HP1000 Week 5: Learning

School of Behaviourism

Learning and teaching can ultimately shape a person

‘Learning’: definition

any relatively permanent change in behaviour or mental processes brought about by experience or practice

Learning ≠ Maturation: Maturation?

genetically controlled changes

Behaviours that are NOT learned

reflexes and fixed action patterns (instincts)

reflexes: definition

involuntary response to a specific stimulus in the environment

reflex examples

spinal cord reflex, rooting reflex

fixed action patterns (instincts): definition

motivated, complex behaviours that have a strong innate basis

Classical Conditioning: key case study

Pavlov’s salivating dogs

‘Classical Conditioning’: Process by which

a stimulus that produces an innate response becomes associated with a previously neutral stimulus, which then acquires the power to elicit the same response

classical conditioning: heavily based on ____

prediction

Classical Conditioning Stage 1: before conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) -> Unconditioned Response (UCR)

Neutral Stimulus (NS) -> No Conditioned Response (NCR)

Classical Conditioning Stage 2: during conditioning

Neutral Stimulus (NS) + Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) -> Unconditioned Response (UCR)

Classical Conditioning Stage 3: after conditioning

Conditioned Stimulus (CS) -> Conditioned Response (CR)

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): definition

a naturally occurring stimulus that leads to UCR

Unconditioned Response (UCR): definition

an involuntary and unlearned response

Conditioned Stimulus (CS): definition

formerly a Neutral Stimulus (NS) that becomes able to produce a learned response by being PAIRED with an Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

Conditioned Response (CR): definition

learned, reflex-like response to a Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

Conditioned Stimulus (CS) must come ______ & ______________ with _______

before and close in time with Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

Unlearning predictions is called _____

extinction

Extinction: definition

disappearance/weakening of a learned response following the removal/absence of the Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) in classical conditioning, or the reinforcer in operant conditioning

Spontaneous recovery: definition

reappearance of a learned response after extinction has occurred

each round of extinction leads to

more permanent weakening

Use of Classical Conditioning: case study

Little Albert

Stimulus generalisation: Tendency to

respond to a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus with the conditioned response

opposite of stimulus generalisation

stimulus discrimination

stimulus discrimination: tendency to not make a generalised response to a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus because

the similar stimulus was never paired with the unconditioned stimulus

treating disorders with classical conditioning

exposure therapy

exposure therapy: involves directly confronting ____

the fear-provoking stimulus paired with an attractive stimulus without the aversive outcome

exposure therapy is also called

associative learning

2 biological constraints on classical conditioning

conditioned taste aversion and biological preparedness

conditioned taste aversion: definition

development of a nausea/aversive response to a particular taste as it was followed by a nausea reaction

conditioned taste aversion can occur…

only after one association

biological preparedness: tendency of animals to _____

learn certain associations with only one or few pairings due to survival value of learning

Operant Conditioning: Process by which

a voluntary behaviour becomes more probable or less probable depending on the pleasant or unpleasant consequences

Law related to operant conditioning

Thorndike’s Law of Effect

Thorndike’s Law of Effect

voluntary response followed by pleasurable consequence -> tend to be repeated (and vice versa)

reinforcement: definition

any consequence that increases behaviour

principle related to reinforcement

Premack Principle: using a preferred activity to reinforce a less-preferred one

punishment: definition

any consequence that decreases behaviour

2 types of reinforcers

primary and secondary

primary reinforcers: Any reinforcer that is _____

intrinsically reinforcing to fulfil innate biological needs

secondary reinforcers: Any reinforcer with _____

no inherent value, but becomes reinforcing after paired with primary reinforcers

2 schedules of reinforcement

continuous (fast) and shaping (gradual)

2 schedules of partial/intermittent reinforcement

interval and ratio

challenges to behaviourism: 2 kinds of learning

cognitive learning and observational learning

cognitive learning: definition

changes to mental processes even when observable behaviour is absent

2 types of cognitive learning

latent learning and learned helplessness

latent learning: definition

learning occurs even without reinforcement, but it is not observable in behaviour until there is a reason to demonstrate it

learned helplessness: tendency to _____

fail to act to escape from a situation due to history of repeated failures in the past

observational learning: definition

learning that comes from watching others’ behaviours and their consequences, rather than direct experience

observational learning can be ____

desirable (prosocial) or undesirable (antisocial)

observational learning experiment

Bobo Doll Experiment

4 elements of observational learning

attention, memory, imitation, desire