Ap Pysch Learning Theory Assessment (3.7a, 3.7b, 3.8a, 3.8b, 3.9)

Learning

The process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Habituation

Decreasing resposiveness with repeated stimulation

Associative learning: classical conditioning & operant conditioning

Associative learning: learning through certain events that occur together. The events may be two stimuli in classical condition or a response and its consequence in operant conditioning

Classical Conditioning: A learning process where we learn to associate to stimuli and thus to antipate events. Automatically show behavior that is indicitative of the thing coming

Operant conditioning: learn to associate our behavior with a consequnce, avoid acts that are followedby bad results and vice versa.

Cognitive learning (different from conditioning)

The acquistion of mental information, whether by observing events by watching others, or throug language.

Classical Conditioning – associative learning – stimulus- response

Classical conditioning is a type of associative learning where you connect two things. This creates a stimulus-response pattern where one thing causes a reaction.

Respondent behavior

Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to a stimulus, particularly in classical conditioning. It is involuntary and is usually a reflexive action linked to a specific stimulus.

Behaviorism – behavioral perspective

The view that pyschology should be an objective science that studies behavior without refrence to mental proceses. Most research pyuschologits today agree with objective science but not with not studying mental processes

Pavlov’s experiment with dog salivating to bell

A famous study that demonstrated classical conditioning, where a dog learned to associate the sound of a bell with food, leading to salivation in response to the bell alone.

Terms: UCS unconditioned stimulus, UCR unconditioned response, CS conditioned stimulus,CR conditioned response, NS neutral stimulus

In Pavlovs experiment

UCS Unconditioned stimulus: Food

UCR Unconditioned response: Salivation

CS Conditioned stimulus: Bell CR Conditioned response: Salivation in response to bell

NS Neutral stimulus: Means that the bell has no preemptive meaning to the dog before the experiment

Acquisition – must present CS BEFORE the US

If the UCS was before the CS it is likely that conditioning would not occur becuase the whole point is that we are trying to predict the thing which comes next. Acquisition refers to the initial stage of learning when an organism learns to associate the conditioned stimulus (CS) with the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). It is crucial that the CS is presented before the UCS to effectively establish this association.

Extinction – stop pairing US and CS

Definition: Extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus (CS) is presented without the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) over time, leading to a decrease in the conditioned response (CR). This process demonstrates that the learned association between the CS and UCS can diminish when reinforcement is removed.

Generalization, Discrimination, Spontaneous Recovery

Generalization:responding the same way to similar stimuli.

Discrimination:learning to respond only to one specific stimulus.

Recovery:a learned response suddenly comes back after it seemed to disappear.

Watson’s Experiment with Little Albert (fear of white rat)

In John B. Watson’s experiment, a baby named Little Albert was shown a white rat and was not scared at first. Watson then paired the rat with a loud, scary noise, which naturally made Albert cry. After repeating this several times, Albert began to feel fear when he saw the rat alone. This showed that fear can be learned through classical conditioning, and Albert even started to fear similar white, fluffy objects.

Biological constraints

natural limits on learning, meaning organisms are more likely to learn behaviors that help them survive. For example, animals learn fears or associations that are useful in nature more easily than ones that are not.

Preparedness

organisms are naturally ready to learn certain associations more easily because they help survival (like fearing dangerous animals).

Taste aversion response

a learned dislike of a food after it makes you sick, even if it only happens once.

Law of effect

Coined by Thorndike. Rewarded behaviors tend to recur

Instrumental learning (Thorndike) early version of operant conditioning (mazes)

Thorndike found that behaviors followed by rewards are repeated, and behaviors followed by punishment are avoided (Law of Effect), tested through cats in puzzle boxes and rats in mazes. Skinner later built on this to develop operant conditioning.

B.F. Skinner – Operant Conditioning

Skinner showed that behavior is shaped by its consequences — reinforcement increases a behavior, punishment decreases it. He used a "Skinner box" to test how different reinforcement schedules affected response rates, making it the foundation of behavior modification.

Acquisition – feedback must occur immediately after the behavior in the form of reinforcement or punishment.

Learning occurs fastest when reinforcement or punishment happens immediately after the behavior, before the connection fades.

Skinner Box – lever press

A controlled environment used by B.F. Skinner to study operant conditioning where animals, typically rats or pigeons, learn to perform specific behaviors (like pressing a lever) to receive rewards or avoid penalties.

