Psych Exam 10/31/22 Flashcards
learning
change in behavior or knowledge/skill that is due to experience
all animals learn it is necessary for survival
continuous process
rudimentary (non-associative) learning
automatic/built-in simple learning mecahnisms
habituation (rudimentary)
repeat neutral stimulus → decrease response (less likely to happen if stimulus is threatening)
sensitization (rudimentary)
become more sensitive/increased response after threatening stimulus (over respond the next time that same threatening stimulus occurs)
filial imprinting (rudimentary)
only applicable to birds
critical period for attachment of younger to older birds in the first 12-18 hours
imprint on the first large moving objects they see
classical conditioning (Pavlovian)
learning through forming associations between experiences → extremely simple form of learning, takes place even in the womb
Pavlov’s dogs
studied saliva production in dogs and noticed that dogs would salivate even before the meat powder was presented so he designed an experiment to verify this observation
Meat → Saliva
Bell → Meat
Bell → Saliva
unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
a stimulus that provokes an unconditioned response without previous conditioning (ex. meat)
unconditioned response (UCR)
an unlearning reaction that occurs without conditioning, a reflex (ex. salivating)
conditioned stimulus (CS)
a previously neutral stimulus that has acquired meaning through conditioning and the capacity to evoke a response (ex. bell)
conditioned response (CR)
a learned reaction that occurs because of previous conditions (ex. salivating to a bell, rather than the meat)
romantic associations (classical conditioning)
“our song”, cologne/perfume
nostalgic childhood associations (classical conditioning)
smell of playdough or crayons, opening songs to childhood cartoons
anxious associations (classical conditioning)
phobias are often conditioned responses, conditioning can also occur in single context such as horror movie sounds (ex JAWs theme song)
contiguity (anxious association, classical conditioning)
onset of conditioned stimulus a bit before unconditioned stimulus and ens with unconditioned stimulus
novelty (anxious association, classical conditioning)
newer stimuli lead to faster learning because no other associations
biological preparedness (classical conditioning)
prepared stimuli are those that we are evolutionarily prepared to asscoiate
taste aversions → not all stimulus pairings can create conditioned responses (CR) as easily
Garcia’s rats (biological preparedness, classical conditioning)
easier to condition taste or smell with nausea than it is to condition light or sound with nausea because we are biologically prepared to pair internal threats with internal stimuli and external threats with external stimuli
learned fear: mineka’s monkeys (classical conditioning)
easier to teach a lab-reared monkey to fear a snake than a flower (even though they had never seen either, both novel and neutral) because primates are “hard-wired” to fear snakes
extinction (classical conditioning)
with repeated presentation of only the CS without the UCS eventually the CR will extinguishes (ex ring bell continuously without meat, dog will stop drooling at the bell because it no longer associates it with meat)
spontaneous recovery (classical conditioning)
when the CR rebounds after a time of no exposure to the CS - implies we don’t really ‘unlearn’ original association
discrimination (classical conditioning)
when learning becomes more specific (ex not all bells mean meat, only respond and drool to the specific bell sound that means they get meat)
generalization (classical conditioning)
when learned CR to one CS generalizes to any other CS, similar CS object (ex dogs started drooling to any musical sounds = meat)
Little Albert and the white rat (generalization, classical conditioning)
exposed him to rats and then played a loud sound to scare him but he generalized his fear and was terrified of not only the white rays but all furry things
operant conditioning
learning through consequences in addition to mere association
reinforcement (operant conditioning)
occurs when the consequences of a response increase an organism’s tendency to make that response
positive reinforcement (operant conditioning)
responses increases because get a positive (ex give allowance if room is clean)
negative reinforcement (operant conditioning)
response increases because remove a negative (ex stop nagging if room is clean)
punishment (operant conditioning)
occurs when the consequence of a behavior decreases tendency to make that response in the future
positive punishment (operant conditioning)
response decreases because get a negative (ex spank if room is not clean)
negative punishment (operant conditioning)
response decreases because remove a positive (ex take away cellphone if room not clean)
Sinner and punishment (operant conditioning)
believed that reinforcement is generally preferable to punishment especially compared to positive punishment
punishment may carry unintended consequences (ex. associate punisher with fear and anxiety → why you shouldn’t punish a puppy during housetraining)
reinforcement vs punishment (operant conditioning)
Positive reinforcement - the presence of a good thing = increases behavior
Positive punishment - the presence of bad thing = decrease behavior
Negative reinforcement - the absence of bad = increase behavior
Negative punishment - the absence of good = decreases behavior
shaping (operant conditioning)
reinforcement of closer approximations of behavior until you get the behavior you want
chaining (operant conditioning)
reinforcing multiple already learned behaviors in one behavior sequence (chain), by reinforcing when the entire “chain” of previously learned behaviors are emitted in the right order
reinforce each behavior as it occurs (in order) then withhold reinforcement until two behaviors are done and so on
extinction (operant conditioning)
if a behavior was previously reinforced then becomes unreinforced, behavior will extinguish after a time
overjustification effect (extinction - operant conditioning)
if you reward a behavior repeatedly that otherwise was inherently interesting or rewarding, can reduce interest in engaging in the behavior without a reward
ex. marker study → expecting and receiving a reward for a drawing task decreased preschool children’s interest in drawing during free play (without reward)
primary reinforcers (operant conditioning)
events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy basic or biological needs (ex sweet tastes, hugs/affection, loud noises, pain)
secondary reinforcers (operant conditioning)
events that acquire reinforcing qualities through association (ex. money, grades, the ‘clicker’ for training animals)
continuous reinforcement (operant conditioning)
when every instance of the desired behavior is reinforced, good from initial learning (housetraining a puppy) - quick learning
partial reinforcement (operant conditioning)
when the desired behavior is reinforced only some of the time, better for long-term persistence of behavior (resistance to extinction)
variable ratio - reinforcement occurs after an unpredictable number of responses, this schedule leads to greatest resistance to extinction - gambling)
random reinforcement schedule (operant conditioning)
4 pigeons in Skinner boxes, drop in food on a random timing schedule, runs all night
superstitious behavior - what each pigeon was doing was complete coincidence, explains why people carry/wear “lucky” objects
observational learning
occurs when behavior is influenced by the observation of others - especially when adjusting to a new situation, imitating the behavior of those around us
vicarious reinforcement and punishment (observational learning)
higher impact on learning when the other receives strong positive or negative consequences
higher impact when the other evokes strong emotions (ex. parents) and/or is liked or admired (powerful high-status others, attractive celebrities)
Ex. past 4 decades, voluntary change in smoking in movies or TV - used to be wealthy and/or glamorous heroes but shift has been empirically linked with lower interest in smoking - lower status/villains
memory
the persistence of learning over time, the capacity to acquire and attain usable skills and knowledge via the storage and retrieval of information
encoded (memory)
processed to form a memory
automatically - highly emotional events or extremely vivid or unusual events
effortfully - train one’s attention to try to remember something (ex. studying)
stored (memory)
maintain encoded information over time
