Reflexive Behavior and Respondent Behavior (ch. 3)

Phylogenetic Behavior

Phylogenetic Behavior

Related to genetic endowment & evolutionary history (ex. reflexes)

Fixed Action Patterns (FAP)

(type of phylogenetic behavior): predictable & sterotyped behaviors that are innate & immutable

Modal Action Patterns (MAP)

(type of phylogenetic behavior):

• updated term for FAP

• does NOT account for variation within & across species

• implies flexibility rather rigid genetic control

Unconditioned Reflexes

An unconditioned stimulus (US) elicits an unconditioned response (UR) & occurs w/o prior learning (ex. jumping to a loud noise)

Threshold

Certain level must be passed for a reflec to happen

Intensity / Magnitude

As intensity of the US increases, so does the magnitude of the UR

Latency

As intensity of the US increases, the latency to the UR decreases

Habituation

Decrease in an UR following rapid repeated exposure to an US (ex. gets startled at the first 3 thunder sounds, but 4th thunder, no startle response)

Ontogenetic Behavior

behavior learned by experience during a lifetime (ex. rooting reflex in newborns)

Respondent Conditioning

1. previously neutral stimulus (NS) is paired

2. w/ an unconditioned stimulus (US)

3. result NS becoming a conditioned stimulus (CS)

4. that elicits a conditioned response (CR = are learned & ontogenetic origin)

What makes a stimulus (CS & US) more effective?

• a more intense stimulus

• ex. hard dog bite vs. nip

What makes a conditioning stronger?

more pairings with stimulus during respondent acquisition

What makes a conditioning weaker?

• prior exposure to neutral stimulus (NS) before pairing

• ex. multiple exposures to a dog before being bitten

The more regularly the US follows the CS...

... the stronger the conditioning

Higher-order Conditioning

1. neutral stimulus (NS) is paired

2. w/ an already-established conditioned stimulus (CS₁)

3. resulting in the NS becoming a conditioned stimulus (CS₂)

4. that elicits the conditioned response (CR)

Respondent Extinction

Repeated presentation of the CS w/o presenting the US therefore CS eventually no longer elicits the CR

Spontaneous Recovery

The CS elicits the CR AFTER extinction & disappears if US not presented

Drug Overdose (example)

body becomes conditioned to drug dosage in a single location

Weight Gain (example)

in the presence of sugar (US) your body begins to break down sugar (UR)

Phobias / Anxiety

fear is composed of respondent & operant behavior

Respondent Behavior to Phobias

automonic arousal responses:

• rapid heart rate

• increased muscle tension

• rapid breathing

• sweating

Operant Behavior to Phobias

escape or avoidance from anxiety-provoking stimuli (ex. person w/ phobia of dogs avoid dogs)

Behavioral Intervention for Phobias

combination of:

• counterconditioning

• respondent extinction

• habituation

Counterconditioning

condition fear-eliciting stimuli to produce responses opposite of autonomic arousal

Graduated Exposure / Systematic Desensitization

gradual exposure to a hiearchy of fear-provoking stimuli which practices relaxation in the presence of it thus resulting in respondent extinction (ex. exposed to dog multiple times to cease the same fear response)

Flooding

client is exposed to the feared stimulus at full intesnity until fear subsides resulting in respondent extincition

Associative strength

• the relation between the CS and the magnitude of the CR

• increases over conditioning trials & reaches some max. level

Rescorla–Wagner model

Model of respondent conditioning is that a conditioned stimulus (CS) acquires the limited amount of associative strength on any one trial

Backward Conditioning

The US comes on & goes off before the CS comes on (US followed by CS) but is unreliable (ex. place food in a dog's mouth & ring a bell, but bell does not produce a conditioned response)

Blocking

a previously-learned thought process prevents or delays the learning and conditioning of new behavior

Blocking (Example)

if a dog is repeatedly exposed to a tone (the first conditioned stimulus, CS1), together with food (the unconditioned stimulus, US), the dog salivates when the tone is presented (conditioned response, CR)

Compound Stimuli

a stimulus comprising two or more simple stimuli that occur at the same time.

