Psychology 2 - Learning Flashcards
What is classical conditioning?
A procedure where someone learns to associate a reflex response with a new stimulus
What do we call the actual procedure of classical conditioning?
Classical conditioning schedule
What is learning?
Changes in behaviour due to experience or repeated events
What are the stimuli and responses in the classical conditional schedule?
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) Unconditioned response (UCR) Conditioned stimulus (CS) Conditioned response (CR)
What is extinction?
When a conditioned response dies out
What is spontaneous recovery?
After a conditioned response becomes extinct, it suddenly returns again
What is generalisation in terms of learning?
When similar stimuli to the original conditioned stimulus can trigger the conditioned response
What is discrimination in terms of conditioning?
When the conditioned response is only triggered when a specific stimulus is presented
Describe the experiment of Pavlov’s dogs
Each time Pavlov’s dog was fed and the amount of saliva produced was measured and a bell was rung
This was repeated many times
The bell was rung and the amount of saliva produced was the same as the amount with the food present
Give a study about classical conditioning
Watson & Rayner (1920)
To see if the emotional response of fear could be conditioned in a human being
Albert was 11 months old, he liked white rats and had no fear of white furry objects, the rat was shown to Albert and as he reached for it, a metal bar was hit with a hammer behind him, this was done several times
When the rat was presented, Albert screaming and tried to get away even though the metal bar was not hit, he also screamed in the presence of a Santa mask
Fear responses could be learnt and very young children can learn in the way suggested by classical conditioning
Evaluate the classical conditioning study
This was very unethical to scare the child in this way
The study only used one child so they needed more evidence to generalise the results
Describe the classical conditioning schedule
Before conditioning: there is an UCS and a UCR
During conditioning: there is CS with the UCS and a UCR
After conditioning: the behaviour is learnt so only the CS is needed to trigger the response which is now called the CR
What is operant conditioning?
Learning due to the consequences of behaviour through positive or negative reinforcement
What is the law of effect?
Behaviours that are followed by rewards are usually repeated
Those that are punished are not usually repeated
What did Thorndike do to prove the law of effect?
He placed a cat in a box where the door would open if it pulled a string
He timed how long it took for the cat to open the door 40 times in a row
The cat learnt how to open the door and when it did, it was rewarded by the door opening
This caused the cat to open the door faster and faster as time went on
What is punishment?
A stimulus that weakens behaviour because we try to avoid it
What is reinforcement?
A consequence of behaviour that encourages or strengthens that behaviour
What is positive reinforcement?
When a reward is presented to reinforce a behaviour
What is negative reinforcement?
When an unpleasant experience is removed to reinforce a behaviour
What is behaviour shaping?
Changing behaviour in small steps
What did Skinner do to discover reinforcement?
He put a rat in a box and when the rat touched a button, food was given to it
Over time, the rat learned to push the button as soon as it entered the box
He also put the rat into a box that gave the rat electric shocks and when it pushed the button, the shocks stopped
This negative reinforcement had the same effect as the positive reinforcement
What is flooding in terms of learning?
A treatment for phobias that immediate exposure of the person to the feared thing until there is no fear response
What is systematic desensitisation?
A treatment for phobias in which the person is told to relax and gradually exposed to the feared thing
They have to become relaxed on each stage before moving on
What is the hierarchy of fears?
A series of feared events ranked from least frightening to most
What is aversion therapy?
A treatment for addictions which makes the addict have an extremely negative reaction to the substance
What is token economy?
Giving people either primary or secondary reinforcers as a reward for doing the things that you need them to do
What is the difference between a primary and a secondary reinforcer?
A primary reinforcer is something that is needed to survive like food
A secondary reinforcer is something that can be cashed so that rewards can be purchased from a selection of possible rewards
What is the Garcia effect?
When one incident is enough to produce a conditioned stimulus and response
