Sleep and Perception: Associative Learning

Question 1

What are the two types of associative learning?

Answer 1

Classical (Pavlovian) Learning
Operant Learning

Associated learning is learning the relationship between two events.

Question 2

What is operant learning?

Answer 2

Operant conditioning is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an individual makes an association between a particular behavior and a consequence (Skinner, 1938).

Question 3

What is classical (Pavlovian) Learning?

Answer 3

Classical conditioning refers to a learning procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus (e.g. food) is paired with a previously neutral stimulus (e.g. a bell).

Question 4

What is Pavlov’s dog?

Answer 4

Pavlov cannulated the dog so he could collect the saliva produced by the dog. Saliva production is part of the anticipatory phases. Pavlov set up a conditioning prototype.
If you ring a bell every time, food is about to be presented on 4 or 5 successive days, on the 6th day when you ring the bell but do not present food, there is an increase in salvation form baseline. The dog has learnt to anticipate food.

Question 5

What is acquisition?

Answer 5

Learning an association

Question 6

What is extinction?

Answer 6

Learning a new association. It is adding a new piece of learning. The rate of acquisition of this learning is faster due to previous knowledge.

Question 7

What is continuity?

Answer 7

The environmental stimulus must be presented close to the presentation of food.

• temporal contiguity
  i. e. Conditioned stimulus and Unconditioned stimulus must be close in time

Question 8

What is contingency?

Answer 8

When one stimulus depends on the other, they become associated

The conditioned stimulus reliably predicted the unconditioned stimulus. This produces a relationship between the two.

Question 9

What is latent inhibition?

Answer 9

Past learning experiences changes acquisition of new associations.

Question 10

What are biological constraints or learning in relation to Pavlov’s prototype?

Answer 10

• The concept of preparedness - some associations (learning) are biologically advantaged (challenges equipotentiality)
• Phobias
• Conditioned taste aversions

Question 11

What was the Garcia and Knelling experiment?

Answer 11

While studying the effects of radiation on various behaviors in the mid to late 1950s, Dr. John Garcia noticed that rats developed an aversion to substances consumed prior to being irradiated. To examine this, Garcia put together a study in which three groups of rats were given sweetened water followed by either no radiation, mild radiation, or strong radiation. When rats were subsequently given a choice between sweetened water and regular tap water, rats who had been exposed to radiation drank much less sweetened water than those who had not. Specifically, the total consumption of sweetened water for the no-radiation, mild radiation and strong radiation rats was 80%, 40% and 10%, respectively

Question 12

What is a taste aversion?

Answer 12

Conditioned taste aversion occurs when an animal associates the taste of a certain food with symptoms caused by a toxic, spoiled, or poisonous substance. Generally, taste aversion is developed after ingestion of food that causes nausea, sickness, or vomiting. The association reduces the probability of consuming the same substance (or something that tastes similar) in the future, thus avoiding further poisoning. It is an example of operant conditioning, not Pavlovian.

Question 13

What makes people disengage with chemotherapy?

Answer 13

In a lot of chemotherapy, the side effect is nausea and vomiting. This can be anticipatory or delayed nausea and vomiting. This can make them disengage with chemotherapy.

Most stimuli become paired with chemotherapy and nausea. This leads to conditioning linked to the journey of treatment. Children can then feel sick when they see the hospital signs or hospital letters due to the association.

Question 14

What is second order conditioning?

Answer 14

Second Order Conditioning (also known as Higher Order Conditioning) is a classical conditioning term that refers to a situation in which a stimulus that was previously neutral (e.g., a light) is paired with a conditioned stimulus (e.g., a tone that has been conditioning with food to produce salivating - this is the “first” order) to produce the same conditioned response as the conditioned stimulus.

Question 15

What is generalisation?

Answer 15

Greater similarity of new Conditioned stimulus is more likely to elicit a conditioned response. Such as going to the dentist has similar stimuli to going to the hospital and so could elicit the same response. Another example is generalising the experience of one dog, with every dog, leading to a fear of dogs.

Question 16

What is discrimination?

Answer 16

Responding to differences via reinforcement – discriminating between the dog from that experience and other dogs

Question 17

What is the Law of effect in operant conditioning?

Answer 17

The law of effect: Behaviours that are followed by good things happen more than behaviours that are followed by bad things of nothing at all. The positive responses may be material or social.

Question 18

What are different types of reinforcer?

Answer 18

• Primary (e.g. food, sleep, sex)
• Secondary (things that become rewarding e.g. opportunities for sleep, food etc.)
• Social (consequences of behaviour – smiling, nodding, verbal praise and attention)

Question 19

What is a shaping reinforcement in operant conditioning?

Answer 19

Reinforcements of successive approximations of desired act/behaviour. Reducing the behaviour of the child or pet to what you want them to exhibit.

Question 20

What is a chaining reinforcement in operant conditioning?

Answer 20

Complex behaviours broken into components parts. Each stage in sequences to learn the behaviour is positively reinforced. Reinforcer cues next stage in sequence.

Question 21

What is positive reinforcement in increasing behaviour?

Answer 21

Positive reinforcement example: praise the child (reward), social behaviour rather than behaviour that demonstrates social anxiety (clinging to teachers). A child becomes more socially active due to the intervention. You need specific doses and repetition in order for behaviour to be learned.

Question 22

What is negative reinforcement in increasing behaviour?

Answer 22

In negative reinforcement, a response or behaviour is strengthened by stopping, removing, or avoiding a negative outcome or aversive stimulus e.g. telling a class they do not have homework for the rest of the week if you work nicely

Question 23

What is positive reinforcement in punishment?

Answer 23

Add an adverse stimulus e.g. time out

Question 24

What is negative reinforcement in punishment?

Answer 24

Remove a pleasant stimulus e.g. no sweets

Question 25

What are token economies?

Answer 25

A token economy is a system of contingency management based on the systematic reinforcement of target behavior. The reinforcers are symbols or tokens that can be exchanged for other reinforcers.

Question 26

What are extinction bursts?

Answer 26

An extinction burst refers to one’s reaction to a stimulus that once produced positive reinforcements, but now ceases to exist. Their behaviour will increase in order to bring the reward back, and this, by definition, is the “burst” which is encouraged by the extinction of the reward.

In other words, an extinction burst is an increase in responding during extinction. For example, suppose that each time a child snapped her fingers to gain the attention of her teacher, the teacher responded, thereby reinforcing finger-snapping. The increase would be an example of an extinction burst.

Question 27

What are partial reinforcement extinction effect?

Answer 27

The evidence implies that learning under partial reinforcements is more robust than learning under full reinforcements.