Learning and Thinking Final Exam Review

aversive stimulus

something that is not desirable (pain, annoying, etc.); can increase or decrease behaviors

escape response

turns off an aversive stimulus (ex. put seatbelt on to turn off the noise)

avoidance response

prevents the aversive stimulus (ex. don’t go to class because of annoying kid)

two process theory of avoidance

classically conditioned to fear/be anxious, operant conditioning to reduce fear/anxiety (ex. rat jumps barrier to avoid shock)

problems with two process theory of avoidance

avoidance response happens so quickly that they are not exposed to CS long enough to extinguish behavior; loses fear over time

one process theory of avoidance

operantly conditioned to fear/be anxious

treatment for OCD

exposure therapy, ERP (exposure and response prevention)

intrinsic

doing the actual behavior is rewarding or punishing

extrinsic

reinforcement or punishment that is something other than the behavior; typically following behavior

immediate

reinforcement or punishment happens right after the behavior

delayed

reinforcement or punishment happens some time after the behavior

primary

unlearned and naturally reinforcing/punishing; typically satisfies biological needs

secondary

learning or associated to gain reinforcement or punishing power; derives effectiveness from being associated with primary consequences

generalized consequences

reinforcers or punishers that have been conditioned to work across a wide variety of situations

natural consequences

reinforcers or punishers that occur without needing human intervention (ex. food, pain, etc)

contrived consequences

reinforcers or punishers that are created or imposed by humans

effective punishments

immediate, consistent, severe enough, negative punishment, explanation, reinforcement for good behavior, and punishment must outweigh intrinsic benefits

learned helplessness

noncontingent punishment; predictable but inescapable shock

conditioned suppression

punishment does not weaken a behavior, but elicits an emotional response that interferes with the occurrence of behavior

premack principle

if you do LPB (icky behavior) then you get to do HPB (desirable behavior)
if you do HPB then you have to do LPB

Skinner on gaining self control

physical restraint, deprivation/satiation, replacement behavior, self reinforcement/punishment

increasing self control

delayed gratification, age, smaller immediate goals, commitment response

goals of applied behavior analysis

decrease maladaptive behavior, increase adaptive behavior

functional assessment

initial info from caregivers; initial questionnaire, then replacement behaviors (extinction burst could be detrimental)

deviant

unusual, rare or infrequent, violates a norm

dysfunction

impaired function, maladaptive

distress

suffering, “clinically significant”

schizophrenia

a pattern of disturbed thinking/behavior that that severely impairs ability to communicate and relate to others, disrupts daily life

psychosis

a condition that leaves people out of touch with reality

split mind

divided normally integrated mental processes such as thoughts and feelings

delusions

false beliefs; often of persecution, grandeur, etc. in schizophrenia

hallucinations

false perceptions not created from sensory organs

positive symptoms

delusions, disorganized thoughts, hallucinations

negative symptoms

lack of pleasure, motivation, emotion, social withdrawal

vulnerability theory

mainly biological; degree ranges by person; influenced by genetic and environmental factors

treatments of schizophrenia

antipsychotics, psychotherapy, electroconvulsive therapy, family counseling

biological perspective

treatments target biological processes; based in the body and symptoms

psychological perspective

freud, illness is due to unresolved feelings

humanistic approach

disorders occur when one’s ability to grow healthily is blocked by environmental and social restraints

social cognitive theory

bandura; people learn by observing others and the reinforcements/punishments given to them for their actions; safer and faster

sociocultural perspective

psychological illness is due to the inability to examine your environment, social, and cultural factors

generalized anxiety disorder (GED)

long lasting anxiety that is not focused on any object or situation; free floating

panic disorders

anxiety in the form of sudden, severe attacks that seem to have no obvious cause

phobias

an anxiety disorder that involves a strong, irrational fear of an object or situation that does not objectively justify such a reaction

obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)

a mental health disorder characterized by repetitive actions that seem impossible to stop

temperament

a biological predisposition for certain behavioral and emotional tendencies

major depressive disorder

feeling sad or hopeless for weeks or months, often losing interest in all activities and taking pleasure in nothing

bipolar disorder

a condition in which people alternate between the two emotional extremes of depression and mania; genetic (chromosome 13)

mania

an elated active emotional state; overly optimistic, tend to make impulsive decisions, runaway thoughts

bipolar I

fluctuate between depressive and manic states

bipolar II

have depressive episodes but not as extreme mania

cyclothymia

lesser manic and depressive episodes that fluctuate over shorter periods

Romanes

father of animal comparative psychology; anecdotal and observational methods; criticized for anthropomorphism

