Unit 6 - Learning

learning

the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

example of learning

reading→ start with letters, then words, then short simple sentences, then elementary picture books with some sentences, then short chapter books, chapter books, and then young adult books, and adult books

types of learning

associative + cognitive

learning is a

behavior change

habituation

an organism’s decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it

habitual behaviors turn into

a routine

you expect something to happen so you are prepared (aware of the thing)

Your friend sneaks up on you and yells “BOO!” and you get scared, they do it 2 minutes later and you’re not phased

example of habituation

watching a horror movie for the first time, you get scared at all the jump scares and scary parts — after watching it many times you know the jump scares are coming and expect it to happen

reflexes

do not have to be learned; are innate

can you prevent a reflex

NO! if a stimulus happens, a reflex WILL happen

Reflex examples

biologically adaptive— heart rate, fear/emotion, sweat, arousal, salivation/hunger, etc

associative learning

learning that certain events occur together- (can be 2 stimuli (conditioning) or a response and its consequences (operative)- our brain seeks connection and continuity

types of associative learning

classical conditioning and operant conditioning

associative learning example

color wheel→ red/green, blue/yellow, purple/orange

stimulus

an event or situation that evokes a response (environment)

response

any reaction by an organism in response to a stimulus (behavior)

stimulus and response examples

Ivan Pavlov dog research experiment→ stimulus = getting fed, response = salivation

Cognitive Learning

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

cognitive learning example

key words- mental, observation → why kids and chimps mimic your behavior (how they learn)

Unconditioned =

unlearned

conditioned =

learned

classical conditioning

a type of learning in which one learns to link 2 or more stimuli and anticipate events

classical conditioning can occur within

anything that has a nervous system or even something with just one neuron

if there is not a reflex then

it is NOT classical conditioning, as it must be biological and unconditioned

classical conditioning example

using the same alarm everyday for over a month, you associate that sound with waking up, waking up you are in a bad mood, so when you hear that sound/alarm, you get in a bad mood as you start to associate it with waking up

behaviorism

the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes (popular amongst association/conditioned learning)

neutral stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning (the conditioned stimulus before it becomes learned/conditioned)

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

any stimulus that naturally / automatically / reflexively / unconditionally produces / triggers a particular response (UCR)

unconditioned stimulus example

-licking lemonade powder upon hearing the bell in place of the word “witch”

-pavlov= feeding the dogs meat/meat powder

unconditioned response (UCR)

an unlearned, naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus—occurs automatically when the UCS is presented— involuntary and reflexive

unconditioned response example

-salivating after licking lemonade powder upon hearing the bell

-pavlov=dogs salivating from eating meat/meat powder

conditioned stimulus (CS)

an originally irrelevant/neutral stimulus, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, that comes to trigger a conditioned response

conditioned stimulus example

-hearing the bell without licking lemonade powder

-pavlov=hearing the tone produced by the door opening

conditioned response (CR)

a learned response to a previously neutral (now conditioned) stimulus

conditioned response example

-salivating from hearing the bell

-pavlov= salivating from hearing the door open/tone

what happens first?

conditioned stimulus

reflex arc of classical conditioning

conditioned stimulus → unconditioned stimulus → response (unconditioned → conditioned, over time, response is originally unconditioned but then it becomes conditioned)

acquisition

the initial stage, when one links a neural stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response

acquisition example

-pavlov=when the dogs first started salivating at the sound of the door

-first time we salivated to the sound of the bell rather than to the taste of the lemonade powder

higher-order conditioning

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a 2nd weaker conditioned stimulus

higher-order conditioning example

-pavlov=paired a light with the door tone until the light alone triggered salivation→ animal learns that the bell predicts food, then learns that a light predicts the bell and begins salivating to the light

extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when the unconditioned stimulus doesn’t follow the conditioned stimulus; occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced

extinction example

-romeo used to love the scent of his girlfriend’s perfume and it made him happy, but now that they’ve broken up, it means nothing to him and is just another odor

spontaneous recovery

reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

-pavlov says= “extinction suppresses a response, but does not eliminate it”

spontaneous recovery example

-jamie had finally gotten over her fear of roller coasters, but one night when she was walking by the amusement park, the sudden screeching noise of the roller coaster made her heart jump from fear

generalization

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

generalization example

angie was frightened by a barking, lunging cocker spaniel, now she is afraid of all other dogs

discrimination

the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus + stimuli that do not signal a conditioned stimulus

discrimination example

-makoto hates the sight of a bee, but loves to watch hummingbirds and butterflies

