AP psyc- Unit 4: learning

Learning

the acquisition of novel information and behaviors

Behavioral perspective

pproach to psychology, formulated in 1913 by John B. Watson, based on the study of objective, observable facts rather than subjective, qualitative processes → feelings, motives, and consciousness 

Behavioral learning

focus on quantitative events such as stimulus response relationships, what happens in mind

association

connection or relationship between two items with the result that experiencing the first item activates a representation of the second

associative learning

learning that certain events occur together

classical conditioning

associating an involuntary response with a stimulus

Neutral stimulus

(conditioned stimulus) Which initially produces no specific response

unconditioned stimulus

stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response

unconditioned response

The unlearned response to a stimulus

conditioned stimulus

A NS that is paired with an US until it acquires the ability to elicit a new reponse

acquisition

learning the association

Extinction

in classical conditioning, A) the response gets diminished(result) B) the process by which the stimulus stops eliciting a response(process) 

spontaneous recovery

the CR reappears even after it has gone extinct

Stimulus discrimination

the ability to respond in different ways in the presence of a different stimuli (fearing a guard dog but not a guide dog) 

Stimulus generalization

 the spread of effects of conditioning to stimuli that differ in certain aspects from the stimulus present during original conditioning 

Counter conditioning

 type of behavioral therapy that aims to change an unwanted behavior by replacing it with a new, more desirable behavior. 

Higher order conditioning

a procedure in which the CS of one experiment acts as the US of another, for the purpose of conditioning a NS. (after pairing a tone with food and establishing the tone with a conditioned stimulus, a light can be paired and the light can then lead to salivation) 

Biological preparedness

we are very afraid of things that have been historically bad for the survival of a species

Taste Aversion

avoid some tastes (poison?)

One trial learning

associated acquired through one pairing and is not strengthend by further pairings

Habituation

diminished effectiveness of a stimulus following repeated exposure

Law of effect

principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely 

Operant conditioning(skinner)

a type of learning which behavior is increased if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher 

Primary reinforcer

satisfies a basic need (eg, food) 

Secondary reinforcer

smth you’ve need taught to value (movies)

Punishment

weakens behavior(can have positive and negative punishment) 

Shaping

production of new forms of operant behavior by reinforcement of successive approximations to the behavior. Initially, responses roughly approximating the desired behavior are reinforced → only responses closely approximating the desired behavior are reinforced 

Continuous reinforcement

every time the desired behavior occurs it is reinforced (effective when teaching a new behavior) 

Partial reinforcement

most effective once a behavior has been established (new behavior is less likely to disappear) → schedules are available to suit individual needs 

Fixed-interval schedules

exact amount of time passes between each reinforcement(every 2 weeks you get a paycheck) 

• Least effective because you know it will come → scalloped pattern rather than steady rates of responding 

Variable interval schedules

a varying amount of time passes between each reinforcement (checking email) 

• Low steady rates of response because they don’t know the next time 

Fixed- ratio schedule

reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of responses (getting one free meal after 10 purchases) 

Variable-Ratio schedule

Reinforcement occurs after a varying number of responses (Playing the lottery)

• High steady rates

Superstitious behavior

 accidental occurrence of a reinforcer after an act (if you lean and the ball goes in, you think it’s gonna make it move 

Instinctive drift

the tendency of some trained animals to revert back to instinctual behaviors (go back to evolutionary behaviors and not what they were operantly conditioned to do) 

learned helplessness

a decrease in an organism’s responding that occurs after the organism’s exposure to uncontrollable aversive events

Social learning theory

the general view that learning is largely or wholly due to modeling, imitation, and other social interactions (aka observational learning) 

4 important elements are essential for effective observational learning:

attention, motor skills, motivation, and memory 

Vicarious conditioning

we learn to anticipate a behavior’s consequences in situations like those we are observing 

modeling

the process in which one or more individuals or other entities serve as examples that a child will emulate (often parents, other adults, other children, but can be a symbolic character) → more similar a model is the more likely a behavior is learned 

Insight learning

when the solution occurs without any association, consequence, or model being present (sudden understanding of the problem and arrive at a solution) 

Latent learning

: information is learned without reinforcement but is not immediately evident → learning acquired without conscious effort (ex. Student writing an exam can cite a quotation without making an effort to memorize it) 

cognitive map

a mental representation of a physical location → someone seeks and collects contextual clues, passive receptor of information