Test 1 Flashcards
Definition of learning (include three parts)
Learning: long-term change in mental representations/associations as a result of experience;
- long term change - isn’t brief, but might not last forever
- mental representations/associations - basis of brain
- as a result of experience - rather than result of fatigue, use of alcohol/drugs, mental illness, etc.
Principles of learning; example
Identify certain factors that influence learning and describe specific effects that factors have;
ex - a pigeon is given a small pellet of food every time it turns its body in a complete circle, so it begins rotating in circles more and more frequently
Theories of learning; example
Provide explanations about underlying mechanisms involved in learning
Differences of principles and theories; Which explains WHAT and which explains WHY?
Tend to change constantly while principles are pretty stable; Principle tells WHAT while theories tell WHY
Advantages vs. disadvantages of theories
Advantages:
•Allow us to summarize results; quite concise
•Provide starting points for conducting new research
•Can help design learning environments and instructional strategies that facilitate human learning to greatest possible degree
Disadvantages:
•No single theory explains everything researchers have discovered
•Theories affect new information published
Define neutral stimulus (NS); give example
A stimulus to which the organism doesn’t respond in any noticeable way; in Pavlov’s case, bell was NS
Define unconditioned stimulus (UCS); give example
A stimulus that DOES lead to a response; i.e. food (leads to salivation)
Define unconditioned response (UCR); give example
A response the organism creates to stimulus unconditionally; i.e. salivation from presentation of food
Define conditioned stimulus (CS); give example
The previously neutral stimulus now elicits a response and is no longer ‘neutral’; i.e. bell after experiement
Define conditioned response (CR); give example
Learned response to CS; i.e. salivation after experiment
Steps of classical conditioning model
Step 1: NS => no response
Step 2: NS (Bell) + UCS (meat) => UCR (salivation)
Step 3: CS (bell) => CR (salivation)
Describe “Little Albert”; who?
An infant who learned to fear white rats though a procedure used by John Watson: was shown a white rat and if went to reach/touch rat, loud noise would follow causing Albert to cry. Eventually became rat-phobic.
Describe associative bias; what might explain this?
Associations between certain stimuli are more likely to be made than are associations between others; evolution can be an explanation
When should CS occur in relation to the unconditioned stimulus in order for CS to be learned?; how does continuity and contingency play a role?
Proposed that classical conditioning occurs when UCS and would-be CS are presented at approx. the same time - contiguity
When twos stimuli that are usually encountered separately occur together a few times by coincidence, classical conditioning is unlikely to occur - contingency
Define generalization; when does it occur?
When learners respond to other stimuli in same way that they respond to conditioned stimuli; more likely to occur when stimuli are more similar to conditioned stimuli
i.e. Albert ended up having a fear for all objects that were white and fuzzy
Define stimulus discrimination; when does it occur?
When individual acquires a conditioned response to the CS+ but either doesn’t initially generalize the response to the CS- or learns that the CS- doesn’t warrant same response; Occurs when one stimulus (CS+) is presented with unconditioned stimulus, and another stimulus (CS-) is presented in absence of the unconditioned stimulus
i.e. a child who is abused by her father simultaneously has positive interactions with other adult men, she isn’t likely to generalize her fear of her father to other males
What is spontaneous recovery?
Recurrence of conditioned response when period of extinction is followed by a rest period; typically weaker and can extinguish more quickly
What is extinction?
When the conditioned response has disappeared - i.e. when Pavlov rang bell over and over without presentation of meat
Describe higher-order conditioning; how does it explain irrational fears?
Conditioned stimulus-response associations sometimes piggyback on one another
B/c on several occasions failure (of academics - NS) can be associated with a UCS that elicits a UCR (painful physical punishment) to the point that the NS (failure) turns to CS (causing anxiety)
Draw ABC model of instrumental conditioning; define each part
A => B => C
A: antecedent - environmental cue (discriminative stimulus) that sets up the situation for the behavior to occur
B: behavior - the behavior to be modified
C: Consequence - what happens after the behavior to increase or decrease the possibility that will happen again
