conditioning + learning

associative learning: if i do one thing, another will happen as a result

classical conditioning: the association of two stimuli (ex. thunder will follow lightning)

→ classical conditioning is now considered a basic form of learning

→ all animals use classical conditioning as a way of learning

→ automatic response

ivan pavlov: explored classical conditioning, known for his experiments with dogs (bell=food=salivation → bell = salivation)

→ modern psychology proves that pavlov’s ideas were incomplete but an important foundation nonetheless

→ pavlov proved his ideas through objective experiments (no guesses or subjective theories)

→ pavlov’s work provided a foundation for Watson’s idea that human behavior is a bunch of conditioned responses

→ failed to consider cognition’s influence on conditioning (the more predictable the association, the stronger the conditioned response)

unconditioned stimulus (UCS or US): what causes a natural reaction (drooling to food)

unconditioned response (UCR or UR): response to something naturally (drooling to food)

neutral stimulus (NS): something that would usually warrant no response (a bell)

conditioned stimulus: (CS): what the neutral stimulus becomes through conditioning (a bell)

conditioned response (CR): response to the neutral stimulus after conditioning (drooling to a bell)

operant conditioning: association of certain behavior and its consequence

→ actions followed by reinforcement increase

→ actions followed by punishment decrease

→ voluntary response

b.f. skinner: explored operant conditioning

→ believed that behavior is solely due to outside factors rather than internal feelings, which people thought was inhumane

→ recognized but undermined the influence of cognition

→ operant chamber: where animals are held for either operant or classical conditioning

reinforcement: increase in likelihood of a behavioral response

→ positive reinforcement: get something you like

→ negative reinforcement: get rid of something you don’t like

→ primary reinforcers: unlearned reinforcement (eating food when hungry)

→ conditioned/secondary reinforcers: happens through association with primary reinforcers (if a light indicates food, a rat will learn to turn on the light)

→ delayed reinforcers: when the desired thing is not given right after the desired behavior (rats do not respond to these while humans do)

reinforcement schedule: pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced/rewarded

→ continuous reinforcement: rewarding the desired response every time it happens (learning happens more rapidly but so does extinction)

→ partial/intermittent reinforcement: reinforcing desired response only sometimes (slower learning but more resistance to extinction

→ fixed-ratio schedule: reinforcement only after the desired reply happens a specific number of times

→ variable-ratio schedule: reinforcement after the desired reply happens a random amount of times (the subject learns to think that the more they respond, the better chance they have of getting rewarded, so this method has a high rate of response)

→ fixed-interval schedule: reinforcement after a fixed time period (unstable rate of response because subject will only respond near the time they know they will get rewarded)

→ variable-interval schedule: reinforcement at random time intervals (slow but steady response rate)

→ response rates are higher when using a ratio schedule rather than interval

punishment: decreases frequency of a behavior

→ negative punishment: taking away something desirable (take away phone)

→ positive punishment: administering something disliked (giving a ticket for speeding)

shaping: gradually guiding behavior towards the desired behavior

cognitive learning: mental info being collected to guide behavior

behaviorism: the view that human/animal behavior can be explained through conditioning without the inclusion of thoughts or feeling/introspection

acquisition: when a conditioned response has been learned

higher/second-order conditioning: using a conditioned response to engage in further learning (guard dog bites you, 1st conditioning is that you are scared of that dog, 2nd conditioning is scared of dogs/barking in general) (tends to be weaker than 1st conditioning)

extinction: diminished conditioned response when the CS no longer guarantees the US (when the bell rings but no food comes, dogs salivate less each time)

spontaneous recovery: after waiting a while after extinction happens, the diminished response comes back (after waiting after the ringing bell and no food, the dogs salivated to the bell once again)

