Midterm Two ~ Terms & Definitions Learning

Learning

The process of acquiring new information through experience new & relatively enduring information or behaviours

Habituation

The process of adapting to unchanging, repeated stimuli

Evolution

Changes & behaviours that accumulate across generations & are stored in our genes

Associative Learning

Type of learning that involves knowing that certain events must occur together

Classical Conditioning

Learning by associating environmental stimuli with behavioural responses (involuntary learning)

Unconditioned

Stimulus or response that is natural within an organism

Conditioned

Stimulus or response that the organism learns to react to in a certain way

Forward Conditioning

Two subtypes: Delayed Conditioning & Trace Conditioning

Delayed Conditioning

Fastest type of Learning: neutral stimulus is presented before the unconditioned stimulus (e.g. picking up leash means going on a walk)

Trace Conditioning

Neutral stimulus is presented then stopped for some time before unconditioned stimulus is presented

Simultaneous Conditioning

Neutral & unconditioned stimuli are presented at the same time

Backwards Conditioning

Least effective: unconditioned stimulus is presented before the neutral stimulus

Acquisition

Initial learning of the classically conditioned stimulus-response relationship

Extinction

Diminishing of a conditioned response (e.g. just the bell is presented, the dog will start to learn that the food is not being predicted anymore so it will not secrete saliva

Spontaneous Recovery

Reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

(pause: conditioned response stops happening when conditioned stimuli occurs, then after the pause it suddenly reappears)

Stimulus Generalization

Conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus (e.g. being scared of all bugs because you got stung by a bee)

Adaptive Value

Importance of being conscious & avoid harm (problematic if too extreme)

Stimulus Discrimination

Learned ability to respond differently to stimuli that differ from the conditioned stimuli (e.g. not scared of all bugs because of bee sting)

Higher-Order Conditioning

Using a conditioned stimulus to condition another neutral stimulus (bell was associated with meat, and not flashlight is associated with bell) this is weaker learning as there is two steps

Little Albert

Experiment done by John Watson to see if fears can be conditioned

Conditioned Emotional Response

An emotion (e.g. fear) is the learned response to a previously neutral stimulus (e.g. furry animal)

Behavioural Therapy

Two methods inspired by classical conditioning:

1. Systematic Desensitization & 2. Aversive Conditioning

Systematic Desensitization

Progressive technique designed to replace anxiety with relaxation (e.g. gradually touching a spider)

Aversive Conditioning

Associating unpleasant states with unwanted behaviours (e.g. diseases shown on cigarette boxes) not as effective for solving substance abuse as people avoided the negative connotations to continue the behaviour w/o feeling guilty

Antabuse

Drug thats causes nauseous feeling after drinking to preventing alcoholism

Limits of Classical Conditioning

Preparedness, Taste Aversions, Role of Cognition (expectations)

Preparedness

Biological predisposition to learn associations that have survival value (e.g. easier for you to fear spiders over flowers because there is harm in the former) (e.g. birds are easier to condition visually because they eat in the day)

Taste Aversions

Classically conditioned negative reactions to a particular taste that has been associated with illness

Role of Cognition

Expectation of how a conditioned stimulus predicts the appearance of unconditioned stimulus (e.g. getting sick after a day out you will assume it was the food not the activities you did that got you sick)

Operant Conditioning

Learning by associating a voluntary behaviour with its consequences/predicts another behaviour 

Reinforcement

Responses that occur after a behaviour making the behaviour likely to occur

Punishment

Responses that occur after a behaviour making the behaviour unlikely to occur

Positive

Giving something for the action to be repeated(money)/or not (chores)

Negative

Taking away something for action to be repeated (don’t need to do

Law of Effect

Responses followed by positive outcomes are more likely to be repeated while those followed by negative outcomes are less likely ~ Edward Thornsike

Skinner Box

Aka Operant Chamber; experiment where rats press on levers to open door

Shaping Behaviour

Reinforcing successive approximations (the closer you are to being successful) of the desired behaviour

Primary Stimuli

Natural liking/avoidance of things that satisfy our biological needs (food, sleep)

Secondary Stimuli

Learning to like/avoid things - used with humans (e.g. money, chores)

Continuous Reinforcement

Behaviour reinforced every single time it occurs

Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement

Behaviour is not reinforced every time

Split into 2 categories: ratio & interval

Ratio

Number of times a behaviour occurs

Interval

Amount of time that has passed

Fixed

Set number of responses/set amount of time

Variable

Varying number of responses/amount of time

Behavioural Therapy

Two methods inspired by operant conditioning:

1. Behaviour Modification Therapy & 2. Token Economies

Behaviour Modification Therapy

Using positive reinforcement to change behaviour 

(e.g. ignoring behaviours that you don’t want & awarded behaviours you want to see) Approach used in school settings to reduce bullying

Token Economies

Desired behaviours are positive reinforced with token 

(tokens are exchanged for tangible prizes)

Limits of Operant Conditioning

Role of Cognition (Learned helplessness, Beliefs about reinforcement, Contrast effects, Self-evaluation)

Biological Constraints

Learned Helplessness

Behaviour doesn’t have any consequences, no matter what you do it will not produce a satisfying outcome (e.g. dogs give up on escaping cage)

Beliefs About Reinforcement

If we believe that we will be rewarded (even infrequently) we will behave more often (Variable Ratio produces high number of responses)

Contrast Effects

Behaviour isn’t just affected by rewards but by the reward in comparison to something else (e.g. previous rewards, others rewards, etc.)

Self-Evaluation

Personal feelings (e.g. guilt, pride) surpass any prize/punishment

Biological Constraints

The inability to learn/unlearn certain behaviours 

(e.g. you can never teach a chicken baseball)

Cognitive Maps

Learning mental information through observing events, watching others, or through language

Latent Learning

Hidden learning that exists without behavioural signs (i.e. knowing what to do but not using it unless required)

Observational (Social) Learning

Learning by observing others without having any direct experience 

Helps us know what to do/think/feel without testing it out ourselves

Albert Bandura Bobo Doll

Kids imitated the hitting of the bobo doll and even became more aggressive

Mirror Neurons

Frontal lobe neurons fire when we perform or see other perform certain actions – the brain mirroring enables imitation or empathy

Attention

Ability to engage in observational learning (pay attention to model, etc)

Retention

Remember information, what the model did & to encode their behaviour to retrieve it for later use

Reproduction

Physically do/say the behaviour that the behaviour you payed attention to & retained

Motivation

Have a reason to do the observed behaviour