Unit 3 - Learning Flashcards
Reinforcement
anything that when following a response increases the likelihood that the response will occur again
Learning
any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience or practice
Maturation
change due to genetic blueprint/biology
Ivan Pavlov
- pioneered the empirical study on the basic principles of classical conditioning
- salivating dogs experiment
Reflex
an unlearned, involuntary response that is not under personal control or choice
Stimulus
any object, event, or experience that causes a response
Response
reaction of an organism
Classical Conditioning
learning to elicit an involuntary, reflex-like, response to a stimulus other than the original, natural stimulus that normally produces the response
UCS –> UCR
food –> salivation
NS + UCS –> UCR
metronome + food –> salivation
CS –> CR
metronome –> salivation
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
original, naturally occurring stimulus
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
automatic and involuntary response to the unconditioned stimulus
Neutral Stimulus (NS)
originally has no effect on response
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
previously neutral stimulus; it is learned
Conditioned Response (CR)
learned response to conditioned stimulus
Acquisition
repeated pairing of NS and UCS; organism is in process of learning
CR vs UCR
CR is weaker than UCR because the UCR is the original and the CR is learned
Basic Principles About Classical Conditioning
- NS/CS comes before UCS
- CS and UCS come very close together in time
- NS paired with USC many times before conditioning can take place
- CS is distinctive stimulus; it stands out from other competing stimuli
Similar Sounds vs OG Sound in Classical Conditioning
- strength of response to similar stimuli is not as strong as to OG stimulus
- more similar the stimulus is to the OG stimulus, more similar the strength of response to OG stimulus
Stimulus Generalization
tendency to respond to a stimulus that is similar to the original CS
Stimulus Discrimination
occurs when an organism learns to respond to different stimuli in different ways
Extinction
CS no longer causes CR
Spontaneous Recovery
CR reappears when original CS returns, although response is weak and short-lived
High-Order Conditioning
Occurs when strong CS is paired with NS; strong CS plays part of UCS and NS becomes second CS
John B. Watson
- behaviorist
- little Albert experiment (baby trained to have phobia of rat by pairing it with loud/scary sound)
Conditioned Emotional Response (CER)
some of easiest forms of classical conditioning; life is full of them
Vicarious Conditioning
learn by watching someone else respond to a stimulus
Conditioned Taste Aversion
won’t eat food that is associated with a bad experience; exception to rule that learning takes place over several trials/experiences
- mammals: biologically prepared to associate taste with illness
- birds: biologically prepared to associate visual characteristics with illness
Pavlov’s Stimulus Substitution
believed that CS, through association close in time with UCS, came to activate the same place in the brain that was originally activated by UCS
Robert Rescorla
found that CS had to provide some kind of information about the coming of the UCS to achieve conditioning
Cognitive Perspective
mental activity of consciously expecting something to occur
Fear and Classical Conditioning
conditioned response to fear can be stronger that the unconditioned response because fear is biological and necessary to survive
Operant Conditioning
kind of learning that applies to voluntary behavior
Edward L. Thorndike
one of the first researchers to explore and attempt to outline the laws of learning voluntary responses (puzzle boxes)
Law of Effect
if an action is followed by a pleasurable consequence, it will tend to be repeated; if an action is followed by an unpleasant response, it will tend not to be repeated
B.F. Skinner
- behaviorist
- discovered reinforcement using Skinner boxes/operant conditioning chambers
Reinforcers
- items/events that when following a response will strengthen it
- 2 kinds: primary and secondary
Primary Reinforcer
fulfills a basic need
ex. food, water, touch, stopping pain…
Secondary Reinforcer
gets its reinforcing properties from being associated with a primary reinforcer in the past (get its reinforcing power from classical conditioning)
Positive Reinforcement
the reinforcement of a response by the addition or experience of a pleasurable consequence
Negative Reinforcement
following a response with the removal or escape from something unpleasant
Partial Reinforcement Effect
a response that is reinforced after some, but not all, correct responses will be more resistant to extinction that a response that receives continuous reinforcement; partially reinforced behavior is more difficult to suppress and more like real life
Continuous Reinforcement
a reinforcer for each and every correct response
Interval Schedule
when timing of response is more important to accomplish partial reinforcement
Ratio Schedule
when number of responses is more important to accomplish partial reinforcement
Fixed Interval Schedule
reinforcer is received after a certain, fixed interval of time has passed
ex: mail, baking, end of class, salaried work
Variable Interval Schedule
interval of time after which the individual must respond in order to receive a reinforcer changes from one time to the next
ex: email, stargazing, surfing, pop quiz
Fixed Ratio Schedule
number of responses required to receive each reinforcer will always be the same
ex: rewards cards, buy 1 get 1 free, hourly work
Variable Ratio Schedule
number of responses changes from one trial to another
ex: salesmen who work on commission, fishing, gambling
Reinforcement of Behavior as Effective as Possible
- timing: in general a reinforcer should be given as immediately as possible after desired behavior (especially animals and small children)
- reinforce only desired behavior
Punishment
