Psychology

Classical Conditioning

• Type of learning where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a naturally occurring stimulus, leading to associations between the stimuli.

Association

• A mental connection or link formed between different concepts, events, or mental states.

  • Allowing one thing to trigger a thought of the other.

Neutral Stimulus

• Stimulus with no associations.

  • The ringing of the bell.

Unconditioned Stimulus

• Stimulus that  naturally and automatically triggers a response without any prior learning necessary.

  • Starting point in CC.

  • The food.

Unconditioned Response

• Natural, automatic response to a stimulus that occurs without any prior learning.

  • Reflexive response that happens instinctively.

  • Salivation at the presentation of food.

Conditioned Stimulus

• A previously neutral stimulus that, through repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus, has become associated with a specific response.

  • Causes a learned reaction(Conditioned Response).

  • The ringing of the bell after it is associated with food.

Conditioned Response

• A learned reaction that occurs in response to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repeatedly paired with a naturally occurring stimulus.

  • Salivating at the ringing of the bell.

Higher-Order Conditioning

• CC process where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a conditioned stimulus, creating a “second-level” conditioned response.

  • A cat is conditioned to salivate when the bag of food appears, then they learn that the bag appears when their owner opens a certain cabinet, so they begin to salivate when their owner approaches that cabinet.

Counterconditioning

• Behavioral therapy technique where a previously negative conditioned response to a stimulus is replaced with a positive one by pairing that stimulus with a pleasant experience. 

Aversive Conditioning

• Type of CC where an unwanted behavior is paired with a negative or unpleasant stimulus in order to create an aversion to that behavior.

  • Taste Aversion

    • A learned avoidance of a specific food or taste due to a previous negative experience.

One-Trial Conditioning

• Type of learning where an organism acquires a conditioned response after experiencing a single pairing of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus.

  • Learning something from one exposure.

Acquisition

• The initial stage of learning when a conditioned response is first established.

Extinction

• The gradual weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned behavior when the reinforcement for that behavior is no longer provided

Spontaneous Recovery

• The reappearance of a previously extinct conditioned response after a period of time has passed without exposure to the conditioned stimulus.

  • This means that a learned behavior that has gone away can suddenly reappear without any sort of re-training process.

Biological Preparedness

• The concept that organisms are naturally inclined to quickly learn associations between certain stimuli and responses.

  • Particularly those that relate to survival because of evolutionary history.

  • We are pre-wired to avoid specific threats like snakes/spiders more easily than other stimuli

Habituation

• A decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure to it.

  • We have seen this in all aspects of psychology, when repeatedly exposed to things, the response weakens.

Both Operant Conditioning AND Classical Conditioning are forms of associative learning.

• Meaning, you learn by associating certain things with behaviors.

  • Since Conditioning is focused on observable behaviors, this section of AP Psychology falls under the behaviorist perspective.

Operant Conditioning

• Learning process where behavior is modified by its consequences.

  • Consequences being Reinforcement and Punishment

Reinforcement

• Any consequence that strengthens or increases the likelihood of a behavior occurring again.

Punishment

• Any consequence that decreases the likelihood of of that behavior occurring again.

Skinner made it a point to show that reinforcing the behavior you want will always be more successful than punishing bad behavior.

• It generally takes more time and effort to to purposefully reinforce a behavior, but that is how good leaders lead well.

• Key Steps

  • Shaping and Chaining

  • Reinforcement/Punishment

  • Schedules of Reinforcement

Law of Effect

• Principle that behaviors followed by positive consequences are more likely to be repeated, and behaviors followed by negative consequences are less likely to be repeated.

  • If you are happy with an outcome, you are more likely to repeat the behavior.

Primary Reinforcer

• A stimulus that naturally satisfies a basic biological need.

  • Food, water, sleep.

  • These things are inherently rewarding due to its ability to meet a survival need.

    • You do not need to be taught that these are rewarding.

Secondary Reinforcer

• A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power by being associated with a primary reinforcer.

  • Becomes rewarding only after being paired with a primary reinforcer.

  • Giving a dog a treat(primary) and saying “good dog”(secondary).

    • The verbal affirmation is paired with a primary reinforcer.

  • Money is a secondary reinforcer, as it can be used to purchase primary reinforcers.

A reinforcement will ALWAYS strengthen a behavior.

Positive Reinforcement

• Strengthens a behavior by ADDING something pleasant.

Negative Reinforcement

• Strengthens a behavior by REMOVING something unpleasant.

Punishments will ALWAYS weaken a behavior.

Positive Punishments

• Something unpleasant is ADDED to stop a behavior.

Negative Punishment

• Something pleasant is REMOVED to stop a behavior.

When does reinforcement occur? How often should behavior be reinforced or punished?

• The importance of schedules of reinforcement change the effectiveness of the reinforcement.

Continuous Reinforcement

• Schedule where a reward is given every single time a desired behavior is exhibited.

  • Used to quickly teach new behavior

Partial Reinforcement

• Schedule where a reward is given occasionally, not every single time.

  • Ratios or Intervals

Ratio Schedules

• Schedules based on how many responses have occurred.

