AP Psych Unit 4

Classical Conditioning

One learns to associate two or more stimuli and anticipate events

Example of Classical Conditioning

Teaches one to prepare for good or bad developments once a certain stimuli has been received - sound, touch, etc.

Who discovered Classical Conditioning

Ivan Pavlov

Operant Conditioning

Idea that behaviors are strengthened and if followed by a reinforcer or diminished by a punisher

Who discovered Operant Conditioning

B.F. Skinner

Shaping

a procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior (example - rewarding dog for sitting down, then laying, then finally rolling over, can take several steps and/or progressions)

Positive reinforcement

giving the subject something it wants (food for example)

Negative reinforcement

taking away something the subject does not like or want (removing a collar or leash from a dog, for example)

Fixed Ratio

number of behaviors the organism must do to be rewarded is always the same - guaranteed by behavior

Example of Fixed Ratio

you get a free coffee for every 10 you buy at starbucks

Effect of Fixed Ratio on behavior

organism pauses briefly after reinforce before returning to a high rate of responding. better for high quality tasks.

Variable Ratio

The number of behaviors the organism must do to be rewarded changes each - not guaranteed by behavior

Example of Variable Ratio

You pull the lever to see if maybe this quarter will win you the jackpot

Effect on behavior of Variable Ratio

Better for low quality tasks. resistant to extinction.

Positive Punishment

the administering of an aversive stimulus (giving a traffic or speeding ticket, for example)

Negative Punishment

withdrawal of rewarding stimulus (take away driving privileges from a 16 year old, for example)

Extinction (in classical conditioning)

diminishing of a conditioned response following the conditioned stimulus

Extinction (in operant conditioning)

when a response is no longer enforced and the behavior fades

Observational Learning

internal meaning there are no consequences

Albert Bandura (toy clown experiment) (Observational Learning)

says learn by watching someone doing something

Modeling (Observational Learning)

imitating a certain behavior

Mirror Neurons (Observational Learning)

imitations + empathy

Semantic Memories (Observational Learning)

long term memories based off language not experience - effective in teaching children

prosocial/antisocial behavior (Observational Learning)

taken in by children/observers

Contingencies (Observational Learning)

something might or might not happen because of genetic/environmental factors

Insight learning (Unrealized learning)

suddenly come up with a solution (coming up with answer out of nowhere)

Emotional learning (Unrealized learning)

effectively learn to manage emotions

Latent Learning (Unrealized Learning)

occurs without realization until you need it

Self-Control (Behavior)

ability to control impulses, and weakens after exertion

Behavior Modification (Behavior)

changing behavior with reinforcer/punisher

Biofeedback (Behavior)

conscious moving of limbs without automatic function

Superstitious Behavior

accidentally rewarded and believe it to be true

Taste Aversion

bad experience with food leads to never eating specific food

John Garcia

developed taste aversion in rats for almost all foods after giving them radiation

Learned Helplessness

stop doing something because someone else will/you don’t want to

Edward Thorndike

law of effect

Robert Rescorla

contingency/classical conditioning

Edward Toleman (Motivation)

behavior is based on goals and purpose

Learned behavior

idea that all behavior is based on experience

Learning

process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors (i.e. habits, which take roughly 66 days to form)

Associative Learning

learning that certain events occur together

Behaviorism

field of psychology that believes should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes, ignoring cognitive learning

Cognitive Learning

learning through mental processes such as observation and language (i.e. watching or listening to an explanation to learn)

Neutral stimuli (NS)

a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Unconditioned response

natural response to stimuli, such as salivation

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

a stimulus that naturally and
automatically triggers a response

Conditioned response (CR)

a conditioned response to a
previously neutral stimulus

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

an originally irrelevant stimulus that, when paired with an unconditioned stimulus triggers a conditioned response

Ivan Pavlov Dog Experiment

Ivan Pavlov’s famous experiment taught a dog to salivate upon hearing a bell.

He essentially took the unconditioned (untaught) stimulus—the food—and noted its relationship to the unconditioned response—salivation. A bell, which merits no response
from the dog’s unconditioned salivation, was considered a neutral stimulus.

After feeding the dog several times immediately after the bell, Pavlov noted the previously neutral stimulus—the bell—became a conditioned stimulus. The bell now caused the dog to salivate, as the dog learned to anticipate food following the bell.

Salivating now became the conditioned response to the hearing of a bell

John Watson's Baby Albert Experiment

furthered behaviorism in humans with ‘Baby Albert’ experiments where conditioned a baby to cry/fear furry animals using a loud noise as the unconditioned stimulus

B.F. Skinner

pioneered new ideas that expanded the understanding of learned behavior and what Watson called Behaviorism

Reinforcement

an event that strengthens the behavior behind it, can be used as a reward to encourage behavior in animals and humans (example: teaching dog to sit by rewarding with a treat each time)

Punishment

an event that diminishes behavior behind it with an adverse consequence, can be used to discourage undesired behaviors in animals and humans (example: teach toddler not to scream in house by issuing a time out)

discriminative stimulus (operant conditioning)

the stimulus that elicits responses after association with a reinforcer (in the case of the dog, the discriminative stimulus is ‘roll over’)

primary reinforcers

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need (i.e., food/a treat)

secondary (conditioned) reinforcers

can be effective as they are linked or associated with primary reinforcers - primary reinforcer cannot be provided every time

example of secondary reinforcer

If you pair the treat with a ‘good boy,’ eventually the ‘good boy’ will be as good of a reward as the treat, thus negating the need for a primary reinforcer every time

Primary reinforcer

Money or tokens for humans that can be exchanged for primary reinforcers

Acquisition - Classical Conditioning

when the neutral stimulus (NS) begins to trigger the conditioned response (CR)

Acquisition - Operant Conditioning

acquisition is achieved through the strengthening of a reinforced response

acquisition

when the subject is successfully anticipating after a stimulus or performing the desired behavior

Spontaneous recovery

the sudden reappearance of an extinguished CR, following a break or pause of the CS (randomly rolling over on command after no listening several times)

Generalization

subject may respond to a stimulus that seems similar, but is not the conditioned stimulus

Discrimination

the learned ability to distinguish between
a conditioned stimulus and stimulus that hears, looks, smells, feels, or tastes similar

High-order learning

One can also layer more stimuli by adding additionally conditioned stimuli to the already-existing conditioned stimulus.

practice

subjects and people can start to learn slowly
and easily with progressively fulfilling results along the way

Continuous reinforcement

reinforces a response every time the desired behavior occurs

Partial/Intermittent reinforcement

reinforces a response only part of the time

Fixed Interval

the amount of time between reinforcements is always the same

Variable Interval

the amount of time between reinforcements differs