Learning Theory

Behaviorism

focusing on observable behaviors and how they’re learned is more important than guessing about inner experiences or mental processes

Tabula Rasa

blank slate

Operant Conditioning

learning occurs when you “operate” on your environment and your behavior is followed by a consequence

Thorndike’s Law of Effect

if a behavior is followed w/ a desirable consequence, it will happen again. if a behavior is followed by an adversive (undesirable) consequence, it won’t happen again

Skinner

a radical behaviorist who often experimented with pigeons and rats (operantly conditioned pigeons to turn in circle)

Shaping

reinforce successive approximations toward a target behavior

Reinforcement vs. Punishment

reinforcement will make a response more likely to be repeated while punishment makes it less likely a response will be repeated

Positive Reinforcement

an event or thing that is presented after a response that makes it more likely that the response will be repeated (a kid finishes their hw and receives a sticker)

Negative Reinforcement

An even or thing that, when removed after a response, makes it more likely the response will be repeated (a kid finishes their homework and gets to do one less chore)

Positive Punishment

an undesirable event that is presented after a response that makes it less likely the response will be repeated (a kid decides to not do their homework and now has to do extra chores) (physical punishment fits this category)

Negative Punishment

a desirable event that is removed after a response, making it less likely the response will be repeated (a kid decides to not do their homework and therefore loses their ipad) (Timeout is also an example)

Primary Reinforcer

something that is innately reinforced (the value of food, water, sleep, sex)

Secondary Reinforcer

the subject has to learn the value (money, grades, etc)

Token Economy

to reinforce desired behaviors w/ tokens that can be exchanged for things the learner enjoys (sometimes used in therapy) **application of operant conditioning

Continuous Schedule

a consequence is delivered after every response

Intermittent Schedule

a consequence is delivered only some of the time, leading to slower learning but greater resistance to extinction

Fixed Ratio Schedule

a consequence is delivered after set # of responses (getting paid after every 3 trucks built)

Variable Ratio Schedule

a consequence is delivered after varying # of responses (getting paid after 3 trucks built, then 9, then 1, then 12, etc) **gambling

Fixed Interval Schedule

a consequence is delivered after set amount of time has passed (getting paid every 2 weeks)

Variable Interval Schedule

a consequence is delivered after varying amount of time has passed (getting paid after 1 week, then 3 weeks, then 2 days, etc)

Operant Conditioning Applications

superstitions, instinctive draft (an animals natural behavior “drifts” in and interferes w/ behavior it has learned, causing the learned action to weaken as animal reverts back to evolved instinct)

Classical Conditioning (pavlov’s dogs and little albert)

learning an association between two things

Unconditioned Stimulus

an event or thing that naturally triggers a response in a learner (loud gong - little albert)

Unconditioned Response

a natural reaction to the unconditioned stimulus (fear - little albert)

Conditioned Stimulus

an event or thing a learner is trained to respond to (rat - little albert)

Conditioned Response

the response we get from the learner being presented to conditioned stimulus (fear - little albert)

Acquisition

the point at which success has occurred

Stimulus Generalization

learner is applying learned knowledge to other things (fearing all white fluffy things - little albert)

Stimulus Discrimination

the learned ability to tell the difference between similar stimuli and respond appropriately to only the relevant one, while ignoring others

Extinction

making a behavior become extinct

Spontaneous Recovery

the reappearance of a conditioned response after extinction has occurred (always a milder response)

Classical Conditioning in Therapy

counterconditioning (gradual exposure to phobias) and aversion therapy (pairing an unwanted habit w unwanted stimuli - antabuse w alcohol)

Applications of Classical Conditioning

higher order conditioning (a neutral stimulis becomes a conditioned stimulis by being paired w an already established conditioned stimulis) and taste aversions (a learned association where you develop a strong dislike of a food after getting sick from it)

Biological Preparedness

innately predisposed to quickly learn associations that were important for survival in past (fear snakes more than cars)

Social Learning Theory (Observational Learning)

someone models a behavior that you observe and then imitate

Vicarious Conditioning

children are most likely to imitate models if that model is reinforced for their behavior

Role of Self-Efficacy in Social Learning

children are more likely to imitate models if they have self-efficacy about that behavior

Self-Efficacy

the belief one has that they can effective accomplish a task

Bobo Doll Study

showed that aggression is learned through modeling

Cognitive Learning

focus is on conscious, thinking, memory, planning, and judgement

Insight Learning

a learner is presented w/ a problem, reflects, then “the light goes on” and they reach a rather sudden solution (kohler and the chimps)

Latent Learning

learning something without realizing you’ve learned it. it may not be shown until specific need for it arises (tolman and the rats learning the mazes)

Cognitive Maps

a mental map (we have one for the school, for our house, etc) (shown through tolman w/ the rats and mazes)

Learned Helplessness

an individual loses their sense of self-efficacy, repeated failure leads them to quit trying (seligman and the dogs receiving shocks)

What is This a Graph Of?

Latent Learning

Pavlov

studied classical conditioning using dogs with bells

Watson

father of behaviorism, studied classical conditioning with little albert

Bandura

studied observational learning with bobo doll

Seligman

studied cognitive learning and learned helplessness with dogs and shocks