Motivation Exam #3

Experiments on modeled aggression with children show that:

live and filmed models were equally effective for children

Monkeys make decisions based on money. What is the name of this procedure?

Token economy

The textbook looks at a specific application of conditioned taste aversion. Which of the following applications is covered in the textbook?

chemotherapy

A therapeutic technique designed to reduce specific phobias and based on inducing imaginary scenes while the client is under deep relaxation

Systematic desensitization

In fear conditioning, the organism receives pairings between a CS (e.g. a tone) and a US (shock). What is the procedure for extinction of fear conditioning?

Present just the CS

Learned helplessness is induced in a group that receives inescapable shocks and the behavior is compared to that of a group that receives no shocks

A correct demonstration requires a master/yoked comparison

I realized my passport was expired, so I knew I was not going to be able to board my international flight. I went to the airport anyway and they told me that I could not travel until my passport was renewed

Frustration was attenuated because the outcome was not unexpected

How do we learn new skills?

through instrumental reinforcement (same as trial & error), by trial and error, guided by the law of effect

-all of the above

A rat is moving around in a box. All the sudden, a light is turned on and the movements stop. What is this related to?

the light was paired with shock before

Conditioned Taste Aversion (CTA)

-form of classical conditioning where the subject learns to avoid a specific food because it was followed by illness, nausea, or poisoning, etc

In fear conditioning for rats, what is their response (CR) to the shock

to freeze

Pavlov’s Experimental Neurosis in Dogs

-Nick the dog was required to discriminate between two tone frequencies for 6 months. He failed as has never since formed a new conditioned food reflex in the lab

-Billy, a normal dog behaved normally and was at ease when eating and when put on a leash

Emotional Disturbances in Pavlov’s Neurosis Experiment

• What behaviors were indicative of an emotional disturbance?

• Nick was restless and ill at ease

• He would not eat when attached to the leash

• With conditioned stimulus he ignores food box and retreats

• Has very heavy respiration and erection

• Outside of experimental room Nick eats but stops and becomes restless as soon as conditioned stimulus is sounded

Key Aspects of Instrumental/Operant Conditioning (Thorndike)

-reinforcement: strengthen responses

-law of effect: rewards strengthen behavior while punishments weaken behavior

Appetitive Reinforcer

anything we’re willing to work for to get

Aversive Reinforcer

anything we’re willing to work to get rid of

Action vs. Habit

action: behavior performed intentionally to obtain a specific outcome, subject is aware of the goal, if the reward disappears then the behavior will stop

habit: automatic behavior after repeated reinforcement, performed with little conscious thought, may continue even if reward is removed

Do betta fish males treat intruders as appetitive or aversive?

-kind of appetitive because the fish actually work to produce an image of an intruder

-these fish are very territorial & aggressive

Pavlovian-Instrumental Transfer (PIT)

a psychological phenomenon where a classically conditioned (pavlov) cue alters the strength of an instrumental (operant) (goal-directed) behavior

Learned Helplessness

not motivated to seek reward

ex. depression

Master vs. Yoked in Learned Helplessness Experiment

Master: has control over escaping shock → escape-avoidance training → acquires avoidance training

Yoked: has no control/cannot escape shock → escape-avoidance training → deep avoidance deficit

the ability to control the pain matters!!!

What is the “official dogma of Western industrial societies” (video)

-to maximize the welfare of our citizens, maximize individual freedom

-more choice → more freedom → increase welfare

Are excessive choices good or bad? (video)

both good and bad

What is bad about excessive choice? (video)

-produces paralysis rather than liberation

-difficulty choosing

-end up less satisfied

-imagine alternatives

-escalation of expectations

What are some consequences of excessive choice? (video)

-regret

-opportunity costs

-escalation of expectations

-self-blame

What is the secret to happiness? (video)

low expectations

Latent Learning

-reinforcement brings knowledge about a situation to the behavioral level

-this is intrinsic motivation

ex. watching a parent cook a meal for years and then being able to cook it yourself based on that experience

Reinforcing drawing skills in children

the children responded best to verbal praise rather than money or awards

Counterconditioning

-pairing difficult task followed by reward decreases the aversive reaction
-ex. pairing food with shock

-dogs began to enjoy shock because it was paired with food

Wanting vs Liking

wanting: incentive salience (desire for reward) (purely dependent on dopamine)

liking: hedonic pleasure (obtain reward beyond sensory experience) (depends on opioid stimulation hot spots)

Opioid stimulation hot spots responsible for “liking”

