Psych 26-30

Learning

process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors, biopsychosocial process, adapt to environment

Habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to stimulus

Associative Learning

learning that certain events occur together, may be two stimuli in classical conditioning or response and its consequence in operant conditioning

Stimulus

any event or situation that evokes a response

Respondent Behavior

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

Operant Behavior

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences

Cognitive Learning

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, watching others or through language

Classical Conditioning

type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli, as a result, to illustrate with Pavlov’s classic experiment, the first stimulus comes to elicit behavior in anticipation of second stimulus, allows humans to prepare for good and bad events (adaptive)

Behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes, most agree with 1, but not 2 today

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

a stimulus that naturally triggers an unconditioned response

Unconditioned Response (UR)

an unlearned, naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned Response (CR)

a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

an originally neutral stimulus, that after association with unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response

Acquisition

in classical conditioning, it is the initial stage where one links a neutral stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response, in operant conditioning, it is the strengthening of a reinforced response

Higher-Order Conditioning

procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus

Extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response, occurs in classical conditioning when US does not follow CS, occurs in operant conditioning when response is no longer reinforced

Spontaneous Recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

Generalization

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for similar stimuli to elicit similar responses, in operant conditioning, responses learned in one situation occur in another, can be adaptive-toddlers learn to fear cars, but also motorcycles and trucks- and last long- a tortured Argentine writer still flinched at black shoes

Discrimination

in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and similar stimuli that does not signal a US, in operant conditioning, the ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced from responses that are not

Operant Conditioning

a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher

Law of Effect

Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

Operant Chamber (Skinner Box)

in operant conditioning research, a chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer, attached devices record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking

Reinforcement

any event strengthens the behaviors it follows

Shaping

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior, give ray a tiny bit of food every time it moves closer to the bar and rewarding its successive approximations

Discriminative Stimulus

stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement

increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers, adds a pleasant stimulus to increase the response

Negative Reinforcement

increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing aversive stimuli, taking away an aversive stimulus to increase the response

Primary Reinforcer

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need

Conditioned Reinforcer

a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer, if a rat learns that a light signals food, it will work to turn on the light

Reinforcement Schedule

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

Continuous Reinforcement Schedule

reinforcing the desired response everytime it occurs

Partial Reinforcement Schedule

reinforcing a response only part of the time, results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

Fixed-Ratio

reinforced response only after a specified number of responses

Variable-Ratio

reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

Fixed-Interval

reinforced a response only after a specified time has elapsed

Variable-Interval

reinforces a response at unpredictable time periods

Fixed

reinforcement occurs at a specific time/number

Variable

reinforcement is unpredictable, response rates generally higher

Ratio

reinforcement after a certain number, response rates generally higher

Interval

reinforcement after a certain time

Punishment

event that tends to decrease the behavior it follows

Positive Punishment

adds an aversive stimulus to decrease response

Negative Punishment

takes away pleasant stimulus to decrease response

Biofeedback

system for electronically recording, amplifying and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension, works best in tension headaches

Preparedness

biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value

Biology in Learning

* genetic predispositions
* UR
* adaptive responses
* neural mirroring

Psychological in Learning

* previous experiences
* predictability of associations
* generalization
* discrimination
* expectations

Social in Learning

* culturally learned preferences
* motivation
* modeling

Instinctive Drift

the tendency of learned behavior to gradually rever to biologically predisposed patterns

Cognitive Map

mental representation of the layout of one’s environment

Latent Learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

Insight

sudden realization of a problem’s solution, contrasts with strategy-based solutions

Intrinsic Motivation

desire to perform behavior effectively for its own sake, may be diminished by external rewards, children who were paid to play with a toy enjoyed it less than children who played with it for fun, coaches who promote enjoyment instead of just winning lead to greater rewards

Extrinsic Motivation

desire to perform behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment, may only be motivated for a grade and not learning, can be effective and improve competence and enjoyment (MVP award)

Problem-Focused Coping

attempting to alleviate stress directly, by changing the stressor or the way we interact with it, go straight to a family member to solve an issue

Emotion-Focused Coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction, talk to friends about an issue with a family member

Personal Control

our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless

Learned Helplessness

hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

External Locus of Control

perception that chance or outside forces beyond personal control determine our fate

