AP Psychology - Learning

Classical conditioning

• Classical conditioning - when a stimulus, after many trials, gains the ability to cause a response that it could not originally cause

  • Founder: Ivan Pavlov

  • Famous Experiment: Pavlov’s Dogs

Unconditioned Stimulus

Thing that causes an automatic, unlearned response

Unconditioned Response

Unlearned, natural reaction/behavior to unconditioned stimulus

Neutral Stimulus

Stimulus that doesn’t cause any reaction (will become conditioned stimulus)

Conditioned Stimulus

• Conditioned Stimulus - thing that now gained ability to cause response (after being conditioned in many trials)

  • Same stimulus as neutral

Conditioned response

• Conditioned Response - behavior that occurs are a reaction to conditioned stimulus

  • Not always same as unconditioned response

Acquisition

• Acquisition - initially learning something (CS needs to be presented right before UCS many times)

  • Taste aversions especially happen after just one-trial…maybe due to biological preparedness/evolution

Extinction

• Extinction - gradual weakening/disappearance of conditioned response

  • Especially happens if CS is no longer paired with UCS

  • Sometimes response never goes away (ex: fears)

Spontaneous Recovery

Reappearance of response after thought to be extinct

Generalization

Respond similar to new stimuli that are similar to original stimuli

Discrimination

When someone does not generalize response to like stimuli

Operant conditioning

• Operant conditioning - Learning that occurs when consequences (reinforcement and punishment) shape responses

  • B.F. Skinner (founder of behaviorist perspective)

  • Based on law of effect - Behaviors with reinforcing consequences are more likely to be repeated while behaviors with punishing consequences are not as likely to be repeated

  • Sidenote: superstitions & learned helplessness can happen when consequences reinforce unrelated behaviors

    
    

Results of Skinner’s Experiments

• Reinforcement - response is strengthened because it leads to rewarding consequences

• Acquisition is initial stage

• Responses established through shaping - giving reinforcement when getting closer and closer to desired behavior

Schedules of reinforcement

• Continuous Reinforcement - every response is rewarded

• Partial Reinforcement - response is rewarded only some of the time

  • Leads to longer retention

• Fixed ratio - reward given after a fixed number of non-reinforced responses

• Variable-ratio - reward after varied number of non-reinforced responses

• Fixed-interval: reward given for first response after a fixed time has passed

• Variable-interval - reward given for first response after varied time has passed

Positive vs. Negative and Punishment vs. Reinforcement

• stop - punishment

• keep doing - reinforcement

• adding - positive

• subtracting - negative

Cognitive Learning

Learning by observing events, watching others, or through language (telling stories)

Insight learning

When the solution to a problem occurs without classical, operant, or observational learning

Latent learning

• Latent learning is when info is learned without reinforcement but not immediately evident

• Cognitive maps–you knew how to drive around your neighborhood without being directly taught directions

Observational Learning

• By Albert Bandura

• When responses are influenced by watching others

• Extends operant & classical conditioning— don’t need to directly experience it - vicarious conditioning

• Need to pay attention to model’s behavior, must retain it, must reproduce it, must be motivated

• More similar the model is, the more likely the behavior is to be learned

Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment

Children were more violent after watching model be violent