Basic Learning Processes Final Exam

negative reinforcement

response leads to the absence of aversive stimulation

avoidance learning

another word for negative reinforcement

negative reinforcement

results in an increase in responding

negative reinforcement

negative contingency

positive punishment

response leads to aversive stimulation

positive punishment

positive contingency

positive punishment

results in a decrease in responding

similarity between NR and PP

subjects are changing how they respond to minimize exposure to the aversive stimulus

Hull, Thorndike, Skinner

behaviorists

two-factor theory

theory stating there are two processes that underlie avoidance learning

classical and operant conditioning

the two processes underlying avoidance learning according to the two factor theory

two-factor theory

theory states subjects don’t make the response to avoid shock, they do it to escape the stimulus that has become associated with the shock

miller and kamin

two people who tested two-factor theory (came up with evidence for and evidence against)

group 1 and 2

Which group groups should have learned to press the lever according to the two-factor theory?

group 1 consistently, groups 2 and 3 sometimes

Which groups actually learned to press the lever?

Kamin

Who’s experiment?

Miller

whose experiment tested if there are two factors, then we should be able to manipulate them independently (two-factor theory)

Miller’s experiment

training: Grp 1: White box = shock; Grp 2: no training

testing: Place each subject in white box (they can turn wheel to escape)

Results: Only Grp 1 learns to turn wheel to escape (only group motivated to escape)

learned helplessness

deleterious consequences of long-term, uncontrollable, aversive events

prior exposure to inescapable aversive events prevents learning about escape when escape is now possible

avoidance

problem with two-factor theory- predicts that fear to the signal would eventually extinguish, but ___ response never extinguishes

conditioned inhibition

new theory to replace two-factor theory

avoidance learning

learned helplessness is a form of what kind of learning

Seligman, Maier, Overmeyer

their experiments tested learned helplessness with a Yoked-Control Paradigm

learned helplessness experiment

Training: escapable shock vs. inescapable shock

Testing: subjects placed in shuttle-box and given access to escape

results: only the escape shock group could escape in the test

inescapable shock

in a yoked-control paradigm for learned helplessness, which group was the yoked group

how to escape

LH subjects can eventually learn to escape shock if they are shown…

associative and motivational

LH results in these deficits

associate deficit

subjects learn behavior and reinforcement are unrelated in one context so they have trouble learning they are related in another context

motivational deficit

subjects have no control over events, so they have little motivation to respond to stimuli

depression, anxiety, illness

LH subjects have higher levels of…

species specific defensive response

SSDR

species-specific defensive reaction theory

Premise x: Aversive stimuli elicit innate, species-specific defensive responses (SSDRs)

Premise y: Which SSDR is elicited depends on the situation and configuration of the environment.

Predatory Imminence Continuum Theory

Premise x: Which SSDR is elicited depends on the level of danger faced by the animal.

Premise y: A signal (CS) associated with an aversive event (US) will elicit an SSDR

closer

according to predatory imminence continuum theory, when the CS and US are presented ___ during training, the SSDR will be more like if there is imminent danger

amygdala

more danger perceived = more activation of this area of the brain

PTSD

parts of the brain that are activated during perceived danger moments are activated when there is no imminent threat in people with this disorder

likelihood of initial behavior, initial severity of punishment, contingency, time between R and P, schedule, reinforcement

factors that affect effectiveness of punishment

likely

1. punishment works if the behavior is initially ___ to occur

strong

2. punishment works if the initial punishment is ___

contingent

3. punishment works if the punishment is ___ on the target response

can only receive aversive stimulus when making the response

short

4. punishment works if the time between target response and punishment is ___

schedule

5. punishment works if the timing and frequency of the punishment, or the ___ is correct

reinforced

6. punishment works if the target behavior is not ___ in other situations

comparative cognition

the study of animal behavior that focuses on the mechanisms by which animals acquire, process, store, and act on information from the environment

general process approach

study learning in animals because of what it tells us about learning in general

comparative cognition

focus on the differences in cognitive mechanisms between humans and animals

differences vs. similarities

comp cognition vs. gen process approach

cognitive ethology

presumption that animals are capable of conscious thought and intentionality

argument from design and not all behavior is intentional

problems with cognitive ethology

anthropomorphism

problem with cognitive ethology which biases research, hampers knowledge, and overemphasizes the human experience

