CH 6: BASICS OF LEARNING

Learning shapes…

who we are and how we behave

Define learning

a change in behavior, knowledge, or skills because of experience

all animals learn and is necessary for survival

learning happens all throughout life even before birth

Define non-associative learning

learning from experiencing the same thing repeatedly

having no a can make you not know how to experience is

Give an example of non-associative learning

getting used to a loud noise (habituation)

Define Classical Conditioning

learning by connecting two things together, building associations

very simple type of learning that can happen before birth

happens everyday and we learn to connect certain things with emotions or memories based on past experiences

Give an example of classical conditioning

Dog drolls with a sound of a bell

Define Operant Conditioning

learning through consequences

operant= operation guy

Define social/observational learning

learning by watching/ copying others

Give example of social/observational learning

learning a dance by watching someone else

Pavlov experiment

studied saliva production in dogs and noticed dogs will salivate before meat powder was presented

designed experiment to confirm observation

dogs naturally drool when food is shown —> Pavlov repeatedly rings bell for food —> dog connects bell with food

Define UCS (unconditioned stimulus) and example

something that naturally causes reaction without learning

dog seeing meat

Define UCR (unconditioned response) and example

natural, automatic, reaction that doesn’t need to be learned

dog drooling seeing meat

Define CS (conditioned stimulus) and example

something that originally meant nothing but now causes a reaction through learning

sound of bell

Define CR (conditioned response) and example

a learned reaction to something

dog drooling over sound of bell

What are the 3 things that can make learning associations easier?

1. contiguity (timing)

2. contingency (strength of prediction)

3. novelty (new stimulus)

Define contiguity and example

timing

the CS occurs slightly/ same time as UCS and ends with shortly after UCS

the bell (CS) rings right before meat (UCS) is presented

Define contingency and example

strength of prediction

The CS predicts UCS. The UCS only occurs after CS

the meat (UCS) presented after bell (CS), so dog learns that bell predicts the food

Define novelty and example

new stimulus

a new/unfamiliar CS leads to faster associative learning because it has no previous associations

dog may learn to associate a new bell sound (CS) with meat (UCS) faster than familiar sound

Define biological preparedness

a psychology concept suggesting that humans and animals are naturally and genetically wired to learn certain life-saving associations much more easily than others

Define taste aversion

learning to dislike a food because it makes you sick

some stimuli are easier to associate with as CR than others

What is the Garcia’s Rat Experiment

rats learned to associate taste or smell with nausea more easily

rats had harder time associating light/sound with nausea

Define internal threats and example

easier to associate with internal stimuli

Things that make you feel sick or uncomfortable inside your body.

food poisioning

Define external threats and example

easier to associate with external stimulus

Things in your environment that could hurt or scare you.

seeing a snake

Define novel tastes (new flavors)

creates stronger associations

Tastes you've never experienced before.

trying sushi for first time

What is the Mineka Monkey Experiment

monkey raised in lab never saw snakes or flowers

they learned to fear snakes faster than flowers —> suggest primates (including humans) are biologically prepared to fear snakes

Define extinction and example

When CS is repeatedly presented without UCS, the CR gradually disappears

Pavlov repeatedly rings bell (CS) without giving meat (UCS), eventually dog will stop drooling (CR)

extinction doesn’t mean original association is forgotten, instead dog learns new response to bell —> spontaneous recovery shows that original associations still exist

Define spontaneous recovery and example

When CR returns after period of no exposure to CS

After dog stops drooling at bell, Pavlov waits a few days. When he rings bell again, dog starts drooling

Define discrimination and example

learning to respond to one specific CS, but not other stimuli similar

Pavlov’s dog learns that only a certain bell (CS) predicts meat (UCS), not every bell

Define generalization and example

when CR to one CS also occurs with other similar stimuli

a dog conditioned to drool at one bell also drools when hearing similar bells

What was the Watson Little Albert Experiment

little albert was conditioned to fear a white rat by pairing it with a loud noise

eventually the white rate (CS) caused fear (CR) on its own, his fear generalized to other furry stimuli

What did Thormaike and Skinner discover?

discovered that we learn from the consequences of our own actions in addition to associations in environment

basically, operant conditioning

Define reinforcement

a consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior happening again

Define positive reinforcement and example

adding something desirable to increase a behavior

giving money after someone does a jumping jack

Define negative reinforcement and example

removing something unpleasant to increase behavior

taking out heavy things in a backpack when they get closer to behavior

Define punishment

a consequence that decreases the likelihood of behavior happening again

Define positive punishment and example

adding something unpleasant to decrease behavior

saying bad

Define negative punishment and example

removing something desirable to decrease behavior

eating someones favorite snack when they’re doing something bad

What did Skinner believe about reinforcement and punishment

reinforcement is generally better than punishment, especially positive punishment

positive punishment can have unintended consequences like fear and anxiety

Define shaping and example

reinforcing small steps that gradually get closer to desired behavior

treats for each movement of dog rolling over

Define overjustification effect

rewarding behavior that someone already enjoys can decrease natural interest in doing it

