Mod 26-30 Terms

Learning

the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

What do beneficial habits do?

increase our self control and connect ends with positive outcomes

Habituates

decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus

Associative Learning

learning that certain events occur together (events may be two stimuli or a response and its consequence) (anticipating the immediate future)

Classical Conditioning

learn to connect two stimuli and anticipate events

• Pavlov creates

• basic form that all organisms use

Stimulus

any event or situation that evokes a response

Respondent Behavior

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

Operant Behaviors

behavior that operate on the environment, producing consequences

Cognitive learning

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language

Pavlov

• explored classical conditioning

• dog salivating

• showed how process can be studies objectively

• many other responses to many other stimuli can be classically conditioned in many other organisms

Watson

urged others to discard reference to inner thoughts, feelings, and motives (should be objective and based on observations)

Both Watson and Pavlov

shared a dislike for mentalistic concepts, and a belief that basic learning was the same for all creatures

Behaviorism

view that psychology should be objective, without reference to mental processes

(NS) Neutral Stimuli

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

(UR) Unconditioned response

in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus

(US) Unconditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally- naturally and automatically- triggers a conditioned response

(CR) Conditioned response

in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (now conditioned) stimulus

(CS) Conditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with a US, comes to trigger a CR

Acquisition

• in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response

• in operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response

higher-order (second-order) conditioning

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus (ex: light →tone→food= light→ food)

extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response

• classical conditioning: when a US doesn’t follow a CS

• operant conditioning: when a response is no longer reinforced

spontaneous recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response (suggests that extinction suppresses the CR, and not eliminates it)

generalization

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

• operant conditioning: occurs when responses learned in a situation occur in other, similar situations

discrimination

• in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

• in operant conditioning, the ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced from similar responses that are not reinforcers

Respondent behavior

automatic responses to a stimuli

Operant conditioning

• type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher

• learn to associate a response (our behavior) and its consequence (learn to repeat good acts and avoid bad ones)

Thorndike’s Law of Effect

principle that behaviors followed by good consequences become more likely (behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely)

Skinner

• developed Skinners box

• pigeons experiments

• compared 4 schedules of partial reinforcement

Operant Chamber (skinner box)

a chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer'; attached devices record the animals action rate (of bar or key)

Reinforcement

in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Shaping

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior towards closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

Discriminative stimulus

in operant conditioning, a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement

Positive reinforcement

increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers (when presented after, it strengthens the response)

Negative reinforcement

increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing aversive stimuli (when removed after, it strengthens the response) NOT PUNISHMENT

Primary reinforcers

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies

Conditioned reinforcers (secondary reinforcer)

a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer

Reinforcement schedules

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

Continuous reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs (with this, learning occurs quickly but extinction does too)

Partial reinforcement schedules

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

Fixed-ratio schedules

(every so many) in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

Variable-ratio schedules

(after an unpredictable number) in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

Fixed-interval schedules

(every so often) in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

Variable-interval schedules

(unpredictably often) in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

Ratio schedules have higher

response rates than interval

Variable schedules have more consistent

responses rather then fixed

Punishment

an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows

Positive punishment

administer an aversive stimulus

Negative punishment

withdraw a rewarding stimulus

Drawbacks of physical punishment

1. Punished behavior is suppressed, not forgotten

2. Punishment teaches discrimination among situations

3. Can teach fear

4. May increase aggression by modeling violence as a way to cope with problems

Skinner’s ideas

• external influences shape behavior

• brain science not needed for psychological science

• use rewards to evoke more desirable behavior

Operant Conditioning’s Applications at school

teachers used to find it hard to pace material to students rate of learning and give prompt feedback, online adaptive quizzing does both

Operant Conditioning’s Applications in sports

reinforce small successes and slowly increase the challenge (the accidental timing of rewards can produce superstitious behavior)

Operant Conditioning’s Applications at work

rewards are most likely to increase productivity if the desired performance is well-defined and achievable (immediate reinforcement on job well done)

