WEEK 2- Learning Part 1

Question 1

Learning

Answer 1

Is a change in an organisms behaviour or thought as a result of experience.

Question 2

There are two types of learning:

Answer 2

Non-Associative Learning is the learning about direct properties of a stimulus.

Associative Learning: is the learning about relations between stimulus.

Question 3

Non-Associative Learning includes

Answer 3

Habituation and Sensitisation

Question 4

Dishabituation

Answer 4

After our response to a stimulus has habituated, it may quickly return if the stimulus changes so, if that ticking clock suddenly stops, you may become aware of it again because now, something in your environment has changed. The reappearance of your original response when a stimulus change is called dishabituation.

Question 5

Sensitisation

Answer 5

Increase in response over time with experience. The person becomes more responsive to a stimulus in the environment.

• Exposure to a strong stimulus will re-initiate response to a habituated cue.
• Example, you’re sitting in a boring lecture when you notice that the speaker says “okay” after almost every sentence and during pauses. Subsequent “okays” become more and more annoying.
  Example 2, every sound we hear will keep us awake if we have just watched a movie marathon of a horror film.

Question 6

Opponent process theory

Answer 6

Consists of new stimulus events, especially those that arouse strong positive or negative emotions and disrupt the individual’s physiological state of equilibrium, or homeostasis.

This disruption triggers an opposite, or opponent, process that counteracts the disruption and eventually restores equilibrium. If the arousing event occurs repeatedly, this opponent process gets stronger and occurs more rapidly. It eventually becomes so quick and strong that it actually suppresses the initial response to the stimulus, creating habituation.

Question 7

Is there a reward or punishment (a second stimulus) involved in non-associative learning?

Answer 7

No.

Question 8

Habituation

Answer 8

Is the decrease in response over time with experience. A person becomes less sensitive to a stimulus due to repeated exposure. Example, when you move to a new house and start hearing noises, and start smelling odours that you don’t like. When the time passes, you start ignoring.

Question 9

Associative Learning

Answer 9

Is the learning about relations amongst stimulus, between certain environmental stimuli and certain opponent responses.

Question 10

Associative learning involves

Answer 10

Classical and Operant Conditioning

Question 11

Classical conditioning

Answer 11

Occurs when a neutral stimulus, that would not typically elicit a response, becomes associated with a stimulus that by its very nature does typically elicit a response, resulting in a situation where eventually the original ‘neutral’ stimulus gains the capacity to elicit the response of the stimulus that it was paired with.

Question 12

Classical Conditioning was developed by:

Answer 12

By Ivan Pavlov who was a Russian scientist studying salivation (production of saliva) in dogs as a response to stimuli that the dogs were presented with.

Question 13

Steps of Classical Conditioning.

Answer 13

Before training:

1. Unconditional stimulus (UCS): is an inherited stimulus, you don’t need to learn about it. UCS consists on a stimulus that elicits a response without conditioning. Ex, Food.
2. Unconditional response (UR): is the reaction to the unconditional stimulus, is a natural response. Is an automatic or unlearned reaction to a stimulus. Ex, Salivation to food and presentation of the neutral stimulus (bell) in which the dog will not salivate because of the bell but because of the food.
3. Conditional stimulus (CS): is the originally neutral stimulus (bell) that, through pairing with the unconditioned stimulus (food), comes to elicit a conditioned response. It produces the response you want. Ex. You salivate because you know food is coming because of the ringing of the bell.

After training:

4. Conditional response (CR): is the response after conditioning produced by the individual or animal when the conditional stimulus is presented. Here is the final step, you have learned to make the response. Example, the dog just needs to hear the bell ringing to salivate.

Question 14

Extinction

Answer 14

Unlearn what you learned. The conditional response will disappear if the conditional stimuli is repeatedly shown without the unconditional stimuli.

Question 15

Reconditioning

Answer 15

Is the quick relearning of a conditioned response following extinction.

Question 16

Spontaneous Recovery

Answer 16

Even after a conditioned response has been extinguished, it will temporarily reappear if the conditioned stimulus occurs again. This phenomenon is spontaneous recovery, which is the temporary reappearance of a conditioned response after extinction (and without further CS–UCS pairings).

Question 17

Generalisation

Answer 17

Is a phenomenon in which a conditioned response is elicited by stimuli that are similar but not identical to the conditioned stimulus. Example, the appearance of a sound which is really similar as the sound of your conditioned response, you will react but not as stronger.

Question 18

Discrimination

Answer 18

You don’t necessarily need to respond to every similar stimuli. Through stimulus discrimination, people and animals learn to differentiate among similar stimuli.

• You can teach not to respond to similar things. Example, black box and grey box.
• Example: Many parents find that the sound of their own baby whimpering during the night may become a conditioned stimulus that triggers a conditioned response that wakes them up. That conditioned response might not occur if a visiting friend’s baby whimpers.

Question 19

Acquisition of Conditioned Response

Answer 19

The process of learning, ¿How long does the learning take? Here we need to measure the strength of the CR. With the response amplitude (amount of saliva) and the probability of response (proportion of trials when the CR occurs).

