AP Psychology Unit 3.2: Learning / Conditioning

Behaviorists

Psychologists focused on observable behavior

• Excludes mental processes traditionally

Habituation

Decreases response to stimulus, animals adapt to environment, longer term than sensory adaption

• Expect / prepare for certain events

• Assume rewards / punishments follow certain events

Insight learning

Occurs when solution to a problem occurs without any association, consequence, or model

• Recognizing relationships naturally

Conditioning

Process of learning associations

• Classical conditioning = 2 stimuli

• Operant conditioning = response and consequence

Latent learning

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

• Cognitive map

• Ex: Getting to class on time

Cognitive map

Mental representation of the layout of ones environment

Tolman’s rats

• Hungry rat → learns map with no reward

• Hungry rat → completes map once there is an incentive

  • We learn faster with a reward

Classical conditioning

Type of learning in which one learns to link 2+ stimuli and anticipate events

• Only works for involuntary responses

• Ex: Hating your alarm

Pavlov’s dogs

• Give dog food and ring a bell

• Dog naturally salivates to food

• Over time, associates food with bell

• Salivate for bell

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that unconditionally triggers a response

• Ex: Food

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

The unlearned, naturally occurring response to an UCS

• Ex: Dog salivating (to food)

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that does not naturally trigger a response

• Ex: The bell → has no impact on dogs originally

Conditioned Response (CR)

Learned response to a previously neutral stimulus

• Ex: Salivating

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

Originally neutral stimulus has been paired with an UCS enough times to create a response, even without a UCS

• Ex: The bell

• UCS and CS are not intrinsically linked

• Ex: Bell triggers saliva → not natural

Acquisition

When one links a neural stimulus with unconditioned response

• AKA initial conditioning response

• Time of pairing matters

• Ex: First itme dog salivated to bell

Order conditioning

Conditioned stimulus paired with another new neural stimulus

• Creates a second, weaker CS

• Ex: Dog bites you → sound of dog barking makes you afraid

  • UCS = bite, UCR = fear

  • CS1 = dog, CR1 = fear

  • CS2 = barking, CR2 = fear

Extinction

Diminishing of a CR

• Happens when UCS no longer follows the NS / CS

• Ex: Ring bell but dogs don’t salivate

• Can recondition

Reconditioning

Present NS / CS with the UCS again to bring CR back

• The associated is learned more quickly this time

• Ex: Retraining a dog to connect with bell → will be faster

Spontaneous Recovery

Reappearance of extinct / weakened conditioned response

• Occurs spontaneously

• Extinction suppresses the CR, doesn’t eliminate

Stimulus Generalization

Tendency for similar stimuli to the CS to trigger the CR

• Ex: Little Albert

• Ex: Dogs responding to all sorts of bells

Discrimination

Ability to distinguish between a CS and a random stimuli

• Ex: Class bell vs. Announcement bell

• Ex: Dogs only responding to bell

Little Albert

John B Watson and Rosalie Rayner were able to condition Little Albert to fear an object

• UCS = loud noise

• UCR = fear

• NS = rat

• Rat becomes CS and causes CR (fear)

• Little Albert became fearful of any object resembling a white rat

One-trial conditioning

Single pairing of a stimulus and response is enough to create an association of aversion

• Ex: Dog bite

• Biological preparedness

• Taste aversion

Biological preparedness

How animals are biologically predisposed to certain stimuli — response pairs more quickly than others — survival

Taste aversion

Acquired reaction to smell / taste that an animal is exposed to before getting sick — much faster than normal CR

• Ex: Taco bell

Operant conditioning

Behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

• Voluntary behaviors

• Superstition

Edward Thorndike’s Law of Effect

Behaviors that are rewarded are more likely to be repeated and behaviors that are punished will be less likely to be repeated

• Ex: More likely to go trick or treating again when getting candy vs. getting a rock

Superstition

Occurs when consequences reinforce or punish unrelated behaviors

• Wear lucky shoes → reinforced by good test score → wear shoes again

Reinforcement

Presentation of stimulus / event that follows behavior / response increases repeating that behavior