Discriminative stimulus

in operant conditioning a stmulus that elicits a respnse after association with reinforcement

Positive reinforcement , Negative reinforcement, Positive punishment, Negative punishment

Positive reinforcement: Adds a desirable stimulus

Negative reinforcement:removes an aversive stimulus

Positive punishment: Administers an aversive stimulus

negative punishment: withdraw a rewarding stimulus

REINFORCEMENT IS ALWAYS STRENGTHENS BEHAVIOR

PUNISHMENT DESCRESES A BEHVAIOR

Negative side effects of punishment

Punishment may lead to unintended negative outcomes such as increased aggression, avoidance behavior, or a negative emotional response. It can also damage the therapist-client relationship or diminish intrinsic motivation.

Primary and secondary reinforcer (token economy)

Primary reinforcer: A stimulus that satisfies a biological need, such as food or water. Secondary reinforcer: A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with primary reinforcers, like money or tokens in a token economy.

Shaping

A technique in operant conditioning that involves gradually guiding behavior towards the desired goal by reinforcing successive approximations of the behavior.

Comparison of Classical and Operant Conditioning – reflexes vs voluntary behavior

Classical conditioning focuses on involuntary, reflexive behaviors triggered by associating a neutral signal with a natural response (like salivating at a bell). In contrast, operant conditioning deals with voluntary, goal-directed behaviors that are shaped by the consequences, such as rewards or punishments, that follow an action. Simply put: classical is about reacting to your environment, while operant is about acting upon it to get a result.

Partial schedules of reinforcement: fixed ratio, fixed interval, variable interval, and variable ratio (BEST)

Fixed Ratio:Reinforcement occurs after a set number of responses (e.g., a "buy 10, get 1 free" coffee card).

Variable Ratio:Reinforcement occurs after an unpredictable number of responses (e.g., a slot machine). This is the "BEST" and strongest schedule because it produces the highest rate of responding and is the most resistant to extinction.

Fixed Interval:Reinforcement occurs after a set amount of time has passed (e.g., a paycheck every Friday).

Variable Interval: Reinforcement occurs after an unpredictable amount of time (e.g., checking your phone for a text).

Continuous reinforcement

occurs when a reward is given every single time the desired behavior is performed, making it the fastest way to teach a new habit but the quickest to fade once the rewards stop.

Overjustification effect

occurs when an external incentive, such as money or prizes, decreases a person's intrinsic motivation to perform a task they already enjoyed doing for its own sake.

Applications of operant conditioning

Operant conditioning is applied in education and animal training through token economies and shaping to reward desired actions. It is also used in therapy and the workplace to modify behavior using reinforcement schedules, such as bonuses or behavior intervention plans.

Biological constraints

biological constaints predispose organisms to learn associations that are naturally adpaptive

Cognition’s influence on conditioning

Modern psychology recognizes that learning isn't just "autopilot" associations; it involves mental processes like expectations and interpretations. For example, if a bell rings but the food only appears half the time, your brain calculates the predictability of the reward rather than just reacting reflexively.

Cognitive map

A mental representation of one’s physical environment (e.g., mentally "seeing" the layout of your house to find the kitchen in the dark). RATS in maze

Latent learning

Learning that occurs without an immediate reward but isn't demonstrated until there is an incentive to use it (e.g., a teen knowing the route to the store despite never driving there themselves).

Insight learning

A sudden "Aha!" moment where a solution to a problem appears all at once rather than through slow trial-and-error.

Observational Learning – Modeling (Bandura’s experiment with Bobo doll)

Albert Bandura showed that children who watched an adult beat up an inflatable doll were significantly more likely to imitate those exact aggressive actions.

Mirror neurons in frontal lobe – observational learning

Specialized neurons in the frontal lobe that fire both when you perform an action and when you observe someone else doing it, providing a biological basis for empathy and imitation.

Prosocial learning through observation – helping behavior

Modeling helping behavior or kindness (e.g., a child seeing their parent donate to charity is more likely to be generous).

Antisocial Behavior

Modeling harmful or aggressive actions.

Learning Violence through modeling (media) – correlation studies

Correlation studies suggest that heavy exposure to TV/media violence can lead to desensitization, where viewers become less sensitive to violence and less sympathetic to victims.