General Psychology Chapter 8

Learning

Lasting change as a result of practice, study, or experience

Learning Curve

a graph showing change in performance on a learning task over time

Non associative Learning

change resulting from experience with a single sensory cue (learn from one single experience)

Habituation

Weakening of Response to a stimulus after repeated presentation (you get used to stimulus)

Sensitization

Increase in response stimuli after presentation of a strong stimulus (you get scared once and then you are on edge)

Associative Learning

Connections are formed between 2 or more stimuli

• classical conditioning

• Operant conditioning

Components of Classical Conditioning

• unconditional Stimulus

• unconditional Response

• Conditioned Stimulus

• Conditioned Response

Unconditional Stimulus

a stimulus that naturally produces a response (dog food)

Unconditional Response

the natural physical response to the stimulus (salivation to dog food)

Conditioned Stimulus

The Stimulus that is originally neutral but after pairing with an unconditioned stimulus become meaningful (add door opening to receiving the food)

Conditioned Response

the learned physical response to the previously neutral stimulus (you take the food away and they respond to the noise)

Acquisition

the initial learning of the stimulus-response relationship (the more you do it the strong the association will be)

Extinction

Diminished Responding that happens when the CS no longer occurs right before UCS (will dissociate something if you stop tying things together)

Spontaneous Recovery

CR can recur after a time delay without need for further conditioning (randomly come back)

Stimulus Generalization

the tendency of new stimulus one that is similar to the original CS to the elicit CR (you spread stimulus to other places)

Little Albert Experiment

• Watson conditioned the Little ALbert to be afraid of a white rat 

  • He hit a steel bar making a loud, scary noise every time little albert reached for the animal 

  • After repeated pairings, Albert would cry just at seeing the rat 

  • Generalization: Albert came to fear other white things such as white beards 

Phobia

Exaggerated, irrational fear associates with particular stimulus

Systematic Desensitization

repeated introduction to feared stimuli without US

Conditioned Taste Aversion

Associating a specific food with subsequent illness (tie food to some sickness)

Operant Conditioning

We learn by reinforcement and punishment (getting you to do something more if we reward you - getting you to do something less if we punish you)

Behaviorism

a branch of psychology insisting on investigating observable behavior

Reinforcement

increase future behavior

• Positive Reinforcement

• Negative Reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement

Praise, food, money, or anything pleasurable will increase the likelihood of the behavior happening again

• Studying for a test and getting a good grade will increase you likelihood of studying again

Negative Reinforcement

Removing a constant painful stimulus (nagging, loud noise, pain) will increase the likelihood of the behavior happening again

• if you put on a seatbelt and it stop constantly beeping, then we are more likely to put the seatbelt on again the next time

Punishment

decreases future behavior

• Positive punishment

• Negative punishment

Positive Punishment

Yelling, spanking, putdowns will discourage the behavior from happening again (punishment by application of something)

Negative Punishment

Silent Treatment, no car or phone privileges, timeout will discourage the behavior from happening again (punishment by removal)

Positive Actions

Both examples are adding something (praising or yelling)

Negative Actions

both examples are subtracting something

Primary Reinforcers

Stimulus reinforces behavior without experience or training (food, water, comfort)

Secondary Reinforcers

Stimulus renforces behavior because it helps attain a primary reinforcer (working earns money which can be used for food and comfort)

Continuous Reinforcement

behavior is reinforced every time

Intermittent Reinforcement

behavior is reinforced only some of the time

Fixed Ratio Schedules

Reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of behaviors

Variable Ratio Schedule

Reinforcement occurs after a fixed time has elapsed

Fixed Interval Schedule

Reinforcement occurs after a fixed time has elapsed

Variable Interval Schedule

Reinforcement occurs at varying time intervals

Behavior Modification

a planned effort to change children’s behaviors by reinforcing desirable and avoiding reinforcement of undesirable behaviors (caregiver not responding to a tantrum)

Shaping

reward behaviors that are increasingly similar to the desired behavior (getting animals to do a trick - work with a dog to sit)

Learned Helplessness

Through Conditioning People learn that they cannot control their environment and fail to do so even when they are able

Observational Learning

behavior is acquired by observing the action of others

Modeling

Learning occurs through watching and imitating others

Bobo Doll Experiment

• Children watched one of three versions of a film showing a woman beating an inflatable “Bobo” doll violent towards the bobo doll

  • Reinforcement Version:  adult given candy after aggression 

  • Punishment Version: adult scolded/spanked

  • No-Consequence Version 

• Results

  • Observing consequences mattered 

    • Children who watched punishment less likely to imitate aggression 

  • All children able to imitate adult aggression, regardless of film version 

  • Direct reinforcement not essential for learning, but the expectation of reinforcement influences which behaviors are expressed 

Factor that Facilitate Learning

• Timing

• Context

• Awareness and Attention

• Sleep

Timing

• Multiple exposure separated by time facilitate learning facts 

  • Hint: studying material over the course of the unit is more effective than cramming the night before an exam

Context

• if you learn information in only one context (ex: in the classroom), you may be less likely to recall it in a different context (Ex: at a job interview) 

Awareness and Attention

• Awareness and Attention enhance most types or learning 

• Some types of learning can occur without awareness 

  • Non-associative learning

What Happens in the Brain When we Learn?

• There is no single learning system in the brain 

  • Multiple neural systems trigger different types of learning 

  • Neuroscientists believe all learning involves changes in synaptic strength 

  • Long-term potentiation (LTP): synaptic change that involves increased activity in the postsynaptic cells after strong, repetitive stimulation 

  • Donald Hebb 

    • “Cells that fire together, wire together” 

Long-term potentiation

• synaptic change that involves increased activity in the postsynaptic cells after strong, repetitive stimulation