Myers, Unit 6 AP Psych - Learning

Learning

Learning

The process of acquiring new & relatively enduring information and behaviors

Associative learning

Learning events that occur together and connecting events in sequence; feed our habitual behaviors, since repeating behaviors become linked with context

Habituation

Organism’s decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure; e.g. not getting as scared the second time your friend scares you

Classical conditioning

Learning where we associate 2 stimuli, and thus physiologically anticipate events; involuntary learning and involuntary response; biologically adaptive and helps animals survive

Operant conditioning

Learning where we associate a response with a consequence, thus we repeat good and avoid bad things; voluntary learning

Stimulus

Any event/situation that evokes a response

Cognitive learning

Acquisition of mental information by observing events

Ivan Pavlov

Discovered classical conditioning through his dog salivation experiment; laid the foundations for Watson’s ideas

John Watson

Founder of Behaviorism; argued for the study of how organisms respond to stimuli & environment; argued against introspection

Behaviorism

View that psychology should

1. Be an objective science based on observable behavior

2. Study behavior without reference to mental processes

3. Understand that the basic laws of learning are the same for all species

Neutral Stimulus

Stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus

Stimulus that unconditionally triggers a response without any prior learning

Unconditioned Response

An unlearned naturally occuring response to an unconditioned stimulus; physiological and natural response

Conditioned Stimulus

Originally irrelevant stimulus, which after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response

Conditioned Response

Learned response to a previous neutral stimulus (but now a conditioned stimulus); tends to be much weaker than the UR

Acquisition

CC: Initial stage where one links a NS & US so that the NS begins triggering CR; i.e. NS + US = CR; NS MUST OCCUR BEFORE US FOR CONDITIONING TO OCCUR

OC: Strengthening of a reinforced response

High-order conditioning

when NS → paired w/ previous CS, and a new NS becomes a new CS

e.g. Animal learns that tone predicts food. May also learn that light predicts that tone. May start responding to light alone

Extinction

CC: Diminishing of a CR when the US doesn’t follow a CS

OC: Diminishing of a response when a behavior is no longer reinforced

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance of a previously extinguished CR after a pause; Extinction supresses CR, DOES NOT eliminate it

Generalization

Tendency for similar responses to be elicited when a stimuli similar to the CS is presented

Discrimination

Learned ability to distinguish CS from irrelevant stimuli

Respondent behavior

Actions that are produced by automatic responses to stimuli

Operant behavior

Actions that are influenced by the consequences that follow them, such as reinforcers or punishers

B.F. Skinner

Influential and controversial Behaviorist; father of operant conditioning

Law of Effect

Behaviors followed by favorable consequences → more likely to happen

Behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences → less likely to happen

Operant chamber

Chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain food or water reinforcers; attached devices record animal’s rate of bar pressing/key pecking; helped understand reinforcement

Reinforcement

Any event that strengthens a behavior it follows

Shaping

Procedure where reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of desired behavior

Successive approximations

Behavioral technique that involves rewarding steps closer and closer to a desired behavior; Action within the procedure of shaping

Discriminative stimulus

Stimulus that indicates a specific behavior will be reinforced or punished; e.g. a night light shows that the behavior of going to bed is expected

Positive reinforcement

Adding a desirable stimulus to increase a behavior

Negative reinforcement

Removing an aversive stimulus to increase a behavior

Primary reinforcers

Innately reinforcing stimuli; e.g. satisfying a biological need: getting food when hungry

Conditioned/Secondary reinforcers

Stimulus that gains reinforcing power through association with a primary reinforcer; a learned reinforcer; e.g. money, good grades, etc.

