unit 8 - learning Flashcards
learning
a relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience
classical conditioning
learning by connecting two things that happen in sequence
operant conditioning
learning through rewards and punishments
observational learning (modeling)
learning by watching others
ivan pavlov
- first highlighted classical conditioning
- his work provided basis for later behaviorists like john watson and b.f. skinner
pavlov’s experiments with dogs
- pavlov saw the dogs naturally salivated to meat
- pavlov then rang a bell every time he gave the dogs meat
- eventually the dogs would salivate only to the bell, providing classical conditioning
unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
natural stimulus
in pavlov’s experiment: food
unconditioned response (UCR)
naturally response
in pavlov experiment: salivation to food
conditioned stimulus (CS)
unnatural/learned stimulus
in pavlov experiment: bell
conditioned response (CR)
unnatural/learned response
in pavlov experiment: salivation to the bell
neutral stimulus
no connection
acquisition
the first moment a connection occurs
the first time a dog salivates to the bell
extinction
the moment a connection is lost
you ring a bell long enough without food, the dog will stop salivating to the bell
spontaneous recovery
after a rest period an extinguished learned behavior can return
stimulus generalization
- anything close to the CS get the desired response
- (the dog salivates to the bell but also salivates to a doorbell or anything that sounds close)
stimulus discrimination
- only the CS gives the desired response
the dog salivates to a bell, but NOT a doorbell
cognitive processes
- pavlov did not pay attention to how thought or thinking affected learning
- humans can often “out-think” conditioning
biological predispositions
pavlov thought all animals (including humans) could be conditioned the same way, which is not true
john garcia’s rat experiments
- garcia was testing taste aversion in rats
- his experiments showed that rats could learn to aviod tastes that led to sickness better than connecting sickness to any other senses
- rats were stronger at taste aversion than other animals, thus proving biological predispositions
john watson’s little baby albert experiment
- used classical conditioning
- he paired something a child wasn’t afraid of: white rats, with something the child was afraid of: loud noises
- eventually by pairing loud noises with rats enough times watson got albert to cry just at the sight of the white rat
law of effect
if you are rewarded for doing something you are likely to repeat it
b.f. skinner’s rat and pigeon experiments
skinner used the ideas of a psychologist named thorndike who came up with the idea of the law of effect
operant chamber (skinner box)
- skinner developed the operant chamber or skinner box
- to study operant conditioning
shaping
the operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward the desired target behavior through successive approximations
successive approximations
each step toward the desired target behavior (shaping)
positive reinforcement
add something good
negative reinforcement
take away something bad
positive punishment
add something bad
negative punishment
take away something good
primary reinforcement
a reward that has direct value
(ex: food/water)
secondary (conditioned) reinforcement
a reward that only has value because it can be exchanged for something desirable
(ex: money)
immediate reinforcement
a reward that is given right away after an action
delayed reinforcement
a reward that is given at a later time
continuous reinforcement
rewards given each time you do something
(easy acquisition, easy extinction)
partial reinforcement
rewards given only sometimes after you do something
(slow acquisition, slow extinction)
fixed-ratio schedule
reward based on the number of times you do something, and that number remains the same
(ex: 10 combos for a movie poster)
variable-ratio schedule
reward based on the number of times you do something, and that number changes
(ex: gambling)
fixed-interval schedule
reward based on the time you wait, and the time stays the same
(ex: mr. babiarz’s paycheck)
variable-interval schedule
reward based on the time you wait, and that time changes
(ex: waiting for a sunny day)
cognitive map
rats created a 3D representation of a maze in their mind
latent learning
you prove you know something only after you’re rewarded for it
intrinsic motivation
wanting to do something for the joy of doing it
extrinsic motivation
wanting to do something for any other reason (praise, money, etc.)
the overjustification effect
if you are rewarded for doing something you already like doing, you will like doing it less
mirror neurons
if you are watching someone do an action, neurons in your brain will copy the neurons in theirs
bandura’s bobo doll experiment
- known as the “bobo doll experiment”
- testing obervational learning
- half of the kids watched a violent video, half did not
- all kids were then placed in a room filled with many different toys
results:
- kids who watched the violent video were much more likely to show violence with the toys, proving obervational learning, or modeling
