Theories of learning Flashcards
What is learning?
A change in knowledge or behaviour as a result of experience
Two major types of learning according to psychology
- Conditional learning.
- Observational learning.
Conditional learning
- Learning to respond to a particular stimulus and a particular way
Stimulus
Something in the environment, which illicits a response
Response
Behaviour
Example an operant
Consequence
Positive or negative result of a behaviour
When does learning occur?
Learning occurs through association
For example, the dog makes the link between the treat and the fetching of the newspaper or the scolding and eating the homework
Behavioural psychologist believe believe that most human behaviour is a result of what
Conditioning
What are two kinds of conditioning?
- Classical conditioning.
- Operant conditioning.
Classical conditioning
(Name of psychologist)
Ivan Pavlov
What are classical conditioning?
- Unconditioned response
- unconditional stimulus
- stimulus 
Unconditional response
No one taught the dog to salivate
Natural
Unconditional stimulus
No one trained the dog to eat 
Neutral stimulus
The dog is a stimulus that has no meaning
If the bell rings every time the dog is fed, the bell becomes a…
Conditioned stimulus
Because the bell is associated with food when the bell is wrong, the dog will begin salivate and look for food. This is . ….
Condition response
Generalization using similar stimuli (to the conditioned stimulus) to elicit the same response * Pavlo used bells, whistles, and buzzers
Extinction results when the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are no longer present together
(the response, no longer exist)
Operant conditioning
Who is the psychologist?
B.F Skinner
Explain the Skinner box
-It is a soundproof box/cage -As the rat moves around the cage, he eventually presses the bar =food
-when he presses the bar again = more food
-eventually, the rat is constantly pressing the bar for food
The Skinnerbox is an example of what?
Operant conditioning
What is free responding set up
-subject responses are set by themselves, not by the experimenter
Or example the rat can press the lever if and when it wants to
What is successive approximation?
Shaping behaviour by breaking it down into small steps and reinforcing the small steps
For example, reinforcement if the rat moves into the area of the lever, if he faces it, if he stretches his body upward, if he touches the lever with his paws, if he presses the lever!
Superstitious behaviours
-produced by the joint act of reinforcement and accident
-Odd motor actions are likely to reoccur if they are reinforced
For example, pigeons given food every 15 seconds regardless of their behavior, if they were all doing different things popping flying, and 1 continued the response it was making before the reinforcement
What is operant conditioning
A type of learning in which behaviours are performed and then reinforced or punished
