AP Psychology Unit 6-learning

Learning

Learning

is a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience that leads to the acquisition of skills and knowledge.

Classical Conditioning

a learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.

Ivan Pavlov

A man who experimented with animals to study different types of learning and conditioning of animals. His most famous is his experimentation with dogs.

Pavlov’s experiments with dogs

Pavlovian Conditioning-Starts with the before conditioning where a dog will salivate when it sees food. Then, a bell is introduced and the dog has no response. Then, the bell and the food is combined to prompt salivation. Finally, after conditioning the dog would respond to the bell with salivation.

Unconditioned Stimulus

unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a response. For example, when you smell one of your favorite foods, you may immediately feel hungry.

Unconditioned response

The unlearned response that occurs naturally in response to unconditioned stimulus. For example, the feeling of hunger after you smell the food.

Conditioned Stimulus

Previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response.

Conditioned Response

The learned response to the previous neutral or conditioned stimulus. For instance, the conditioned response would be salivation when the bell is heard.

Neutral Stimulus

A stimulus that does not initially elicit a response.

Acquisition

is the stage of the conditioning process and occurs when a response is established. (how the learning is acquired). Links and neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus.

Extinction

involves the gradual weakening of a conditioned response. In classical conditioning, extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous Recovery

is the reappearance of a response (a CR) that had been extinguished. The recovery can occur after a period of non-exposed to the conditioned stimulus. It is called spontaneous as it seems to appear out of nowhere.

Stimulus Generalization

is the tendency for the conditioned stimulus to evoke similar responses after the response has been conditioned.

Second order conditioning

an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might learn that a light predicts tone and begins to respond to the light alone.

higher order conditioning

A conditioned stimulus in one experience is paired w/ a new neutral stimulus creating a 2nd conditioned stimulus.

cognitive processes

any of the mental functions assumed to be involved in the acquisition, storage, interpretation, manipulation, transformation, and use of knowledge.

biological predispositions

an increased chance of developing a disease or pattern of behavior based on the genes we inherited from our parents

Robert Koelling-Taste aversion

a conditioned ___ ______ can occur when eating a substance followed by an illness. studied taste aversion in rats noticing rats would avoid water in radiation chambers

associative learning

is learning in which an organism learns that certain events occur together. (ex. knowing a cat will be fed when a certain person gets home from work).

Behaviorism

is based on the assumption that learning occurs through interactions with the environment.

Operant behavior

refers to behavior that operates on the environment or is controllable by the individual that produces some type of consequence.

respondent behavior

are behaviors that occur as an automatic response to some stimuli. For example, the pupil starts to flicker when esposed to direct sunlight.

Mary Cover Jones

Gave a child positive reinforcement to get them to unlearn a response to a stimulus. Helped to use counter conditioning.

counter conditioning

Behavior therapy procedure that is used to evoke new responses to a stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors.

Stimulus discrimination

in classical conditioning, ______________ is the ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have no been paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

John Watson’s little Albert Experiment

demonstrated that classical conditioning could be used to create a phobia. A phobia is an irrational fear, that is out of proportion to the danger. In this experiment, a previously unafraid baby was conditioned to become afraid of a rat.

B.F Skinner Rat and Pigeon Experiment

The psychologist used a device that emitted a clicking noise to train pigeons to peck at a small, moving point underneath a glass screen. Skinner posited that the birds, situated in front of a screen inside of a missile, would see enemy torpedoes as specks on the glass, and rapidly begin pecking at it

Operant Chamber/Skinner Box

comes with a bar or key that an animal manipulates to obtain a reinforcer like food or water. The bar or key is connected to devices that record the animals response.

Shaping

Gradually molding or training an organisim to preform a spesific response (behavior) by reinforcing any responses that are similar to the desired response.

