SACE Stage 2 Psychology: Learning

Classical conditioning: Any stimulus that produces no conditioned response prior to learning eg.. bell

Neutral stimulus

Why do we learn?

survival, plan for the future, social & cultural rules to behave appropriately

A relatively permanent change in behaviour which occurs as a result of prior experience

Learning

Our minds connect events occurring in a sequence; we associate them

Conditioning

Behaviour: Some behaviours we instinctively know to perform eg.. walking

Unlearned Behaviour

Behaviour: Behaviour we have to learn first

Learned behaviour

Simple learned behaviours

Habitation and Adaptation

Simple learned behaviours: when you stop referring to a stimulus, eg. being able to sleep after a couple of months after moving into unit next to busy road

Habitation

Simple learned behaviours: Fitting in with the environment & its changes to enable survival, eg. shivering when cold, mice being nocturnal

Adaptation

Complex learned behaviours: A type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

Classical conditioning

Classical conditioning is made up of:

Neutral Stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, conditioned response

Classical conditioning: Stimuli that organisms react to without training eg... food (reward of punishment)

Unconditioned stimuli

Classical conditioning: Stimuli that animals react to only after learning about them. eg..bell

Conditioned stimuli

Classical conditioning: The unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivation when food is in the mouth.

Unconditioned response

Classical conditioning: The learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)

Conditioned response

Classical conditioning: The time interval in presentation of the conditioned stimulus & unconditioned stimulus is important in pairing the stimuli.

Contiguity

Classical conditioning: The pairing process of the conditioned stimulus & the unconditioned stimulus over a number of trials

Reinforcement

Classical conditioning: The predictability of occurrence of one stimulus from the presence of another, ie. between the UCS & CS

Contingency

A type of learning in which behaviours are emitted in the presence of specific stimuli to earn rewards or avoid punishment

Operant conditioning

Operant conditioning: A pleasant stimulus can start or be presented. A pleasant stimulus can end or be taken away. An unpleasant stimulus can start or be presented. An unpleasant stimulus can end or be taken away

The four consequences

Operant conditioning: Anything that increases a behaviour - makes it occur more frequently, makes it stronger, or makes it more likely to occur

Reinforcement

Operant conditioning: Target response is made, Reinforcing stimulus is presented, target response occurs again

Positive reinforcer

Operant conditioning: Target response is made, Unpleasant stimulus is removed, Target response occurs again

Negative reinforcer

Operant conditioning: Anything that decreases a behaviour - makes it occur less frequently, makes it weaker or makes it less likely to occur

Punishment

The four types of consequence

Positive, reinforcer, negative reinforcer, positive punishment, negative reinforcer

Operant conditioning: Adding stimulus to make undesirable behaviour end

Positive punishment

Operant conditioning: Taking stimulus to make undesirable behaviour end

Negative punishment

Operant conditioning: A schedule of reinforcement determines how often the behaviour is going to result in a reward.

Reinforcement ratios

Operant conditioning: Fixed interval, Variable interval, Fixed ratio, Variable ratio, Random, Continuous

6 kinds of reinforcement ratios

Reinforcement ratios: A reward will occur after a fixed amount of time.

Fixed interval

Reinforcement ratios: Reinforcers will be distributed after a varying amount of time.

Variable interval

Reinforcement ratios: If a behaviour is performed X number of times, there will be one reinforcement on the Xth performance.

Fixed ratio

Reinforcement ratios: Reinforcers are distributed based on the average number of correct behaviours.

Variable ratio

Reinforcement ratios: There is no correlation between the animal's behaviour and the consequence.

Random

Reinforcement ratios: every response gets rewarded

Continuous

The transfer of a learned response to different but similar stimuli.

Stimulus Generalisation

Learning to respond to only one stimulus and to inhibit the response to all other stimuli

Stimulus discrimination

A decrease in the strength or frequency, or stopping, of a learned response because of it's failure to continue pairing the UCS and the CS (classical conditioning) or withholding of reinforcement (operant conditioning)

Extinction

The reappearance of an extinguished response after the passage of time, without training

Spontaneous recovery

Learning behaviours through observing others around us. Modelling our behaviour on that of others.

Observational learning

Observational learning steps

Attention, Retention, Reproduction, Motivation

Observational Learning: The individual remembers what was noticed

Retention

Observational Learning: The individual notices something in the environment

Attention

Observational Learning: The individual produces an action that is a copy of what was noticed

Reproductive

Observational Learning: The environment delivers a consequence that changes the probability the behaviour will be emitted again (reinforcement or punishment)

Motivation

When parents say one thing but do another

Monkey see, monkey do

What causes people to imitate others?

Reinforcers & punishments

Learn to be helpless - hence the term learned helplessness-waiting out the punishment

Learned helplessness

A technique used to reinforce behaviours similar but not exactly the same as the desired behaviour.

Shaping

Therapies: A hierarchy of fearful situations created-each step being more fear provoking than the last

Systematic desensitisation

Therapies: A treatment of choice for phobias, alcoholism, bed wetting, truancy, taste version etc often including exposure theapies

Behaviour Therapy

Therapies: The approach used by behavioural psychologists to modify behaviour.

Behaviour Modification

Therapies: Learning from a therapist to overcome the distorted, negative thinking patterns that can lead to maladaptive behaviours.

Cognitive behaviour therapy