BLP Exam 4

What is one thing that negative reinforcement and positive punishment have in common?

In both positive punishment and negative reinforcement, subjects will change their responding in order to minimize exposure to aversive events

Which of the following is an example of positive punishment?

You try to pet your cat and she scratches you

A fundamental question in the study of avoidance is

How can the absence of something be reinforcing?

Another phrase that researchers use to describe negative reinforcement procedure is ____.

avoidance training

A positive contingency is when

a response must be made in order to receive an outcome

A rat is placed in a box. A tone is played followed immediately by shock. However, if the rat presses a lever during the tone, then the tone stops and the shock does not occur. Eventually, rats learn to press the lever every time the tone is played. According to two-factor theory, animals learn to press the lever  _____.

so that the tone will stop

One problem with two-factor theory is 

after the avoidance response is established, the fear of the CS should extinguish; but it does not

Which theory assumes that the selection among possible defensive avoidance responses is greatly influenced by different levels of perceived danger?

the predatory imminence hypothesis

Which of the following is an example of a negative contingency?

You hold the handrail going down the stairs to avoid slipping and falling

The first component of the two-factor theory of avoidance is 

Acquisition of fear to a stimulus through classical conditioning

The second component of the two-process theory of avoidance is

reinforcement of the avoidance through termination of fear

A negative contingency is when

a response must be made in order for a potential outcome to be removed

One major difference between negative reinforcement and positive punishment is

Negative reinforcement training results in an increase in responding; Positive punishment results in a decrease in responding

Two-factor theory attempts to explain ____.

avoidance learning

Rats that have been previously exposed to inescapable shock 

all of the above

The "therapy" experiment and "immunization" experiment with LH (learned helplessness) rats show 

that learned helplessness can be treated and prevented

One piece of evidence that chimps are learning a "same as" rule (e.g., if x, then choose same as x) during delayed-matching-to-sample tasks, as opposed to learning individual rules (such as if x, then choose x; if y, then choose y) is that _____.

they do not make errors when given new stimuli during the task

According to Predatory Imminence Continuum (PIC) theory, which of the following statements is FALSE?

The intensity of the defensive reaction depends on whether the age of the animal

When making a meal, you must remember which spices you have already put in and which still need to be added. This ability is referred to as _____ by psychologists.

Working memory

According to SSDR theory, which of the following statements is TRUE?

The type SSDR that is triggered depends on the options that are presented in the situation at hand

The researcher exposes a pigeon to a red circle for 8 seconds, then the red circle disappears. After a short delay, the pigeon is given a choice between a red circle and a white triangle. If the pigeon pecks at the red circle, it is reinforced, if it pecks at the white triangle, it is not reinforced. This procedure is known as ______.

Delayed-matching-to-sample

Anthropomorphic explanations hamper knowledge of comparative cognition because ______.

they prejudge the conclusions that we may reach through systematic research

When making a meal, you must recall what the different spices look like, how to measure them, and where they can be found. This ability to retrieve previously learned information is referred to as ____ by psychologists.

Reference memory

Research on learning tends to vary the factors surrounding _____, while studies of memory tend to manipulate ____ and/or ____.

acquisition; retention intervals; retrieval conditions

Aversive stimuli that evoke an innate, involuntary pattern of responses are termed ______ by learning psychologists

Species-specific defensive responses (SSDRs)

_______ is "the study of learning in different animals, specifically focusing on the differences between mechanisms present in humans and non-human animals."

Comparative cognition

Rats that experience inescapable shock will later fail to escape (even when given the chance to do so). Researchers call this phenomenon ____.

learned helplessness

What are the three stages of memory processing (in order)?

acquisition, retention-interval, retrieval

Which of the following is NOT TRUE about punishment training?

If a response punished one time, then it will be suppressed forever

In one study, researchers allowed rats to visit 4 arms of an 8-arm radial maze and then removed the rat from the maze. During a four-hour break, the researchers rotated the maze 90 degrees. The rats were then placed back in the maze and allowed to visit any of the arms. Researchers found that the rats went to the spatial locations that they had not visited previously. This provided evidence that rats were using __________ to keep track of which arms they had already been down.

landmarks in the room

Lenore has a list of all of the students in her class. She has placed a check next to the names of students that have not yet turned in their permission slips for the field trip coming up next week. She studies the list so that she can remind the students without permission slips to bring it by the end of the week. The check (next to the students' names) is serving as a ________ for Lenore.

remember-cue

Which of the following best describes an example of "infantile amnesia?"

