Behavioral Psychology

Learning Theory

1. Learning

   1. A relatively permanent change in behavior that is the result of practice, training, or experience

2. 2 Types

   1. Classical Conditioning

   2. Operant Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

1. A process in which a previously neutral stimulus becomes capable of eliciting a response because of its association with a stimulus that automatically produces the same or similar response

2. Us learning that 2 stimuli go together

3. Features:

   1. Involves reflexes

   2. Focus in on the antecedent events

   3. Based on the individual’s learning that two things go together

4. Other names

   1. Pavlovian Conditioning (Dog experiment)

   2. Respondent Conditioning

5. Ivan Pavlov

   1. Russian Physiologist 1900

   2. Studied digestion and nervous system in dogs

   3. Studied salivation in response to food (reflex)

   4. Accidentally discovered classical conditioning

      1. Dog began to salivate to other things in addition to food

         1. Footsteps, food bowls, etc

6. Terms

   1. Neutral Stimulus

      1. A stimulus that does not elicit a response

      2. Foodbowl

   2. Unconditioned Stimulus

      1. A stimulus that automatically elicits a response without any prior learning or training

      2. Food

   3. Unconditioned Response

      1. The response that occurs automatically the the unconditioned stimulus

      2. Salivation

   4. Conditioned Stimulus

      1. A previously neutral stimulus, that by its pairing with the unconditioned stimulus, also elicits a natural response

      2. Food bowl, bell, footsteps

   5. Conditioned Response

      1. The response that occurs to the conditioned stimulus

      2. Food (UCS) = Salivation (UCR)

      3. Food bowl (CS) + Food (UCS) = Salivation (UCR)

      4. Food bowl (CS) = Salivation (CR)

   6. Stimulus Generalization

      1. Process whereby other stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus also elicit a conditioned response

      2. Food bowl, footsteps, bell

   7. Stimulus Discrimination

      1. Process whereby the organism learns to tell the difference between two similar stimuli

   8. Extinction

      1. The gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response that occur when the conditioned stimulus is no longer followed by the conditioned response

      2. Repeatedly exposure to rat without loud noise until fear is gone or decreased

      3. Flooding

   9. Systemic Desensitization

      1. Technique in behavior therapy in which a competing response (relaxation) is conditioned to stimuli that previously aroused anxiety