Positive Reinforcement

are favorable events or outcomes that are presented after the behavior. In situations that reflect positive reinforcement, a response or behavior is strengthened by the addition of something such as praise or a direct reward. (for example giving someone a sticker)

Negative Reinforcement

involve the removal of an unfavorable event or outcome after the display of a behavior. In these situations, a response is strengthened by the removal of something considered unpleasant. (taking aspirin to remove a headache)

Aversive conditioning

form of counter conditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior(such as drinking alcohol)

Vicarious Classical conditioning

Occurs when a subject is exposed to someones elses fears or reactions and then internalizes those feelings, actions, and reactions for themselves

Contingency

is the relationship between two events, one being contingent or a consequence of the other event.

Chaining

occurs when animals are taught to preform a number of responses successively in order to get a reward. Goal is to link together a number of seperate behaviors into a more complex activity. (training a rat to do a bunch of different things to eventually chain them together into the rat going through an obstacle course).

law of effect

states that if the consequences of a behavior are pleasant, the stimulus-response connection will be strengthened and the likelihood of the behavior will increase.

Generalized Reinforcers

a stimulus which has acquired reinforcing properties through repeated pairings with other reinforcers under various situations; the stimulus (which was previously neutral) now becomes reinforcing for many behaviors.

Successive Approximations

a method of shaping operant behavior by reinforcing responses similar to the desired behavior. Initially, responses roughly approximating the desired behavior are reinforced. Later, only responses closely approximating the desired behavior are reinforced.

Operant Conditioning

is the method of learning that occurs through reward and punishments for behavior. Through these rewards and punishments, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior.

Observational Learning

is the process of learning by watching the behaviors of others. The targeted behavior is watched, memorized, and then mimicked. Also known as shaping and modeling, observational learning is most common in children as they imitate behaviors of adults.

instrumental learning

s a type of learning in which behaviors are strengthened or weakened by their consequences. if a student is rewarded with praise every time she raises her hand in class, she becomes more likely to raise her hand again in the future.

Instinctive drift

is the tendency of some trained animals to revert back to instinctual behaviors. In other words, they will behave in accordance with the unconscious and automatic behaviors, as opposed to the operant conditioned behaviors.

John Garcia Rat Experiments

demonstrated that a rat would associate a taste, but not a light or sound, with illness. In contrast, pain could be associated only with a visual or auditory cue, not a taste.

Robert Rescorla

was an American psychologist who specialized in the involvement of cognitive processes in classical conditioning focusing on animal learning and behavior

Rosalie Rayner

was a research psychologist, and the assistant and later wife of Johns Hopkins University psychology professor John B. Watson, with whom she carried out the famous Little Albert experiment

Edward Thorndike

Conduced operant conditioning with the cat puzzle box. He would place the cat into the box and once they were successful they would be rewarded. The cat would escape through trial and error and would eventually memorize the steps to get out. If the action brings a reward he believes that the action is stored in the mind and to be replicated.

Positive Punishment

sometimes referred to as punishment by application, involves the presentation of an unfavorable event or outcome in order to weaken the response it follows. (For example, adding a parking ticket/fine so now you will no longer park illegally).

Negative Punishment

also known as punishment by removal, occurs when a favorable event or outcome is removed after a behavior occurs. (time out, revoking your license). (for example removing a cell phone to decrease bad behavior).

Omission training

a method in behaviorism used to stop undesirable behaviors. When a subject (the person/animal being trained) enjoys something and it is taken away as punishment for an action or behavior. A child will try to improve a behavior if something they love will be taken away.

escape conditioning

a person’s behavior causes an unpleasant event to stop. For instance feeding a dog vegetables in order to avoid the unpleasant event of eating vegetables.

avoidance conditioning

involves the training of an organism to withdraw from an unpleasant stimulus before it starts. A child avoids unpleasant consequences because of past behavior.

over justification affect

occurs when an external incentive such as money or prizes decreases a person’s intrinsic motivation to preform a task.

partial reinforcement

results in slower acquisition of a response, but a much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement. So, reinforcement is only given some of the time or at an inconsistent amount.

Delayed reinforcement

is a time delay between the desired response of an organism and the delivery of reward. An example would be when someone is on a diet, the reinforcement for the behavior (losing weight) will be delayed and occur at a later time, not immediately.

