AP Psych Unit 3B: Learning

Behaviorists/ Behaviorism

Focus on observable behavior that’s learned from their environment

Associative Learning

The process by which an organism learns to mentally link ideas and/or experiences together and reinforce each other leading to a change in behavior

Classical Conditioning

• Type of learning

• Reflexive or involuntary responses that are elicited automatically by certain stimuli

• The pairing of a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus

• Elicits a conditioned response

Pavlov

A physiologist who accidentally discovered we can learn through classical conditioning in a study on digestion

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

• Unlearned/ prior to learning

• Naturally and automatically triggers UCR

• Pavlov’s Example: food

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

• Unlearned/ prior to learning

• Occurs naturally in response to the UCS

• Pavlov’s example: salivating

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

• Prior to conditioning/ unlearned

• Elicits no response

• Pavlov’s example: Bell

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

• After learning/conditioning

• An originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with the UCS, comes to trigger a CR

• Pavlov’s example: bell

Conditioned Response (CR)

• A learned response to a previously NS

• Pavlov’s example: salivating

What is the classical conditioning chart/order?

UCS→ UCR

NS+ UCS→ CS

CS→ CR

Aquisition

When a behavior, such as a conditioned response is first learned/ established and gradually strengthened

Ex. When students begin to flinch in response to the teacher

High-Order Conditioning

“Second-Order Conditioning”

A procedure in which the CS in one conditioning experience is paired with a new NS creating a second (often weaker) CS

Ex. If you were to pair the teacher’s proximity with the sound of a bell then the sound of the bell would begin to produce the same CR as the original CS

Extinction

The gradual weakening and eventual disappearance of the CR to the CS

Ex. After the teachers lesson she will stop pairing herself with the popping of balloons and since the UCS isn’t paired with the CS, eventually, the CR would disappear

Spontaneous Recovery

The return of a previously extinguished CR after a rest period

Ex. If you were to not do the demonstration for a long time and then do it again, its possible that the CR (flinch) would appear again

Stimulus Generalization

The tendency, once a response has been conditioned for stimuli that’s similar to the CS to elicit a similar response

Ex. If you’ve been conditioned to flinch in reaction to the teacher’s proximity, you could also flinch with the proximity of any other teacher

Stimulus Discrimination

The ability to differentiate between a CS and other stimuli that have not been paired with a UCS

Ex. If the bell was the CS then discrimination would involve being able to tell the difference between the original bell used and a different type of bell

Counterconditioning

The theraputic technique used in psychology and behavior therapy to change or alter the association between a CS that may be a CR

Used to replace an unwanted or maladaptive response with a more desirable or adaptive response

Habituation

Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation

Ex. When you first move to NYC, you’re startled by all the noise but overtime, habituation causes the individual to become less startled or reactive

Law of Effect

States that behaviors that produce a satisfying consequence (rewards) are more likely to be repeated and behaviors that produce an unpleasant consequence (punishment) are less likely to be repeated

Operant Conditioning

• Focuses on an organism’s response and it’s consequence.

• Involves voluntary behaviors that ‘operate’ on the environment to produce consequences (like receiving a reward or avoiding a punishment)

Shaping

Procedure in which reinforcers gradually guide behavior closer and closer toward approximations of the desired behaviors

Successive Approximations

Your rewarded responses that are close to the final desired behavior and ignore all other responses

Consequence

Any outcomes or results that follow a behavior

Can be desirable such as receiving a pay check for work

Can be undesirable such as getting your phone taken away for violating curfew

Reinforcement

Any consequences that strengthen or increase a behavior

Punishment

Any consequence that weakens or decreases the frequency of a behavior

Positive Reinforcement

• Adding a pleasant stimulus to increase a behavior

• Ex. Making a basket in basketball after using correct form; feeling good after working at a soup kitchen; or you doing a good job at work and your manager gives you a bonus/raise.

Positive Punishment

• Adding something bad to decrease a behavior

• Ex. Being given a ticket for speeding; an employee’s inappropriate behavior at work stops after being criticized by a supervisor; running laps at practice because your team lost the last game

Negative Reinforcement

• Removing something bad to increase a behavior

• Ex. Doing your homework to stop your mom from nagging you to do it; putting your seatbelt on to stop the car from beeping; stretching to avoid a sports injury; studying for an exam to reduce stress over it; parent removing an unpreferred chore after they do something you want them do; deleting tiktok so you can focus on schoolwork

Negative Punishment

• Removing something good to decrease a behavior

• Ex. Getting your phone taken away after using it in class; getting grounded because you broke curfew; when you get home the dog jumps on you and you turn your back on him and ignore him; paying money for a speeding ticket; taking away a child’s crayons so they’ll stop drawing on the wall

Primary Reinforcers

An innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need

Ex. Food, water, shelter, relief from pain, etc.

Secondary (Conditioned) Reinforcers

Stimulie that have become rewarding by being paired with another reinforcing stimulus- learned through association

Ex. Money, grades, praise, social media likes, etc.

Reinforcement Discrimination

Learning to respond differently to stimuli based on the consequences associated with each stimulus

Ex. A dog who learns to distinguish between the words “sit” and “stay”

Reinforcement Generalization

The extension of a learned behavior to similar stimuli or contexts beyond those in which the behavior was originally learned and reinforced

Ex. Saying “please” and “thank you” in restaurants and other places

Continuous Reinforcement

The desired behavior is reinforced each and everytime it occurs.

Desired behavior is typically learned quickly

Most effective when teaching a new behavior and creates a strong association between behavior and response

Reinforcement Schedules

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

Partial/Intermittent Reinforcement

The response is reinforced only part of the time.