Fixed Ratio (FR)

• Reward is given after a set number of times an action is performed.

  • The Pigeon receives a reward every 15 times they press the lever.

    • Other examples of this are sales commissions, video game rewards, etc.

  • High, steady rates of behavior change.

  • Pigeon moves faster the closer it gets to the number it needs for the reward.

Variable Ratio (VR)

• Reward is given after a random number of times after a behavior is performed.

  • The Pigeon receives a reward after pressing the lever 5 times, then 9 times, then 3 times, etc.

    • Other examples of this are gambling (slot machines), lottery tickets, social media, etc.

  • Highest and steadiest rate of behavior change.

  • Pigeon presses the button quickly and constantly because they do not know when the reward will be arrivinq

Interval Schedules

• Schedules based on how much time has passed.

Fixed Interval (FI)

• Reward is given after the same amount of time every time.

  • Pigeon is given food for the first lever press after 30 seconds have passed.

    • Other examples of this could be a weekly paycheck, dentist visits, etc.

  • Becomes predictable and creates a “scalloped” pattern of response.

    • Behavior increases the closer you get to the time of reinforcement.

Variable Interval (VI)

• Reward is given at random amount of time

  • Pigeon is given food for the first lever press after 30 seconds, then 90 seconds, then 45 seconds, etc.

  • Creates a slow but steady rate of increase of behavior

  • Pigeon is given food first at two minutes, then at four, then at one, etc.

Successive Approximations

• Reinforcing behaviors that gradually get closer to a desired target behavior.

  • Rewarding steps that progressively get closer to the final goal.

Shaping

• Instead of waiting for the behavior to occur, ANY behavior leading to the targeted behavior is rewarded.

Chaining

• Shaped behaviors are linked together in order to reach the targeted behavior

  • Teaching a child to walk happens in steps

    • First they crawl

    • Next, they stand

    • Finally, they walk.
      

Discrimination

• The ability to distinguish between stimuli and respond  only to the discriminative stimulus.

  • A dog learning to sit when told to “sit” and not when told to “speak”.

Generalization

• The tendency to respond in the same way to different but similar stimuli.

  • A learned response to one stimulus can also be triggered by slightly different stimuli.

  • In the Little Albert experiment, the child was conditioned to fear a rabbit, but that fear also appeared when he was shown other fluffy animals.
    

Instinctive Drift

• The tendency for an animal that has been trained to perform a specific behavior to gradually revert back to its natural, instinctual behaviors.

Superstitious Behavior

• A learned behavior that occurs when an action is accidentally reinforced, even if it has no causal relationship to the positive outcome.

Learned Helplessness

• Psychological state where an individual believes they are powerless to change their situation. Even when opportunities arise, they will not be motivated to take action.

  • Comes from repeated exposure to uncontrollable negative events
    

Observational Learning

• The process of learning a new behavior by watching and imitating the actions of others, essentially learning through observation.

  • Also known as Social Learning

Social Learning Theory

• The idea that people learn new behavior by observing and imitating others, but is also influenced by factors such as attention, motivation, attitudes, and emotions.

  • This theory bridges the gap from the behaviorist perspective, and the cognitive perspective.

  • Albert Bandura’s theory

Modeling

• The process of learning by observing and imitating the behaviors of another person.
  
  

The good news about modeling is that modeling of prosocial behaviors, will have prosocial effects.

• Prosocial Behavior

  • Positive, constructive, helpful behaviors.

• After observing someone helping someone else, that individual is more likely to help others.

• Mahatma Gandhi and MLK Jr.’s modeling of nonviolent protest created an entire movement of nonviolent protests, leading to social change in both countries.

However, there is also antisocial behavior, which leads to antisocial effects

• Antisocial Behavior

  • Negative, destructive, harmful behavior.

• Abusive parents are more likely to have aggressive children.

• People more exposed to hate speech become desensitized to it.

• TV shows, Movies, Videos, and Novels can all impact the way people behave

  • A study on speeding tickets showed increased average speed among drivers who received them on the weekend following the release of one of the Fast and Furious movies.

Vicarious Conditioning

• A type of learning where an individual acquires a behavior or response by observing the consequences of another person’s actions.

  • Learning by watching others receive rewards and punishment, without actually being rewarded and punished themselves.

• fMRI scans show that when we observe someone winning a reward, their own brain reward system becomes activated, acting as if they themselves had won something.

• Fears can be overcome by observing someone safely navigating the feared situation.

• When we identify with someone, we experience their outcomes vicariously.

Insight Learning

• Type of learning where a solution to a problem suddenly becomes clear.

  • Signifies a sudden realization or understanding.

  • Ah-ha moment

  • Kohler’s Chimpanzees

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtHYyfDdSUg 

Latent Learning

• Process of acquiring knowledge or information without any apparent reinforcement or motivation.

  • The learning is “hidden” until a later time when it is demonstrated.

Cognitive Maps

• Mental representation of a physical space, like a building or neighborhood.

  • Individual creates in their own mind, allowing them to navigate and understand spatial relationships.

  • Rats going through a maze.

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkmeZwsi3HA