Overshadowing

A decrease in conditioning with one conditioned stimulus because of the presence of another conditioned stimulus

Respondent Acquisition

The increase in the conditioned response (CR) to the presentation of the conditioned stimulus (CS)

Respondent discrimination

The ability to distinguish between one stimulus and similar stimuli

Respondent discrimination (example)

Being able to tell the difference between the bell tone and other similar sounds

Simultaneous conditioning

Temporal arrangement where the CS & US are presented at the same time but produces a weaker conditioned response

Delayed conditioning

Temporal arrangement where the CS precedes the US briefly

Trace conditioning

Temporal arrangement where the CS is presented for a brief period, on & off, and after some time the US occurs (comes from idea of "memory trace")

Conditioned response (CR)

the learned response to the previosly neutral stimulus

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

a substitute stimulus that triggers the same response in an organism as an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned suppression

A procedure that leads to a decrease in operant behavior while the conditioned aversive is present (ex. a rat may be trained to press a lever to receive food)

Conditioned Taste Aversion (CTA)

A learned association of taste and visceral distress

Conditioned Taste Aversion (CTA) (Example)

If you ate sushi for lunch and then became ill, you might avoid eating sushi in the future, even if it had no relationship to your illness

Conditioned Place Preference (CPP)

When a subject comes to prefer one place more than others because the preferred location has been paired previously with rewarding events

Conditioned Place Preference (Example)

In trials testing drugs of abuse, if the animal experiences the initial pleasurable effects of the drug while in the conditioning context, the result will likely be conditioned place preference.

First-order conditioning (respondent conditioning)

Association is formed between a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) that are directly paired together

Generalization gradient (respondent)

Occurs when an organism shows a conditioned response (CR) to values of the conditioned stimulus (CS) that were not trained during acquisition. It's the function (graph) that relates values of the CS (loudness of tone) to a measure of response strength (amount of CR)

Latent inhibition

The animal’s learning of the CS–US relation is reduced or inhibited by pre-exposure of the CS, revealed by an acquisition test following the conditioning phase.

Law of intensity–magnitude

As the intensity of an unconditioned stimulus (US) increases, so does the magnitude or size of the unconditioned response (UR)

Law of latency

As the intensity of the unconditioned stimulus (US) increases, the latency (time to onset) of the unconditioned response (UR) decreases.

Law of the threshold

the lowest point at which a particular stimulus will cause a response in an organism

Primary laws of the reflex

1. the law of the threshold

2. the law of intensity–magnitude, and

3. the law of the latency These laws govern the US → UR relationship.

Salience (S)

The (S) of various CSs, the current strength of the US (A), the strength of the association between the various CS and the US (V) and the total learned association between all of the present CS and the US (V sum).

Tolerance (to a drug)

When more of a drug (US) is needed to obtain the same drug effects (UR)

Unconditioned Stimulus & Response (US & UR)

All organisms are born with a set of reflexes (US → UR)

US-pre-exposure effect

A procedure where animals are first given repeated exposures to the US by itself and then a series of CS → US pairings (conditioning). Compared to animals given pairings with a novel US, those familiar with the US (pre-exposed) show weaker and slower conditioning on the acquisition test.

phylogenetic and ontogenetic selection

Ontogeny refers to the development of an organism while phylogeny refers to how the organisms have evolved.

ontogenetic behaviors

The elaboration and perfection of behavior as an individual grows up (Ex. children's tendencies to overestimate their abilities.)

Respondent generalization

When an organism shows a conditioned response to values of the CS that weren't trained during acquistion

Respondent Generalization (Example)

If a student learns how to zip up their jacket and then is able to zip up their backpack, then the skill of using a zipper has been generalized

Relaxation Training

Often is used in conjunction with systematic desensitization, a procedure designed to lower fear or anxiety toward a specific stimulus (or stimuli) by pairing the feared stimulus or thoughts of the feared stimulus with relaxation.

Spontaneous Recovery (Example)

A trainer teaches a dog to sit by associating the command “Sit” with food. So the dog learns to sit whenever the trainer says the word. But after the trainer stops giving it food, the dog gradually stops responding to the command. Days later, the trainer tries again, and the dog sits again.