Unit 4 Psych

learning- definition, how it’s observed, what isn’t learning, cognitive learning

A relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience

• Documented through observed behavior

• Some things we call learning aren’t actually learning (walking is from maturation, not learning)

Cognitive learning: acquisition of mental info, whether by observing events, watching others, or through language

associative learning- 2 ways an organism can learn + which is associative, what is associative learning

We learn through experience and association.

• can learn without experiencing

Our mind naturally connects events that occur in sequence

• Linking two events that occur close together

• Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli or a response and its consequence (classical or operant)

Conditioning

Process of learning associations

Higher-order conditioning/second-order

 neutral stimulus becomes associated with a previously conditioned stimulus

• If tone becomes associated with food and causes salivation, a light that is associated with tone can cause CR, tends to be weaker than first-order

One-trial conditioning

single pairing of stimulus and response is enough to make association

Basic Idea, Classical vs Operant

C: Learning associations between events we do not control

O: Learning associations between our behavior and its consequences

Response, C vs O

C: Involuntary, automatic

O: Voluntary, operates on the environment

Acquisition, C vs O

C: associating events; NS becomes paired to UCS, becomes CS

O: associating a response with a consequence (reinforcer or punisher)

Extinction

C: CR decreases when CS is repeatedly presented alone

O: Responding decreases when reinforcement stops

Spontaneous Recovery, C vs O:

C: Reappearance, after a rest period, of a weakened CR

O: Reappearance, after rest period, of a weakend response

Generalization C v O

C: Tendency to respond to stimuli similar to CS

O: Responses learned in one situation occur in other, similar situations

Discrimination C v O

C: learning to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that do not signal a UCS

O: Learning that some responses, but not others, will be reinforced

Ivan Pavlov; interest, developed, identified

Interested in respondent behavior

Developed an objective process to study psychology

Identified a form of adapting universal to organisms

Dog classical conditioning

1. Before conditioning, notices dog drooling before eating

   1. Food is "unconditioned stimulus” (US) (haven’t done anything to food)

   2. Salivation is “unconditioned response” (UNR), natural response from dog

2. Can he get dog to respond to neutral stimulus (NS)? 

   1. NS is whistle/bell

   2. No conditioned response before conditioning

3. During conditioning (acquisition), associating triangle ring with the food

   1. NS presented w US, dog exhibits UNR

4. After conditioning

   1. Conditioned stimulus (CS) now that the dog has learned it

   2. Whistle/triangle (CS) leads to CR (conditioned response) of salivation w/o  food

UCS/US

Unconditioned stimulus

Stimulus untouched by experiment

UNR

Unconditioned response

Natural behavior, unlearned

CS

Conditioned stimulus

Stimulus when it has been learned, after association with US/UCS, trigger a CR

CR

Conditioned response

• Response to conditioned stimulus, learned response to previously neutral stimulus

acquisition

Learning, acquiring association process

Extinction

Losing the conditioned response

Diminished responding that occurs when the CS no longer signals an impending UCS.

spontaneous recovery

Response comes back after time w/o it, returns at lower level than acquisition

Reappearance of a weakened CR after a pause, suggest extinction suppresses the CR but doesn’t eliminate

stimulus discrimination

Learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus that predicts the UCS and other irrelevant stimuli

Discriminative stimulus

in operant conditioning, a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement (in contrast to related stimuli not associated with reinforcement), can be used to determine animals’ abilities/concepts

John Watson

Founded

Avoid/Disdain

Study

Belief believed today

Founder of behaviorism, focused on conditioning especially in children/babies

• Avoid inner thoughts, feelings, motives

• Disdain for mentalistic concepts like consciousness- not believe today

• Study how organisms respond to stimuli in their environment 

• Belief that basic laws of  learning were the same for all animals- believed today

Little Albert

Wet nurse at hospital (donor milk) allows baby to experimented on

Association of loud noise and fear

If US (loud noise) prompts UNR (fear), can he use NS (rats) to cause fear response?