Immediate reinforcers

Reinforcers that offer immediate payback; e.g. a purchased sweet treat

Delayed reinforcers

Reinforcers that require the ability to delay gratification; e.g. a weekly paycheck

Reinforcement schedules

Pattern that defines how often a desired response is reinforced; vary

Continuous reinforcement

Reinforcing a desired response every time it occurs; learning occurs rapidly through this, however extinction occurs rapidly

Partial (intermittent) reinforcement

Reinforcing a response only part of the time; slower acquisition, however, much greater resistance to extinction

Fixed-ratio schedules

Partial reinforcement schedule; reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses; LEAST RESISTANT TO EXTINCTION, HIGHEST NUMBER OF RESPONSES

e.g. Mouse must press button 5 times to get a piece of cheese

Token economy

Reinforcement through using a system of rewards

e.g. 1 star for every coffee you buy, 50 stars and you can get a free coffee

Variable-ratio schedules

Partial reinforcement schedule; reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

e.g. Slot machines

Fixed-interval schedules

Partial reinforcement schedule; reinforces a response only after a specific time elapses

e.g. Ms. K gives a brain rot quiz every Friday

Variable-interval schedules

Partial reinforcement schedule; reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals; MOST RESISTANT TO EXTINCTION, LEAST NUMBER OF RESPONSES

e.g Ms. K gives a brain rot pop quiz on random days

Punishment

An event that decreases the behavior that it follows

Positive punishment

Administering an aversive stimulus to decrease a behavior

Negative punishment

Withdraw a rewarding stimulus to decrease a behavior

Superstitious behavior

Behavior caused by accidental timing of rewards and partial reinforcement

e.g. Gooning before Ms. K’s test because you’ve always passed her tests if you did it right before taking them.

Biofeedback

Technique that helps people to control bodily functions that are usually involuntary

John Garcia

Psychologist who researched taste aversion in rats and challenged behaviorism

Taste aversion

Learned response to avoid food after associating with a negative experience; NOT ALL ASSOCIATIONS ARE LEARNED EQUALLY WELL; CS AND US DONT NEED TO OCCUR CLOSELY FOR CONDITIONING TO OCCUR

e.g. Avoiding eating skibidi sliders after previously getting sick from them

Instinctive drift

Organism reverts back to natural behaviors instead of learned, conditioned behaviors; happens when conditioned behavior is too similar to instinctual behavior

Robert Rescola

Psychologist who discovered that animals can learn the predicatbility of an event

Edward Tolman

Cognitive behaviorist; discovered cognitive maps and latent learning

Cognitive map

Mental representation of the layout of one’s environment

e.g. Rats act as if they learned the layout of a maze they just previously explored

Latent learning

Subconscious, unintentional learning

Insight

Sudden realization of a problem’s solution

Intrinsic motivation

Desire to perform behavior effectively for its own sake

e.g. Learning brain rot because you genuinely enjoy learning it

Extrinsic motivation

Desire to perform behavior in order to receive promised rewards or to avoid threatened punishment

e.g. Learning brain rot because you want to pass the brain rot board exam

Coping

Alleviating stress using behavioral, emotional, and cognitive methods

Problem-focused coping

Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or how we interact with the stressor; often used when we feel a sense of control over a situation

e.g. Bodhi goes up to Rocco to work things out after they had an argument over AP Bio

Emotion-focused coping

Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding/ignoring the stressor and instead attending to emotional needs related to one’s stress reaction

e.g. Doom scrolling instead of worrying about the AP Psych exam

Learned helplessness

Hopelessness & passive resignation when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

Julian Rotter

Psychologist who discovered & studied the locuses of control

External locus of control

Perception that chance and outside forces are beyond our control and therefore determine our fate

Internal locus of control

Perception that we control our own fate

Self-control

Ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for long-term reward

Observational learning

Learning by observing others, thus without direct experience; learning by watching and imitating others

Modeling

Process of observing and imitating a sepcific behavior; how we learn overall behaviors

e.g. Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment

Mirror neurons

Frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or observing another doing so

Frontal lobe

Area of the brain that allows us the ability to mirror and imitate

Theory of mind

The human ability to understand that people have individual thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and desires

Prosocial behavior

Positive, constructive, helpful behavior; brought out by prosocial models

Antisocial behavior

Opposite of prosocial behavior; brought out by antisocial models

Violence-viewing effect

Copying of behavior that is aggressive; Desensitization to violence due to significant observation