FIxed Ratio

reinforcement occurs after a set number of responses. Is predictable. (for every 10 As your child gets, he gets to pick out a new toy).

Variable Ratio

reinforcement is still based on the number of responses, however now it is unpredictable how many responses are needed to get the reinforcement. (for example, you may catch a fish after one catch, then after 5, then after 2).

Fixed interval

reinforcement is received after a set amount of time regardless of the number of responses during that time. (ex, every 30 mins someone walks by your desk and drops off a 5 dollar bill)

Variable interval

reinforcement is still based on the amount of time that has passed between responses, not the number of responses. Time that passes between reinforcement is unpredictable, leads to a slow, steady rate of responding. (Someone comes and drops a 5 dollar bill at random times).

Continuous Reinforcement.

Reinforcement follows every response. Praise after each action.

Primary Reinforcement

things that are in themselves rewarding (ex. Food)

secondary reinforcers

things that we have learned to value. (ex. Money, toys ect.)

Immediate reinforcement

If any reinforcer is presented immediately. Because the reinforcement is immediate, the person is more likely to repeat the action.

cognitive map

are mental pictures of spacial relationships between events. (like locating buildings, friends house, street).

Edward Tolman

is best-known for cognitive behaviorism, his research on cognitive maps, the theory of latent learning and the concept of an intervening variable.believed individuals do more than merely respond to stimuli; they act on beliefs, attitudes, changing conditions, and they strive toward goals. Is virtually the only behaviorists who found the stimulus-response theory unacceptable, because reinforcement was not necessary for learning to occur.

Latent learning

is learning that becomes obvious only once reinforcement is given for demonstrating it. For example, if you are going to school with a friend everyday and she drives, you will learn the way to school. But that learning only becomes obvious when you have to drive to school.

abstract learning

acquiring knowledge of general or intangible material, such as the meanings of concepts and propositions and the logical and systematic relations between them. Refers to the idea that we learn in general, we don't always learn about specific behaviors. We learn about concepts and categories. Another example of this can be found in pigeons. You can teach a pigeon to peck at pictures of chairs.

chaining

involves linking together previously conditioned behaviors. individual steps are recognized as requirements for task mastery. Breaks a task down into small steps and then teaches each step within the sequence by itself.

intrinsic motivation

is defined as the doing of an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for some separable consequence. A person is moved to act for the fun or challenge entailed rather than because of external products, pressures, or rewards.

extrinsic motivation

a motivation to participate in an activity based on meeting an external goal, garnering praise and approval, winning a competition, or receiving an award or payment.

mirror neurons

frontal lobe neurons that fire when preforming certain actions or when observing another doing so. Brain’s mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation and empathy.

Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment

There are three groups. In the first children watch adults hitting, kicking, and hurting Bobo doll. The second group watched adults playing nicely with Bobo doll. Finally, the last group of children didn’t watch anything particularly kind or particularly violent. The point? Social learning. Children are more likely to imitate what they see and the children in the experiment did imitate the behavior on a Bobo doll based on what they watched.

Wolfgang Kohler

Insight learning is perhaps the greatest contribution he made to psychology. Building off the influence of gestalt psychology, he discovered that learning can occur when we gain insight into an entire situation, as opposed to focusing only on an individual part. he is probably best known for his empirical studies of chimpanzee problem solving

Token Economy

involves reinforcing good behavior by motivating someone with rewards for good grades or job performance(ex. friday jean day, access to extra food in prison ect.)

social learning

The idea that a child will imitate the behavior of those around them, both positive and negative). A child will socially learn from the behavior they watch.

modeling

learning by imitating others behaviors. It can lead to both positive and negative consequences.

learned helplessness

a condition in which repeated attempts to control a situation fail, resulting in a person believing that the situation is uncontrollable.

premack principle

explains that whichever of two activities is preferred can be used to reinforce the activity that is not preferred. For example, if peter likes apples, but does not like to practice for his piano lesson his mother could use apples to reinforce practicing piano.