Were able to make CS (rats) and CR to cry, avoid, fear

• Generalized from white rats to any animals or even stuffed animals

Human emotions and behaviors, though biologically influenced, are mainly a bundle of conditioned responses

taste aversion

Not liking food because of bad association

Can be classically conditioned

operant conditioning

We learn to associate a response (our behavior) and its consequences. Learn to repeat acts followed by good results, avoid acts followed by bad.

• Produce operant behaviors (operate on environment to produce consequences

• Doesn’t always occur separately btw operant/classical

BF Skinner

Very interested in learning to behave

Behavior that gets rewarded is likely to reoccur

Elaborated on law of effect, developed a behavioral technology that revealed principles of behavior control

Skinner box: Conditioning to associate auditory stimulus and light with no food

Accidentally push lever, now there’s food.

Thorndike’s Law of Effect

To get desired behavior, it needs to be positively reinforced right away

Principle that behaviors followed by favorable/reinforcing consequences become more likely and behaviors followed by unfavorable/punishing consequences become less likely

Tolman’s maze

• 1st maze, if you make it through to the end you get food immediately

  • Rats quickly found fastest routes

• 2nd maze, if you make it through after 11 days, you get food

  • Finishing maze at same rate as 3rd, some made it, some didn’t

  • On 11th day, after reinforcement, immediately started going through maze properly

• 3rd was control group

Shaping

Creating conditions to ‘shape’ behavior to result in a particular outcome

An operant conditioning, any even that strengthens the behavior it follows

 primary reinforcer

Rewards we need, like food

An innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need like eating or pain relief

secondary reinforcer

Rewards we want (stickers/stars)

A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer 

Also called conditioned reinforcer

positive reinforcement

Introduce a reinforcing stimulus following a specific behavior. Addition of something pleasurable

negative reinforcement

Strengthen a behavior that avoids or removes a negative consequence

• Taking something that’s harmful away after the right behavior is exhibited

positive punishment

Opposite of reinforcement

• Adding Unpleasant stimulus

  • Spanking

Why no physical punishment:

1. Punished behavior is suppressed, not forgotten. This temporary state may negatively reinforce parents’ punishing behavior. 

2. Physical punishment does not replace the unwanted behavior, no direction for appropriate behavior

3. Punishment teaches discrimination among situations. (ie, just not swearing in front of parents rather than at all)

4. Punishment can teach fear. Generalize to fearing the person or the environment (teacher or school, parent or home)

5. Physical punishment may increase aggression by modeling violence as a way to cope with problems. (modeling aggression) (could be correlation not causation)

negative punishment

Take away good thing/pleasant stimulus

cognitive map

Built of our spaces, learn things even if not reinforced, but won’t necessarily exhibit behavior unless reinforced.

latent learning

We’re constantly learning but don’t always exhibit until it atters, 

insight learning

Process where learning occurs via sudden solution, not a gradual process

learned helplessness

EX: dogs conditioned via constraining to be unable to move didn’t later escape shock when they could, dogs who hadn’t walked to the other side

extrinsic motivation vs intrinsic

Because of outcome that will result by doing the task

Because of the interest and enjoyment in the task itself

overjustification effect

Can document a shift between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

• If someone is rewarded for something regardless of how well they do it, they reduce reason to do it well 

• Effort lowers

Applied Behavior Analysis

Use principles of observational learning to teach new skills, reinforce helpful behaviors discourage harmful ones

 respondent behavior

Responding automatically to stimulus

Instinctive drift

the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns

operant behavior

Behavior that operates on the environment, producing a consequence

behaviorism

View that psychology should be 

1. an objective science that

2.  studies behavior without reference to mental processes. 

