PSY1002 SEMESTER 2 - WEEK 7 Flashcards
why is it important to study classical, operant conditioning
study fundamental forms of learning, understand learning foundation, understand stimulus-responses, understand drug addictions, use developing AI
where does simple classical conditioning occurs
amygdala and cerebellum
what is classical/operant conditioning in terms of research
experimental paradigms leading to highly influential frameworks for associative learning
classical= stimulus-response associations
operant= action-outcome associations
describe appetitive stimuli in classical conditioning
want to approach eg: food or hot shower
describe aversive stimuli in classical conditioning
animal want to avoid eg: loud noises
give common aversive conditioning paradigms and what it can be applied to
eye-blink conditioning, tail pinching, shocks
little Albert
understand phobias formation, anxiety disorder, protective mechanisms (flinching)
explain single-trial learning as part of aversive conditioning
evolutionary function- preventing illness (food poisoning)
explain classical conditioning in PTSD
develop strong association between situ (CS) and trauma (UCR), with thinking about CS producing severe anxiety (CR) and PTSD develop due to emotion experienced during trauma producing neural activity in amygdala, causes strong conditioned learning which has a slow extinction
define extinction
reduction in responding that occurs when CS is presented repeatedly without UCS
outline extinction paradigm
study how strong association formed during conditioning is via examining occurrence post conditioning when UCS are removed, presenting a CS alone
what is spontaneous recovery (as shown by Rescorla, 2004 study)
after 8 days rest, sudden return to response without reintroductions to stimulus-response
suggests extinction is new type of learning, not forgetting/unlearning
what can spontaneous recovery suggest
original learning not fully erased and excitatory association reinforces responses, inhibitory association prevents response. when both equally strong, cancel out each other but after pause inhibitory association become weaker, excitatory more persistent causing reintroduction of CR
sum up simply extinction
not unlearning, but learning that association is no longer valid
give advantages of not fully unlearning association
environmental change (food available) and not fully unlearning allows flexibility for survival, don’t have to restart acquisisions but can pick up quickly again
give disadvantages of not fully unlearning associations
negative implications- unlearnt associations which influence survival, if association is wrong then want to get rid of the learning
define generalisation
ability to then also respond with CR, to new stimulus which resembles original CS
outline why generalisation is important learning mechansim
avoid overtraining for specific stimuli- in real life similar stimuli has similar properties but don’t need to do full acquisition process every time, saving time and evolutionary significance (learn to avoid certain stimuli by generalising negative past outcome)
give research example into generailsation
ppts had brief interaction with female experimenter, had to ask question, and experimenter responded negative/neutral
students went into another room, asked to approach either one of 2 researchers, significantly more likely to avoid one which looked like original experimenter when she was negative
define discrimination
ability to then not respond with CR to new stimulus, which resembles original CS
explain how discrimination is important learning mechanism
allow using for detection in important salient differences in environment
outline second-order conditioning
existing CS can serve as UCS for pairing with new CS. after consistently pairing CS1 and UCS, CS1 can be UCS for CS2, also triggers CR, leading to long chain of associated stimuli
define trial (in a research paradigm)
single presentation of a CS-UCS sequenced
define block (in a research paradigm)
consists of several trials, typically has specific parameter (reward probabilities, trial types etc)
define session (in a research paradigm)
consists of one or more blocks- different session usually are separated by longer time intervals eg: days
what is partial reinforcement
intersperse trials where CS isn’t followed by UCS done randomly, so CS followed by UCS with certain probabilities = practical issue as predictable, so instead use delay conditioning (which means CS overlap with UCS- not using a delay)
explain blocking in studies
first pair CS1+UCS, then post-training add CS2 which is presented with CS1 and followed by UCS
presenting only CS2 doesn’t trigger response (learning is blocked)