-angie loves the smell of her grandmother’s chocolate chip cookies, but doesnt like the smell of any other cookies

operant conditioning

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforce or diminished if followed by a punisher

preparedness

each species has predispositions that prepare it to learn associations that enhance survival

preparedness example

-fear of heights

-fear of spiders and snakes

-taste aversion

taste aversion

intense dislike or avoidance of a food that has been associated with nausea or vomiting

taste aversion example

-eating cheerios after throwing up as it is a safe food, associating cheerios with being sick and vomiting, cant eat cheerios and most other cereals anymore without getting nauseous

one-trial learning

association acquired through one stimulus/response pairing, and not strengthened through repeated pairings

one-trial learning example

-taste aversion=you eat something one time and get sick and never eat it again, you don’t have to keep eating it and get sick multiple times to associate the two and not eat it again

-fear/phobia= experience a traumatic event and avoid the traumatic event and what could lead to the traumatic event at all costs, don’t have to experience it multiple times to know to stay away and keep yourself safe

law of effect

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

law of effect example

-kids are more likely to eat their vegetables when rewarded/reinforced with eating dessert afterwards (positive reinforcement)

-drivers are less likely to speed after getting a speeding ticket (positive punishment)

behavior is to consequence as

response is to stimulus

consequence

something that follows a behavior (NO CONNOTATION)

operant chamber/skinner box

box containing a bar/key that an animal can manipulate to obtain food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animals rate of bar pressing or key pecking

reinforcement

any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

-positive/negative

-primary/secondary

reinforcement example

-praise

-called out in dance class to demonstrate

-taking medicine for when you are sick- takes away pain

-food, water, sex, sleep, safety, belonging

-money, good grades

punishment

any event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows

-positive/negative

punishment example

-DR calling you out on the announcements

-mom taking away screen time or phone

-spanking

shaping

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

shaping example

-a kindergarten or pre-k teacher

-training a dog

discriminative stimulus

a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement (in contrast to related stimuli not associated with reinforcement)

positive reinforcement

increase behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers- any stimulus that when presented after a response, strengthens a response

positive reinforcement example

-praise

-paycheck

-scoring a goal

positive means

add (NOT GOOD)

negative means

take away/subtract (NOT BAD)

negative reinforcement

increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli

-negative reinforcer-any stimulus that when presented after a response, strengthens the response

negative reinforcement example

-taking another drug to get rid of withdrawal symptoms

-scratch an itch and the itchy feeling goes away

-putting on deodorant to get rid of body odor

primary reinforcer

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological life- does not have to be learned

primary reinforcers example

-food, water, sex, sleep, safety, pain relief, belonging

secondary reinforcers (conditioned reinforcer)

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

secondary reinforcer example

-money, good grades, praise

delayed gratification

• Not always constantly reinforced but you still “do good” to eventually get that reinforcement and continue to

• NOT in a delay reinforcement/gratification world → we are in such a constant/instant reinforcement/gratification world (have everything we need and want at the touch of a button (on our phone))

• Always seek pleasure even if it doesn’t bring pleasure in the long run

continuous reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every single time it occurs

-Great for mastering a behavior, nearly impossible to maintain

-Extinction happens quickly when reinforcement is gone

continuous reinforcement example

-potty-training kid goes to the bathroom on a toilet and his mom gives him a treat every single time he uses it

-child spins around in a circle and they feel the sensation of spinning (they will always feel spinny after spinning in circles not just every 4th time you spin)

positive punishment

administer an aversive stimulus→ decreasing behavior by adding an undesirable stimulus

positive punishment example

-teacher calls a teacher stupid for answering a question incorrectly

-DR calls you over the announcements for having bad grades

reinforcement makes the behavior

more likely

punishment makes the behavior

less likely

negative punishment

withdraw a rewarding stimulus→decreasing behavior by removing a desirable stimulus

negative punishment example

-greg gets fired from his job for arriving late 5 times in one month

-julie stays out past her curfew and gets her car keys taken away

-mom taking screen time or phone away

punished behavior is suppressed, but not forgotten

you can always still do the punished behavior, you just don’t so you don’t get punished

operant conditioning discrimination

asking dad to buy something rather than mom cuz hes more likely to actually buy it for me

operant conditioning discrimination

never do the behavior ever in any setting→ boys never showing emotion because they were told to suck it up and stop crying when they were younger

Physical Punishment beliefs

-unacceptable, spreads, abused people abuse others

-punishment may be only used if the behavior is harmful to the subject or subjects surroundings

two axioms of punishment (axiom=largely accepted statement)

-Punishment teaches the punished how to avoid punishment

-Punishment tells you what not to do, reinforcement tells you what to do

partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule

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

-Slow acquisition of response

-Greater resistance to extinction

-4 types of Partial Reinforcement

partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule example

-gambling

-lottery tickets

-fishing
-sales

fixed-ratio schedule

a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

fixed ratio schedule examples

-get paid 10 dollars for every 20 online puzzles you solve

-buy 10 drinks get 1 free

ratio means

number of responses/behaviors

interval means

time passed between behaviors

variable-ratio schedule

a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

variable-ratio schedule example

-traveling salesman goes door to door and finally makes a sale

-getting a strike in bowling

-child throws a tantrum and every once in a while the parent buys them candy

-slot machine