Johnny, age 10, has no memory of a family vacation that occurred when he was 2 years old

Which of the following best describes the process of "encoding?"

The process of taking information in through your senses and translating it into a form that your brain can “write down” and store for later use

if A < B and B < C, then A < C. This is an example of _____, a form of cognitive reasoning.

transitive inference

According to research studies, are non-human animals (such as pigeons) capable of directed forgetting?

Yes

Only vertebrates (animals with a central nervous system) are capable of observational learning?

False

In Peter Holland's experiment investigating mediated acquisition, he showed that rats

will learn to avoid a flavor that was never directly paired with illness

Just like humans, rats will show serial position effects--which means 

they recall items at the beginning of the list and items from the end of the list, but not the ones in the middle

Choose the TRUE statement below about rats solving the radial arm maze

Rats will solve the maze in a random sequence, but will rarely revisit any arm that they have already traversed

Most researchers believe _____ as an explanation of "forgetting."

Forgetting is caused by either an encoding failure or a retrieval failure

I just received a new debit card and am having trouble remembering my new pin number. Then I notice that the pin number is the same as my home address, but backwards. Later at the ATM machine, when prompted for my pin number, I recall it easily. Psychology researchers would argue that ______ helped me encode and recall my pin number.

elaboration

What brain areas are critically involved in creating memories?

hippocampus and amygdala

Peter Holland asked the question: Can we tell what a rat is thinking? Which statement below best describes how he investigated this question.

He paired a tone with peppermint flavored sugar water (F1) and a noise with a wintergreen flavored sugar water (F2). F2 was then paired with illness. Later, he observed the facial expressions on the rats when they were given the tone, and then again when they were exposed to the noise

A chimpanzee named Sarah (who is trained to use a language device) is able to learn _____

perceptual and conceptual analogies

Observer octopuses will retain the information they learned from the demonstrator for at least _____.

5 days

You took Spanish classes in high school. When you started college, you switched to learning Italian. When asked for the spanish word for "to bring," you can only think of the Italian word. You are likely suffering from

Retroactive interference

All of the following are true about selective attention EXCEPT

We encode everything in our environment, but only a portion is stored in long-term memory

Negative Reinforcement

Response leads to the absence of aversive stimulation, negative contingency. Leading to an increase in responding

Another name for negative reinforcement

Avoidance Learning

Negative Reinforcement Example

I clean the litter box to get rid of the smell

Positive Punishment

Response leads to aversive stimulation, positive contingency. Results in a decrease in responding

Positive Punishment example

Receiving a speeding ticket after going too fast

Similarity between Negative Reinforcement and Positive Punishment

subjects are changing how they respond to minimize exposure to the aversive stimulus

Avoidance learning

Make a response → absence of aversive stimulus

Avoidance learing example

Press lever to avoid the shock

Two-Factor Theory

Classical conditioning and fear as a drive underlie the acquisition of the avoidance response

Classical Conditioning

At the start of training, the tone is paired with shock. Fear to the tone is acquired

Fear is a drive

escaping the signal reduces the drive and results in reinforcement

According to two-factor theory

Subjects do NOT make the response to avoid shock. Subjects respond to turn off (escape) the stimulus that has become associated with shock

Miller Experiment

if there are two factors, then we should be able to manipulate them independently

Phase I: Grp 1: White box → shock; Grp 2: no training

Phase II: Place each subject in white box (they can turn wheel to escape)

Results: Only Grp 1 learns to turn wheel to escape (only group motivated to escape)

Kamin Experiment

Grp 1: Normal avoidance learning (tone → press lever → stops tone and no shock occurs)

Grp 2: Signal termination (tone → press lever → stops tone, but shock still occurs)

Grp 3: US avoidance (tone → press lever → tone continues, but no shock occurs)

Grp 4: Pure classical conditioning (tone → press lever → tone continues and shock occurs)

Prediction:

Grps 1 and 2 should learn to press the lever

Grps 3 and 4 should not learn to press the lever

Kamin Experiment results

Grp 1 Learns to press lever consistently when exposed to tone

Grps 2 and 3 learn to press lever some times

Grp 4 does not learn to press lever

Extinction Problem

After avoidance learning is obtained, subjects are making the response reliably and avoiding aversive stimulation.