opposite of reinforcement; it’s any event/stimulus that, when following a response, causes that response to be less likely to happen again; weakens responses; getting rid of a response that is well established is not easy
Positive Punishment
when something unpleasant is added to situation
Negative Punishment
behavior is punished by removal of something pleasurable
Drawbacks to Severe Punishment
- may cause child/animal to avoid punisher instead of behavior being punished, so child/animal learns wrong response
- may encourage lying to avoid punishment which is the wrong response
- creates fear/anxiety/emotional responses that don’t promote learning; if point is to teach, this consequence doesn’t help
Modeling
presenting a behavior to be imitated
Negative and Positive Punishment
- usually only temporary
- after some time has passed the behavior usually returns as the memory of the punishment gets weaker, allowing spontaneous recovery
How to Make Punishment More Effective
- punishment should immediately follow the behavior it is meant to punish or else punishment might not be associated with behavior
- punishment should be consistent: follow through with punishment that was promised; punishment for particular behavior should stay at same intensity or increase slightly but never decrease
- punishment of the wrong behavior should be paired with reinforcement of right behavior
Spanking
children who were spanked at age 3 in a study were more likely to be aggressive at age 5 than children who weren’t spanked
Discriminative Stimulus
any stimulus that provides an organism with a cue for making a certain response in order to obtain reinforcement –> specific cues lead to specific responses and discriminating between cues leads to success
Shaping/Shaping by Successive Approximation
small steps toward some ultimate goal are reinforced until goal itself is reached
Successive Approximation
small steps one after the other that gets closer and closer to the goal
Spontaneous Recovery
the recurrence of a conditioned response after extinction
Instinctive Drift
tendency to revert to genetically controlled patterns
Brelands’ Ideas Contrary to Skinner’s
- animal doesn’t come to lab as ‘blank slate’, and can’t be be taught just ‘any’ behavior
- differences between species of animals matter in determining what behavior can or can’t be conditioned
- not all responses are equally able to be conditioned to any stimulus
Behavior Modification
application of operant conditioning (and sometimes classical) to bring changes in behavior
Tokens
secondary reinforcers that can be traded in for other kinds of reinforcers
Token Economy
use of tokens to modify behavior
Time-Out
form of mild negative punishment in which a misbehaving organism is placed in a special area away from the attention of others
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
form of behavior modification that uses analysis of current behavior and behavioral techniques to address a society relevant issue (skills broken down to simplest steps and taught through a system of reinforcement; prompts are given when learning a skill or if child refuses to cooperate (slowly withdrawn so they can do it independently))
Autism
person has a great difficulty communicating and often refuses to look at another person
Dr. Ivar Lovaas
used candy to teach social skills and language to children with autism
Biofeedback
traditional term used to describe biological feedback of information, and through its use many problems can be relieved/controlled
Neurofeedback
trying to change brain activity (record EEG; modern bio/neurofeedback amps are connected to electroencephalograph to record and analyze physiological activity of brain)
Scaffolding
shaping with instruction
Cognition
the mental events that take place inside a person’s mind while behaving
3 Key Theorists in Early Days of Development of Cognitive Learning Theory
- Edward Tolman (gestalt) - rats
- Wolfgang Kohler (gestalt) - chimps
- Martin Seligman (modern psychologist) - dogs
Latent Learning
idea that learning could happen without reinforcement and then later affect behavior (Tolman)
Insight Learning
rapid perception of relationships; can’t be gained through trial-and-error; sudden “aha moment” (Kohler)
Positive Psychology
looking at entire concept of mental health and therapy that focuses on adaptive, creative, psychologically more fulfilling aspects of human experience instead of mental disorders (Seligman)
Learned Helplessness
tendency to fail to act to escape from a situation because of history of repeated failures in past
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex
- helps determine what situation can be controlled
- it inhibits brain stem area and calms amygdala’s response, allowing animal to effectively respond to stressor and exhibit control (Maier - Seligman’s colleague)
Observational Learning
learning of new behavior through watching the actions of a model; behavior can be desirable or undesirable
Albert Bandera
bobo doll experiment –> kids copied violence against bobo doll (this doesn’t prove that TV makes children violent)
Learning/Performance Distinction
learning can take place without actual performance
Bandura’s 4 Elements of Observational Learning
- attention: have to pay attention to model in order to learn
- memory/retention: learner has to remember what was done
- imitation/motor reproduction: learner must be able to reproduce/imitate actions of the model
- desire/reinforcement: learner must have desire/motivation to perform the action; rewards make person more likely to imitate observed behavior; if model is punished/fails then learner not motivated to imitate
Toilet Training Cats
use shaping
Rest
doing nothing for a period of time during the process of shaping
How to Make Punishment Effective
- consistent
- immediate
- positive reinforcement
How Punishment Can Go Wrong
- only learn what ‘not’ to do
- causes aggression
- causes avoidance
- only works when punisher is present
- learned helplessness
Graph for Schedules
study
Types of Observational Learning
- vicarious learning
- social learning
- modeling
