psych 3.7-3.9 (2)

Learning

• permanent change in behavior or behavioral potential that is due to experience in the environment

Behaviorism

• learning and experience determine behavior

  • psych should focus on observable behavior and not unobservable thoughts

Habituation

• decreased response to a stimulus judged to be of little or no importance

• we focus on only the important

sensitization

• increased response to a stimulus when we are anticipating it is important

associative learning

• learning that 2 things go together

conditioning

• form of associative learning

  • specific pattern of behaviors is learned in the presence of well defined stimuli

classical conditioning

• learning by association —> a thing doesnt cause a reaction at first but starts to when its linked to something that does

• INVOLUNTARY

operant conditioning

• involves rewards and punishments

  • Behavior is more likely to happen if rewarded and less likely if punished

  • VOLUNTARY

neutral stimuli

cause no reaction form an audience

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

• naturally and automatically causes a specific response in an organism, no teaching is needed

  • going on walk makes dog excited naturally—> UCS = WALK

Unconditioned response-UCR

a natural response that happens without any learning

• taking your dog for a walk naturally excites them—> UCR= EXCITEMENT

conditioned stimulus - CS

when a previously neutral stimulus that is paired with a unconditioned stimulus which causes a LEARNED response

• everytime you take your dog on a walk you get the leash first. Now everytime you grab the leash the dog gets excited even though no walk occurs— ^{LEASH = CS}

conditioned response - CR

the learned response to a conditioned stimulus

• everytime you take your dog on a walk you get the leash first. Now everytime you grab the leash the dog gets excited even though no walk occurs—> CR= EXCITEMENT

generalization

• expanding response to stimuli to other stimuli that are similar

  • a baby is scared of a rat, now everytime it sees a cotton ball it gets scared

discrimination

• don’t respond to stimuli that are similar

extinction

• response to a CS disappears

spontaneous recovery

• response shows up again

• after extinction, it is not unusual to see the recurrence of the conditioned response

higher ordering conditioning

• layering on stimuli

  • once a neutral stimulus becomes conditioned, it may function as a unconditioned stimulus to elicit new learning

biological preparedness

• conditioned behaviors that work well organisms instinctive behaviors and are easy to train

  • phobias of snakes or spiders

contrapreparedness

other conditioned behaviors go against the organisms instinctive behaviors and are difficult or impossible to train

• phobia of chairs or tables

one trial conditioning

• only takes one time to learn a response

• ex- taste adversion

counterconditioning

pair something positive with an anxiety inducing stimulus

• a child is scared of a dog but everytime they see a dog they are given a treat

learning principle/law of effect

• if a behavior is reinforced, it is more likely to occur

• if a behavior is punished, it is less likely to occur

reinforcer

a stimulus or event that follows a behavior and makes that behavior more likely to occur

punisher

a stimulus or event that follows a behavior and makes that behavior less likely to occur again

positive reinforcement

• adds something rewarding after following a behavior making that behavior more likely to occur again

negative reinforcer

removes something unpleasant from the environment following a behavior making it more likely to occur again

primary reinforcer

• adds something intrinsically valuable to the organism

• in other words, naturally rewarding because it is a basic need

  • a student is given a snack after doing homework, since food naturally satisfies hunger, it reinforces the behavior of doing homework

secondary reinforcer

adds something with assigned value to the organism

• money

positive punishment

• adds something undesirable to decrease behavior

negative punishment

• removes something desirable to decrease a behavior

primary punishment

• method of decreasing behavior is directly threatening an organisms survival

  • beating a prisioner for trying to escape

secondary punishment

• method of decreasing behavior is undesirable but not life threatening

  • taking away a prisioner’ recreational privileges for trying to escape

shaping

• when behaviors are too complex to happen on their own

• shaping reinforces successive approximation to desired behavior

  • haley trying to sharpen the pencil. People clapped when she was close to the task.

instinctive drift

• an animals instinctive behavior returns slowly because it overrides learned behavior

part of effective operant conditioning

1. swift

   1. should occur as soon as possible after the behavior

2. certain

   1. should occur every time the behavior does

3. sufficient

   1. should be strong enough to be a deterrent

4. consistent

   1. should apply to all individual the same way

learned helplessness

• is when someone believes they have no control over a situation after repeatedly facing failure or discomfort, even when opportunities to improve are available

  • student fails multiple tests even tho they studied, so they stop trying thinking they will never do good

interval vs ratio schedules

interval- time based , reinforcement depends on the passing of time

ratio- action based, reinforcement depends of the number of responses made

fixed interval schedule

a reward is given after a specific amount of time passes, regardless of how many actions are taken

• a worker gets paid every friday, no matter how much work they have done

variable interval schedule

a reward is given after an unpredicted amount of time passes

• checking your phone for a text not knowing when youll get one.

fixed ratio schedule

a reward is given after a specific number of actions are completed

• a factory worker gets paid for every 10 items, no matter how long it takes

variable-ratio schedule

a reward where you win after an unpredictable number of actions completed

• gambling

insight learning

after thinking about a problem for a bit, you suddenly figure it out

latent learning

learning that occurs without immediate reinforcement or obvious signs, but is only demonstrated later when theres a reason to use it

• a person learns a route to a store while riding with someone but they dont realize they know the way until they need to go on their own.

cognitive mapping

creating a mental image or map of an environment or space to navigate it

social learning theory

what we learn from observing other people

modeling

process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

prosocial

positive, helpful, and cooperative behavior to benefit others in a society

• volunteering at a shelter

antisocial behavior

actions that harm or disregard others, often breaking social norms

• being rude, vandalizing property

vicarious conditioning

learning by seeing others experiences

• a child learns to fear a dog after seeing their sibling react fearfully to it

• Vicarious Punishment

  • (ex) if i see someone getting pulled over for speeding, i slow down

• Vicarious Reinforcement

  • (ex) if i see someone getting rewarded for cleaning up, i clean up

mirror neurons

• specialized neurons in the frontal lobe that not only fire when we are engaged in certain actions, but also when we watch others perform those actions

  • when someone else smiles the same neurons fire in your brain and you smile