Most research psychologists agree with 1, not 2.

preparedness

Biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between nausea and taste, that have survival value

reinforcement schedules

A pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforce

Immediate vs Delayed reinforcers

animals with delayed rewards, sometimes longer than 30s, won’t learn to associate the behavior and rewards. Humans can perceive delayed rewards, and studies have shown better delayed gratification leads to higher achievement later in life

Superstitious behavior:

 developed by accidental timing of rewards during an unwanted behavior

 continuous reinforcement- extinction

Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Associated with rapid extinction (once the reinforcement stops, the organism quickly stop the behavior)

partial reinforcement

Reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

fixed-ratio schedule

In operant conditioning, partial reinforcement/reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

variable-ratio schedule

In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

fixed-interval schedule

In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed, results in scallop shaped behavior graph when behavior increases as the anticipated time approaches

variable-interval schedule

In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

*behavior is more consistent on an interval schedule

*response rates are higher on a ratio schedule

observational learning

A form of cognitive learning,  lets us learn from others' experiences. EX, one animal sees another animal solve puzzle and get food, perform skill more quickly

modeling

Process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

mirror neurons

Modeling and doing fire similar neurons, observing brain is capable of learning via observation

elements of observational learning

1. Attention

2. Memory

3. Imitiation

   1. At some point, observing organism must be given opportunity to imitate

4. Motivation

Albert Bandura

Bobo doll experiment, modeling aggression -> aggressive behaviors in children

prosocial behaviors

Positive, constructive, helpful behavior

antisocial behaviors

Negative, destructive, harmful behavior

language

Agreed-upon set of spoken/written/signed word used to communicate meaning

phoneme

Smallest distinctive sound- That-> th, a, t

morpheme

Smallest unit that carries meaning, may be a word or part of word

Readers- read, er, s

grammar

A system of language rules that enable us to communicate with and understand others.

Universal grammar

humans’ innate predisposition to understand the principles and rules that govern grammar in all languages

 semantics

Grammatical rules to guide us to derive meaning from sounds

Semanticity

Use of arbitrary/nonarbitrary signals to transmit meaningful messages, with relatively fixed associations between certain signals and what they represent.

ignoring sounds that do not usually convey meaning in language

Arbitrariness

no inherent connection between a symbol and the thing it conveys

Flexibility of symbols

we’re constantly changing the connection between a symbol and thing it conveys

Naming

 assigning names to things

Displacement

we can talk about the past and future, reference people doing things not in the immediate vicinity 

Productivity

we generate/create sentences, we don’t repeat language

Implicit, nondeclarative, procedural

 thinking in pictures

syntax

Grammatical rules guiding us in deriving meaning from ordering words into sentences

Word order, organization (like in english, subject-verb-object)

babbling stage

Beginnings of productive language, before babies speak, they sample on the sounds they can make. Around 10 months, their babbling mimics their first language. Babies of signers will sign-babble. Babies lose the ability to distinguish sounds not in their home language. 

The stage in speech development, beginning around 4 months, during which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds that are not all related to the household language

one-word stage

Stage in speech development from age 1-2 ~ when a child speaks in mostly single words

two-word stage, word learning rate, grammar + word order

The stage in speech development beginning about age 2, during which a child speaks mostly in 2-words sentences

Word explodes from word a week to a day

• Overgeneralize grammar rules

• Start using proper word order

telegraphic speech

The early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram— “go car” —using mostly nouns and verbs

aphasia

Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding)

Broca’s area

A frontal lobe brain area, usually in the left hemisphere

Helps control language expression by directing the muscle movements involved in speech

Wernicke’s area

A brain area, usually in the left temporal lobe, involved in language comprehension and expression

linguistic determinism

Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think

Language we’re using determines our reality

linguistic relativism

The idea that language influences the way we think, rather than determining

• Doublespeak (William Lutz)

Language designed to make us think a certain way using deceptive, evasive language

Euphemism

Used to avoid a harsh or unpleasant reality

Jargon

A trade’s specialized language

Gobbledygook/bureaucratese

Overwhelm audience with long sentences, obfuscate meaning

Inflated Language

Making the ordinary seem extraordinary