Two-factor theory would predict that the fear to the signal would eventually extinguish, however the avoidance response never extinguishes even after hundreds of trials

Shuttle-box task

Box with a wall that has a door, section one shocks them, tone happens - get shocked, runs to the other half

Shuttle-box findings

there are deleterious consequences of long-term, uncontrollable, aversive events

Yoked-Control Paradigm

Grp 1: Escapable shock - has control of when shock terminates

Grp 2: Inescapable shock (Yoked group) - gets same duration and number of shocks as group 1, has no control of when shock terminates

Phase II: All subjects are placed in shuttle-box and given access to escape

Yoked-Control Paradigm results

only grp 1 subjects learn to escape in phase II

Learned Helplessness

prior exposure to inescapable aversive events prevents learning about escape when escape is now possible

Characteristics of learned helpless subjects

Associative Deficit

Motivational Deficit

Seem depressed, sickly, anxious

Therapy and Immunization Experiments

LH subjects can learn to escape shock if they are shown how to escape

Prior exposure to escapable shock protects subjects from developing LH later on

Species-Specific Defensive Reaction Theory

Premise 1: Aversive stimuli elicit innate, species-specific defensive responses (SSDRs)

Premise 2: Which SSDR is elicited depends on the situation and configuration of the environment.

Predatory Imminence Continuum Theory

Premise 3: Which SSDR is elicited depends on the level of danger faced by the animal.

Premise 4: A signal (CS) associated with an aversive event (US) will elicit an SSDR

Prediction: The delay (time) between the CS and US will determine which SSDR will occur

Punishment

A response followed by an unpleasant outcome—resulting in a decrease in the rate of responding

Does punishment work to decrease responding?

Depending on whether it is used correctly and what behavior-consequence you are studying

Factors that affect punishment

• only be observed with likely occurring responses.

• Initial exposure to punishment determines responses to later punishment (hi to lo or lo to hi)

• If the aversive stimulus is/is not presented contingent on the target response.

• Interval between target response and aversive stimulus.

• Differing schedules of punishment

• Whether “bad” behavior is otherwise reinforced

Comparative Cognition

The study of animal behavior that focuses on the mechanisms by which animals acquire, process, store, and act on information from the environment

General-Process Approach

Study learning in animals because of what it tells us about learning in general

Comparative Cognition

Focus on the differences in cognitive mechanisms between humans and animals

Cognitive Ethology

Presumption that animals are capable of conscious thought and intentionality

Problems with Cognitive Ethology

1. Argument from design – the behavior appears to be intentional, flexible, and voluntary

2. Conscious intent is not an adequate explanation for all human behavior

Comparative Cognition

employ the simplest possible explanations that explain as much of the data as possible

Problems with anthropomorphism seen in cognitive ethology

Biases research and hampers knowledge

Overemphasis on the human experience

Areas of Comparative Cognition

Memory (by far the largest)

Mental imagery

Food caching

Timing

Serial Order Learning

Concept Learning

Tool Use

Language Learning

Memory

The retention of information or experiences over time

Stages of Information Processing

Acquisition (encoding)

Retention Interval (storage)

Retrieval

Learning Studies

manipulate conditions during acquisition, keep retention interval and retrieval conditions the same for all groups

Memory studies

keep acquisition the same for all groups, but may vary the retention intervals and/or retrieval conditions from group to group

Types of Memory

Procedural

Perceptual

Episodic

Semantic

Working

Procedural Memory

memory for how to do something

Perceptual Memory

memory for how things look (perceived)

Episodic Memory

form of reference memory; recall episodes and experiences from the past

Semantic Memory

form of reference memory; recall facts and meanings of words

Working Memory

the retention of information just long enough to complete a task

Reference memory

stored memory information that can be recalled to help use new information

Delayed-Matching-To-Sample

Procedure: Sample → Choice task

Delayed-Matching-To-Sample Variations

Length of exposure to the sample stimulus

Duration of the retention interval

Appearance of sample stimulus

Other things about the sample stimulus

Factors that affect memory in delayed-matching-to-sample

Nature of stimulus that serves as sample

Duration of exposure to sample stimulus at the start of trial

Delay interval after sample

Nature of sample stimulus

some stimuli are easier to remember than others

Duration of exposure to sample stimulus

longer exposure = better recall

Retention interval between sample and choice task

longer interval = poorer recall