Internal Locus of Control

perception that we control our own fate, achieved more in school and work, more independent, healthier, less depressed, lower obesity, lower blood pressure, less distress

Self-Control

ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards, varies over time and weakens with use, controlling it requires attention and energy- bad habits are easy to form and take hard work to break it, predicts good health, higher income and better achievement

Observational Learning

learning by observing others

Modeling

process of observing and imitating a specific behavior, must be consistent to work most effectively

Mirror Neurons

frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so, brain’s mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation and empathy, provides basis for observational learning, fire when we do something and when we observe others

Prosocial Learning

positive, constructive, helpful behavior, opposite of antisocial, modeling of Martin Luther King Jr. led to a powerful force of nonviolent action,

Antisocial Learning

negative, unhelpful behavior, opposite of prosocial, may help us understand why abusive parents have aggressive children, studies on monkeys have shown that aggression can come from modeling

Violence-Viewing Effect

correlation does not equal causation, 1. imitation: watching violent media may increase violent play 2. desensitization: continuous exposure to violence allows viewers to be indifferent toward violence

Ivan Pavlov’s Dogs

when studying dogs’ digestive systems, Pavlov noticed the dog would salivate not just to taste of food, but to the sight of the dish or footsteps of person, Pavlov and his colleagues then isolated a dog in a room with a harness and a tube to measure saliva, then they presented food (US) which provoked salivation (UR), the food was then paired with a preceding tone (NS) to see if the dog would associate the stimuli, the tone paired with food (CS) began to produce salivation as well (CR), showed learning can be studies objectively

John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner’s Little Albert

Watson’s idea of behaviorism stemmed from Pavlov, showed how fears can be conditioned, Watson presented a white rat (NS) to an infant, later they paired it with a loud noise (US) to elicit fear (UR), Albert began to fear (CR) the white rat by associating it with the loud noise (CS), he also generalized his fear to rabbits and dogs

John Garcia

challenged idea that all associations can be learned equally well, when studying effects of radiation on rats, he noticed they stopped drinking water from plastic bottles in radiation chambers (did they link the plastic-tasting water to sickness triggered by radiation?), Garcia then exposed the rats to a particular taste, sight or sound (NS) and then later radiation or drugs (US) which would lead to nausea (UR), then rats would associate certain taste (CS) with nausea (CR), discovered two things: 1. rats avoided taste even if nauseated hours later which challenged idea that US must immediately follow CS 2. rats developed aversions to tastes but not sight or sound, which made adaptive sense as rats must taste toxic food to tell if it is toxic

Edward Chase Tolman

studied two groups of rats, one who received reinforcement after running a race, and another who did not, when the rats who did not originally receive reinforcement were given a food reward, they seemed to have developed a cognitive map of the maze and ran it just as fast as the other rats, demonstrated the role of cognition in learning

Robert Rescorla

showed animal can learn predictability of an event, if a shock is preceded with a tone, and then also preceded by a light, the rat will react with fear to the tone but not to the light, the light adds no new information and the tone is a better predictor, the more predictable the association, the stronger the CR, the rat learns an expectancy (awareness of how likely the US will occur)

Martin Seligman

demonstrated dogs with learned helplessness, dogs were strapped in a harness and repeatedly shocked while another group of dogs were given the chance to escape the shock, when both dogs were given the ability to escape, the dogs who had been shocked did not escape and cowered

Albert Bandura

observational researcher, preschool child drew in the same room that an adult beat up a Bobo doll, the child was then brought into another room with toys, but told those toys would be saved for the other children, the child was then brought to a third room, where they beat up the Bobo doll and in the same way and said the same things as the adults in comparison to children who did not witness modeling

Vicarious Reinforcement/Punishment

we learn this by watching models, we anticipate a behavior’s consequence in situations, fMRI has shown that when become observe someone winning a reward, their own brain reward systems activate

Lab Monkey & Mirror Neurons

implanted wires next to motor cortex that buzzed when activity occurred in that part of the monkey’s brain, when monkey waited for its researchers to return from lunch, one of them went to take a bite from ice cream and the wires buzzed due to mirror neurons

Imitation

basis provided by mirror neurons, widespread in many species, chimpanzees observe and imitate tool use behaviors which can be transmitted down through generations, humpback whale whacked water to drive fish into a clump and the technique began to show in other whales