→ spontaneous recovery implies that extinction merely suppresses conditioning rather than completely eliminating it

generalization: response to stimuli similar to the CS (drooling to something similar to a bell)

discrimination: being able to identify and ignore irrelevant stimuli (dogs do not respond to a higher pitched bell)

behaviors that are favored by natural selection and survival are more likely to be learned

cognition’s influence on conditioning:

latent learning: learning that is happening but is not apparent without a reward (ex. rats will form a cognitive map of a maze in their heads after exploring a maze, but will not display that knowledge until they are motivated by food)

insight learning: a sudden realization of a solution to a problem without trial-and-error

intrinsic motivation: desire to do something for its own sake

extrinsic motivation: desire to do something to get a reward or avoid punishment

coping methods:

problem-focused coping: alleviating stress by going straight to the source

emotion-focused coping: when the stressful situation cannot be changed, we keep busy or seek comfort

learned helplessness: when we feel like we can’t control a situation, more stress is caused by it

→ the more control humans and animals in general are given, the less stressed we are and therefore the happier we are

external locus of control: feel as though external factors control fate more

internal locus of control: feel as though you determine your own faith

learning by observation:

observational learning: people learn by not only directly experiencing things but by also watching and imitating others

modeling: the action of watching and then imitating others

albert bandura: explored observational learning
→ known for the bobo doll experiment (kids were led to three different rooms. in the first room, they observed an adult kicking and lashing out on a bobo doll. in the second room, they were shown a bunch of toys that they were told they could not play with. being angry and also learning from the adult through observational learning, when the kid was led to a third room with a bobo doll, they started kicking the bobo doll)

→ when a human is watching another human do something, their brain activity mimics the person actually doing the action as if they were doing it themselves instead of just watching

prosocial behavior: positive, constructive, and helpful behavior

antisocial behavior: negative, unhelpful behavior

→ prosocial models have prosocial effects while antisocial models have antisocial effects

memory:

encoding: processing of info into the memory system

storage: process of retaining encoded info over time

retrieval: process of getting info out of the memory storage

parallel processing: processing many aspects of something at once

sensory memory: brief recording of sensory info in the memory system’

short-term memory: activated memory that holds a few things briefly before it is forgotten or the info is stored

→ working memory: short-term memory that focuses on conscious processing of auditory and visual info + info received from long-term memories

long-term memory: permanent storage of the memory system (ex. skills, certain experiences, knowledge)

explicit memories: consciously known and declared, processed through effortful processing

implicit memories: unconsciously stored, processed through automatic processing (ex. procedures for automatic skills like riding a bike or strong classically conditioned responses like being nervous at the doctor’s office)

iconic memory: an instantaneous sensory memory of visual info that only lasts 1/10 of a second

echoic memory: an instantaneous sensory memory of auditory info that only lasts 3-4 second

chunking: a way of remembering things that organizes info into manageable units or meaningful segments (ex. 126 492 894 is easier to remember than 126492894)

mnemonics: a way to remember things that uses vivid imagery or symbols

hierarchies: a way to remember things by categorizing the info

shallow processing: very basic level of encoding (ex. remembering a word by repeating it)

deep processing: complex and meaningful encoding (ex. how words come together to create meaning)

→ deep processing uses semantic processing, which is a way of encoding info that gives it a certain meaning (ex. this is the third person i've met today with the name anne - this anecdote will help you remember that person’s name better)

processing and storing of explicit memories happens in the frontal lobes and the hippocampus

→ damage to hippocampus results in the inability to retain explicit memories and memories stay there temporarily

processing and storing of implicit memories happens in the cerebellum and basal ganglia

→ cerebellum plays the primary role in forming and storing implicit memories that are created through classical conditioning

→ basal ganglia plays the primary role in forming procedural memories for skills

flashbulb memory: a clear memory of a significant event

long-term potentiation (LTP): an increase in a neuron’s firing potential after brief stimulation; believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory

priming: unconscious activation of a memory’s association (ex. person is showed the color yellow. when asked to name three fruits, they name a lemon, banana, and pineapple)

serial-position effect: tendency to remember the first and last things on a list rather than the middle terms

forgetting:

anterograde amnesia: able to recall past memories but not form new ones

→ people with this type of amnesia struggle to form new explicit memories but can form new implicit ones easily

retrograde amnesia: inability to recall past memories

forgetting information happens rapidly at first and then levels out over time

proactive interference: prior learning interferes with the learning of new stuff

retroactive interference: info newly learned interferes with the recall of old info

positive transfer: old info helping the learning of new info

if a memory was bad, the brain may repress it in order to minimize stress

misinforming effect: how a memory is remembered can be manipulated by things the person was told after the event they are trying to recall has happened (ex. “i remember there being no alcohol at the party” “no bro, there was a pack of beers in the fridge!” [begins doubting themselves] “oh yeah.. i guess there was!”)