What was the Marker Study

Preschool children enjoy drawing, children expected and received rewards for drawing became less intended in drawing in their freetime

Define primary reinforcers and example

stimuli that are naturally reinforcing because they satisfy basic/biological needs

sweet treats

Define secondary reinforcers and example

stimuli that become reinforcing through learned associations

money, graders, clicker for animals

Define continuous reinforcement and example

reinforcing behavior every time it occurs (best for initial learning) leads to faster learning, has low resistance to extinction

giving a puppy a treat every time it goes to bathroom outside

Define partial reinforcement and example

reinforcing behavior only some of the time (can lead to greater resistance to extinction)

giving puppy a treat only sometimes when it goes outside

Define variable schedule and example

reinforcement occurs after an unpredictable number of response (leads to greater resistance to exctinction)

gambling, you never know which attempt will result in a wain, so you keep playing

Define partial random reinforcement

behavior reinforced unpredictability, only some of the time

leads to slower learning, has high resistance to extinction

What would happen with random reinforcement schedule?

because rewards are unpredictable, organisms keeps repeating behavior hoping for another

even when reinforcement stops, behavior continues because organism is used to not receiving every time

habituation and example

when you stop reacting to something because you’ve been exposed to it so many times

brain naturally pays attention to new things but if something dangerous/ not useful, you learn to tune it out

What is the difference between habituation and sensory adaptation

difference is sensory adpatation you can still see hear, and feel stimulus when jhabituation is you stop responding to it because its unimportant

Define dishabituation and example

when you brain snaps back to attention because something familiar shifted

bird goes quiet, animal noitices, and thinks predator is nearby

What did scientists figure out when studying Aplysia

first touch gills it pulls bacl

10 touches it is habituated

tuned out for 2-3 hours

if process is repeated, they may stay habituated for weeks

Define sensitization and example

when your reaction to things get stronger after you experience something intense

usually happens with stimuli that matter

you smell something burning while studying so you start sniffing more carefully

one strong experience makes you more alert and reactive to everything around you (hypersensitive)

Who is Eric Kandel

found that learning happens when brain cells change how much a chemical (NT) they send to eachother

less signals= you start ignoring (habituation)

more signals= sensitzation

timing in learning

learning works best when two things happen close together in time

intensity in learning

stronger/more meaningful signals lead to better learning

a reward you really care about or powerful reaction to stimulus makes association stick faster

Define equipotentially

The idea that different things have an equal ability or potential to be learned

but later, others found out that biology and evolution also shapes how we learn and cant

conditioned taste aversion

getting sick from a food teaches animals ti avoid it in the future

more likely to stick with foods new or unusually for you

link can be strong and it only takes one bad experience to avoid that food forever

animals that learned to avoid foods that made them ill were likely to survive and stronger offspring

Marian and Keller Breland with racoon

found out through racoon and coin experiment that animals struggle to go against natural instinct, animals biology is stronger than learned behavior

started rubbing coin together

Psychologist Robert Boles

argued that animals are born with built in reactions to dangers

training works best when lined up with natural instincts

Define biological preparedness

idea that animals are born “pre-wired” to fear things that actually hurt them

studies show people associate negatives with outgroup members and those are harder to unlearn

Define dopamine

brain uses this chemical to process rewards

makes you feel rewarded and help you learn to repeat behavior

Define nucleus accumbers

reward center, when you enjoy something this area releases

you release more dopamine when you are deprived of something

Define wanting

urge/craving to have something

Define liking

actual pleasure you feel when you get it

Define prediction error

describe the gap between what you expected to happen versus what actual happens

Dopamine neurons

brain cells that fire when we experience something rewarding

Describe the steps of dopamine neurons

Step 1: Surprise Reward- Thirsty monkeys were given unexpected juice (US)

• released a lot of dopamine this is called positive prediction error

Step 2: Learning the signal- Monekys were conditioned to predict arrival of juice (US) after presentation of light/tone (CS)

• once they learned this pattern, brain now releases dopamine when they saw light/ sound but not juice because juice was no longer a surprise

Step 3: Broken Promise- light and sound was shown (CS) but no juice called negative prediction error

Define positive prediction error

something good happens that the brain didnt predict

Define negative prediction error

they expected something good but it didnt happen

Explain the graphs of conditioned

Before conditioning: dopamine spikes at juice

After conditioning: dopamine spikes at light

After conditioning when US does not follow CS: dopamine spikes at light and then depletes at juice