Erica van de Waal

gave monkeys an option of two kinds of corn (pink and blue), but soaked one to make it unpleasant, and after new generation was born, they began to prefer the same corn that the original monkeys had and switched preferences when other groups did

Human Imitation

seen in catchphrases, fashions, ceremonies, traditions, morals, foods and fads, children begin to overimitate adult movements- if an adult brushes a feather over a jar before opening it, so will a baby

Empathy

emotions are contagious due to brain’s response to observing others, we unconsciously synchronize others faces, voices, postures to our own to help us understand what others feel, in a fMRI scan- pain imagined by romantic partner triggered activity that would occur in real situation

Behavior Modeling

used by businesses to help employees learn communication, sales and service skills, skills are learned faster after modeled

Operant Principles in School

* Skinner believed machines and textbooks would shape learning in small steps by reinforcing correct responses
* online quizzing/tasks allows students to learn at their own pace and receive immediate feedback

Operant Principles in Sports

* key to shaping athletes is reinforcing small successes and building off of it
* golf students can start at small putts and then gradually putt longer
* accidental timing of rewards can produce superstitions- if a batter got a hit after tapping the plate, he may do it every time

Operant Principles in Work

* many organizations focus on reinforcing a job well done
* rewards are most likely to increase productivity if the desired behavior is well-defined and achievable
* Thomas Watson wrote checks immediately when witnessing an achievement- the idea that reinforcement works best when immediate

Operant Principles in Parenting

* parents should focus on noticing what their child does well and affirm them for it
* don’t yell at defiant children, but simply take away their phone or toy

Operant Principles in Self

* to build self-control, reinforce desired behaviors
* state a realistic goal in measurable terms and announce it
* decide how, when and where you will work toward your goal
* monitor how often you engage in your desired behavior
* reinforce the desired behavior
* reduce rewards gradually

Operant Principles in Stress

* we may have feedback about our bodily responses, and change those responses
* one study showed rats could modify heartbeat if given pleasurable brain stimulation

Biological Constraints

preparedness or instinctive drift, many behaviorists realized that animal’s capacity for conditioning was limited by biological constraints

Taste Aversion

rats who had a taste (NS) associated with radiation (US) that make them sick (UR) developed sickness (CR) to taste paired with radiation (CS), mainly criticized Garcia’s studies, humans can be aversive to taste- if you get ill after eating oysters, you develop an aversion to the taste, but not the people or the plate

Wolf/Sheep Experiment

wolves were tempted to eat sheep carcasses laced with poison, then developed taste aversion to sheep and even feared them

Biological Constraints in Operant Conditioning

most easily learn and retain behaviors that reflect biological predispositions, as food is needed for survival- it is easy to condition a hamster to dig for a food reward, but not easy to condition them to do something that is not food related

Cognition

Pavlov and Watson dismissed cognition and biological constraints in their studies, believed dogs’ and rats’ learned behaviors were mindless mechanisms, however Rescorla and Tolman both demonstrated cognition in animals (expectancy and cognitive map)

Loss of Control and Health

leads to an outpouring of stress hormones, high blood pressure, dropping immune responses, by increasing control-allowing prisoners to move chair or have those in nursing homes make decisions-health and morale increases

Behavior Control

Skinner was able to teach pigeons unpigeon-like behavior- walking in figure 8 or playing ping pong

Interaction of Neg/Pos Reinforcement

anxious for a test, studies hard and gets a good grade, PR- good grade, NR- takes away anxiety

Delayed Reinforcers

rats do not respond well, humans do- paycheck at end of week, even young children showed they preferred a big candy the next day instead of a small one in the moment

Drawback of Physical Punishment

1. Punished behavior is suppressed, not forgotten, which may reinforce parents punishing behavior
2. Punishment teaches discrimination among situations
3. Punishment can teach fear
4. Physical punishment may increase aggression by modeling violence as a way to cope with problems

Habitual Behavior

learned associations feed habits, formed when we repeat behaviors in given context (chewing nails in class), behavior becomes linked to context and context will evoke behavior, form beneficial habits

Sea Slug

a sea slug withdraws its gills if squirted with water, but if the squirts continue as it would in the ocean, the withdrawal response diminishes (habituation), but if the sea slug is shocked after squirted, it associates the squirt with the shock and its response increases