Types of learnng

Question 1

Taste aversion

Answer 1

a learned response in which a person/animal establishes an association between a particular food and being/feeling ill after having it in the past. For example, a child is biting his fingernails so his mother paints his nails with ‘bitter aloes’, a liquid that causes an immediate feeling of distaste and nausea.

Question 2

Trial and error learning

Answer 2

describes an organism’s attempts to learn/solve a problem by trying alternative possibilities until a correct solution or desirable outcome is achieved.

Question 3

Thorndike experiment

Answer 3

· Thorndike placed a hungry cat in a ‘puzzle box’ and placed a fish outside the box that was just out of reach. Through trial and error, the cat tried to escape from the box, and eventually pulled the string by accident allowing it to escape and reach the reinforcer (the fish). As this was repeated with the cat, the number of trials and errors decreased, that is, there was less random unsuccessful behaviour.

· The reduced time taken to escape the puzzle box reflected that through repetition, the cat had learned to pull the string to escape from the box and reach the food. · Note that this experiment became the foundation for operant conditioning.

Question 4

Laws that maximize learning

Answer 4

1. ‘Law of effect’: when behaviour becomes controlled by its consequences

. o Behaviour that is followed by a satisfying consequence is strengthened and thus is more likely to occur.

o Behaviour that is followed by an annoying consequence is weakened (less likely to occur).

2. ‘Law of recency’: the most recent response is the one with the greatest effect.

3. ‘Law of exercise’: stimulus-response connections are strengthened through repetition.

Question 5

Law of readiness

Answer 5

1. When someone is ready to perform an act and performs it successfully it causes satisfaction (positive outcome)
2. When someone is ready to perform an act and fails to do so it causes frustration (negative outcome)
3. When someone is unready to perform and act but is forced to do so, it causes frustration (negative outcome)