THEORIES Flashcards
Opponent Process theory? + example
an emotional stimulus creates an initial response that is followed by adaptation, then opposite response. there is a process (initial) and b process (After)
e.g. a dog gets shocked, heart rate increases, then decreases.
another e.g is drug addiction.
what happens with repeat exposure to a stimulus?
the primary affective response (a-process) gets used to response
the after reaction (b process) strengthens.
how is drug addiction related to opponent process theory.
repeated experience with drug results less of a high (a-process), but withdrawal symptoms are stronger and last longer (b process).
what are withdrawl symptoms elicited by?
conditioned stimulus associated with the drug.
what is structurialism?
focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components.
limits to structuralism
too subjective, people can have imageless thought.
what is functionalism?
focuses attention on the utility and purpose of behaviour that has been modified over years of human existence.
what theory was functionalism based on?
- charles darwins theory of evolution
limits to functionalism?
- not all thoughts, feelings and behaviours are focused on survival
what was behaviourism?
- psychology was all about observal behaviour and not cognition
limitations of behaviourism
- ignored inner concious
- too focused on external behaviours
what is cognitivism?
mental processes, thinking, memory and judgement
what are limitations of cognitivism?
mental processes are often unobservable
what is the psychodynamic perspective?
psychology that sees human functioning based upon interaction of drives and forces within a person, particularly unconscious and between different structures of the personality.
main pioneers of psychodynamic perspective
FREUD
limitations of the psychodynamic perspective/?
- relies too heavily on dreams, ideas are unable to be supported in modern psychology
how didthe psychodynamic perspective help modern psychology?
focused on therapy, on how to treat patients with anxiety today.
what is conditioning?
learning associations between stimuli and behavioural response
what is associative learning?
associative learning is associating one stimulus with another so that we predict the second event to occur straight after
what is non-associative learning?
learning that results from the impact of ONE stimulus
what is habituation?
habituation is the tendency to become familiar with a stimulus as a result of repeated exposures.
how does habituation relate to non-associative learning?
because repeated exposure to ONE stimuli, we become used to it and habituate. e.g. hearing a car alarm on the street.
what is an orienting response?
when we haven;t been exposed to a certain stimuli and we respond at first
what is sensation and how does it relate to habituation?
sensitation occurs when our response to an event increases rather than decreases with repeated exposure THE OPPOSITE OF HABITUATION - it becomes more annoying e.g. baby crying.
how do we know whether we will habituate or sensitize to a stimulus?
mild stimulus > habituation
intense, possibly threating/ annoying > sensitisation.
explain pavlov’s dogs
dog’s learned to salvitate in response to a bell after it was paired with food.
what is classical conditioning?
classical conditioning is learning associations between 2 stimuli
- first stimuli predicitng the second
- autonomic. reflexive responses (non-voluntary)
what is the neutral stimulus(NS)
NS is the stimulus that, before conditioning doesn’t really bring about the response of interest e.g. bell.
what is unconditioned stimulus (US)
a stimulus, an event that elicists/ triggers an unconditioned (involuntary) response without previous conditoning
what is the uncondioned response (UR)
an unlearned/ natural response to an unconditioned stimulus happening without prior conditioning
e. g. salviation to food, jumping when hearing a loud noise, moving away from something painful
e. g. in pavlovs dog’s salvation to food was UR
what is the conditioned stimulus?
previously the NS, that through repeated pairings with an US, now causes a conditoned response
what is a conditioned response? (cR)
learned reaction to a conditoned stimulus occuring because of previous repeated pairings with an uncodnitoned sitmulus.
what does acquisition mean in relation to classical conditioning?
formation of a learned response to a stimulus through presentation of an unconditioned stimulus.
what is extinction?
the conditioned response will weaken when the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus.
what is spontaneous recovery?
the re-emergence of a previously extinguished conditioned response.
what is the famous study of Little Albert?
Watson conditioned a child to fear white mice. rats by hitting a gong very loudly behind while he interacted with it, then the fear spread to anything white and fluffy.
what is stimulus generalisation?
responding to stimuli that are similar, but not the same e.g. little albert being scared of anything “white and fluffy” after being conditioned to be scared of rats.
what is stimulus discrimination?
