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acquisition
the development of the conditioned response CR when the conditioned stimulus CS is paired with the unconditioned stimulus US
-rapid learning in early training, asymptote in later training
factors that influence pavlovian training
-salience of CS
-intensity of US
-temporal spacing
delayed conditioning
-results in the best learning
trace conditioning
-trace interval between conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus
-results in okay learning
simultaneous conditioning
-CS and US at the same time
-results in poor learning, CS has no predictive value
backwards conditioning
-results in poor learning or sometimes inhibitory learning
-CS is perceived as a “safety signal”
stimulus generalization
organisms will not only respond to the trained stimulus, but to other stimuli as well
-little Albert learned to fear white rat, also responded with fear to white rabbits
generalization gradient
the less similar the stimulus is to the training stimulus, the less vigorous the response will be
generalization decrement
the decrement in the response when the stimulus is changed
implications of stimulus generalization
organisms will generalize knowledge to new situations (fear of all snakes, not just one kind of snake)
Organisms can distinguish between stimuli, if an organism responds differently to two similar stimuli, it lets us know that the organism perceives them as different
summation
If two separate stimuli are conditioned separately to elicit the same CR, the intensity of the response will double (summate) when the two stimuli are presented together
second-order conditioning
a new stimulus, when paired with an established CS (one that already elicits the CR) will also begin to elicit the conditioned response
-Beyonce is a world-renowned singer/actress that has become associated with fame and glamour. Many people admire her, wish to meet her, and wish to be like her. Advertisers that want to sell their product, attempt to associate their product with Beyonce, thinking that if you associate Beyonce with their product, then you will admire their product and wish to have it.
discrimination learning
an organism learns to respond differently to stimuli that have been paired with different USs
extinction
a loss of the conditioned response when the CS and US are no longer presented in a contiguous fashion.
-the CS-US association remains intact during extinction, but a new mechanism (inhibitory in nature) is established that inhibits the CR
spontaneous recovery
the reappearance of a Conditioned Response (CR) that has been extinguished
Disinhibition
After extinction, the recurrence of the CR following a distracting stimulus
implications of inhibitory learning
There are two learning processes: Excitation (responsible for acquisition) and inhibition (responsible for extinction)
Excitation is “stronger” than inhibition
Eyeblink Conditioning
-air puff to bunny eye
Autoshaping
-pigeon peck at key light
conditioned fear
-training rat to freeze at tone with shock
taste aversion
-injecting poison to associate taste with nausea
sensory preconditioning
-opposite of second-order conditioning
-light and tone are associated first, then tone is paired with reward, organisms reacts to light
While dating your girlfriend, she tells you that she loves the new hit by Harry Styles. Whenever you are in the car with her, she is playing that song on the radio. After three months, she dumps you for someone else. Now whenever you hear that song, you feel upset and sad.
overshadowing
-stimuli compete for association with US, and the more salient element wins out
Chemotherapy treatments for cancer will often make cancer patients feel ill. If patients eat the hospital food just before chemo treatments, they often don’t want to eat the hospital food anymore (which isn’t good). To prevent this problem from developing, hospital staff will give new cancer patients a tray of food and also a new, strongly flavored pudding shortly before their chemo session. Patients then associate the new flavor with the illness, and not the hospital food.
blocking
-subjects only learn associations when the “signal” is informative
My cat, André, comes running whenever he hears the can of cat food being opened. I would love it if André would come when I call “here kitty, kitty” so that I can get him to
come inside when I want him to. As an experiment, whenever I open the cat food, I also say “here kitty, kitty” just before I feed him so that he will associate the phrase with food and come running the next time I call him. However, even after two weeks of trying, André does not come when I call him.
conditioned inhibition
-when x is paired with A, no reinforcement is given. Subsequently, subjects inhibit their response to A, when X is present
You often put your shoes on right before taking your dog for a walk. Now, when the dog sees you put your shoes on, she gets very excited and runs to the door. However, when you put your shoes on and grab your car keys, you are leaving for work (not taking the dog for a walk). When your dog sees you put shoes on and grab car keys, she goes to lay down on her bed.
summation test
if X is a conditioned inhibitor, does its inhibitory power transfer to another conditioned excitor?
