Psychology Learning

Learning

Relatively permanent change in behaviour or the capacity for behaviour due to experience

Reflex

An inevitable, involuntary response to stimuli.

Instinct

An inborn pattern of behaviour elicited by environmental stimuli; also known as a fixed action pattern.

Behaviourism

Approach emphasizing observable behaviour and environmental influence on learning

Associative learning

Learning that two events occur together

Nonassociative learning

Change in response to a single repeated stimulus

Observational learning

Learning by watching others

Implicit learning

Unconscious learning without awareness

Explicit learning

Conscious and intentional learning

Habituation

Decrease in response to repeated benign stimulus

Sensitization

Increase in response following strong or noxious stimulus

Sensory adaptation

Reduced sensitivity of sensory receptors (not learning)

Classical conditioning

Learning association between two stimuli

Ivan Pavlov

Russian physiologist who discovered classical conditioning

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Stimulus that naturally elicits response

Unconditioned response (UCR)

Natural automatic response to UCS

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Previously neutral stimulus that triggers response after learning

Conditioned response (CR)

Learned response to conditioned stimulus

Acquisition

Initial stage of learning association

Contiguity

CS and UCS presented close in time

Contingency

CS predicts occurrence of UCS

Extinction

Weakening of CR when CS no longer paired with UCS

Spontaneous recovery

Reappearance of extinguished response

Inhibition

Suppression of a conditioned response

Stimulus generalization

Responding similarly to stimuli like CS

Stimulus discrimination

Ability to distinguish between stimuli

Higher-order conditioning

CS becomes UCS for new conditioning

Latent inhibition

Slower conditioning due to prior exposure to CS

Rescorla-Wagner model

Learning depends on surprise/prediction error

Prediction error

Difference between expected and actual outcome

Taste aversion

Learned avoidance of food after illness

Garcia and Koelling

Showed biological preparedness in taste aversion

Biological preparedness

Predisposition to learn some associations more easily

Counterconditioning

Replacing unwanted response with new response

Systematic desensitization

Gradual exposure therapy for phobias

Addiction (classical conditioning)

Environmental cues trigger cravings

Operant conditioning

Learning through consequences

Edward Thorndike

Proposed law of effect

Law of effect

Behaviours followed by positive outcomes are strengthened

B.F. Skinner

Developed operant conditioning theory

Reinforcement

Any event that increases behaviour

Punishment

Any event that decreases behaviour

Positive reinforcement

Adding stimulus to increase behaviour

Negative reinforcement

Removing stimulus to increase behaviour

Positive punishment

Adding stimulus to decrease behaviour

Negative punishment

Removing stimulus to decrease behaviour

Primary reinforcer

Naturally reinforcing (food

Conditioned reinforcer

Learned reinforcement (money)

Premack principle

Preferred activity reinforces less preferred activity

Extinction (operant)

Behaviour decreases when reinforcement stops

Continuous reinforcement

Reinforcement every time behaviour occurs

Partial reinforcement

Reinforcement only sometimes

Fixed ratio schedule

Reinforcement after set number of responses

Variable ratio schedule

Reinforcement after unpredictable number of responses

Fixed interval schedule

Reinforcement after fixed time

Variable interval schedule

Reinforcement after unpredictable time

Partial reinforcement effect

Behaviours more resistant to extinction

Matching law

Responses match rate of reinforcement

Shaping

Reinforcing successive approximations

Successive approximations

Steps toward target behaviour

Chaining

Linking behaviours into sequence

Token economy

System of rewards using tokens

Behaviour therapy

Uses conditioning to modify behaviour

HeroRATs

Example of operant conditioning detecting landmines

Cognitive map

Mental representation of environment

Edward Tolman

Demonstrated latent learning and cognitive maps

Latent learning

Learning without reinforcement but not immediately shown

Instinctive drift

Return to innate behaviours

Reward pathway

Brain system involving dopamine

Dopamine

Neurotransmitter linked to reward

Nucleus accumbens

Key brain area for reward

ICSS

Intracranial self-stimulation showing reward circuits

Hebb’s rule

Neurons that fire together wire together

Observational learning

Learning through imitation

Albert Bandura

Developed social learning theory

Bobo doll experiment

Demonstrated observational learning of aggression

Imitation

Copying behaviour of others

Attention (observational learning)

Noticing behaviour

Retention

Remembering behaviour

Reproduction

Ability to perform behaviour

Motivation

Desire to imitate behaviour

Vicarious reinforcement

Learning through observing others being rewarded

Role models

Individuals influencing observational learning

Aggression and media

Violence learned through observation

Cultural transmission

Spread of behaviours through learning

Memes

Ideas or behaviours spread socially

Classical vs operant conditioning

Stimulus association vs behaviour-consequence learning

Habituation vs sensory adaptation

Learning vs physiological change