Acquisition is the initial stage of learning when a response is first established and gradually strengthened. During the acquisition phase of classical conditioning, a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Question 20

During a storm, Mohammed experienced lightning flashes followed by very loud thunder a few seconds later. Now he cringes every time he sees a flash of lightning. Mohammed experienced what kind of conditioning?

Answer 20

Foward Conditioning.

Question 21

Classical conditioning works best when the conditioned stimulus is presented before the unconditioned stimulus by a brief period of time. This arrangement is known as ____________ where the conditioned stimulus signals that the unconditioned stimulus is coming.

Answer 21

Forward conditioning.

Question 22

Backward conditioning

Answer 22

Conditioned stimulus (for example, a tone) is presented just after the unconditioned stimulus (food). When this happens, however, a conditioned response develops very slowly, if at all. Part of the explanation is that the CS in backward conditioning comes too late to signal the approach of the UCS.

Question 23

After Pavlov’s initial experiments, many psychologists believed that the associations formed through classical conditioning were like Velcro. Just as Velcro pieces of any size or shape can be easily attached, some believed that any conditioned stimulus has an equal potential for becoming associated with any unconditioned stimulus, as long as the two stimuli occur in the right time sequence. This view, called

Answer 23

Equipotentiality

Question 24

Higher-order Conditioning.

Answer 24

• Is a phenomenon in which a conditioned stimulus acts as an unconditioned stimulus, creating conditioned stimuli out of events associated with it.
• Is also known as Second Order Conditioning to a situation in which a stimulus that was previously neutral (e.g., a light) is paired with a conditioned stimulus (e.g., a tone that has been conditioning with food to produce salivating) to produce the same conditioned response as the conditioned stimulus. The conditioning is happening not by pairing the stimulus with something that naturally produces a response, but with something that has been conditioned to produce a response.

Question 25

Phobias

Answer 25

Are extreme fears of objects or situations that either are not objectively dangerous – public speaking, for example – or are less dangerous than the phobic person’s reaction suggests. Classically conditioned fears can be very long-lasting, especially when they are based on experiences with strong unconditioned stimuli.

Question 26

Classical conditioning procedures can be employed to treat _______ and _________.

Answer 26

Phobias and PTSD.

Question 27

A child learns to fear (conditioned response) the doctor’s office (conditioned stimulus) by associating it with the reflexive emotional reaction (unconditioned response) to a painful injection (unconditioned stimulus). This is a form of ____________.

Answer 27

Acquisition

Question 28

A child fears most doctors’ offices and places that smell like them. This is a form of ____________.

Answer 28

Stimulus generalisation

Question 29

A child learns that his mother’s doctor’s office is not associated with the unconditioned stimulus. This is a form of ____________.

Answer 29

Stimulus discrimination

Question 30

A child visits the doctor’s office several times for a check-up but does not receive an injection. Fear may eventually cease. This is a form of ____________.

Answer 30

Extinction

Question 31

According to the Law of Effect, behaviour that is followed by ___________ is likely to be repeated, and any behaviour followed by _____________is likely to cease or decrease.

Answer 31

Pleasant consequences , unpleasant consequences.

Question 32

Positive reinforcement

Answer 32

The addition of a pleasant or positive stimulus to increase a behaviour. For example, is providing a treat to a child after an A on the test because the child studied and was well behaved in the hope that he will study behave similarly for next test.

Question 33

Negative reinforcement

Answer 33

The removal of an unpleasant or negative stimulus to increase a behavior. For example, if you take ibuprofen (i.e. the behaviour) for a headache (i.e. the unpleasant stimulus) and it goes away shortly after (i.e. consequence = no more headache), then you are likely to take the same action in future when struck by a headache (i.e. increase behaviour of taking ibuprofen).

Question 34

Positive punishment

Answer 34

The addition of an unpleasant or negative stimulus to decrease a behavior. Example, an old man trying to fix a pipe, as a consequence he suffers from a head injury and realizes that he is too old for that and he won’t do it again.

Question 35

Negative punishment

Answer 35

The removal of a pleasant or positive stimulus to decrease a behaviour. Example: taking the licence away of a reckless driver. This will result on him not driving reckless anymore on the future.

Question 36

Escape conditioning

Answer 36

Occurs as a person or animal learns responses that put an end to an aversive stimulus. Example: a laboratory experiment in which dogs learn to jump over the barrier in a shuttle box to get away from a shock. In humans, escape conditioning appears not only when we learn to take pills to stop pain, but also when parents learn to stop a child’s annoying demands for a toy by agreeing to buy it. And television viewers learn to use the mute button to shut off obnoxious commercials.

Question 37

Discriminative conditioned stimuli

Answer 37

Stimulus associated with the presence of a reinforcement. The stimuli signal whether reinforcement is available if a certain response is made. For example, if pigeons are reinforced with food for pecking at a switch when a red light is on but are not reinforced for pecking when a green light is on, they will soon learn to peck only when they see a red light.