-yes, x has ability to inhibit B
retardation of acquisition test
if we try to change a conditioned inhibitor to be a conditioned excitor, does it take longer than usual?
-Yes, learning that x=food takes longer because of previous inhibitory training that x=no food
latent inhibition/CS pre-exposure effect
-pre-exposure to the CS with no reward makes subject habituate/ ignore signal
-this makes it harder to view the CS as a signal later during conditioning
The instructor sends her students unimportant emails almost every day. However, at the midpoint of the semester, she realizes that she may be sending too many emails and decides to only send them when it is very important. However, most students continue to ignore her emails for the remainder of the semester.
US pre-exposure effect
-pre-exposure to the unconditioned stimulus makes it less reinforcing, harder to learn association with CS
Kevin works in a factory where there are frequent, loud noises that occur randomly throughout his work shift. He has been working at the factory for about 2 years, when management decides to place a red light at the front of the room to “signal” the occurrence of a loud noise (so that workers can momentarily cover their ears). However, Kevin fails to make the association between the “light signal” and the loud noises for three months (until a co-worker finally points it out).
What is learned during classical conditioning?
Option 1: The CS and US become associated during conditioning. S-S association
After conditioning: CS→mental thought of US→CR
Option 2: During conditioning, the US endows the CS with the ability to directly elicit the CR.
S-R association
After conditioning CS→CR (US is no longer in the mix)
Test
Colwill and Rescorla – devaluation of the US experiment
Procedure
Phase I: All subjects get CS-US training
Phase II: Grp 1 gets US alone; Grp 2 gets nothing
Test: How does each group respond to the CS?
Results
The CR in Grp 1 is reduced
Devaluation of the US after conditioning reduces the CR.
Indicates that learning is S-S in nature
biological constraints
some associations are biologically pre-determined to be made easier
-we associate taste and illness together (internal CS and internal US)
-we associate visual things with pain better (external CS and external US)
John Garcia Experiments: Are the parts interchangeable?
Procedure
Grp 1: Size – illness
Grp 2: Taste – illness
Grp 3: Size – shock
Grp 4: Taste - shock
Results
Grps 2 and 3 learned the CS-US association, but grps 1 and 4 did not.
Significance
Parts are not interchangeable
Some associations are more biologically prepared than others
Internal CSs are more likely to be associated with internal USs
External CSs are more likely to be associated external USs
John Garcia Experiments: Are learning principles the same across species and paradigms?
Assumed Principle: Contiguity is necessary for learning to occur
Taste Aversion Learning
Contiguity is lacking; Hours between CS and US; yet learning occurs
-Contiguity is a relative term
-Taste Aversion learning allows for longer CS-US interval
-The difference is quantitative not qualitative
is contiguity sufficient for learning?
NO
overshadowing, blocking, random US experiment
Leon Kamin’s theory of surprise
You only learn when you are surprised/something unexpected happens
Mackintosh + Sutherland’s Attentional Account of Learning
-Organisms have a limited attentional capacity.
-We can only fully attend to one thing at a time.
-To learn about a stimulus, you must attend to it.
-blocking occurs because animals learn not to attend to the second CS after training with the first CS
Rescorla Information Account of Learning/Random US Experiment
p(US/CS) = p(US/no CS) – no information - no learning
p(US/CS) > p(US/no CS) – CS is a signal for the US - excitatory learning
p(US/CS) < p(US/no CS) – CS is signal that there is no US - inhibitory learning
Rescorla-Wagner Model – unifying theory
Mathematically captured Kamin’s idea of surprise
ΔV = ⍺β(λ – V)
ΔV = change in associative strength
λ = The US - what you get (e.g., shock)
V = what you expect to get when you see the CS
So (λ – V) is surprise (0-1)
⍺=salience
β=biological preparedness
Conditioned Compensatory Responses
Expansion of the Opponent-Process Model
-B process can be conditioned to start when A process paired with CS (time of day, smell, location)
-drug tolerance, B process grows each time, makes more tolerant to same dose of drug
-withdrawal/cravings, B process activates before A process drug ingested
-people can overdose when taking usual dose in abnormal context because B process not primed to start