- a learned ability to able to respond differently to similar stimuli e.g. being able to pick the real from the fakes e.g. fake strawberry.
what is higher order conditioning?
when you pair a CS with a US but then add another stimulus to the equation and paid that to the CS without the original US
e.g. begins with just electric can opener + food = salivation
then just can opener and random stimulus = salivation
and then just the random stimulus that can cause SALIVATION :)
what is the contiguity theory?
when two stimuli are rpesented together in time, associations are formed between the two
what is contingency?
contingecy is the occurance of a future event is possible, given that one event has occured, but cannot always be predicted with certainty
what is the contingency theory?
a CR develops when the CS is able to predict the occurence of the US.
what is delayed conditoning?
CS comes on first and overlaps with the US coming on
what is trace conditioning?
trace conditioning is a gap between the CS and the US
what is simultaneous conditioning?
CS and US come on at the same time and go off at the same time.
what is Thorndikes Law of effect? (operant conditioning)
behaviour that results in reward will be more likely in the future
- behaviour that results in punishment will be less likely in the future
- behaviou is ultimately controlled by it’s consequences
what is the key difference between operant conditioning and classical conditioning?
classical conditioning has an individual emit involuntary responses due to associatiations made between 2 stimuli, whereas operant conditioning has an individual emit a voluntary response due to making an association between behaviour and a stimulis
what is Skinners emphasis on learning?
- reinforcement increases the likelihood of a response
- punishment decreases the likelihood of a response
explain operant conditioning and give an example!
when a person/ animal makes an association voluntarily between a behaviour and a consequence - learning through reinforcement (Rewards) and punishment.
e.g. training your dog well through positive reinforcement or teaching a child to stop behaving through punishment.
what is skinner’s “radical behaviourism”
there is no need to hyppthesises internal processes
- only study observable behaviour
- learning via operant conditioning was the same for all organisms.
why must reinforcement be meaningful to the subject receiving it?
for a behaviour to be reinforced the individual must feel some type of positive affect when given the reinforcmenet.
what is positive contingency?
when a response causes the presentation of a stimulus
what is negative contingency?
negative contingency is when a response causes the removal of a stimulus that is already there, e.g. taking away a kids toy when they misbehave.
what is positive reinforcement and provide examples.
the presentation of a pleasant stimulus after a behaviour that makes the behaviour more likely to happen again e.g. when a dog sits - a treat
what is negative reinforcment and provide examples
the removal of an aversive stimulus after a behaviour makes the behaviour more likely to occur again
e.g. headache, take panadol.
or leaving early on Monday morning to avoid traffic
what is positive punishment and provide examples
presentation of an aversive stimulus after a behaviour reduces the likelihood of the behaviour happening again
e.g. burning yourself with a straightener and then being more careful later.
what is negative punishment and provide examples
the removal of a pleasant stimulus after a behaviour reduces the likelihood of behaviour happening again
e.g. speeding - taking away licence.
what is shaping and how does it relate to operant conditioning?
reinforcement that is delivered in response to successive attempts at the desired response.
e.g. teaching child to tie shoe lace.
what are ratio schedules
ratio schedules are reinforcement depending on number of responses made
what is fixed ratio?
reinforces a response only after a specific number of responses, the faster you respond, more rewards you get.
e.g. buy 9 coffees get 1 free card at local coffee shop
what is variable ratio?
reinforcement of a behaviour after a random amount of responses
e.g. playing poker, doing scratch cards, unpredictable but with big payout.
what is an interval schedule
amount of time between reinforcements
what is a fixed interval schedule?
reinforces response only after a specified time has passed
e.g. getting paid weekly
what is a variable interval schedule?
reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals e.g. checking your phone randomly to see if you have a new message.
what are examples of primary reinforces and what makes them “primary”
- food, sex, water - anything needed for survival, they are important because our biological drives make them a top priority!
what are examples of secondary reinforces and what makes them secondary ?
money, grades, job promotion they acquire reinforcing power by a learned association with a primary reinforcer
what is the premack principle and what is an example?
premack principle, otherwise known as grandma’s rule discovered that a more preferred activity can be used to reinforce a less-preffere activity
e.g. eating veggies - eat cake!
what are some applications for operant conditioning?
behavioural therapy, therapy for autism, training dogs.
what is biofeedback training?
bodily processes are electronically recorded and reported back to the patient through headphones, signal lights etc.
what is social facilitation and provide an example
social facilitation is an increase frequency/ intensity of a behaviour caused by the presence of others performing same behaviour e.g. yawning.
what is true imitation?
when an animal imitates a behaviour that has never been done before, without showing understanding of the behaviour
what are the 4 processes involved in learning by observation?
- attention
- retention
- reproduction
- motivation /(from reinforcement)
what is social learning theory?
children can learn by observation, learn a behaviour but then not exhibit it until adulthood e.g. aggression. HAVE to see someone do it.
