Psyc 100 unit 6

learning

process through which experience (any effect of the environment that we can sense) can affect behaviour at a future time

nonassociative learning

strength of a response to a stimulus changes with repeated exposure to the same stimulus (habituation, sensitization)

habituation

reduction in response to a repeated stimulus that is unchanging and harmless

NOT the same as sensory adaptation § Sensory adaptation occurs at the level of the sensory receptor § Habituation is a higher-level brain process

sensitization

form of nonassociative learning by which a stimulus leads to an increased response over time

May have evolved to help us notice and focus on potentially harmful stimuli in our surroundings

dual-process theory of non-associative learning

Habituation and sensitization are both always at work. Which one will “win out” will depend on factors like our state of arousal

When aroused, sensitization is more potent than habituation. When relaxed, habituation is more potent than sensitization

associative learning

making connetions among stimuli and behaviours

classical conditioning

Form associations between pairs of stimuli

operant conditioning

Form associations between behaviours and their consequences. involves voluntary respnose

acquisition

initial learning of an association between the unconditioned and conditioned stimuli during classical conditioning

extinction

reduction of a learned response that occurs when UCS no longer follows the CS § Useful for getting rid of an undesired response

But does not mean that learned response has been entirely forgotten

generalization

tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the original CS

More likely to occur when the similarity between the two stimuli is greater (e.g., tones of similar frequency)

Efficient: can respond to new but similar situations without needing to learn each one individually § Survival advantage: can respond to potential threats or opportunities that resemble past experiences

discrimination

= learned ability to distinguish between stimuli § I.e., learning to respond to a particular stimulus but not similar stimuli o E.g., dogs taught to salivate to sight of black square would also salivate to sight of gray square (generalization) § After series of trials where presentations of black square are always followed by food and presentations of gray square are never followed by food, will stop salivating to gray square

contingency and contiguity

For classical conditioning to occur, CS has to consistently precede the US (contingency), and the CS and US have to be presented together close in time (contiguity)

blocking

previously learned association to one stimulus prevents the learning of a new association to a second stimulus because the second stimulus adds no predictive value

Adaptive because helps us learn true causal association of events and filter out irrelevant stimuli

behaviourism

Behaviour should be understood in relation to observable events in environment, rather than in terms of unobservable mental processes

neural substrates

fear conditionings involves amygdala

drug tolerance and conditioning

Cues associated with drug delivery produce conditioned response opposite to drug’s effect § Explains why overdoses more common in unfamiliar environments

conditioned taste aversion

tendency to avoid food after experiencing illness following its consumption.

Humans (and rats) more ready to form associations between taste and illness than visual/auditory stimuli and illness

law of effect

behaviours followed by satisfying outcomes are more likely to be repeated, whereas behaviours followed by unsatisfying outcomes are less likely to be repeated

skinner box

cage with lever that animal can press to produce effect

antecedents

situation or stimulus that precedes the behaviour and sets the stage for the behaviour to happen § E.g., light signals availability of food

behaviour

the voluntary action that takes place (the operant response) § E.g., pressing a lever

consequences

the stimuli presented after the behaviour that either increase or decrease the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated

primary reinforcers

consequences that are innately pleasurable because they satisfy some biological need and contribute to survival/reproduction

secondary reinforcers

learned pleasures that acquire value through experience because of association with primary reinforcers (e.g., can be used to exchange for primary reinforcers, like money)

shaping of operant responses

operant conditioning procedure in which successively closer approximations to the desired response are reinforced until the desired response finally occurs (reinforcement of successive approximations)

instinctive drift

animal’s reversion to evolutionarily derived instinctual behaviours instead of demonstrating behaviour learned through conditioning

delay discounting

tendency to devalue delayed outcomes

partial reinforcement- fixed ratio schedule

Behaviour tends to decrease briefly immediately after reinforcer and then increase as individual approaches scheduled reinforcer

variable ratio schedule

Reinforcement occurs after some variable number of behaviours

Less predictable than fixed-ratio schedule

Effective schedule for eliciting consistently high level of behaviour because it lacks predictability

fixed interval schedule

Reinforcement occurs following the first response that takes place after a set (fixed) period of time o Response rate takes on distinctive “scallop” shape: § Reinforcement followed by pause in responding, responding increases sharply as the end of the interval approaches

variable interval schedule

Reinforcement occurs after variable amount of time § Leads to slow and consistent responses because the time to the next reinforcer is relatively unpredictable

contingent reinforcement

Reinforcement is only given when a specific behaviour occurs

non-contingent reinforcement

Reinforcement is delivered on a fixed - interval schedule independent of the actions the organism is engaging in

Leads to superstitious conditioning = individuals learn a behaviour that has no actual relationship with reinforcement

latent learning

rewards affect what animals do more than what they learn

cognitive map

internal mental representation of the world § In experiments, rats seem to learn complexity of a maze without being rewarded for completing the maze, as evident by their ability to quickly complete the maze if a reward is introduced later on

social learning theory

learning is a cognitive process derived from social observation rather than direct reinforcement of one’s own actions (Albert Bandura) § I.e., learn by observing and imitating others (copying their behaviour)

components of social learning

attention, retention, reproduction, motivation (vicarious reinforcement vs vicarious punishment)

mirror neurons

neurons found in several areas of the cerebral cortex that are active both when performing an action and when observing that same action being performed by someone else

vertical transmission

skills from parent to offspring

horizontal transmission

skills between peers

insight learning

form of learning the occurs without trial and error and therefore without reinforcement (like an aha moment)

diffusion chain

process in which individuals learn a behavior by observing a model and then serve as models from whom other individuals can learn