Results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction rather than continuous reinforcement

4 types: fixed, variable, ratio, and interval

Fixed Ratio

• The response is reinforced only after a specific number of responses

• Builds a high response rate

• Irregular responding may occur if reinforcement is stopped

• Ex. Getting a snack after every time you read 30 pages; a dog receiving a treat every time he spins around 4 times; every 5 chores you do you get a piece of candy

Fixed Interval

• The response is only reinforced after a specific amount of time has elapsed

• Tend to respond more frequently as the anticipated time draws near

• Produces choppy, stop-start pattern rather than a steady rate of response

• Ex. Giving your dog a treat every 30 minutes; getting a paycheck every 2 weeks; changing classes every 45 minutes; every 6 months a teacher has a performance review

Variable Ratio

• The response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses

• The learner’s rate of responding remains constant

• Not effective for teaching new behaviors

• Ex. Slot machines; playing the lottery; betting on horse races

Variable Interval

• The response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed

• Produce slow, steady responses, and minimal pause after reinforcement is given

• Ex. Your teacher giving pop quizzes'; checking the front porch for a newspaper when the deliverer is extremely unpredictable; checking your phone for messages when your phone is on silent/ do not disturb

Instinctive Drift

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

Ex. Pigs who were trained to pick up large wooden “dollars” and deposit then in a piggy bank began to gradually drift back to their natural ways. They dropped the coin, pushed it with their snouts, picked it up again, and then repeated the sequence, delaying the food reinforcer

Learned Helplessness

A mental state in which an organism continues to experience a painful, unpleasant, or aversive stimulus. The organism becomes helpless because they’ve learned that regardless of their actions they have no ability to change the outcome

Ex. In an experiment, dogs had been able to control a shock by pressing a lever. Some learned to jump over the barrier to escape the shock and others learned that nothing they did mattered so they became helpless

Classical Conditioning .v. Operant Conditioning: Overview

Classical Conditioning: Learning associations between events we don’t control

Operant Conditioning: Learning associations between our behavior and its consequence

Classical Conditioning .v. Operant Conditioning: Response

Classical Conditioning: Involuntary, automatic

Operant Conditioning: Voluntary, operates on the environment

Classical Conditioning .v. Operant Conditioning: Acquisition

Classical Conditioning: Associating events- NS is paired with UCS and becomes CS

Operant Conditioning: Associating a response with a consequence (reinforcer or punisher)

Classical Conditioning .v. Operant Conditioning: Extinction

Classical Conditioning: CR decreased when CS is repeatedly presented alone

Operant Conditioning: Responding decreases when reinforcement stops

Classical Conditioning .v. Operant Conditioning: Spontaneous Recovery

Classical Conditioning: The reappearance after a rest period of a weakened CR

Operant Conditioning: The reappearance after a rest period of a weakened response

Classical Conditioning .v. Operant Conditioning: Generalization

Classical Conditioning: The tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS

Operant Conditioning: Responses learned in one situation occurring in other, similar situations

Classical Conditioning .v. Operant Conditioning: Discrimination

Classical Conditioning: Learning to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that don’t signal a UCS

Operant Conditioning: Learning that some responses, but not others, will be reinforced

Latent Learning

Learning that appears to be hidden or unused until the learner has the motivation to use that skill (usually for a reward of some sort).

Ex. If someone drives you to school every day and then they get sick and you have to drive yourself to school, if you can get there without a GPS then that’s latent learning. The reward is getting to school

Cognitive Map

A mental picture, image, or representation of the layout of the physical environment

Ex. Rat maze, your house, you school etc.

Insight Learning

A sudden realization of a problem’s solution that’s all-of-the-sudden or “just came to you” rather than through trial and error

“Light bulb” moment

Ex. Being stuck on a math question on a quiz and suddenly remembering how to do it

Vicarious Conditioning/ Learning

The process of learning behaviors through observing the consequences of others actions, rather than direct experience

Ex. Seeing your sister get in trouble for something and then choosing to not do what she did

Vicarious Reinforcement

Provides the motivation to imitate something

The process whereby a person becomes more likely to engage in a particular behavior/ response by observing another individual being reinforced for that behavior

Ex. Seeing your sister get rewarded for doing chores and as a result you get the motivation to start doing chores.

Vicarious Punishment

Decreases the likelihood of the observer to behave in a smilar way that was punished. They don’t personally want to experience the punishment

Ex. A student observes another student getting detention for being rude, so they refrain from being rude

Modeling

The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

Social/ Observational Learning Theory

The theory that we learn social behavior by observing others, retaining what was observed, and then later imitating the behaviors that were observed and by being rewarded or punished

Ex. Monkey see, Monkey do

One-Trial Conditioning

The single pairing of a stimulus (oysters) and a response (illness) will be enough to create an association, and your new aversion won’t be strengthened by further pairings

Biological Preparedness

The idea that people and animals are naturally inclined to form associations between certain stimuli and responses

Taste Aversion

A biologival tendency in which an organism learns to avoid food with a certain taste after a single experience, if eating it is followed by illness

Ex. Eating a burger in third grade and then immediately getting sick after and never eating burgers again

Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment

• Aimed to investigate how children learn aggressive behaviors through observation

• 3 groups; one exposed to an aggressive model, one exposed to a non-aggressive model, and a control group with no model.

• Results:

• 1) Children who saw the aggressive model were more likely to imitate the aggression observed

• 2) Boys were more likely to imitate physical aggression and girls were more likely to imitate verbal aggression

• 3)Children were more likely to imitate same-sex models, with boys showing a stronger preference for mimicking male models and girls showing a stronger preference for mimicking female models