Psych - Unit 3 Learning - Classical Conditioning

learning

a relatively permanent change in behavior or a change in behavior potential due to experience

behavioral perspective/behaviorism

middle finger on hand - objective science, focus on observable behaviors - doesn’t care about thinking, only about what you DO

how do we learn?

we learn by associations, learning certain events occur together - associative learning - EX. when someone sneezes, assume they may be sick

conditioning

process of learning associations

3 types of learning

classical conditioning, operant conditioning, cognitive observable

classical conditioning

pairing things together - EX. when you see lightning, often paired with thunder

operant conditioning

process of learning using rewards and punishments - EX. teaching a seal to balance a ball on its nose, using rewards and punishments

cognitive observable

the process of learning while observing - EX. WWE kids recreation after watching it

ivan pavlov

russian psychologist - worked with dogs

john b. watson

rats + babies experiment - father of behaviorism

neutral stimulus (NS)

produced no response - EX. having a teacher on your schedule you don’t know about

unconditioned stimulus (US/UCS)

stimulus that automatically and naturally triggers a response

unconditioned response (UR/UCR)

unlearned, naturally occurring response to the US/UCS - innate

conditioned stimulus (CS)

originally a neutral stimulus that after association w/ an US/UCS come to trigger a CR (ocnditioned response)

conditioned response (CR)

a learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus

formula for classical conditioning

NS + US = UR

CS = CR

pavlov’s experiment

part 1 : before conditioning - A: US (food) - UR (salivation) B: NS (bell) - no response

part 2 : during conditioning - NS (bell) + US (food) = UR (salivation) - repeated many times

part 3 : after conditioning- CS (bell) = CR (salivation)

notes : A - NS, and US has to be paired together very close (in time), or else variables may impact conditioning B - bell (NS) has to come 1st, or else NS will be ignored or unconditioned w/ US interference

acquisition

initial stage in classical conditioning in which an association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus takes place - 1st few times Pavlov plays bell noise + gives dogs foods - beginning of linking/connection of NS to US

higher order conditioning

a new NS can become a new CS - also called second order conditioning - EX. Pavlov conditioned bell = salivate, eventually Pavlov himself will become a CS because his presence will make the dogs salivate

extinction

after conditioning, when you only present CS, over time the strength of the CR will diminish and eventually go away

spontaneous recovery

after conditioning has happened, and extinction occurs, after a pause in time, the US returns and the person/subject remembers a CR

stimulus generalization

after conditioning, tendency for similar stimuli to elicit similar responses - EX. Mrs. stevens makes you feel happy b/c of her hugs, someone who looks like Mrs. stevens may evoke the same feelings - Pavlov connection - all bells will make dogs salivate no matter the pitch

stimulus discrimination

the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus (US) - opposite of generalization

stimulus generalization vs. stimulus discrimination examples

EX. laundry - GEN : throw it all in the same load DISCRIM : separate by color and type

EX. teachers - GEN : i love al math teachers DISCRIM : i hate my math teacher from this year, but love my math teacher from last year

john b. watson’s experiment

“give me a dozen healthy infants” - little albert experiment

part 1 : before conditioning - A : US (loud noise) = UR (baby cries) B : NS = nothing

part 2 : during conditioning - NS (rat) + US (loud noise) = UR (cry)

part 3 : after conditioning - CS ( rat) = CR (baby cries)

RESULTS - eventually the baby generalized all things w'/ fur to scare him - baby traumatized - behaviorism impacts not always good, epically when experiments don’t go right