AP Psychology: Chapter 5: Learning

Definition of learning:

• Learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience or practice and is different from maturation that is genetically controlled

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It Makes Your Mouth Water: Classical Conditioning

• Pavlov accidentally discovered the phenomenon in which one stimulus can, through pairing with another stimulus, come to produce a similar response. He called this classical conditioning
• The unconditioned stimulus ( UCS ) is the stimulus that is naturally occurring and produces the reflex, or involuntary unconditioned response ( UCR ). Both are called "unconditioned" because they are not learned
• The conditioned stimulus ( CS ) begins as a neutral stimulus, but when paired with the unconditioned stimulus eventually begins to elicit the reflex on its own. The reflex response to the conditioned stimulus is called the conditioned response ( CR ), and both stimulus and response are learned
• Pavlov paired a sound with the presentation of food to dogs and discovered several principles for classical conditioning: The neutral stimulus (NS ) and UCS must be paired several times and the CS must precede the UCS by only a few seconds
• Other important aspects of classical conditioning include stimulus generalization, stimulus discrimination, extinction, spontaneous recovery, and higher-order conditioning
• Watson was able to demonstrate that an emotional disorder called a phobia could be learned through classical conditioning by exposing a baby to a white rat and a loud noise, producing conditioned fear of the rat in the baby
• Conditioned taste aversions occur when an organism becomes nauseated sometimes after eating a certain food, which then becomes aversive to the organism
• Some kinds of conditioned responses are more easily learned than others because of biological preparedness
• Pavlov believed that the NS became a substitute for the UCS through association in time
• The cognitive perspective asserts that the CS has to provide some kind of information or expectancy about the coming of the UCS in order for conditioning to occur

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What's in It for Me? Operant Conditioning

• Thorndike developed the Law of Effect: A response followed by a pleasurable consequence will be repeated, but a response followed by an unpleasant consequence will not be repeated
• B.F. Skinner named the learning of voluntary responses operant conditioning because voluntary responses are what we use to operate in the world around us
• Skinner developed the concept of reinforcement, the process of strengthening a response by following it with a pleasurable, rewarding consequence
• A primary reinforcer is something such as food or water that satisfies basic, natural drive, whereas a secondary reinforcer is something that becomes reinforcing only after being paired with a primary reinforcer
• Shaping is the reinforcement of successive approximations to some final goal, allowing the behavior to be molded from simple behavior already present in the organism
• Extinction, generalization and discrimination, and spontaneous recovery also occur in operant conditioning
• Punishment is any event or stimulus that, when following a response, makes that response less likely to happen again
• In punishment by application, a response is followed by the application or experiencing of an unpleasant stimulus, such as a spanking
• In punishment by removal, a response is followed by the removal of some pleasurable stimulus, such as taking away a child's toy for misbehavior
• A person who uses aggressive punishment, such as spanking, can act as a model for aggressive behavior. This will increase aggressive behavior in the one being punished, which is an undesirable response
• Punishment of both kinds normally has only a temporary effect on behavior
• Punishment can be made more effective by making it immediate and consistent and by pairing punishment of the undesirable behavior with reinforcement of the desirable one
• Continuous reinforcement occurs when each and every correct response is followed by a reinforcer
• Partial reinforcement, in which only some correct responses are followed by reinforcement, is much more resistant to extinction. This is called the partial reinforcement effect
• In a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement, a certain number of responses is required before reinforcement is given
• In a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement, a varying number of responses is required to obtain reinforcement
• In a fixed interval schedule of reinforcement, at least one correct response must be made within a set interval of time to obtain reinforcement
• In a variable interval schedule of reinforcement, reinforcement follows the first correct response made after an interval of time that changes for each reinforcement opportunity
• Discriminative stimuli are cues, such as a flashing light on a police car or a sign on a door that says "Open," that provides information about what response to make in order to obtain reinforcement
• Instinctive behavior in animals is resistant to conditioning or modification. Although an animal may change its behavior at first through conditioning, the behavior will revert to the instinctual pattern in a process called instinctive drift
• Operant conditioning can be used in many settings on both animals. and people to change, or modify behavior. This use is termed behavior modification and includes the use of reinforcement and shaping to alter behavior
• Token economies are a type of behavior modification in which secondary reinforcers, or tokens, are used
• Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the modern version of behavior modification and makes use of shaping by breaking desired behavior down into discrete steps
• Neurofeedback is a version of biofeedback in which the connected to an electroencephalograph, a machine that records the person is brain's electrical activity

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Cognitive Learning Theory

• Cognitive learning theory states that learning requires cognition, or the influence of an organism's thought processes
• Tolman found that rats that were allowed to wander in were not reinforced and still showed evidence of having learned the maze once reinforcement became possible. He termed this hidden learning latent learning, a form of cognitive learning
• Seligman found that dogs that had been placed in an inescapable situation failed to try to escape when it became possible to do so, remaining in the painful situation as if helpless to leave. Seligman called this phenomenon learned helplessness and found parallels between learned helplessness and depression
• Köhler found evidence of insight, the sudden perception of the relationships among elements of a problem, in chimpanzees

