Week 5 Flashcards
Classical conditioning
Type of learning where neutral stim produces a response after being paired w a non-neutral stim
What are the US, NS, CS, UR, and CR in Pavlov’s experiment?
US: the presentation of food (triggers drooling)
NS: the bell (initially doesn’t elicit a response)
CS: the bell (triggers drooling)
UR: drooling (triggered by presentation of food)
CR: drooling (triggered by bell)
2nd-order conditioning
CS paired with new US, and over time, new US produces same response without reintroduction of old US
3 phases of classical conditioning
1) Acquisition - US-NS pairings
2) Extinction - CS alone
3) Spontaneous recovery - CS alone but after some time (learned response partially recovers but undergoes extinction again)
Young albert experiment
Showed classical conditioning can affect human babies
Rescorla-Wagner model of classical conditioning
Classical conditioning occurs when animal has set up an expectation
Evolutionary advantage of classical conditioning
Propensity to learn particular kinds of associations over others
Operant conditioning
Type of learning where behavior is modified by its consequences
Operant vs classical conditioning
Operant: mainly focuses on voluntary behaviors and how we modulate our behavior based on consequences
Classical: mainly focuses on unconscious behaviors and associations
Thorndike cat experiment
Cats learned they had to tip a lever to be released from a cage – LAW OF EFFECT: behaviors followed by a “satisfying state of affairs” tend to be repeated; behaviors followed by “unpleasant state of affairs” tend not to be repeated
BF Skinner
- Championed operant conditioning
- Pioneered operant conditioning chamber/skinner box (closed box w mechanism to trigger reward or punishment)
Reinforcer vs punisher
Reinforcer: INCREASES likelihood of behavior occuring
Punisher: DECREASES likelihood of behavior occuring
Positive vs negative (in context of operant conditioning)
Positive: something added
Negative: something taken away
Positive reinforcement vs negative reinforcement vs positive punishment vs negative punishment
Positive reinforcement: something ADDED to ENCOURAGE behavior
Negative reinforcement: something TAKEN to ENCOURAGE behavior
Positive punishment: something ADDED to DISCOURAGE behavior
Negative reinforcement: something TAKEN to DISCOURAGE behavior
Is reinforcement or punishment more effective? Why?
Reinforcement generally more effective bc punishment signals unacceptable actions but doesn’t specify what should be done instead
Immediate vs delayed punishment and reaction
- More time elapses –> reward or punishment less effective
- Explains why it’s hard to follow long-term goals
Skinner’s 3-term contingency
1) Antecedent: stim or event that occurs before an action
2) Behavior: the action
3) Consequence: stim or event that occurs after the action
Interval vs ratio (schedules of reinforcement)
Interval: based on TIME in btw last reward
Ratio: based on RATIO of responses to reinforcements (e.g. reward every 2 button presses)
Fixed vs variable (schedules of reinforcement)
Fixed: reinforcement after a CONSTANT amount of time or responses
Variable: reinforcement after a VARYING amount of time or responses
Intermittent reinforcement effect
Operant behaviors under intermittent reinforcement resist extinction more than those w continuous reinforcement
Continuous reinforcement
Type of fixed-ratio reinforcement schedule where a reward is given after every behavior
What are the 4 types of reinforcement schedules?
Fixed-interval
Fixed-ratio
Variable-interval
Variable-ratio
Rank the types of reinforcement schedules based on response rate
ratio > interval, fixed > variable
1) fixed-ratio
2) variable ratio
3) fixed-interval
4) variable-interval
What is the best schedule of reinforcement?
- Best = most resistant to extinction
- VARIABLE-RATIO because unpredictability causes people to do it more
Pleasure/reward centers of the brain
- Nucleus accumbens, medial forebrain bundle, hypothalamus
- Dopamine
- Genetic variation in DA and DA circuits might play role in individual differences
Superstitious behavior
Type of operant learning where behavior that was ACCIDENTALLY reinforced
Shaping
Learning that results from being rewarded at prior steps that were closer and closer to final result (e.g. training the dog to stand up at the wall)
Latent learning
Something is learned but not manifested as behavioral changes until the future
Tolman rat maze experiment
- rats wandered seemingly aimlessly through a maze until they learned there was food at the other end, at which point they started going through it much faster
- Demonstrated latent learning; learning doesn’t equal performance
Why is practice testing important/effective?
- Improves retrieval of knowledge
- Helps you apply concepts to different situations
Judgement of learning (JOL)
Subjective assessment of how well you’ve learned something
