Intro to psychology - basic processes: Chapter 6 - Learning

Learning (Environmental/Social Perspective)

The learning of connections or associations between events that occur in the environment, rather than a purely biological approach.

Phobias

Irrational fears of specific objects or situations

Classical Conditioning (Pavlovian conditioning)

A type of learning when a stimulus that naturally elicits a response is paired with another stimulus that initially doesn’t elicit a response on its own

Ivan Pavlov

A Russian researcher who in 1903 initially observed and demonstrated the principles of classical conditioning while studying salivation in dogs.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that triggers a naturally occurring, unlearned, and biologically determined response, without previous conditioning

e.g. Meat powder

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

An unlearned reaction that occurs naturally in response to an unconditioned stimulus without previous conditioning

E.g. salivation

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that initially produces no response before any conditioning or pairing occurs.

E.g. A tone or bell,

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that has acquired the capacity to evoke a learned response via conditioning

e.g. A tone

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning.

Differences between conditioned and unconditioned responses

Conditioned responses are often weaker or less intense

e.g. If an animal is given a brief shock as a UCS, the unconditioned response is scrambling about and leaping, whereas the conditioned response when an animal is expecting shock tends to be immobility

Acquisition

The initial learning stage where associations or conditioning are formed over time.

Elicited

When a conditioned response is drawn fourth

Trial

Consists of any presentation of a stimulus or pair of stimuli

Stimulus Contiguity

The co-occurring in time or close association in time between the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.

Extinction

The gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous Recovery

The appearance of an extinguished response after a period of non-exposure to the conditioned stimulus.

Stimulus Generalization

When an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus responds in the same way to a new stimulus that is similar to the original stimulus.

Generalization Gradient

The principle stating that the more similar a new stimulus is to the original, the more generalizability occurs, and the less similar they are, the less generalizability occurs.

John Watson

The researcher who conducted experiments on Little Albert to demonstrate how a fear response could be generalized to various white objects.

Stimulus discrimination

A process where organisms or animals can distinguish between one stimulus and another, occurring with greater likelihood when the neutral stimulus is less similar to the conditioned stimulus.

Higher order conditioning

A process that occurs when a learned conditioned stimulus (such as a bell) is paired with a new neutral stimulus (such as a red light) until that neutral stimulus also produces the conditioned response.

Conditioned taste aversions

Rapid learning and slow extinction of food or drink avoidance after a single pairing or trial, often suspected to have biological or evolutionary underpinnings.

Evolved module for fear learning

An instinctual survival mechanism that allows for the rapid acquisition and difficult extinction of phobias related to elements like spiders, snakes, heights, and darkness.

Amygdala

The part of the underlying neural circuitry associated with the fear module in classical conditioning.

John Watson (con’t)

The psychologist who produced the study with little Albert to demonstrate a learned fearful response to white objects.

Stimulus generalization

The transfer of learning from a conditioned stimulus to another similar object, which is the opposite of stimulus discrimination.

Classical Conditioning (con’t)

A learning process controlled by stimuli that precede a response, regulated by reflexive and involuntary responses and built upon biologically based associations.

Environmental stimuli and conditioning

Environmental stimuli serve as signals and that some stimuli are better, or more dependable, signals than others

Signal relations in classical conditioning

CS–UCS relations that influence whether a CS is a good signal

Signal relations in classical conditioning (con’t)

A “good” signal is one that allows accurate prediction of the UCS

Conditioned taste aversion

When the act of thinking about a food that made a person sick causes that person to feel sick

e.g. Nausea, vomiting

Conditioned taste aversion (con’t)

May be a by-product of the evolutionary history of mammals as natural selection will favour organisms that quickly learn what not to eat

Preparedness

Involves a species-specific predisposition to be conditioned in certain ways and not others

Preparedness (con’t)

Can explain why certain phobias are vastly more common than others, as evolutionary forces gradually programmed humans to acquire conditioned fears of them

Evolved module for fear learning

1. Preferentially activated by stimuli related to survival threats in evolutionary history,

2. Automatically activated by these stimuli,

3. Relatively resistant to conscious efforts to suppress the resulting fears,

4. Dependent on neural circuitry running through the amygdala.

Operant Conditioning

Also referred to as instrumental learning, this is a form of learning in which voluntary responses come to be controlled by their consequences.

Thorndike's Law of Effect

The observation that if a response in the presence of a stimulus leads to a satisfying effect, the association between the stimulus and response is likely to be strengthened.

Skinner's Principle of Reinforcement

The concept that organisms tend to repeat responses that are followed by favorable consequences.

Reinforcement

Occurs when an event following a response increases an organism's tendency to make that response.

Primary Reinforcers

Events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs, such as food or certain drugs.

Secondary (Conditioned) Reinforcers

Events that acquire reinforcing qualities by being associated with primary reinforcers, such as money.

Acquisition

The initial stage of learning during which associations are built between a reinforcer and a response.

Shaping

The reinforcement of closer and closer approximations of a desired response, often used to train complex behaviors.

Extinction

The gradual weakening and disappearance of a response tendency because the response is no longer followed by a reinforcer.

Resistance to Extinction

When a learned response continues even after the reinforcer is no longer presented.

Stimulus Generalization

A process where similar cues produce the same learned response.

Stimulus Discrimination

The ability to distinguish between different cues so that a specific learned response is not produced by a different stimulus.

Continuous Reinforcement

A schedule where reinforcement occurs every single time the designated response takes place.

Intermittent (Partial) Reinforcement

A schedule where a response is reinforced only some of the time, typically resulting in greater resistance to extinction.

