Unit 3 AOS 2 Behaviourist Approaches to Learning

Learning

Defined as a relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience.

Memory

The processing, storage and retrieval of information acquired through learning. What results when something has been learned. If we don’t remember, then we haven’t learned it.

Behaviourism

is a systematic approach to understanding the behaviour of humans and other animals (organisms), that focuses on learning as a result of an interaction with environmental stimuli.

•Dominated psychology in the early parts of the 20^th Century in an effort to make the field more rigorous

•Focused on outwardly observable behaviours

•Minimises the role of mental processes

Refers to learning as conditioning

Conditioning

Refers to a basic form of learning where the organism’s response to a stimulus is modified through experience. 2 types= classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

Organism

person or animal (the learner)

Stimulus

Some kind of environmental ‘trigger’ that causes a response

Response

The organism’s behaviour in reaction to the stimulus

Name the two types of conditioning

Classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

Classical conditioning & Explain what happens in it in dot points.

A type of behavioural learning in which an involuntary association is formed between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response.

•Neutral stimulus is a stimulus that doesn’t naturally cause the desired response

•Repeatedly paired with a stimulus that does automatically cause the response

•Previously neutral stimulus will now cause the response on its own

•Relationship is due to anticipation that the other stimulus is about to occur

•Only works for reflexive, automatic, involuntary behaviours

Neutral stimulus

Stimulus that causes no response

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

Stimulus that naturally causes the response

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

Natural response to the UCS

Conditioned Stimulus (CS) 

Stimulus that now causes the response

Conditioned Response (CR)

Learned response to the CS

What’s in the 3 Phase Model:

BEFORE CONDITIONING

The UCS naturally produces the UCR, while the NS produces no response.
  NS   →   no response

  UCS  → UCR

DURING CONDITIONING (also called the acquisition phase)

The NS and the UCS are paired repeatedly, in that order.

       NS + UCS  →  UCR 

AFTER CONDITIONING 

The previously NS is now called the CS, and it now produces the CR on its own.

  CS  →  CR

Order of presentation of the stimuli—which comes first? Why?

It is very important that the neutral stimulus (NS) is presented BEFORE the unconditioned stimulus (UCS).

●This is because the response is ‘anticipatory’

The dogs anticipate that the meat powder is coming because they heard the bell.

If it was the other way around (i.e. meat powder before bell), then once the meat powder is removed, the bell won’t mean anything to the dogs:

The bell always followed the meat powder in the past, so it doesn’t create an expectation in the dogs that the meat powder is about to be presented.

What are stronger associations the result of?

Stimuli that are paired close together in time (a matter of seconds). The more time that passes between the NS and UCS, the weaker the perceived link between them.

•The association also needs to be repeated. You must say this for full marks.

What kind of behaviours can classical conditioning be used to train?

Involuntary, reflexive or automatic behaviours, because it takes advantage of already or naturally occurring responses.

Elements of classical conditioning

Extinction, Spontaneous recovery, stimulus generalisation, and stimulus discrimination.

Extinction

•When the UCS is no longer presented along with the CS

•Eventually the CS becomes meaningless

•CR stops

Spontaneous recovery

•Extinction has occurred

•A rest period take place

•When CS reintroduced the CR again appears

•CR is weaker than when first conditioned

Stimulus generalisation

•The organism will respond by producing a CR to stimuli that are similar to the CS

•Eg. Dogs in Pavlov’s experiment would salivate to a bell, a chime, an alarm clock etc.

•Eg. A child who was bitten by a dog now fears all dogs not just pit bull terriers

Stimulus discrimination

•The organism only responds to the CS and no other similar stimuli

•

•E.g. Your dog gets excited when you put your Nike runners on, not any other white shoes

•E.g. Consumers only by coke, not any cola in red and white packaging

E.g. You only buy billabong, not the rip off surfalong brand

Can fears be learnt?

YES—consider little Albert’s experiment (where they made the baby scared).

Phobias – fears learned through CC

Intense, irrational and persistent fears of specific objects of situations. Phobias are complex instances of conditioned emotional responses (CC)

The role of the amygdala

•Research shows that damage to the amygdala impairs both the acquisition and expression of a conditioned fear response

•Amygdala involved in regulation of the fear response

•Amygdala involved in learning the emotional significance of an event / memory

•Can effect the consolidation of memory – stimulation better recall, retardation poorer recall

One Trial Learning

A special type of classical conditioning that can occur when the stimulus induces an intense response such as vomiting. This is adaptive, as it causes us to avoid foods that are poisonous.