Module 7: Learning

instincts and reflexes

innate (unlearned) behaviours that organisms are born with. 

Reflexes 

a motor or neural reaction to a specific stimulus in the environment. involves the activity of specific body parts and systems and involve more primitive centres of the central nervous system

instincts 

innate behaviours that are triggered by a broader range of events, such as maturation and the change of seasons. more complex patterns of behaviour, involve movement of the organism as a whole and involve higher brain centres

sucking reflex,

reflex present at birth

learning 

a relatively permanent change in behaviour or knowledge that results from experience.

of conscious and unconscious processes.

learning involves a complex interaction of what

Associative learning 

occurs when an organism makes connections between stimuli or events that occur together in the environment

classical conditioning

a process by which we learn to associate stimuli and, consequently, to anticipate events.

operant conditioning

organisms learn, again, to associate events—a behaviour and its consequence (reinforcement or punishment).

Observational learning

the process of watching others and then imitating what they do

Physiologists

study the life processes of organisms, from the molecular level to the level of cells, organ systems, and entire organisms.

(1) unconditioned (unlearned) responses, or reflexes, and (2) conditioned (learned) responses.

Pavlov realized that an organism has two types of responses to its environment:

neutral stimulus (NS)

a stimulus that does not naturally elicit a response.

conditioned stimulus (CS)

a stimulus that elicits a response after repeatedly being paired with an unconditioned stimulus

the conditioned response (CR)

The behaviour caused by the conditioned stimulus is called

higher-order (or second-order) conditioning,

when the conditioned stimulus serves to condition another stimulus

second

It is hard to achieve anything above _____________-order conditioning.

acquisition

In classical conditioning, the initial period of learning is known as _____, when an organism learns to connect a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus.

five. others can take several hours, depending

Typically, there should only be a brief interval between presentation of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus, as little as _________ seconds

Taste aversion

you’ve been conditioned to be averse to a food after a single, bad experience.

Rescorla-Wagner model

a mathematical formula that could be used to calculate the probability that an association would be learned given the ability of a conditioned stimulus to predict the occurrence of an unconditioned stimulus and other factors

Fear conditioning

people associate cues (such as closed spaces, or a shopping mall) with panic or other emotional trauma. Here, rather than a physical response (like drooling), the CS triggers an emotion.

Extinction 

the decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus. there is a gradual weakening and disappearance of the conditioned response.

spontaneous recovery

the return of a previously extinguished conditioned response following a rest period

stimulus discrimination

When an organism learns to respond differently to various stimuli that are similar

stimulus generalization

when an organism demonstrates the conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the condition stimulus,

John B. Watson,

considered the founder of behaviourism.

Operant Conditioning

The target behaviour is followed by reinforcement or punishment to either strengthen or weaken it, so that the learner is more likely to exhibit the desired behaviour in the future.

classical conditioning is limited to existing behaviours that are reflexively elicited, and it doesn’t account for new behaviours

Skinner saw what about classical conditioning

 law of effect

behaviours that are followed by consequences that are satisfying to the organism are more likely to be repeated, and behaviours that are followed by unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated

Edward Thorndike

law of effect psychologist

Positive reinforcement

Something is added to increase the likelihood of a behaviour.

positive Punishment

Something is added to decrease the likelihood of a behaviour.

Negative reinforcement

Something is removed to increase the likelihood of a behaviour.

Negative punshment

Something is removed to decrease the likelihood of a behaviour.

shaping

we reward successive approximations of a target behaviour.

primary reinforcer

reinforcers that have innate reinforcing qualities. Organisms do not lose their drive for these things

Water, food, sleep, shelter, sex, and touch, among others

primary reinforcers [6]

secondary reinforcer

no inherent value and only has reinforcing qualities when linked with a primary reinforcer

one minute for each year of the child’s age

Rule of thumb for time out

continuous reinforcement

When an organism receives a reinforcer each time it displays a behaviour,

partial reinforcement

the person or animal does not get reinforced every time they perform the desired behaviour.

Fixed 

refers to the number of responses between reinforcements, or the amount of time between reinforcements, which is set and unchanging.

Variable

refers to the number of responses or amount of time between reinforcements, which varies or changes

Interval 

 means the schedule is based on the time between reinforcements

Ratio

means the schedule is based on the number of responses between reinforcements.

fixed interval reinforcement schedule

when behaviour is rewarded after a set amount of time. there is no point in exhibiting the behaviour when it will not be rewarded. is the least productive and the easiest to extinguish.

variable interval reinforcement schedule

the person or animal gets the reinforcement based on varying amounts of time, which are unpredictable.

 fixed ratio reinforcement schedule,

here are a set number of responses that must occur before the behaviour is rewarded. e better suited to optimize the quantity ,of output,

variable ratio reinforcement schedule

he number of responses needed for a reward varies. This is the most powerful partial reinforcement schedule., the point of extinction comes very slowly

insight

the sudden understanding of a solution to a problem.

Wolfgang Köhler

carefully observed what happened when he presented chimpanzees with a problem that was not easy for them to solve, such as placing food in an area that was too high in the cage to be reached.

 radical behaviorism.

Skinner was such a staunch believer that cognition didn’t matter that his ideas were considered:

Edward Tolman

studied the behaviour of three groups of rats that were learning to navigate through mazes

cognitive map

a mental picture of the layout of the maze

latent learning

learning that occurs but is not observable in behaviour until there is a reason to demonstrate it.

models

The individuals performing the imitated behaviour are called 

mirror neuron

Research suggests that this imitative learning involves a specific type of neurone, called a

1. You learn a new response. After watching your coworker get chewed out by your boss for coming in late, you start leaving home 10 minutes earlier so that you won’t be late.

2. You choose whether or not to imitate the model depending on what you saw happen to the model. Remember Naomi and their parent, Yao? When learning to surf, Naomi might watch how Yao pops up successfully on their surfboard and then attempt to do the same thing. On the other hand, Naomi might learn not to touch a hot stove after watching Yao get burned on a stove.

3. You learn a general rule that you can apply to other situations.

According to Lefrançois (2012) there are several ways that observational learning can occur:

live, verbal, and symbolic

Bandura identified three kinds of models:

a live model

demonstrates a behaviour in person

A verbal instructional

model does not perform the behaviour, but instead explains or describes the behaviour

A symbolic model

Model can be fictional characters or real people who demonstrate behaviours in books, movies, television shows, video games, or Internet sources

attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation

Bandura described specific steps in the process of modelling that must be followed if learning is to be successful:

vicarious reinforcement.

If you saw that the model was reinforced for their behaviour, you will be more motivated to copy them.

vicarious punishment.

if you observed the model being punished, you would be less motivated to copy them.

Prosocial (positive) models

Models can be used to encourage socially accptable behaviour