-NAc Shell

-Caudal VP

Addiction

characterized by a progressive disassociation of wanting & liking

Progressive Ratio

-used to measure value of an incentive

-an increasing # of responses is required to obtain reward

Successive Negative Constrast (SNC)

-rapid deterioration of behavior after downshift in reward

-going from highly valuable to less valuable

ex. monkeys are shown a banana, but actually receive lettuce = they become agressive and frustrated

Primary Frustration vs. Secondary Frustration

primary: initial response to surprising nonreward

secondary: induced by signal for surprising nonreward (remembering what happened last time, based on experiences)

You cannot have frustration if ________

there are not any expectations

Incentive Disengagement

-result of experiencing loss

-implies the breaking of an attachment (grief)

A healthy mixture of success and failure is ideal for ______

persistence

Aftereffects of Frustration

-immediate consequences of surprising nonreward

examples in rats: odor emission, increased distress vocalizations, increased general activity, changes in agnostic behavior, frustration effect (invigoration of food-reinforced behavior)

Anticipatory Effects of Frustration - Instrumental (iSNC)

-An animal learns to run down a track or press a lever to get a big reward (like 10 food pellets). Suddenly, the reward is cut to just 1 pellet.

-The animal dramatically slows down or stops working. It runs slower than control animals that had been getting 1 pellet the entire time.

-Imagine you usually run a 100-meter dash for $100. If the coordinator suddenly hands you $5 instead, the next day you are going to drag your feet and walk very slowly to the starting line

Anticipatory Effects of Frustration - Consummatory (cSNC)

-measures the animal's immediate disgust and rejection while actually consuming the reward.

-The animal takes a sip, realizes it's bland, and actively rejects it. It will walk away, groom itself, or drink significantly less than control animals that are used to the bland liquid.

-Rat gets 32% sucrose, then later gets 4% sucrose. It takes the rat about 100 seconds to process and remember how much better the 32% tasted before it fully rejects the 4%.

• Imagine you sit down at a restaurant expecting a premium, gourmet milkshake. Instead, they hand you a glass of watered-down skim milk. You take one sip, make a face, and put the glass down in disgust.

Anticipatory Effects of Frustration - Magnitude of Reinforcement Extinction Effect (MREE)

-trained rats gets small or large rewards

-large rewards group extinguised much faster

Partial Reinforcement Extinction Effect (PREE)

-behavior that is only reinforced sometimes, is harder to extinguish behavior that is reinforced every time

-hippocampus involved

Partial Delay of Reinforcement Extinction Effect (PDREE)

-behavior that is usually reinforced immediately then sometimes delayed takes longer to extinguish

Variable Magnitude of Reinforcement Extinction Effect (VMREE)

-behavior that is reinforced in varying sizes is more resistant to extinction

What does reward uncertainty lead to?

persistence

Lidell's Sheep & Goats (textbook)

• Neuroses generalized from experiment to barn/pasture and neurotic sheep were very sensitive and first to be killed

• Could be protected from experimental neuroses by having mothers present in experiment room

Interoceptive Conditioning (textbook)

-classical conditioning in which either the CS, UCS, or both are applied directly to the internal organs or the mucosa

Intero-exteroceptive conditioning (textbook)

-the CS is applied internally while the UCS is applied externally

Ex: CS of cool water inside female dog's uterus and UCS of food causes dog to salivate when there is cool water but not warm water

Intero-interoceptive conditioning (textbook)

• occurs when both the CS and the UCS are applied internally

• ex. CS was distention of dogs' intestines and paired with UCS delivery of CO2 which produced defensive breathing

Extero-interoceptive conditioning (textbook)

• occurs when an external CS is paired with an internal UCS

  • Dials for external CS and UCS was internal bladder destension

  • Strong urge to urinate when dial was high even though balloon was not inflated

Implications of Interoceptive Conditioning

• We are usually unaware of interoceptive conditioning when it occurs

• Interoceptive conditioning cannot really be avoided, can have long-term effects on our behavior

• Interoceptive conditioning has important implications for psychosomatic medicine, ex: hypertension from test anxiety

• Studies noted by Razran suggest both that motivated behavior may develop as a result of interoceptive conditioning and that we are often largely unaware of the reasons for our behavior because we are not conscious of the conditioning process when it occurs

Prepared associations (textbook)

events that can be easily and quickly associated

Contraprepared associations (textbook)

associations that an organism cannot learn

ex. trying to condition a rat to fear a beep or light because it made their stomach sick goes against their biological design

Unprepared associations (textbook)

in between 2 extremes, can be learned, numerous experiences with the events are necessary for an association to be formed