7. John B Watson

   1. 1878

   2. Little Albert experiment

      1. 11 month old Albert has no fear to a presented white rat and goes to pet it

         1. Rat is a neutral stimulus

      2. When Albert reaches to pet rat, experimenters repeatedly hit a steel bar with a hammer

         1. Loud noise (UCS)

         2. Fear (UCR)

      3. Repeated multiple times

      4. Albert develops a fear and anxiety when the white rat is around

         1. White rat (CS)

         2. Fear around white rat with no noise (CR)

      5. Fear generalized to similar objects (Rabbit, dog, cotton, etc

Anxiety

1. CBT for Anxiety

   1. Cognitive Behavior Therapy

      1. Includes modifying maladaptive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

      2. Includes teaching/coaching individuals to replace anxious responding w/ healthy coping responses

2. Behavioral Features for Anxiety

   1. Avoidance maintains and worsens anxiety

      1. Tempting to avoid engaging with fears, but then child never fully conquers fear

      2. Habituation

         1. Occurs when child is in the presence of the feared stimulus for long periods of time

         2. Anxiety always decreased over time with exposure, and most often, the feared outcomes do not actually occur

   2. Operant learning perspective

      1. Anxiety and avoidance may be positively reinforced in child’s environment

3. Cognitive Features of Anxiety

   1. Children with high self efficacy for coping:

      1. Believe that they can cope with a feared object

   2. However children with anxiety often exhibit maladaptive cognitive biases including:

      1. Low evaluations of competency to cope with danger

      2. High probability of negative outcomes/threats

      3. More likely to attend emotionally threatening stimuli

4. Childhood Anxiety

   1. Anxious children often have anxious parents

      1. Genetic impact

      2. Anxious Modeling

   2. Parents of children with anxiety disorders are theorized to be:

      1. More over-controlling/overprotective

      2. Less warm, more rejecting

5. Coping Cat Program

   1. Part 1: Psychoeducation and Skillbuilding

      1. Build rapport

         1. Develop and understanding of their experience with anxiety

      2. Psychoeducation

         1. Recognizing feeling

         2. Physiological responses to anxiety

         3. Explore parent/family variables that contribute

      3. Skillbuilding

         1. Relaxation training

         2. Cognitive Techniques

         3. Problem-solving

         4. Self-examination and self-reward

      4. Child learns signs of anxiety

      5. Child learns coping skills

      6. FEAR plan

   2. Part 2: Practice

      1. Exposures: Gradual and repeated practices to feared situations

      2. Anxiety Provoking situations

      3. Aim is not to remove anxiety but to manage it so a child must experience it

      4. Opportunity to practice

      5. Gradual

      6. Repetition

      7. Stay in situation until the anxiety decreases

      8. Collaborating

         1. Child knows exposure in advance and agrees

      9. In session Preparation

         1. Make FEAR plan specific to exposure

         2. Practice/role-play

      10. Processing Exposure

          1. How does child think they did?
             Reward child afterward

      11. Exposures in and out of session

   3. Parent involvement (2 sessions

   4. School Involvement (if necessary)

6. Exposure and Response prevention are key components to treating anxiety

Operant Conditioning

1. Refers to the arrangement of environmental variables to establish a functional relationship between a voluntary behavior and its consequences

   1. Focuses on:

      1. Voluntary behavior instead of reflexes

      2. Consequent events that follow a behavior that makes the behavior more or less likely to occur in the future

2. Response

   1. Any observable or measurable act; what a person says or does

   2. A response represents a n external, observable behavior that can be related to environmental events

   3. Skinner acknowledged that behavior existed that could not be observed but indicated that trying to study them would lead to possible results and conclusions that were not reliable and valid

3. Antecedent

   1. A stimulus or event that proceeds a behavior

   2. Discriminative Stimulus

      1. An antecedent event that is associated with or otherwise signals that a response will be reinforced

      2. A school bell ringing is a signal for children to go home

   3. Establishing Operation

      1. A variable that temporarily alters the effectiveness of a reinforcer

      2. Drinking fluids and exercising heavily for a time are EOs for increasing the effectiveness of water as a reinforcer

4. Consequence

   1. A stimulus or event that occurs immediately after the behavior

   2. Positive Reinforcement

      1. Contingent presentation of a stimulus following a response which increases the future rare or probability of the response

   3. Negative Reinforcement

      1. Contingent removal of an aversive stimulus following a response which increases the future rare or probability of a response

   4. Positive Punishment

      1. Contingent presentation of an aversive stimulus following a response which decreases the future rate or probability of the response

      2. Also called Punishment Type 1 or Presentation Punishment

   5. Negative Punishment

      1. Contingent removal of a stimulus (reinforcer) following a response which decreases the future rate or probability of the response

      2. Also called Punishment Type II or Removal Punishment

      3. Time-Outs

   6. Reinforcement always increases the probability that behavior will be performed in the future

   7. Punishment always reduces the probability that behavior will be performed in the future

      1. Negative reinforcement is not punishment

5. Schedules of Reinforcement

   1. Schedules based on Responses

      1. Fixed Ratio Schedule

         1. When a behavior is reinforced after a fixed number of occurrences

         2. Reinforce a behavior after every or every 3 or 5 (FR, FR3, FR5)

      2. Variable Ratio Schedule

         1. When a behavior is reinforced after some average number of responses

         2. Slot machines

   2. Schedules based on Time

      1. Fixed Interval

         1. When a behavior is reinforced after a fixed amount of time

         2. The reinforcer is delivered for the first response that occurs after an interval of time has elapsed, the interval is the same each time

      2. Variable Interval

         1. When a behavior after some average interval of time

      3. Fixed schedules are better for teaching a new behavior or concept and variable schedules are better for maintaining and producing consistent, high rates of responding that are more resistant to extinction

6. Extinction Burst

   1. Phenomenon where when a behavior is no longer reinforced, the behavior temporarily increases in frequency, duration, or intensity before it decreases

   2. Novel responses or emotional responses may also occur during an extinction burst