Chapter 6 Psychology

Learning

Learning

• a process by which behaviour or knowledge changes as a result of experience

  • We learn through forming associations

Classical conditioning

a form of associative learning in which an organism learns to associate a neutral stimulus with a biologically relevant stimulus which results in a change in the response to the previously neutral stimulus

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

a stimulus that elicits a reflexative response without learning

Unconditioned response (UR)

a reflexative, unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

a once neutral stimulus that later elicits a conditioned response because it has a history of being paired with an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned response (CR) 

the learned response that occurs to the conditioned stimulus 

Acquisition 

the initial phase of learning in which a response is established - the phase in which a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with the US

Extinction

the reduction of a conditioned response when a conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus no longer occur together

Spontaneous recovery

the reoccurrence of a previously extinguished conditioned response, typically after some time has passed since extinction

Stimulus generalization

a process in which a response that originally occurred for a specific stimulus also occurs for different, though similar, stimulus

Discrimination

occurs when an organism learns to respond to one original conditioned stimulus but not to new stimuli that may be similar to the original stimulus

Conditioned emotional responses 

consist of emotional and physiological responses that develop to a specific object or situation

Aversion 

involves both a feeling of disgust and a withdrawal or avoidance response

Conditioned taste aversion

• an aquired dislike or disgust for a food or drink because it was paired with illness

  • Taste aversions are learned very quickly - a single CS-US pairing leading to illness is typically sufficient

Preparedness

• a biological predisposition to rapidly learn a response to a particular class of stimuli 

Latent inhibition

occurs when frequent experience with a stimulus before it is paired with a US makes it less likely that conditioning will occur after a single episode of illness

Evaluative conditioning

• experimenters pair a stimulus with either a positive or negative which causes participants to develops negative or positive feelings towards that stimulus

  • Sound with visual, auditory, olfactory (smell), taste, and tactile (touch) stimuli

Third-person effect

where people assume that other people are more affected by advertising and mass media messages than they themselves are

Conditioned drug tolerance

a response where over time, more of the drug will be needed to override these preparatory responses so that the desired effect can be obtained

Operant conditioning

a type of learning in which behaviour is influenced by consequences

Contingency

a consequence depends upon an action

Reinforcement 

a process in which an event or reward that follows a response increases the likelihood of that response occurring again

Law of effect

the idea that responses followed by satisfaction will occur again in the same situation, whereas those that are not followed by satisfaction become less likely

Reinforcer

a stimulus that is contingent upon a response and that increases the probability of that response occurring again

Punishment

a process that decreases the future probability of a response

Punisher

a stimulus that is contingent upon a response, and that results in a decrease in behaviour

Reinforcement

increases the chances of behaviour occurring again

Punishment

decreases the chances of behaviour occurring again

Positive

a stimulus is added to a situation

Negative

a stimulus is removed from a situation

Positive reinforcement

the strengthening of behaviour after potential reinforcers such as praise, money, or nourishment follow that behaviour

Negative reinforcement 

involves the strengthening of a behaviour because it removes or diminishes a stimulus

Avoidance learning

a specific type of negative reinforcement that removes the possibility that a stimulus will occur (ex. Paying bills on time to avoid a fee)

Escape learning 

occurs if a response removes a stimulus that is already present (ex. Covering your ears to avoid loud music)

Positive punishment 

a process in which a behaviour decreases in frequency because it was followed by a particular, usually unpleasant stimulus

Negative punishment 

occurs when a behaviour decreases because it removes or diminishes a particular stimulus

Shaping

reinforcing successive approximations of a specific operant response

Chaining

involves linking together two or more shaped behaviours into a more complex sequence of actions

Applied behaviour analysis (ABA)

involves using close observation, prompting, and reinforcement to teach behaviours (ex. Explaining how to clear dishes from the table to a child with autism)

Primary reinforcers

consist of reinforcing stimuli that satisfy basic motivational needs - needs that affect a persons ability to survive or reproduce (ex. Reinforcing food, water, shelter, sex stimuli)

Secondary reinforcers

• consist of stimuli that acquire their reiforcing effects only after we learn that they have value

  • Cause dopamine to be released in parts of the basal ganglia as well as the medial regions of the frontal lobes 

nucleus accumbens

becomes activated during the processing of all kinds of rewards, including primary ones like having sex, eating, cocaine, cigarettes, etc

Discriminative stimulus

a cue or event that indicates that a response, if made, will be reinforced (ex. Asking mom to drive because shes in a good mood)

Extinction

the weakening of an operant  response when reinforcement is no longer available

Reward devaluation

when a reward is no longer valued (ex. $100 is a lot to a student but not much to a high paid doctor)

Schedules of reinforcement

rules that determine when reinforcement is available

Continuous reinforcement 

every response made results in reinforcement

Partial/intermittent reinforcement

when only a certain number of responses are rewarded, or a certain amount of times must pass before reinforcement is available

Ratio scheduling

reinforcements are based on the amount of responding

Interval schedule

reinforcements are based on the amount of time between reinforcements

Fixed schedule

the schedule of reinforcement remains the same over time

Variable schedule

the schedule of reinforcement varies from reinforcement to reinforcement 

Fixed-ratio schedule

reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been completed (ex. Rat must press lever 10 times for food)

Variable-ratio schedule

the number of responses required to receive reinforcement varies according to an average (ex. Different trials will have different amounts - in one study a rat needs 10 lever pushes, in another only 4)

Fixed-interval schedule

reinforces the first responses occurring after a set amount of time passes (ex. Exams every 4 weeks, your reinforcement for studying is on a fixed-interval schedule)

Variable-interval schedule

when the first response is reinforced following a variable amount of time

Partial reinforcement effect 

refers to a phenomenon in which organisms that have been conditioned under partial reinforcement resist extrinction longer than those conditioned under continuous reinforcement