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Observational Learning

• Observational learning is learning through watching others perform, or model, certain actions
• Bandura's famous Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that young children will imitate the aggressive actions of a model even when there is no reinforcement for doing so
• Bandura determined that four elements needed to be present for observational learning to occur: attention, memory, imitation, and motivation
• Writer Karawynn Long used shaping, reinforcement, and classical conditioning to train her cat to use the toilet in her bathroom instead of a litter box

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Vocab:

• Law of Effect: law stating that if an action is followed by a pleasurable consequence, it will tend to be repeated, and if followed by an unpleasant consequence, it will tend not to be repeated
• operant: any behavior that is voluntary
• reinforcement: any event or stimulus that, when following a response, increases the probability that the response will occur again
• primary reinforcer: any reinforcer that is naturally reinforcing by meeting a basic biological need, such as hunger, thirst, or touch
• secondary reinforcer: any reinforcer that becomes reinforcing after being paired with a primary reinforcer, such as praise, tokens, or gold stars
• negative reinforcement: the reinforcement of a response by the removal, escape from, or avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus
• Four ways to modify behavior:

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• punishment: any event or object that, when following a response, makes that response less likely to happen again
• punishment by application: the punishment of a response by the addition or experiencing of an unpleasant stimulus
• punishment by removal: the punishment of a response by the removal of a pleasurable stimulus
• Comparing Two Kinds of Conditioning

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• positive reinforcement: the reinforcement of a response by the addition or experiencing of a pleasurable stimulus
• operant conditioning: the learning of voluntary behavior through the effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to responses
• successive approximations: small steps in behavior, one after the other, that lead to a particular goal behavior
• discriminative stimulus: any stimulus, such as a stop sign or a doorknob, that provides the organism with a cue for making a certain response in order to obtain reinforcement
• variable interval schedule of reinforcement: schedule of reinforcement in which the interval of time that must pass before reinforcement becomes possible is different for each trial or event
• partial reinforcement effect: the tendency for a response that is reinforced after some, but not all, correct responses to be very resistant to extinction
• continuous reinforcement: the reinforcement of each and every correct response
• fixed interval schedule of reinforcement: schedule of reinforcement in which the interval of time that must pass before reinforcement becomes possible is always the same
• instinctive drift: tendency for an animal's behavior to revert to genetically controlled patterns
• fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement: schedule of reinforcement in which the number of responses required for reinforcement is always the same
• variable ratio schedule of reinforcement: schedule of reinforcement in which the number of responses required for reinforcement is different for each trial or event
• behavior modification: the use of operant conditioning techniques to bring about desired changes in behavior
• token economy: type of behavior modification in which desired behavior is rewarded with tokens
• applied behavior analysis (ABA): is a modern term for a form of behavior modification that uses shaping techniques to mold a desired behavior or response
• biofeedback: using feedback about biological conditions to bring involuntary responses, such as blood pressure and relaxation, under voluntary control
• neurofeedback: form of biofeedback using brain-scanning devices to provide feedback about brain activity in an effort to modify behavior
• shaping: the reinforcement of simple steps in behavior that lead to a desired, more complex behavior
• instinctive drift: tendency for an animal's behavior to revert to genetically con trolled patterns
• variable interval schedule of reinforcement: schedule of reinforcement in which the interval of time that must pass before reinforcement becomes possible is different for each trial or event
• partial reinforcement effect: the tendency for a response that is reinforced after some, but not all, correct responses to be very resistant to extinction
• continuous reinforcement: the reinforcement of each and every correct response
• fixed interval schedule of reinforcement: schedule of reinforcement in which the interval of time that must pass before reinforcement becomes possible is always the same
• successive approximations: small steps in behavior, one after the other, that lead to a particular goal behavior
• discriminative stimulus: any stimulus , such as a stop sign or a doorknob, that provides the organism with a cue for making a certain response in order to obtain reinforcement
• fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement: schedule of reinforcement in which the number of responses required for reinforcement is always the same
• variable ratio schedule of reinforcement: schedule of reinforcement in which the number of responses required for reinforcement is different for each trial or event
• shaping: the reinforcement of simple steps in behavior that lead to a desired, more complex behavior
• behavior modification: the use of operant conditioning techniques to bring about desired changes in behavior
• token economy: type of behavior modification in which desired behavior is rewarded with tokens
• applied behavior analysis (ABA): modern term for a form of behavior modification that uses shaping techniques to mold a desired behavior or response
• biofeedback: using feedback about biological conditions to bring involuntary responses, such as blood pressure and relaxation, under voluntary control
• neurofeedback: form of biofeedback using brain-scanning devices to provide feedback about brain activity in an effort to modify behavior
• learning/performance distinction: referring to the observation that learning can take place without actual performance of the learned behavior
• learned helplessness: the tendency to fail to act to escape from a situation because of a history of repeated failures in the past
• observational learning: learning new behavior by watching a model perform that behavior
• latent learning: learning that remains hidden until its application becomes useful
• insight: the sudden perception of relationships among various parts of a problem, allowing the solution to the problem to come quickly

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