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PSYC214 Learning and Behaviour - Week 9 Lecture_MELBOURNE

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.