Fixed Ratio Schedule

A schedule where reinforcement is given after a set number of non-reinforced responses, such as being paid for every $100$ items produced.

Variable Ratio Schedule

A schedule where reinforcement is given after a random or unknown number of responses, such as with a slot machine.

Fixed Interval Schedule

A schedule where reinforcement is given for the first response that occurs after a specific, set amount of time has elapsed.

Variable Interval Schedule

A schedule where reinforcement is given for the first response after an unpredictable amount of time has passed.

Positive Reinforcement

Strengthening a response by increasing the tendency to perform a behavior through the presentation of a rewarding stimulus.

Negative Reinforcement

Strengthening a response by increasing the tendency to perform a behavior through the removal of an aversive or unpleasant stimulus, such as a shock.

Positive Punishment

Weakening a response by presenting an aversive stimulus, such as spanking, to decrease a behavior.

Negative Punishment

Weakening a response by removing a rewarding stimulus, such as taking away a video game, to decrease a behavior.

Learning

In psychology, a long-term change in behavior that's based on experience.

Classical Conditioning (III)

Was discovered by Ivan Pavlov, where a previously neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a learned response.

Ivan Pavlov

A Russian physiologist who in the 1890's conducted experiments with dogs to demonstrate how they associate a bell with food.

Unconditioned Stimulus

A stimulus that naturally and automatically causes a response without training, such as the sight and smell of food.

Unconditioned Response

An untrained, natural reaction to a stimulus, such as a dog salivating over steak.

Conditioned Stimulus

A previously neutral stimulus that, when paired with an unconditioned stimulus, eventually triggers a learned response.

Conditioned Response

A learned behavior that occurs in response to a conditioned stimulus.

Operant Conditioning (con’t)

Also known as instrumental conditioning, this explains how consequences lead to changes in voluntary behavior.

Reinforcers

Components in operant conditioning that make it more likely that a behavior will be repeated.

Punishers

Components in operant conditioning that make it less likely that a behavior will be repeated.

Positive (Conditioning)

In operant conditioning, the addition of a stimulus, such as getting dessert after eating vegetables.

Negative (Conditioning)

In operant conditioning, the removal of a stimulus, such as having a night of no homework because of a good exam score.

Stimulus Generalization

A phenomenon observed in learning where a subject responds to similar stimuli, such as pigeons choosing Impressionists over Cubists after being trained on Monet.

Observational Learning

A form of learning that occurs when an organism's responding is influenced by the observation of others, known as models.

Models

People in the environment whom individuals observe and might like to emulate, influencing the observer's behavior.

Social Learning Theory

The theory proposed by Albert Bura that explores the connections or associations between events seen in the environment.

Albert Bura

A prolific Canadian psychologist born in Alberta who did his undergrad at UBC and ended up at Stanford University.

Attention

The first process in social learning where the individual must focus on the stimuli or the role model’s behaviour and the consequences being observed.

Retention

The second process in social learning where an individual must encode and store information about how a role model is behaving.

Reproduction

The third process in social learning where the individual practices or reproduces the observed behavior for themselves.

Motivation

The fourth process in social learning, often involving a reward, that reinforces the behavior and causes the individual to engage in it again.

Acquisition of a learned response and the performance of that response

Reinforcement affects which responses are actually performed more than which responses are acquired

Bobo doll experiment

A landmark study conducted by Albert Bura in the $1950s$ and $1960s$ that examined the connection between observing behavior and aggression.

Causal Connection

A strong psychological stance suggesting that watching media violence causes violent behaviors among the viewers.

Connecting Minds

An undergraduate research conference hosted at Quantland where Albert Bura gave a talk approximately $10$ years ago.

Albert Bandura (con’t)

The researcher known for pioneering experiments on media violence, aggression, and the Bobo doll.

Bobo doll experiments

A series of studies demonstrating that children can learn physical and verbal aggression by observing others.

Bobo doll experiments (con’t)

Children who saw the adult model being aggressive with the doll, and getting rewarded for it, acted aggressively toward it themselves

Cognitive component

The stage of social learning involving rehearsal and encoding where individuals take information into their brains to understand a cognitive scheme for behavior.

Motor reproduction

The process where an individual acts out a behavior themselves after observing others engage in that behavior.

Motivating factor

The reward or vicarious experience that leads an individual to reproduce specific actions they have observed.

Media and violent behaviour

The more violence and adverse behaviour children experience, the more aggressive they tend to be at home and at school

Media and violent behaviour (con’t)

Data showed that media violence was the second most influential factor, exceeded only by associating with delinquent peers

Desensitization

An effect of being exposed to high levels of media (e.g. TV shows or video games) aggression or violence in a social media world, which leads to a reduced emotional or cognitive response to aggression.

Mirror neurons

Specified neurons in the frontal cortex that are activated either by performing a specific action or by seeing another person perform that same action.

Mirror neurons (con’t)

Internally represent an action

Mirror neurons (III)

The operation of mirror neurons and related structures and processes of the brain may underlie imitation and observational learning

Mirror neurons location in humans

Have been found in both the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe

Intersubjectivity

Our ability to understand others and what is going on in the minds of others

Frontal cortex

The specific region of the brain where mirror neurons involved in action and imitation are located.

Observational learning

Occurs when an organism’s responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models

Observational learning (con’t)

A learning process created through imitation and social cognition, supported biologically by the firing of motor neurons even when not performing the action.

Correlational studies

Research that demonstrates a strong association between long-term exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior.