a force of good or evil

Question 2

What are the two characteristics of Learning?

Answer 2

1. Adaptability: Being capable of learning, that makes us flexible, changeable and adaptable
2. Hope

Question 3

What are the Three Major ways of learning?

Answer 3

1. Classical Conditioning
2. Operant Conditioning
3. Observational Learning

Question 4

What Conditioning?

Answer 4

Learning to form associations between two events / stimuli or between a behaviour and its consequences

Question 5

What is Classical Conditioning?

Answer 5

Learn to associate two events or two stimuli
- We learn that one event signals the arrival of another

Question 6

Why is Classical Conditioning essential?

Answer 6

Essential for survival
- allows us to prepare ourselves or take preventative actions

Question 7

Who is Pavlov?

Answer 7

The father of classical conditioning
- Discovered and began research on it
- Not a psychiatrist
- Originally researched digestion (physiologist)

Question 8

What are Psychic Secretions?

Answer 8

Term used by Pavlov for salivations
- nothing to do with meat

Question 9

What is Unconditioned Stimulus?

Answer 9

Unconditioned stimulus leads to automatic (unconditioned) response
- food is the unconditioned stimulus

Question 10

What is Unconditioned Response?

Answer 10

Unconditioned response because it is automatic, reflexive and no learning was done
- salvation is the unconditioned response

Question 11

What is a Neutral Stimulus?

Answer 11

does not cause any response
- the sound of a bell

Question 12

What is Conditioned Stimulus?

Answer 12

• Bell is the Conditioned stimulus

Question 13

What is Conditioned Response?

Answer 13

Learning is required for the salivation to occur (response)
- Not natural, not automatic or reflexive
- Salivation at the sound of the bell is called conditioned response

Question 14

What is Higher Order Conditioning?

Answer 14

Once the dog learns the conditioned response for the conditioned stimulus, another stimuli is introduced
- dog learns to salivate at the sight of a red triangle instead of the bell

Question 15

What is Acquisition?

Answer 15

The process by which the dog learned to salivate by the sound of the bell

Question 16

How does frequency affect Learning?

Answer 16

The more frequent we introduce the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, the better the learning

Question 17

Why does Timing of the Conditioned Stimuli matter?

Answer 17

once we introduce the conditioned stimuli (bell), we must also introduce the unconditioned stimuli (food)

Learning may not take place if we wait too long

Question 18

Why does the Order of Presentation matter?

Answer 18

We must introduce the conditioned stimuli before the unconditioned stimuli

Bottom line: The sounding of the bell signals the arrival of food

Question 19

What is Extinction?

Answer 19

Teach the dog to unlearn the conditioned response
- We taught the dog to salivate at the sound of the bell
- Now we don’t want him to salivate anymore at the conditioned stimulus
- sound the bell (CR) but do not give food (US)

Question 20

What is Spontaneous Recovery?

Answer 20

The condition response comes back at the sight of the conditioned stimuli
- Will go away if you continue to execute extinction

Question 21

What is Stimulus Generalization?

Answer 21

The event of a “tragic” event causes a generalization of fear in all things that caused that tragic event
- bit by one dog and are afraid of all dogs

Question 22

How can Stimulus Generalization be Adaptive and Maladaptive?

Answer 22

Adaptive: We want the learning to be generalized (crossing the road)

Maladaptive: act of violence generalizes to a specific group of people
- unhealthy, discriminatory

Question 23

What is Stimulus Discrimination?

Answer 23

We learn the conditioned response for a specific conditioned stimuli rather than generalizing

Question 24

What was Pavlov’s position on Cognitive Processes?

Answer 24

If we want to understand and study classical conditioning, we don’t need to take into consideration cognitive processes

Question 25

What did Modern Researchers say about animals?

Answer 25

• Animals are not passive and stupid learners
• act like scientists
• assess and evaluate the environment
• ask if the information is reliable and gives predictive power
• learn if reliable, don’t learn if not

Question 26

What are Biological Restraints?

Answer 26

Pavlov: of we strictly followed the rules of classical conditioning, we can teach anything

Modern Researchers: Nature puts limits as to how far they can go; there are certain associations that are biologically prepared to learn more than others

Question 27

What is Objective Study?

Answer 27

We can take complex, psychological processes and study them objectively using scientific method

Question 28

Who is John Watson?

Answer 28

Was opposed to the goal and the method; the study of consciousness to the use of introspection

• One of the big names in psych
• influenced by Pavlov
• father of behaviourism

Question 29

What is Introspection?

Answer 29

Subjects are asked to reflect on their own experiences and to report them

Question 30

How did Psychology change after John Watson?

Answer 30

Before: the goal of psychology was to study consciousness in the mind; the method used was introspection
- little research done on the consciousness, mind, emotions, etc.

Goal: to study observable, to predict and control behaviour

• did not have the methodology to achieve this until he read the work of pavlov

Question 31

What is Behaviourism?

Answer 31

Study of observable behaviour, but now we study the mind, consciousness, emotions, motivation in psychology

• Dominated psychology for over 50 years
• now does not dominate anymore, but remains important