memory

the retention of information or experiences over time

acquisition, retention, retrieval

stages of memory

learning study

type of study that manipulates and then tests the same acquisition conditions

memory study

type of study that does not manipulate the acquisition condition, but manipulates the testing conditions

procedural memory

memory for how to do something

perceptual memory

memory for how things look

episodic memory

form of reference memory, recall episodes and experiences form the past

semantic memory

form of reference memory, recall facts and meanings of words

working memory

short-term memory

working memory

the retention of info just long enough to complete a task

reference memory

stored memory info that can be recalled to help use new info

type of stimulus, duration of exposure, and time between

factors that affect memory in delay-matching-to-sample

better

delayed-matching-to-sample: longer exposure = ___ recall

poorer

delayed-matching-to-sample: longer interval = ___ recall

delayed-matching-to-sample

a memory task in which the animal is first shown a sample stimulus and then, following some delay, is required to select that stimulus out of a group of alternative stimuli

choose same as sample

what is learned in DMTS if there is one rule

if x, choose x, etc.

what is learned in DMTS if there are multiple rules

Premack

used baby chimps to test memory

Premack experiment

Training: delayed-matching-to-sample with set stimuli

Testing: Used new stimuli (chimp had not seen these presented before)

Results: Answered correctly to new stimuli

correctly, incorrectly

Premack’s experiment using baby chimps predicted if they were using “same as rule,” the chimps would answer ___ during testing, but if they were using a specific rule, they would answer ___ during testing

“same as”

Premack’s experiment using baby chimps found the chimps were using this rule

Morris water maze and Radial arm maze

procedures for testing spatial location memory

experiment testing memory for places

training: allow rats to only search 4 arms of 8-arm radial maze

testing: Four-hour delay (rotate maze 90 degrees) – changes spatial location of arms

- allow rat access to all arms

Results: Rats go to the spatial location that they had not yet visited

scent, spatial location cues

predictions for the radial arm maze test- if rat is using ___cues, it will visit arms it actually has not visited; if rat is using ___ cues, it will visit the arms it thinks it has not visited based on cues in the room

spatial location

results from the radial arm experiment show that rats use these kinds of cues to solve the maze

encoding information

the process of taking info in through your senses and translating it into a form that your brain can write down and store for later use

selective attention, levels of processing, elaboration, and mental imagery

factors that influence encoding

selective attention

focusing on a specific aspect of experience while ignoring others

cocktail party effect

phenomenon where items compete for our attention

levels of processing

a continuum of memory processing ranging from shallow to deep, with the deeper processing leading to better memory

shallow

level of processing- physical feature are analyzed

intermediate

level of processing- recognition and labeling

deep

level of processing- meaningful characteristics

elaboration

web of connections, associations, and relevant meanings given to a stimulus

mental imagery

creating a mental story or scene around stimuli that we would like to remember

dual-code hypothesis

theory that states memory is stored in either a verbal code or picture code, which means mental images are remembered better because they contain both picture and verbal codes

imagery in non-human animals

yuck face experiments tested this

Grill

person that tested conditioned taste aversion with rat yuck faces

P. Holland imagery experiment

training: Tone = Flavor 1

              Noise = Flavor 2

Flavor 2 = illness

Test: Reaction to Tone? Reaction to Noise?

results: noise = yuck face

tone = no yuck face

P. Holland Mediated acquisition

training: Tone = Flavor 1

Noise = Flavor 2

Tone = “mental image of flavor 1” = Nothing

Noise = “mental image of flavor 2” = illness

Test: Reaction to F1? Reaction to F2?

Results: Avoid Flavor 2, even though it was never paired directly with illness.

mental time travel

ability to imagine past and future events

retrospective coding

memories for past events

prospective coding

remembering plans for future action

same brain areas

retrospective and prospective coding rely on…

retrospective, prospective

rats use ___coding, then switch to ___ coding while solving the radial arm maze

save room for dessert

what did chickadees learn to do in their mental time travel experiment?

directed forgetting

accuracy of recall can be modified by cues or instructions indicating that something should or should not be remembered

significance of directed forgetting experiment

memory is an active process that can be brought under stimulus contro

Ebbinghaus

who’s associated with the forgetting curve