W10 - Learning and Behaviour

Question 1

learning is the result of what?

Answer 1

experince

Question 2

classical conditioning (Pavlovian Conditioning)

Answer 2

when an unconditioned stimulus is paired with a neutral stimulus to illicit a conditioned response.
the neutral stimulus on its own becomes an conditioned stimulus.

Question 3

Conditioned Fear

Answer 3

Little Albert:
rat: Nuetral —- conditioned stimulus
Bang: unconditioned stimulus
cryinging: unonditioned response — conditioned repsonse with the rat

Question 4

Generalisation

Answer 4

allows learning to carry over to new situations/ stimulus without requring further learning.

Question 5

Discrimination

Answer 5

restricts new learning from being inappropriately applied to ALL situations.

Question 6

Extinction

Answer 6

if the conditoned stimulus continues to be presentd without the UCS occuring then the conditioned responce is eventually eliminated.

Question 7

variables that increase the degree of classical conditioning

Answer 7

UCS is more intense
shortened delay between UCS & CS
UCS reliably follows CS

Question 8

variables that decrease the degree of classical conditioning

Answer 8

UCS is less intense
long delay between UCS & CS or UCS occurs before CS
UCS only sometimes follows CS

Question 9

Operant Conditioning

Answer 9

learning about the relations between environmental stimuli and our own behaviour

Question 10

the basic idea of operant conditioning

Answer 10

we tend to repeat behvaiours that lead to desirable outcomes and we tend to stop performing behvaiours that lead to undesirable outcomes

Question 11

Thorndike’s Law of Effect

Answer 11

that if a responce in the presence of a stimulus leads to reinforcement the association between that stimulus and response is strengthend

Question 12

what was skinner interested in studying

Answer 12

how changing enviro events resulted in chnages in behaviour
- he used an operant chamber in order to rule out confounding influences

Question 13

Reinforcemnt

Answer 13

when you continue to perform a behaviour because you gaind a desirabe consequence in the past.

Question 14

Punishment/Punishers

Answer 14

causes the reduction in a bevaiour because of a undesired consequence (punichers).

Question 15

positive reinforcement

Answer 15

a good stimulus is added causing an incraese in the rate of the bevhavioural response.

Question 16

negative reinforcement

Answer 16

a bad stimulus is removed to maintain or incraese the behvaioural responce.

Question 17

Positive punishment

Answer 17

the behaviour decreases because a bad stimulus is added

this punishment has probelms that can lead to undesireble behavioural changes

Question 18

negativie punishment (response cost)

Answer 18

the behaviour decrases because becasue a good stimulus is taken away

a very effective approach

Question 19

what is a reinforcer

Answer 19

an event that satisfys an inherent survival need
e.g. food, money, kind words

can also be a behaviour

Question 20

what is a punisher

Answer 20

a consequence that is inherently aversive
e.g. pain, cops, unkind words

can also be a behaviour

Question 21

Premark (1959): Experimental Evidence
when is behvaiours strengthened

Answer 21

behaviours that result in a preferred response are stregthened
- interacting with a less desirble reinforcer, can gain you access to a more desirble reinforcer

Question 22

Premark (1971): desirability of rienforcement

Answer 22

Behaviour s that result in a less preferred response are weakened
- if a reinforcer leads to a punishemnt the reinforcer will stop reinforcing.

Question 23

how we determine the level of how reinforcing or punishing something is

Answer 23

• deprivation
• magnitude of event
• immediacy of the consequnce applied after the behaviour

Question 24

insight

Answer 24

sudden appearance of an appropriate behaviour without any abious shaping

money and pigeon box experiment

Question 25

shaping

Answer 25

the process by which new behaviours emerge
relies on:
- diff reinforcement of appropriate behaviours and/or punichments of wrong behaviours
- natural tendency for behaviour to vary

Question 26

what underlies the emergance of superstitious behaviour

Answer 26

shaping

Question 27

Preparedness

Answer 27

through evolution all animals are biologically ‘prewired’ to easily learn behaviours related to their survival as a species.

Question 28

example of preparedness

Answer 28

taste aversion:
noval ‘bright-noisy’ stimulus + water + shock = avoided noval water
sweet tasting water + shock = cntinued to drink

Question 29

factors that influence classical conditioning

Answer 29

Preparedness (Biological Predispositions)
Generalization and Discrimination
Contiguity (Timing of Stimulus Presentation)

Question 30

factors that influence operant conditioning

Answer 30

Reinforcement (Positive and Negative)
Punishment (Positive and Negative)
Schedules of Reinforcement
Immediacy of Consequences
Shaping (Successive Approximations)

Question 31

Stimulus discrimination

Answer 31

occurs when an organism learns to respond to a restricted range of stimuli.

Question 32

Operants

Answer 32

are behaviours that are emitted rather than elicited by the environment.

Question 33

Habituation

Answer 33

refers to the decreasing strength of a reflex response after repeated presentations of the stimulus.

Question 34

law of contiguity

Answer 34

which proposes that two events will become connected in the mind if they are experienced close together in time (such as thunder and lightning).

Question 35

law of similarity

Answer 35

which states that objects that resemble each other (such as two people with similar faces) are likely to become associated.

Question 36

Law of effect

Answer 36

an animal’s tendency to reproduce a behaviour depends on that behaviour’s effect on the environment and the consequent effect on the animal.

Question 37

continuous reinforcement schedule

Answer 37

behavoiur is rewarded each time

Question 38

partial or intermittent schedules of reinforcement

Answer 38

Interval and Ratio schedules: behaviour is reinforced only part of the time, or intermittently.

Question 39

In ratio schedules of reinforcement

Answer 39

rewards are tied to the number of responses emitted; only a fraction of ‘correct’ behaviours receive reinforcement, such as one out of every five.

Question 40

In interval schedules of reinforcement

Answer 40

rewards (or punishments) are delivered only after some interval of time, no matter how many responses the organism emits.

Question 41

fixed-ratio (FR) schedule

Answer 41

an organism receives reinforcement for a fixed proportion of the responses it emits.

after every 10th correct repsonce

Question 42

variable-ratio (VR) schedule

Answer 42

an animal receives a reward for some percentage of responses, but the number of responses required before reinforcement is unpredictable (that is, variable).

Question 43

fixed-interval (FI) schedule

Answer 43

an animal receives reinforcement for its responses only after a fixed amount of time.

Question 44

variable-interval (VI) schedule

Answer 44

ties reinforcement to an interval of time, but unlike a fixed-interval schedule, the animal cannot predict how long that time interval will be.