Preparedness hypothesis (textbook)

argues that different species will have evolved different prepared, unprepared, and contraprepared associations as a result of the selective pressures of evolution

Amount of reinforcement (AOR) (textbook)

the greater the quantity, the better the performance, positive correlation between amount of reinforcement and performance

Ex: rats ran faster when received larger reward

Quality of reinforcement effect (QOR) (textbook)

general quality of reinforcement effect alters performance in much the same way as amount of reinforcement

Ex: rats perform better for wet bran (cereal) than sunflower seeds

Negative contrast (textbook)

large amount group performs worse than control group after receiving their amount

Positive contrast (textbook)

original small reward group performed better when given medium reinforcement

Generalized Conditioned Reinforcers

• gains its reinforcing properties from the several primary reinforcements with which it has been paired

  • Can become somewhat independent of any individual primary reinforcer and strengthen or maintain behavior for a long period of time

  • Ex: money

Token (textbook

serves as a reminder of the other reinforcers

Token Economy (textbook)

• tokens are used as reinforcers for appropriate behavior and can later be exchanged for various reinforcers or other commodities/opportunities

  • Ex: miners and stamp awards for safe behavior and withheld stamps for accidents/injuries

  • Stamps could be redeemed for various items at redemption stores

  • Strong motivational effects, accidents and injuries decreased

  • Effective when verbal methods may be ineffective or difficult, ex: disabled or autistic children

Vicarious learning (textbook)

we all learn a great deal by simply observing others

Social learning theory (textbook)

emphasizes the idea that that social conditions are important determiners of behavior, Bandura

Modeling (textbook)

• ability to learn through observation

  • Large and allows us to build patterns of behavior without having to resort to trial and error

  • Learn to be motivated by particular situations through modeling

  • Observed behaviors stored symbolically and then retrieved at some later time

Self-reinforcement (textbook)

• reinforcing ourselves for appropriate and inappropriate behavior

  • Increases performance primarily through its motivational effects

• Observational learning can occur without either the practicing of a response or reinforcement, ex: murder by watching TV

Primary functions of reinforcement according to Bandura (textbook)

• Informational: telling us what effects our behavior has on the environment

• Motivational

Modeling Processes: Attention (textbook)

• we will observe and imitate models with whom we are in frequent contact more than those we see less frequently

  • Influence our attention processes, ex: TV

Modeling Processes: Retention (textbook)

• once observed, must incorporate behavior into memory

  • Verbal code and imaginal code

  • Rehearsal (actual or mental) improves performance of behavior

Modeling Processes: Reproduction (textbook)

even though we have observed and symbolically stored a behavior, we can imitate it only if we can string together the correct pattern of responses

Modeling Processes: Vicarious Reinforcement (textbook)

• Vicarious reinforcement: we alter our behavior as a result of observing the consequences of others' behaviors

• Can be different from observational learning because the consequences are noted

• Can work to motivate or demotivate behavior depending on what we observe

Geen and Pig Experiment (textbook)

• college students who received more praise for delivering shocks delivered more shocks and at a higher intensity than control group

  • Also used more aggressive words in a word association test

• Act of aggression itself may be reinforcing

  • Ex: killer rats killed when given opportunity

• Aggressive behavior in humans may be reinforced and maintained by secondary reinforcement: social approval by peers, increased attention, etc.

  • Ex: gangs

Modeled Aggression (textbook)

• Bandura's bobo doll experiment

  • Aggression imitated from real life, film, and cartoon

  • 3 groups used same aggressive behaviors they saw, same responses were almost nonexistent in the 2 control groups

• Aggressive behavior can be learned

  • This learning may sometimes result from association of stimuli that are present at the time aggressive responses are triggered (classical conditioning)

  • May also occur because aggressive behavior is rewarded (operant conditioning)

  • Or because it is observed in others, on TV, or read about in the media (modeling)

Predictability: The Overmier and Lowry Model (textbook)

• Further suggested that incentives have both an energizing and a cueing function

• Studies support the view that incentives alter performance because they provide information about goals

• Secondary (conditioned) reinforcers: stimuli that are consistently associated with reinforcement become reinforcers in their own right, ex: money

Predictability: The Bindra Model

• Model of behavior that emphasized the production of a central motive state that activates goal-directed behaviors toward incentive objects

• Also a model of emotional behavior

• Central motive state is generated whenever certain organismic conditions exist and the organism is stimulated by the properties of an incentive object

• Positive incentives: generate approach behavior

• Negative incentives: generate withdrawal