Operant Conditioning’s Applications in parenting

yelling parent rewarded when kid does what type of action they wanted as a result of being scared

• to disrupt this: remember to notice people doing something right and affirm them for it

• target specific behavior, reward it, and watch it increase

• explain misbehavior and give punishment

Operant Conditioning’s Applications for self-improvement

to build self-control, reinforce desired behaviors and extinguish the undesired ones

Operant Conditioning’s Applications to manage stress

when we have feedback about our bodily responses, we can sometimes change those responses

Biofeedback

a system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension

• instruments mirror the results of a person’s own efforts, and this lets people learn techniques for controlling a physiological response

Both classical and operant conditioning

• are forms of associative learning

• involve acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination

In classical conditioning we associate

different stimuli we don’t control, and we respond automatically (respondent behaviors)

In operant conditioning we associate

our behaviors- which act on our environment to give rewarding/ punishing stimuli (operant behaviors)- with their consequences

Biological influences on learning

genetic predispositions, unconditioned responses, adaptive responses, and neural mirroring

Psychological influences on learning

previous experiences, predictability of associations, generalization, discrimination, and expectations

Social-cultural influences on learning

culturally learned preferences, motivation (affected by the presence of others), and modeling

Pavlov and Watson

• basic laws of learning are similar in all animals

• underestimated importance of biological constraints and cognitive processes

Animals capacity for learning is limited by

its biological constraints

Preparedness

a biological predisposition to learn associations such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value

John Garcia

challenged idea that all associations can be learned equally well (taste aversion)

John Garcia and Robert Koelling

effects of radiation on lab animals

• rats avoid drinking water in radiation chambers

• rats avoided flavors that made them sick, hours after (taste aversion)

• supports darwin that natual selection favors survival traits

It is easiest to learn and retain behaviors that show our

biological predispositions (organisms learn associations that are naturally adaptive)

Instinctive drift

the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns

Robert Rescorla and Allan Wagner

showed an animal can learn the predictability of an event

• the more predictable the association, the stronger the conditioned response

• rat and maze

Cognitive Map

a mental representation of the layout of one’s environment ex) rat and maze

Latent learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

Insight

a sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Intrinsic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake (rewards can destroy intrinsic motivation)

Extrinsic motivation

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

Problem-focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor

• happens when we feel sense of control over stressor

Emotion-focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our reaction

• when we feel we cant change the situation

• (ex. reaching out to others for support or overeating)

Personal control

our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless

Learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events (more open to stress and bad health)

Losing control provokes

stress hormones → low immune response

Tyranny of choice

brings info overload with too many choices and a greater likelihood that we feel regret over a choice

External locus of control

the perception that chance or outside forced beyond our personal control determine our fate

Internal locus of control

the perception that we control our own fate (will power and free will) (learn, perform, and behave better)

Self-control

ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards

• strengthening requires attention and energy

• “depletion effect”

Observational learning (Social learning)

learning by observing others

• may have antisocial effects

• learn without direct experience, by watching and imitating

Modeling

the process of observing and imitating a behavior

• learn to know behavior’s consequences in like situations

Albert Bandura

Bobo Doll studies

Mirror neurons

frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so

• brain’s mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation and empathy

• neural basis for everyday imitation and observational learning

8-16 months old

imitate various novel gestures

12 months old

look where adult looks

14 months old

imitate acts modeled on TV

2-5 years old

overimitate

fMRI scans are used to see brain activity related with

performing and observing actions

Theory of mind

brain empathy and ability to infer another’s mental state

• brain simulates what we observe

Prosocial behavior

positive, constructive, helpful behavior (causes prosocial effects)

Antisocial behavior

bad and harmful behavior

Models are most effective when

their actions and words are consistent

Children exposed to a hypocrite tend to

immitate the hypocrisy

Lessons learned as kids aren’t easily

replaced as adults