Week 8 Lecture Flashcards
What is Instrumental Learning?
Otherwise known as Operant Conditioning
Psychology defines learning as . . .
a relatively permanent change in behaviour due to experience
Stimulus Discrimintation
Demonstrating a response to a certain type of stimulus.
eg: Swooping Magpies causes fear of Magpies but not of all birds
Stimulus Generalsiation
A response that is applied to one type of stimulus now becomes attached to other similar stimulus.
eg: Swooping Magpies causes fear of all birds and things with feathers.
Higher Order Conditioning
- Previously neutral Stimulus (e.g., a light)
- Paired with a conditioned stimulus (e.g., a tone that has been conditioning with food to produce salivating)
- Produces the same conditioned response as the conditioned stimulus
What is Behaviour Therapy>
- Based on Classical Conditioning
- Helps overcome phobias and other problem behaviours
Define Phobia
- an extreme, irrational fear of a specific object or situation.
- Classified as a type of anxiety disorder
What does Skinner suggest about organisms behaviour?
- Organisms learn to “operate” within their environment
- Don’t just respond reflexively
Operant Conditioning equals
Operant Conditioning = Consequences
Thorndike (1898) Puzzle Box
Used to Examine the Behaviour of Cats attempts to get out of a box.
- R1: Bite at Box
- R2: Jump up and down
- R3: Meow
- R:Correct - Pull at string
What are primary reinforcements?
- Food
- Water
- Reproduction
- Safety
What are some Secondary Reinforcements?
- community - access to other people
- money
Operant Conditioning - Shaping
- Reinforcement closer and closer approximation of desired result
- useful whe teaching improbable behaviours like bear riding a bicycle.
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Successive Approximations
Shaping behaviour
The closer we get to the behaviour we want then we give a reward
Describe Reinforcement
- Reinforcement is used to increase behaviour
- Positive Reinforcement ADDS a GOOD stimuli to increase behaviour
- Negative Reinforcement REMOVES something BAD to increase behaviour.
Describe Punishment
- Punishment is used to decrease a behaviour
- Positive punishment ADDS something BAD to decrease a behaviour
- Negative punishment REMOVES something GOOD to decrease a behaviour
eg: Positive Punishment for speeding - Receive a fine
Negative Punishment for speeding - Lose your licence
Describe Learned Helplessnes
When we learn that previous strategies to solve problems that we used no longer work, then people tend to stop trying to changes things
- significant for people with depression because:
- previous learning can inhibit the adaptive process
Conditioned Emotional Response
Focusing on the emotional response to Operant Conditioning
- CS (Bell) paired with CR (Press lever) then food is delivered.
- Secondary NS (light) paired with CS ( Bell) then add UCS (Electric Shock) When Lever is pressed
- CS (light) leads to CER(fear of pain) rat will brace in fear of pain.
- Eventually rat may not press the lever even if it is hungry
Schedule’s of Reinforcement
Interval Reinforcement
Reinforcement given at a rate of TIME
Variable - the amount of TIME between reinforcements varies
Fixed - the amount of TIME between reinforcements is always the same.
Ratio Reinforcement
Reinforcement given after a certain number of repetetions
Variable - reinforcemet is applied at a varying NUMBER of correct responses
Fixed - reinforcement is applied after a SPECIFIC NUMBER of correct responses
Discriminative Stimuli
Cues that influence operant behaviour are influenced by probable consequences.
Eg: rat only presses a lever when the light goes on.
Generalisation
- Reacting to similar stimuli
- Reacting to an alarm then reacting to all alarms
What is Scalloping Effect
After reinforcement occurs there is a short plateau of behaviour followed by a spiked increase in behaviour as the time for reinforcement approaches.
Partial Reinforcement Effect
- resistance to extinction
- can be really pervasive behaviours because of this
- eg; fishing & Gambling
Antecedents in Behaviour
- What is the behaviour that we wish to change
- is it a defecit? - would like to do more of.
- there is usually a competing behaviour - what is it’s antecedent?
- is it an excess? - would like to do less of.
- What is triggering the behaviour
Behaviour Modification
Changing behaviour by using a systematic program that has been chosen according to the behaviour.
- eg: Operant Conditioning to change addictive behaviour
- positive reinforcement to drink more water.
Ratio and Intervals in Operant Conditioning
- Fixed Ratio - Every set amount
- Variable Ratio - Varying Amount
- Fixed Interval - Fixed Time Period
- Variable Interval - Varying Time Period
What are Skinner’s views on Personality?
- Very similar to his views on Behaviour
- Personality is learned throught conditioning
- Personality is responses to various stimulus situations
- The environment alone determines how people will respond
- Cognition does not determine personality at all
An evaluation of Radical Behaviourism
- Skinner’s ideas are very influentia
- but are too deterministic
- limited view of personality, motivation and emotional influences
- Unconscious, biology, cognition and free will must be considered
- these criticisms lead to social/cognitive approaches and Humanism
Albert Bandura (1960)
Learning is a change in beleifs and expectations of observers
Black Box Theory
- Skinner said the mind was like a Black Box
- We measure inputs (stimuli) and observe outputs (behaviour) without understanding the mechanics of the brain itself
- Skinner said the brain was too complex to understand so we didn’t need to study it.
- Cognition is irrelevant to stimuli and behavour, only the resulting behaviour is important.
Bandura explores Black Box Theory
- Learning is changes in beleifs and expectancies of observers
- classical and operant conditioning are ways of developing expectancies
- observation is also a way to develop expectancies
Avoidance Learning
- a learned behaviour that results in avoidance as a strategy to reduce unpleasant or painful consequences.
