Ch 5: Learning, Fall 2015, Gibbons

Learning

-modification of preexisting behavior and understanding
-change in behavior

Adaption

adjustment to changes in the environment -->behavior

Habituation

reduced responsiveness to a repeated stimulus

Nonassociative Learning

-a relatively permanent change in the strength of response to a single stimulus due to repeated exposure to that stimulus
-changes due to such factors as sensory adaption, fatigue, or injury are NOT nonassociative learning

Dishabituation

the reappearance of your original response when a stimulus changes

Sensitization

-appears as an increase in responsiveness to a stimulus
-e.g. people/animals show exaggerated responses to unexpected, potentially threatening sights/sounds, especially during periods of emotional arousal
-LOWERS/DECREASES the threshold

Solomon's Opponent Process Threory

-states that when one emotion is experienced, the other is suppressed
-fear-relief, pleasure-pain, happy-sad, fear-anger
-over-compensation --> shoot past homeostasis, which leads to (de)sensitization
-e.g. tolerance of drugs/alcohol (you get used to it)

React + Homeostasis =

new threshold (sensitization/desensitization)

Pavlov

-Russian psychologist
-won the Nobel Prize in 1904 for his research on the digestive systems of dogs
-noticed that dogs (e.g.) salivated when they saw the assistant who normally brought their food, even if they were empty-handed

Classical Conditioning

Procedure in which a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that triggers an automatic response until the neutral stimulus alone comes to trigger a similar response

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

stimulus that triggers a response without conditioning; unlearned

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

Automatic, unlearned reaction to a stimulus

NS + UCS -->

UCR (born with, not learned)

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

an originally neutral stimulus that now triggers a conditional response

Conditioned Response (CR)

the response triggered by the CS

CS -->

CR

Acquisition

CS and UCS paired

Reflexive

not learned, automatic

Extinction

gradual disappearance of a conditioned response (CR)

Spontaneous Recovery

temporary reappearance of a CR after extinction

Stimulus Generalization

-process in which a CR is triggered by a stimulus SIMILAR to the original CS
-acting similar in similar situations

Stimulus Discrimination

-process through which people learn to differentiate among similar stimuli and respond appropriately to each other
-acting differently in different situations

The Signaling of Significant Events (Class. Cond.):
Timing

classical conditioning works best when the CS comes (1-3 seconds) before the UCS, though it can work if it comes after

The Signaling of Significant Events (Class. Cond.):
Predictability

classical conditioning proceeds most rapidly when the CS ALWAYS signals the UCS and only the UCS

The Signaling of Significant Events (Class. Cond.):
Intensity/Signal Strength

a CR will be learned more rapidly if the UCS is strong

The Signaling of Significant Events (Class. Cond.):
Attention

an association between a pair of stimuli is most predictably learned when there are no other potentially distracting stimuli present

Biopreparedness

-certain kinds of signals or events are especially likely to become associated with other signals of events
-we've been afraid of snakes for generations
-genes

Higher Order Conditioning

-once we learn that a CS signals the arrival of a UCS, the CS may operate as if it actually were the UCS
-a process through which a CS comes to signal another CS that is already with an UCS

Types of Pairing:
Forward Short-Delay

NS/CS (persists) + UCS

Types of Pairing:
Forward Trace

NS/CS (stops) + UCS
short pause

Types of Pairing:
Simultaneous

NS + USC happen at the same time

Types of Pairing:
Backward

UCR + CS (stimulus happens second)

Phobias

intense, irrational fears of objects or situations that aren't dangerous or that are less dangerous than the fear would suggest

Acquisition of Phobias

Classical conditioning --> if bitten by a dog when young, you'll have a fear of dogs

Overcoming Phobias

associating a new response (e.g. relaxation) with a feared stimulus (classical conditioning)

Operant Conditioning

process in which responses are learned on the basis of their rewarding or punishing consequences; goal-oriented

Thorndike

-American psychologist who studied the consequences of behavior and animal intelligence, including the ability to solve problems
-Law of Effect
-Instrumental Conditioning

Law of Effect

-Thorndike
-states that if a response made in the presence of a particular stimulus is rewarded, the same response is more likely to occur when that stimulus is encountered again

Instrumental Conditioning

-Thorndike
-responses are strengthened when they are instrumental in producing rewards

Skinner

-extended and formalized many of Thorndike's ideas
-operant conditioning

Skinner Box

tool/chamber used to study operant conditioning that allowed researchers to arrange relationships between a particular response and its consequences

Reinforcer

stimulus event that INCREASES the probability that the response immediately will occur again

Positive Reinforcers

-stimuli that strengthen a response if they follow that response
-present something

Negative Reinforcers

the removal of unpleasant stimuli that strengthens a resposne

Negative Reinforcement

when a response is strengthened by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus

Reinforcement

process through which a particular response is made MORE likely to reoccur

Escape Conditioning

process of learning responses that stop an aversive stimulus

Avoidance Conditioning

process of learning particular responses that avoid an aversive stimulus

Discriminative Conditioned Stimuli

stimuli that signal whether reinforcement is available if a certain response is made (e.g. location)

Stimulus Discrimination in Operant Conditioning

occurs when an organism learns to make a particular response in the presence of one stimulus, but not another

Stimulus Generalization in Operant Conditioning

an animal/person will preform a response in the presence of a stimulus that is similar to a stimulus that has signaled reinforcement in the past

Shaping

reinforcement of responses that come successively closer to same desired stimulus

Primary/Unconditioned Reinforcers

events or stimuli that satisfy physiological needs basic to survival

Secondary/Conditioned Reinforcers

rewards that people/animals LEARN to like

Delay/Time in Operant Conditioning

operant conditioning is stronger when reinforcers appear soon after a response occurs

Size in Operant Conditioning

-conditioning is faster when the reinforcer is large
-start large, but go small

Continuos Reinforcement Schedule

a reinforcer is delivered every time a particular response occurs

Partial Reinforcement Schedule

described in terms of when (# of responses that have to occur or time that must pass) and how (whether the reinforcer will be delivered in a predictable or unpredictable way) reinforces are given

Reinforcement Schedule

in operant conditioning, rules that determine how and when certain responses will be reinforced

Fixed Ratio (FR) Schedule

provide reinforcement following a fixed number of responses

Variable Ratio (VR) Schedule

call for reinforcement after a certain number of responses, but that number varies

Fixed Interval (FI) Schedule

provide reinforcement for the first response that occurs after some fixed time has passed since the last reward

Variable Interval Schedule

reinforce the first response after some period of time, but that amount of time varies unpredictably

Partial Reinforcement Effect

phenomenon in which behaviors learned under a partial reinforcement schedule are more difficult to extinguish than those learned on a continuous reinforcement schedule

Premark Principle

-states that an opportunity to engage in more probable behaviors/activities will reinforce less probable behaviors/activities
-If you do it a lot, you like it and it can be used as a reward

Response Deprivation Hypothesis

-contingent behavior will serve to reinforce an instrumental behavior if and only if by engaging in the baseline amount of the instrumental behavior, a subject is thereby deprived of the baseline amount of the contingent behavior
-the less we have it, the more we work for it

Punishment

-presentation of an aversive stimulus or the removal of a pleasant one following some behavior
-Behavior DECREASES

Positive Punishment

presents an aversive stimulus following a response

Negative Punishment

removes a pleasurable stimulus

Punishments... they do not... behavior

suppress, not eradicate

Punishments can produce...

unwanted side effects

Punishments work best when given...

immediately

Physical punishment can become..., even..., if...

aggressive, even abusive, if given in anger or with an object other than a hand

Frequent punishment may lead kids to...

imitate it

PDP

connectionist model

Problems with Neural Networking

-complex tasks need to be rewarded at every the along the way
-(sometimes) we don't adapt to rule changes

Animals detect... in classical conditioning

causality

Who determines the value of reinforcers?

the individual

Learned Helplessness

process in which a person or animal stops trynig to exert control after experience suggests that no control is possible

Learned Helplessness: Depression

when you can't escape, you shut down

The more optimistic you are, the more... you are

resilient

Insight

a sudden understanding of what is required to solve a problem

Insight and Learning are the Result of

trial and error

Observational Learning

learning how to preform new behaviors by watching others; social learning

Mirror Neurons

-fire not only when do something or experience something but also when we see someone else or experience the same thing
-motor cortex, frontal lobe

Bobo Dolls

Bandura showed nursery school children a film starring an adult and large, inflatable, bottom-heavy Bobo doll. The adult hurt the doll in various ways. Each kid was shown a different ending; some with the adult being punished, some with him being rewarded. The kids imitated different behaviors with their own doll based on what ending they were shown.

Vicarious Conditioning

-kind of social observational learning through which a person is influenced by watching or hearing about the consequences of others' behavior
-bicarious learning (form of social learning)

Violent TV and Video Games cause...

desensitization; provide models for kids when good-guys act violent

Classrooms Across Cultures

In Japan (e.g.) teachers give immediate feedback and work one-on-one more and put great emphasis on cooperative work

Active Learning

students engage more with the material and think critically

Skill Learning

feedback and lots of practice; lasts a long time

What sense dominates?

vision

What does the Neural Stimulus (NS) become?

the CS

In Classical Condition, the animal has to be...

paying attention

Does Classical Conditioning involve a voluntary or involuntary response?

involuntary

Does Operant Conditioning involve a voluntary or involuntary response?

voluntary

How are attractions/fetishes caused by classical conditioning?

Boots + Attractive Person --> Attraction
Boots -->Attraction

Aversion

e.g. hot sauce + nails (nails become connected with pain/fear)

Positive Reinforcers/Punishments...

present something

Negative Reinforcers/Punishments...

remove something