Unit 6 - Learning Flashcards
the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors
learning
Two types of learning
Associative learning = We learn to associate two stimuli (classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence (operant conditioning)
Observational learning = We learn by watching others’ experiences and examples
where one stimulus is paired with another stimulus to create a response that it did not have before
US (unconditioned stimulus) – causes not learned response (UR)
CS (conditioned stimulus) – previous meaningless now caused a learned response (CR)
Classical conditioning
Example of classical conditioning
Pavlov’s dogs
before conditioning:
- unconditioned stimulus = food
- unconditioned response = salivation
- neutral stimulus = tuning fork
After conditioning:
- conditioned stimulus = tuning fork
- conditioned response = salivation
Watson and Baby Albert experiment
Watson paired the white rat with a loud bang repeatedly to create an association between the two unrelated stimuli, and little Albert began fearing the white rat without the noise.
a learned response to eating spoiled or toxic food
- poison
- generalization vs discrimination
taste aversion
when danger is gone so is CR. If CS stops being associated with US then CR will become extinct
Extinction
keep exposing person to harmless stimuli until they are no longer afraid
flooding
Taught relaxation techniques while slowly being exposed to feared stimuli
Systematic Desensitization
pair pleasant stimuli with unpleasant stimuli to counteract fear - done a lot with younger children
Counter-conditioning
reinforcing behavior
a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher
operant conditioning
Example of operant conditioning
BF Skinner –> learning to do something because of the consequences it has
- pigeons learned to peck at target because they received food
- also did experiment with rats (rats learn to press the lever because they received food)
GIVES reward when desired behavior is done (dog gets a bone when he doesn’t bark)
positive reinforcement
TAKES away unpleasant stimulus when desired is done (cage is removed when dog doesn’t bark)
negative reinforcement
GIVES negative stimulus to stop behavior (child misbehaves and gets a spanking)
Positive Punishment
TAKES away a positive stimulus to stop behavior (child misbehaves so they can’t go outside to play)
Negative Punishment
Reinforcement
Increases behavior
Punishment
decreases behavior
Positive
means something is being given
Negative
means something is being taken away
after X number of desired results
Fixed ratio
reinforcement giving after X number of responses unknown to learner
Variable ratio
after X passage of time
Fixed interval
after X passage of time unknown to the learner
Variable interval
Albert Bandura and Bobo Doll
- Modeling/observational learning
Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children are able to learn social behavior such as aggression through the process of observation learning, through watching the behavior of another person.
people try not to get out of negative situations because past experiences have shown them that they do not have control
Learned helplessness
Martin Sielegman and Learned Helplessness
the dogs didn’t try to escape the shocks if they had been conditioned to believe that they couldn’t escape.
theorized that animals learned that outcomes were independent of their responses—that nothing they did mattered – and that this learning undermined trying to escape.
Ed Tolman and latent rats/Cognitive Maps
latent = hidden
rats put in a maze with no obvious reward
rats were developing cognitive mas (a mental representation of their surroundings)
Tolman’s latent learning experiment showed that rats can learn about their environment and form cognitive maps even in the absence of immediate reinforcement. Once a reward was introduced, the rats were able to demonstrate this knowledge quickly.
proposed by Albert Bandura, suggests that people learn through observation, imitation, and modeling. According to this theory, individuals acquire new behaviors based on what they observe from their environment and the consequences that follow those behaviors.
Social Learning Theory
focuses on understanding how people acquire knowledge, process information, solve problems, and form mental representations. It emphasizes the role of thinking processes in learning.
Cognitive Learning theory