Theories of learning

Question 1

Habituation

Answer 1

Getting used to a particular stimuli and getting desantitised to it( not responding)

Question 2

Classical conditioning

Answer 2

Learning = associations
Natural occuring stimuli and unconditioned response vs. conitioned stimuli to an unconditioned stimuli

Question 3

Instrumental conditioning

Answer 3

Edward Thorndike - response depends on the reinforced behaviour

BF Skinner insisted actions are voluntary, operant - certain action brings certain consequences

Question 4

Law of effect

Answer 4

Responses that are rewarded are strenghtened and the ones that are punished are weakened

Question 5

Acquisition of conditioned response CR

Answer 5

CR to a CS , CS leads + CS (secondary conditioned stimulus) = CR, blank + CS= CR

Question 6

Extinction in learning

Answer 6

We develop associations connected to a stimulus and producing a reaction, but over time if the item to which we associated changes the response declines

Question 7

Spontanious recovery & Reconditioning

Answer 7

After a break we try again and the original associated item is present some residial learning has left so the response reappears

Question 8

Generalisation

Answer 8

Seeing similar objects to the original association but the conditioned response is still present

Question 9

Discrimination

Answer 9

Over time we realise we won’t get what we want from the original association and earlier weve generalised to the original item.
Later we learn to discriminate between one and another association
Ihibitor - learning our original association is no longer valid

Question 10

Conditioned fear

Answer 10

CR is much more complex than just salivating (pavlov’s experiments) , conditioned emotional response procedure
- fear response is sometimes biological
- wolf initially ignores footsteps of danger while approaching food shack, continues to salivate
- later supresses salivation

KJ, 26 YO - CR to doing heroin at home so body reacted differently when in an unfamliar enviornment - overdose

Question 11

Conditioned fear

Answer 11

past negative experience leading to us quickly learn a negative association with something

Question 12

CR and UR connection

Answer 12

CR and UR are very similar however salive samples show different enzymes
UR - intense salivation, richer in enzymes (meat in mouth)
UR - fear conditioning - exposed to negative stimuli, heart rate increases (wolf exposer to teaser)
CR - footsteps wolf hears - wolf freezes, tenses muscles, heart rate slows = fearful anticipation

Question 13

We can adapt to conditioned responses

Answer 13

For example in diabetes, when people take insuline over and over again they can see changes in insulkine levels just by seeing the needle

Question 14

Edward Tolman’s maze experiment

Answer 14

Cognitive learning- goal oriented or learn about the conditioned stimulus
In Classical conditioning animals don’t respond the same way to CS as US
They’re subtly or very different sometimes
CS signals that US is to follow - animal makes preparations
Signal needs to occur within close timeframe in classical conditioning so as to learn

Question 15

Contiguity (Pavlov)

Answer 15

Short period of time between CS and US for learning to occur

Question 16

Contingency

Answer 16

For learning to take place a stimulus must provide a signal of a likelihood of something happening
Reliably has to occur prior to event

Question 17

Contingency effect

Answer 17

Rescorla 1967,1988
Rats exposed to tone (CS) and shock (US)
Tone not always presented prior to shock
in 2 groups of rats tone indicated 40% chance of shock (CS-US pairing)

Question 18

The Blocking Effect - Leon Kamin, 1968

Answer 18

refers to the fact we larn less if a second stimulus which was previously reliable is now unreliable or inconsistent with our initial association

Question 19

Latent learning ( Tolman & Honzik, 1930)

Answer 19

Acquisition of new knowledge without change in behaviour

Question 20

Best studying/ learning techniques

Answer 20

Techniques that have evidence based research suggesting they work

Question 21

Elaborative interogation

Answer 21

Explaining why a specific fact is true

Question 22

Self explanation

Answer 22

Explain steps taken for problem solving, cxpl, how new info is incorporated with old info

Question 23

Keyword mnemonic

Answer 23

Using keywords and mental images to associate with verbal materials

Question 24

Interleaved practice

Answer 24

Schedule of study of different topics, materials within a single study session

Question 25

Presley et al1987

Answer 25

Self explanation works because it helps to incorporate new information to prior knowledge (students must be able to discriminate among related facts)

In this experiment Ps were asked to soon after revising, therefore not sufficient method for longer texts

Question 26

Highlighting and underlining

Answer 26

Most frequently used method

Fowler & Barker (1974) - Ps read an article, 1 hour of study, 1 week later 54 MCQs (allowed to review material 10 mins prior to test)
Highlighting groups didn’t outperform control groups

Draws attention to important information if highlighting has been used appropriately and distictively
Enhances understanding
Active engagement should benefit performance

Question 27

Practice testing

Answer 27

Low stakes or no stakes practice (eg. Practical recall, practice problem solving or questions)

Question 28

Retrieval practice

Answer 28

Practice test - MCQs, fill in blank tests, essay style recall tests
Added benefit to long-term retention

Question 29

Roediger & Karpicke (2006)

Answer 29

Passage read 4 tmes, no test - single test: passage read 3 times, students recall as much as poss, repeated test - read once then recall as much as poss on 3 occassions

Average recall waas 50% higher in the repeated test condition - ROBUST EFFECT

Question 30

Why is practice testing good for learning?

Answer 30

Mediated effect - better learning at next study
Carpenter (2009) testing improves retantion by triggering elaboratibe retrieval process (multiple pathways to facilitate access)

Question 31

Cramming vs. distributed practice

Answer 31

Distributed practice works better according to Bude et al. 2011
Capeda (2006) found 47% of students recall better after spaced study - robust effect

Question 32

Why is distributed practice good?

Answer 32

Deficient processing - not much effort to reread ntes or retrieve straight away, students can think they know more then they do
Reminding- what’s to be le-learned
Consolidation - second learning episode benefts from first learning episode

The longer the space between the learning episodes the longer the retenton?!

To remember something for a week episodes should be 12-24 hrs apart