PSYC214 - Learning and Behavior Lecture Notes

Overview

• Extinction (Ch. 9)

  • Definition and conditions under which it occurs

  • Recovery from extinction

  • Learned extinction

  • Partial reinforcement effect

• Aversive Control (Ch. 10)

  • Avoidance behavior

  • Punishment

Why Reduce Behaviors?

• Consider various contexts where behaviors might be reduced or prevented:

  • Personal

  • Public

  • Private

  • Home

  • School

  • Work

  • Study

  • Health

Extinction (Chapter 9)

Recap of Pavlovian Conditioning

• Acquisition: NS + US → CR

  • E.g., Dog salivates when bell sounds

• Extinction:

  • When the bell rings without food, the CR diminishes.

• Spontaneous Recovery:

  • After a break, the CR can reemerge.

• Relearning:

  • Faster relearning of the association if previously learned.

• Stimulus Generalization:

  • Responding to similar stimuli.

• Stimulus Discrimination:

  • Responding only to specific stimuli.

What is Extinction?

• Both classical and instrumental conditioning involve acquiring behavior.

• Extinction arises when:

  • The US (in PC) is omitted

  • The reinforcing outcome (in IC) is omitted

• Extinction viewed as opposite to acquisition, but raises questions:

  • Is it unlearning?

  • Is it forgetting?

Behavioral Effects of Extinction

• Effects:

  • Decrease in target response

  • Increase in response variability

  • Example: Behavior similar to malfunctioning vending machines.

Clarification on Extinction Understanding

• Extinction is not unlearning or forgetting.

  • Spontaneous Recovery: Reappearance of behavior indicating some retention.

  • Renewal: Reappearance of conditioned response when contextual cues change after extinction.

Recovery from Extinction

• Behaviors can reappear due to:

  • Spontaneous Recovery: Passage of time

  • Renewal: Contextual change

  • Reinstatement: Encountering the US again.

  • Resurgence: After another response has been extinguished.

What is Learned in Extinction?

• Involves non-reinforcement after reinforcement history.

  • E.g., Lever pressing no longer yields reward.

• The absence of reinforcement disrupts the S-R association.

Enhancing Extinction

• Trial Counts: More trials enhance extinction.

• Distributed Learning: Spaced trials mitigate renewal.

• Contextual Variation: Using multiple extinction contexts can reduce renewal.

• Reminder Cues: Recalling initial extinction context reinforces behavior reduction.

• Compound Stimuli: Extinguishing two behaviors simultaneously leads to stronger effects.

Partial Reinforcement Effect

Definition

• Behaviors reinforced on leaner schedules (partial) are more resistant to extinction than those on richer schedules (continuous).

Theories Explaining Partial Reinforcement Effect

1. Discrimination Hypothesis

   • Parallelism of extinction with partial reinforcement conditions.

2. Frustration Hypothesis

   • Lack of reinforcement creates frustration, reinforcing non-responsiveness.

3. Sequential Hypothesis

   • Response sequences during partial reinforcement shifts reinforcement signals.

Research Findings on Partial Reinforcement (Hulse 1975)

• Group comparisons on extinction trials yielded insights on reinforcement dynamics.

• Results indicated behaviors responding predictably differed based on reinforcement types.

Aversive Control: Avoidance and Punishment (Chapter 10)

Avoidance

• Definition: Making specific responses to prevent negative outcomes.

  • E.g., Wearing gloves to avoid injury while gardening.

Punishment

• Definition: Making a specific response results in a negative outcome.

  • Positive contingency examples include consequences like fines for illegal parking.

Avoidance Learning vs Classical Conditioning

• Study Example: Brogden et al. (1938) involving guinea pigs.

  • Comparing classical conditioning with avoidance conditioning techniques.

Two-Process Theory of Avoidance

• Involves two learning mechanisms:

  1. Association of CS with US in absence of response, leading to conditioned fear.

  2. Learning instrumental response that terminates CS and diminishes fear, reinforcing avoidance behavior.

Extinction of Avoidance Response

• Response Blocking: Flooding with context exposure reduces avoidance behavior.

Punishment

• Definition: Consequences that reduce behavior likelihood.

• Types:

  • Positive punishment

  • Negative punishment

Key Variables in Punishment Effects

• Intensity: Higher initial intensity leads to more effective punishment.

• Delay: The closer to the behavior the punishment is administered, the more effective.

• Contingency: Clear relationship between behavior and punishment enhances effectiveness.

Problems with Punishment

• Potential adverse effects include aggression, suppression of other behaviors, needing continuous monitoring, possible abuse, and ethical considerations.

Decreasing Behaviors

• Positive Punishment: Best avoided unless necessary.

• Negative Punishment: Options like time-out, extinction, response cost.

• Reinforcement of alternative behaviors, providing competing choices, can effectively reduce maladaptive behaviors.

Summary

• Overview of extinction concepts, including recovery mechanisms and partial reinforcement effects.

• Aversive control examined through avoidance behavior and punishment strategies.