• Always increases behavior

Shaping

Uses reinforcement to guide behavior gradually towards desired behavior through baby steps

Positive reinforcement

Increases likelihood of a behavior by follow with a desired stimulus or event

• Addition of something good increases that behavior to occur again

• Ex: Getting a raise when you work hard

Negative reinforcement

Increases the likelihood of a behavior following with the removal of an undesired stimulus / event

• Removal of something bad increases that behavior to occur again

• Ex: If you do your homework, I will take away the test

Skinner box

B.F. Skinner devised a chamber for rats that had a lever and when they pressed it a food pellet was dispensed

• Rats continually pressed the lever to get food

• Positive reinforcement

• Skinner would electrocute the rat, the pain would go away when they pushed the lever

• Rats continually pressed lever to get rid of pain

• Negative reinforcement

Primary reinforcer

Innately reinforcing stimulus

• Ex: Biological need (food, water, love)

Secondary reinforcer

Gains its power through association with a primary reinforcer

• AKA: Conditioned reinforcer

• Ex: Money → food

• Ex: Cool clothes → friends

• Money is our main one

Continous reinforcement

Reinforcer is given after every desired response

• It also quickly goes extinct (weakest reinforcement)

• Ex: Every time you play the lottery you win something → you get bored

Partial reinforcement

Reinforcing a response only part of the time

• Prevents desired behavior from being extinguished

• Ex: Only some of the time, not all

Fixed - Ratio

Reinforces a response only after fixed number of responses

• Ex: Buy 4 coffees, get 5th free

Fixed - Interval

Reinforces a response only after a specific time has elasped

• Ex: Pizza Friday every single Friday

Variable - Ratio

Reinforces responses after an unpredictable number of responses

• Ex: Slow machine wins → don’t always win so it reinforces playing

• Strongest reinforcement

Variable - Interval

Reinforces behavior after an unpredictable amount of time

• Ex: Caught you being good → never know when a teacher will reward you, so you will always be good

Punishment

An event that decreases the bahvior that it follows

• Punished behavior is suppressed, not forgotten

• Punishment teaches discrimination

• Punishment can teach fear

• Punishment does not have as long-lasting effects as reinforcement does

Positive punishment

Administer an adverse stimulus

• Ex: Detention, speeding tickets

Negative punishment

Take away a desire stimulus

• Ex: No phone, grounding

Instinctive drift

Animals have tendency to drift back to their original behaviors even after being reinforced / punished — instincts win out

• Ex: If you teach a dog to walk on their hind legs, they will eventually stop and walk on all fours

Learned helplessness

Passive resignation animals / humans have learned when unable to avoid reapeated adverse events

• Seligman and Overmiers dog shock experiment

Seligman and Overmiers dog shock experiment

• Dog classically conditioned to associate light with pain

• Then operantly conditioned to escape shock

• Over time they make fence higher so dog can jump over, dog eventually gives up

• They lower fence back down but they the dog still doesn’t try to avoid the shock

Social learning

Learning can occur by observation and does not have to involve personal experience with a consequence

• AKA vicarious learning

Models

Those we observe as examples

• Watch your sibling throw a ball → you copy their form → you learn to throw the ball too

Mirror Neurons

Frontal lobe neurons fire when performing certain actions and when observing another doing so → may enable imitation and empathy

• Ex: Monkeys neurons fire when ripping paper = same ones fire when watching another monkey rip paper

Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment

• Children watch adults be aggressive towards doll

• Children replicate the same thing

  • Especially. if they saw adult getting reward for their behavior

• More likely to model people who are rewarded, who you look up to, have a similar background, or if you lack confidence

Prosocial behaviors

Actions that intend to benefit another individual

• Nurture positive behaviors and society

• Often learned by watching others

• Ex: Seeing your parents donate to charity soyou are more likely to donate too

Antisocial behaviors

Actions that intend to harm another individual

• Pro: Winning competition / survival

• Con: Hurtful, ruins relationship, brings society down as a whole

• Ex: Survivor TV Show