source amnesia: when a person remembers something but is unable to recall where they know it from

prototype: a mental representation of the most typical aspect of a category (ex. a robin is a bird)

convergent thinking: narrows available solutions to the best single solution

→ damage to left parietal lobe limits this

divergent thinking: expands the number of possible solutions to not just one

→ damage to frontal lobes limits this

problem-solving:

algorithms: step-by-step procedures that ensure a solution

heuristic: a simple thinking strategy used to solve problems efficiently

conformation bias: tendency to seek out evidence that proves us right

mental set: tendency to approach a problem in a way that’s worked before

representative heuristic: to judge the likelihood of things based on how well they fit an existing prototype

availability heuristic: to judge the likelihood of things based on how mentally available they are

belief perseverance: clinging to personal beliefs despite being presented contrary evidence

language:

phonemes: the smallest distinctive sound units in a language, not letters (chat - ch, a, t)

morphemes: smallest units that have meaning in a language (pre-, -ed, re-)

grammar is structured by semantics (meanings of words) + syntax (order of words)

at 4 months, babies develop receptive language (can understand what is being said to and about them through movements and gestures)

at 7 months, babies can categorize sounds into words

babies’ productive language (actually saying words) develops after receptive language

→ before this, babies have a babbling stage (da-da, ma-ma)

babies are in the one-word stage at around 1-2 years old, during which they speak in single words

babies are in the two-word stage at around 2 years old, during which they speak in two-word statements

→ their speech during this stage is known as telegraphic speech

after the two-word stage, language development in kids matures rapidly

damage to broca’s area: able to comprehend language but has trouble producing speech

damage to wernicke’s area: able to freely produce speech but what they say is nonsense because they struggle with comprehending language

hermann ebbinghaus: known for studying the function of memory

elaborative encoding: creating references and connecting them to something you’re trying to remember (ex. trying to remember a person’s name is fisher, you could envision them fishing)

self-reference: using personal information as a way to remember things (ex. remembering a historical date because it’s the same date as your birthday)

method of loci: using a physical familiar space/location to remember things (ex. imagining milk in the fridge as a way to remember to buy it at the store)

overlearning: practicing something new repeatedly

primacy effect: tendency to remember the first things in a list

recency effect: tendency to remember the last things in a list

elaborative rehearsal: remembering something by associating it with something you already know, primarily used to keep info in long-term memory

maintenance rehearsal/retrieval: remembering something short-term usually by repeating it over and over

latent inhibition: familiar stimulus takes longer to comprehend than new stimulus

state-dependent memory: remembering things when you’re in the same state as when you learned them (ex. remembering something that you learned when you were sad because you’re sad again)

source-monitoring: remembering where you learned something from

consolidation: short-term memories becoming long-term memories

divergent thinking: coming up with novel ways to use something

predictable-world bias: seeing random patterns in things (ex. it has to be sunny this week because it rained all of last week)

howard gardner: theory that there are multiple types of intelligence

→ naturalist: in tune with nature

→ spatial: visualizing the 3D world

→ linguistic: using your words well

→ intra-personal: understanding yourself

→ bodily-kinesthetic: connecting your body and mind

→ musical: discerning sounds and their pitches and stuff

→ logical-mathematical: analytical thinking and problem-solving

→ interpersonal: understanding others

executive functioning: associated with remembering things well

robert sternberg: triarchic theory of intelligence

→ creative intelligence: imaginative and innovative problem-solving

→ analytical intelligence: academic problem-solving and computation

→ practical intelligence: street smarts and common sense

test-retest reliability: administering the same test multiple times with consistent results

split-half reliability: testing of odd-number questions and even-number questions separately yield the same results

internal-consistency reliability: checking the validity of individual questions of a test

inter-rater reliability: people with similar proficiency in the subject will score around the same as each other