Unit 6 Learning AP Psych

Learning

A lasting change in behavior or mental processes resulting from experiences based on experience and interaction with the environment

Habituation

Learning not to respond to the repeated presentation of a stimulus; similar to sensory adaptation
Ex: Moving to Australia and not noticing people’s accents after awhile

Mere Exposure Effect

A learned preference for a stimuli to which we have been previously exposed
More exposed to something (earlier in life) → more likely to like said thing
Ex: Choosing Coke instead of a generic brand because it’s more familiar and widely consumed

Behavioral Learning

Forms of learning that can be described in terms of stimuli and responses
Ex: Classical and operant conditioning

Classical Conditioning

Form of learning in which a stimulus that produces an innate reflex becomes associated with a previously neutral stimulus, which then acquires power to elicit essentially the same response

Ivan Pavlov

• Believed basic learning for humans was the same as animals

• Studied organism’s response to stimuli

• Disliked psychological study of introspection and consciousness

• “Accidental Experiment” when noticing his dog salivated before food was eaten

Neural Stimulus (NS)

does not provoke a response

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

stimulus that elicits a reflexive behavior called an unconditioned response (UCR) before conditioning

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

The reflexive behavior that a stimulus elicits before conditioning

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

When a neutral stimulus is presented repeatedly at the same time as the unconditioned stimulus and produces a conditioned response

Conditioned Response (CR)

The reflexive behavior to a conditioned stimulus

Higher-Order Thinking (Second-Order Thinking)

Introducing a NS to have it become the new CS. Must become associated with a previous CS

Counter Conditioning

Pairing relaxation with the stimulus that is feared; teaches patients to respond in a relaxed manner to the CS

Acquisition

Learning a new behavior because of a stimulus pairing

Extinction

When the CR decreases or disappears due to when the CS is presented repeatedly without the UCS

Spontaneous Recovery

When a learned response suddenly reemerges, even after extinction

Stimulus Generalization

When a stimulus is overgeneralized, eliciting the same response to a similar stimulus

Stimulus Discrimination

Being able to differentiate between stimuli

John Watson (Little Albert Experiment)

Conditioned Little Albert to fear a white laboratory rat by pairing it with a loud sound, and he applied it to other furry things (stimulus generalization)

Taste-Aversion (John Garcia and Robert Koelling)

Rats avoided drinking water from bottles in chambers where they had been made nauseous by radiation (biological or learned?)

Conditioning Coyotes (John Garcia)

Used aversive conditioning (the client is exposed to an unpleasant stimulus while engaging in the targeted behavior, the goal being to create an aversion to it) to dissuade wild coyotes from attacking sheep. He wrapped toxic lamb burgers in sheepskin and left them near sheep ranches, which led to coyotes becoming sick

Operant Conditioning

A method of learning that alters the frequency of a behavior by manipulating its consequences through reinforcement or punishment

Positive Reinforcement

Adding consequences increases likelihood of behavior

Negative Reinforcement

Removing consequences increases likelihood of behavior

Positive Punishment

Adding consequences decreases likelihood of behavior

Negative Punishment

Removing pleasant stimulus to decrease likelihood of behavior

Edward L. Thorndike’s Law of Effect

• Rewarded behavior is likely to reoccur

• Responses that produced desirable results would be learned, or “stamped“ into the organism

B.F. Skinner’s Experiments

• Inspired by Thorndike’s Law of Effect

• Operant Chamber (Skinner Box) - Box with a bar/key that an animals presses to get food

  • Record number of pecks

  • Dispenses food

Shaping

Procedure in which reinforcers/rewards change or “shape“ an animal’s behavior

Primary Reinforcers

Reinforcers that fulfill basic biological needs or desires (i.e. food, sex)

Secondary Reinforcers

Reinforcers that acquire their reinforcing power by a learned association with a primary reinforcer (i.e. money, grades)

Premack Principles

Concept that a more-preferred activity can be used to reinforce a less-preferred one

