Unit 4: Learning and Conditioning Flashcards
Learning
Relatively permanent change in observable behavior due to experiences
Behaviorism
View that psychology should restrict its efforts to to studying observable behavior, not mental processes
Person associated with behaviorism and experiment:
John Watson; Little Albert Experiment
Classical conditioning:
Learning that occurs when 2 stimuli are repeatedly paired (involuntary behavior)
Operant conditioning:
Voluntary action with a consequence
Types of Stimuli:
Unconditioned Stimulus (US): Stimulus that causes automatic response
Neutral Stimulus (NS): Stimulus that doesn’t trigger a response
Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Learned stimulus
Types of Responses:
No Response (NR): No reaction
Unconditioned Response (UR): Automatic reaction
Conditioned Response (CR): Learned reaction
Ivan Pavlov’s Experiment:
Classically conditioned dogs to salivate at a stimulus such as a bell (expected food)
Acquisition:
Repeatedly pair neutral stimulus w/ unconditioned stimulus until a conditioned response is produced
Extinction
Conditioned stimulus no longer paired w/ unconditioned stimulus so conditioned response weakens/disappears
Spontaneous Recovery
Reappearance of conditioned response after rest period
Generalization
The tendency to respond in the same way to different but similar stimuli
Discrimination
Being able to differentiate between between conditioned stimulus and other stimulus
High Order Conditioning
Conditioned stimulus paired with neutral stimulus to create a second conditioned stimulus
Rescorla and Contingency Theory
-Showed that an organism can learn the predictability of a response
-This means that some information processing happens during classical conditioning
Taste Aversion and Person Associated
-Distaste for a particular taste or smell is associated with a negative reaction
-A.K.A Garcia Effect (named for John Garcia)
Law of Effect
Law of Effect:
-Good consequences→ Behavior increased
-Bad consequences→Behavior decreased
Edward Thorndike
Associated with Law of Effect; put cats into a box that needed to be opened; found that after opening the box the first time, cats got faster because they got fish waiting outside
B.F Skinner’s Experiment
Put rats in a box and good behavior got rewarded with food, if the rat didn’t do as it should, it got mildly shocked
Shaping
A technique using a series of positive reinforcements to create a more complex behavior
Chaining
Teaching subjects to perform number or responses successively in order to get a reward (e.g: running an objstacle course)
Positive Reinforcement:
Adding something good to increase good behavior
Negative Reinforcement:
Taking away something bad to increase good behavior
Positive Punishment:
Adding something bad to decrease bad behavior
Negative Punishment:
Taking away something good to decrease bad behavior
A primary reinforcer is…
Biological (food, water)
A secondary reinforcer is…
Learned (good grades, money)
An immediate reinforcer….
Occurs immediately
A delayed reinforcer…
Gives up a small reward now for a bigger one later (A.K.A delayed gratification)
Continuous Occurence
Behavior is reinforced everytime
Partial Occurence
Behavior is reinforced sometimes
Fixed-Ratio Schedule
Reinforced a certain amount of times
Variable-Ratio Schedule
Reinforced at an unpredictable amount of times
Fixed-Interval Schedule
Reinforced every so often
Variable-Interval Schedule
Reinforced at random times
Biological Predispositions
Easier to train natural behaviors w/ natural reinforcers
Instinctive Drift:
Animals stop performing learned behaviors and revert back to more instinctual behaviors
Insight Learning and person associated
Eureka moment-when you finally understand the solution to a problem (sudden realization); Wolfgang Kohler
Latent Learning:
-Learning that isn’t demonstrated until reward is present (Edward Tolman)
-Cognitive map →mental representation of environment
Modeling:
Modeling →Process of observing and imitating behavior
Mirror Neurons:
Fires when acting or observing others act
Token Economies:
-Every time people perform a desired behavior, they are given a token
-Periodically, they can trade the token for a variety of reinforces (e.j: Video games, elementary classrooms, etc.)
Observational Learning
Learning by observing others (social learning theory)
Gender and emotion
-Women generally surpass men at reading people’s emotional cues
-Women’s nonverbal sensitivity helps explain their greater emotional literacy
-Their skill at decoding others’ emotions may also contribute to their greater emotional responsiveness
What is the most universal way of expressing emotions?
Through facial expressions
Ekman’s Facial Feedback Effect
-Facial movement can influence emotional experience
-Ex: Smile if you want to be happy
(Consistent with the James-Lange Theory)
What is catharsis?
Reduced anger by releasing it through aggressive action or fantasy
What is the feel-good-do-good phenomenon?
You’re more likely to do good and help others out when you yourself feel good