Question 38

Stimulus discrimination in operant conditioning

Answer 38

When an organism learns to make a particular response in the presence of one stimulus but not another, stimulus discrimination has occurred. Another way to say this is that the response is now under stimulus control. In general, stimulus discrimination allows people and animals to learn what is appropriate (reinforced) and inappropriate (not reinforced) in particular situations. Example: Pigeons reinforced for responding to the work of a particular painter learned to tell the difference between his paintings and those of other artists.

Question 39

Shaping

Answer 39

Is accomplished by reinforcing successive approximations; that is, responses that come successively closer to the desired response. Example: You first give the dog a treat whenever he sits down. Then you might reinforce him only when he sits and partially lifts a paw. Next, you might reinforce more complete paw lifting. Eventually, you would require that the dog perform the entire sit-lift-shake sequence before giving the treat.

Question 40

The effect of a reinforcer is stronger when it comes________ a response occurs

Answer 40

Soon after

Question 41

Continuous reinforcement

Answer 41

Is when a reinforcer is delivered every time a particular response occurs.

Question 42

Partial/Intermitent reinforcement

Answer 42

is a pattern in which a reinforcer is administered only some of the time after a particular response occurs. There are four basic types of intermittent reinforcement schedules being fixed ration, variable ratio, fixed interval and variable interval reinforcements.

Question 43

Schedules of reinforcements in operant conditioning.

Answer 43

Rules that determine how and when certain responses will be reinforced. Consists in:

1. Continuous reinforcement.
2. Partial/Intermitent reinforcements (subdivisions are fixed ration, variable ratio, fixed interval and variable interval reinforcements).

Question 44

Fixed ratio

Answer 44

A response is rewarded after a specific number of behaviours; unaffected by time. So, rats might receive food after every 10th time they press the lever in a Skinner box (FR 10) or after every 20th time (FR 20). Computer help-desk technicians might be allowed to take a break after every fifth call they handle or every 10th.

Question 45

Variable ratio

Answer 45

Also provides a reinforcer after a given number of responses, but that number can vary. A response is rewarded after a random or unpredictable number of behaviours; unaffected by time. A rat on aVR 30 schedule might sometimes be reinforced after 10 lever presses, sometimes after 50, and sometimes after five, but the average number of responses required to get a reinforcer would be 30. Gambling offers humans a similar variable-ratio schedule. A poker machine, for example, pays off only after a frustratingly unpredictable number of trials averaging perhaps one in 20.

Question 46

Fixed Interval

Answer 46

A response is rewarded after a specific period of time has passed; unaffected by your behaviour or performance. For example, on an FI 60 schedule, the first response after 60 seconds have passed will be rewarded. Some radio stations create fixed-interval schedules by telling listeners who just won a prize that they are not eligible to win again for 30 days. Under these circumstances, there is no point in competing until that time has elapsed.

Question 47

Variable interval

Answer 47

A response is rewarded after a random or unpredictable period of time has passed; unaffected by your behaviour or performance. For example, the first response to occur after an average of 60 seconds is reinforced, but the actual time between reinforcements might vary from, say, one second to 120 seconds.

Question 48

Timmy’s therapist wants to implement a reinforcement schedule that results in a slow, steady rate of responding. She should use a ___________ schedule of reinforcement.

Answer 48

Variable Interval

Question 49

Five-year-old Sandrine jumps and cringes every time she hears thunder. Soon she cringes when she sees lightning because she knows that thunder will follow. One day when she is at her first fireworks show, she cringes when she sees the flash of light from the first fireworks in the sky. Sandrine is displaying

Answer 49

Stimulus generalisation

Question 50

Fed up with his son not cleaning around the house, Jack buys a book called Shape Up, which instructs the reader to implement the operant conditioning technique of shaping. According to the book, Jack will want to ________.

Answer 50

Reinforce successive approximations of the desired response.

Question 51

Extinction in operant conditioning

Answer 51

Is the gradual disappearance of operant behaviour due to elimination of rewards for that behaviour. Example: if repeated text messages to a friend are not answered, you eventually stop sending them.

Question 52

Partial reinforcement effect

Answer 52

Is a phenomenon in which behaviours learned under a partial reinforcement schedule are more difficult to extinguish than behaviours learned on a continuous reinforcement schedule

Question 53

Premack’s Principle

Answer 53

At any moment, each person maintains a list of behavioural preferences, ranked from most desirable to least desirable, like a kind of psychological ‘top 10’. The higher on the list an activity is, the greater is its power as a reinforcer. This means that a preferred activity can serve as a reinforcer for any other activity that is less preferred at the moment. Example: when parents allow their teenage daughter to use the car in return for mowing the lawn, they are using something high on her preference list (driving) to reinforce an activity that is lower on the list (lawn mowing).

Question 54

Reinforcement of any sort always __________ behaviour; punishment ____________ it.

Answer 54

Strengthens; weakens.

Question 55

Response rates tend to be higher under ___________schedules of reinforcement than under ____________schedules.

Answer 55

Ration; interval

Question 56

Who developed operant conditioning?

Answer 56

B.F. Skinner.