Tolman

behavior is goal directed and purposeful; latent learning; cognitive mapping, bridged the gap between cognition and behaviorism

Bandura

social learning; Bobo Doll studies; we learn socially and mentally not just through rewards and punishment

observational (social) learning

associative learning; classical conditioning with emotions to events/objects; vicarious learning through people; operant conditioning when others are rewarded or punished

contagion

involuntary replication of instinctive behavior after observing it in others; the behavior itself is learned without understanding (ex. following when someone is running away from something)

emulation

learner tries to achieve the same goal as the model but may use a different method

imitation

learner tries to copy the exact process they observed

teaching

an experienced individual actively facilitates learning in another; behavior or knowledge is directly transmitted

place enhancement

attention of the learner is drawn to a specific place by the demonstrator

stimulus enhancement

attention of the learner is drawn to a specific object by the demonstrator

theory of mind

attributing others with belief, knowledge, wants, desires, and intentions; should behave in consistent ways when tested in multiple ways

law of effect

if an action is followed by a desirable outcome the action is more likely to be repeated (vice versa)

fixed ratio behavior pattern

high response rate with breaks between responses after receiving reinforcement

fixed interval behavior pattern

scalloped and positively related

variable ratio behavior pattern

highest responses in the shortest amount of time; steady and high response rate

variable interval behavior pattern

generally steady rate of behavior

ratio run

high rate of responses immediately following reinforcement

ratio strain

due to high demand, you reduce your overall behavior responses

breaking point

you can no longer produce the behavior due to over-demanding requirements

high rates of behavior

reinforced when behavior increases

low rates of behavior

reinforced when behavior decreases

paced responding

reinforcement when behavior reaches optimal response rate

partial reinforcement extinction effect (PREE)

behaviors that are intermittently reinforced take longer to extinguish

differential reinforcement of other behavior

reinforcement is given for the absence of target behavior

differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior

reinforcing a behavior that is physically incompatible with the undesirable behavior (ex. sitting versus standing)

differential reinforcement of alternative behavior

reinforcing the behavior that accomplishes the same goal but is more socially acceptable

behavioral contrast

increasing or decreasing a behavior due to how reinforcement compares to alternative schedules or past experience

anticipatory contrast

changing the rate of behavior on one schedule in preparation for a change in reinforcement

reflexes are ….

not learned

aristotle

empiricist; observational; laws of association

empiricist

learn through experience

Rene Descartes

nativist; dualism; conarium; (in)voluntary behavior; reflexes

Thomas Hobbes

hedonism (do what makes you happy)

John Locke

tabula rasa; empiricist

nativist

innate behaviors

primary rules of association

contiguity, similarity, contrast

secondary rules of association

salience of stimuli, frequency of presentation, number of previous associations

topography

the sequence or way in which a behavior is performed in relation to the “correct” sequence or goal

sensitization

an increase in response with repeated exposure to repeated stimulus

delayed conditioning

best associations are made; US follows CS

trace conditioning

CS, longer delay in time, US

simultaneous conditioning

CS and US happen at the same time

backwards conditioning

US happens before CS; worst associations are made

higher order conditioning

adding a second neutral stimulus that elicits the response

sensory preconditioning

two stimuli are associated before training, second stimuli elicits same response as stimuli 1 without training

overshadowing

two or more stimuli are presented but the subject only responds to one of them

blocking

failed higher order conditioning

asymptote of conditioning

the highest strength of a learned response you can gain through conditioning