Token Economy

Therapeutic method in which individuals are rewarded with tokens that can be redeemed for a variety of rewards or privileges

Continuous Reinforcement

Reinforce behavior continuously, causes learning to occur quickly (not as common in real life)

Partial/Intermittent Reinforcement

Sometimes responses are rewarded, learning initially is slower, greater resistance to extinction

Fixed-Ratio

Reinforces behavior after a set number of responses (i.e. A sculptor being paid for every 2 pieces he produces)

Variable Ratio

Reinforces after an unpredictable number of responses
(i.e. playing on a slot machine, you have the chance of winning money or losing money and you only win a certain percent of the time)

Fixed Interval

Reinforce 1st response after a fixed time period (i.e. every two week I receive a paycheck from work)

Variable Interval

Reinforce 1st response after a varying time interval
(i.e. fishing because you never know how long it will be until the fish bites again, but the occasional catch brings enough reward to keep the fisherman coming back)

Reinforcement Contingencies

Robert Rescorla's contingency theory, focuses on the fact that associative learning occurs best when unconditioned stimulus and conditioned stimulus occur at the same time (The ability of a stimulus to predict a consequence affects its ability to shape behavior)

Cognitive Psychology

Some forms of learning must be explained as changes in mental processes, rather than as changes in behavior alone - different than classical and operant conditioning

Insight Learning

• Problem-solving occurs by means of a sudden reorganization of perception

• Researcher - Wolfgang Kohler

• Study Results - Chimps could solve complex problems by combining simpler behaviors they had previously learned separately

• Conclusion - Animals did not mindlessly use conditioned behaviors

Latent Learning / Cognitive Maps

• Acquisition of skills/information that do not display until a later time; learning without reinforcement

• Mental Representation of physical space

• Researcher - Edward Tolman

• Study Results - Rats make a mental map of the maze and were able to navigate the map faster at a later time

• Conclusion - Animals did not mindlessly use conditioned behaviors

Social Learning / Observational Learning

• Form of cognitive learning in which new responses are acquired after watching others’ behavior and the consequences of their behavior

• Researcher - Albert Bandura

• Study Results - Children who observed adults beating up the Bobo Doll later showed aggression to the doll as well and they were more aggressive

• Conclusion - We learn through imitation, observation, or modeling

Robert Rescorla

• Animals can learn the predictability of an event based on the informativeness of the CS. The more predictable the association, the stronger the CR (aka contingency model) (associative learning)

• Associative learning occurs best when unconditioned stimulus and conditioned stimulus occur at the same time

• The ability of a stimulus to predict a consequence affects its ability to shape behavior
  Example: If dogs only sometimes got food at the sound of a bell, the bell would not be very predictable/informative and the salivation response might be weaker

Leon Kamin

The learner will form a CS-CR connection only if the CS seems to provide unique information about the UCS
Blocking Effect - Difficulty during conditioning when CS is presented with a second CS
Example: Smoke is not always visible during a fire, but the smell of something burning is a sign of fire. The smell provides better information about the fire.

Long-term Potentiation

Learning involves physical changes that strengthen the synapses in groups of nerve cells

In operant Conditioning

The brain’s reward circuitry (limbic and associated brain structures) - rich in dopamine receptors. Many experts believe that this transmitter is crucial to the brains’ sensing of reward

Neuroscientists Eric Kandel and Robert Hawkins

In complex brains of mammals - a second type of learning circuitry facilitates higher forms of learning (memory and conscious processing)

Learned Helplessness

• Uncontrollable bad events → perceived lack of control → generalized helpless behavior

• The passive resignation produced by repeated exposure to negative events that are perceived as unavoidable

• About responses to failure (not to success)

• A control problem, not a competence problem

Problems with Punishment

• Behavior is suppressed, not forgotten (If I won’t get caught, I’ll still do it)

• Teaches discrimination (learn to swear at school, but not at home)

• Can increase aggressiveness (fight or flight)

• Can teach fear (hopelessness)

• Is not always applied equally (gender/age/etc.)