Learning

learning

a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to experience

associative learning

learning that certain events occur together or a response and its consequences; our minds naturally connect events that occur in a sequence

habituation

eventually losing sensitivity to a repeated stimulus; even if a stimulus changes, there is reduced sensitivity

adaptation

get used to an unchanging stimulus; when stimulus changes, sensitivity goes back to original levels

classical conditioning

involuntary learning; To be effective:

1. Have repeated pairings

2. Reward has to immediately follow the stimuli

acquisition (classical conditioning)

NS + UCS = CS neutral stimulus is paired with a response

unconditioned stimulus

stimulus that normally produces a measurable involuntary response; Pavlov: food/meat

unconditioned response

unlearned or involuntary response to an unconditioned stimulus; Pavlov: salivation

conditioned stimulus

neural stimulus that, through repeated association with an unconditioned stimulus, begins to elicit a conditioned response; Pavlov: bell

conditioned response

response elicited by a conditioned stimulus; Pavlov: salivation

generalization (classical conditioning)

conditioned response becomes associated with a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus

discrimination (classical conditioning)

an organism learns to respond only to a specific stimulus and not to other stimuli

extinction (classical conditioning)

withholding the UCS and presenting the CS alone reduces the probability of the CR

spontaneous recovery

the reappearance of CR after extinction has occured

higher order conditioning (second-order conditioning)

a new CS is formed by pairing the CS and NS; examples: fear of lightning --> fear of thunder fear of sharks --> fear of the ocean

Martin Seligman

learned helplessness

learned helplessness

get to the point where the individual is conditioned to just give up; dogs were strapped in and shocked, when given the opportunity to escape the dogs still would cower without hope

John Garcia

aversions; biological preparedness

biological preparedness

evolution has made us more likely to become conditioned to potentially dangerous stimuli (heights, thunder, fire, etc.)

aversions

classically conditioned dislike for food; follow evolutionary psychology more than conditioning; can occur in a single pairing; the time span can be several hours

John B. Watson

human emotional responses; Little Albert

Mary Cover Jones

therapy; counterconditioning; paired pleasing stimulus with the conditioned stimulus to remove fear

Shepherd Siegel

drugs and classical conditioning; many addicts have learned to associate stimuli or cues in the environment without getting high, so they can experience a high before they even drink/smoke the addictive substance just by being in the environment

conditioned compensatory response (Drug Rebound Effect)

if a drug is taken the body will remember the environment in which the drug is taken and it builds up a tolerance; example: with a friend in the friend's basement if a drug is taken without the CCR (taken alone or in a different place) it's easier to overdose

Robert Rescorla

predictability; reliable signal; cognitive component

reliable signal

to classically condition, you need to always, not only sometimes, pair the NS with the CS; Reliable: ring bell, always bring meat Unreliable: ring bell, only sometimes bring meat

operant conditioning

learned behavior from received consequences

Edward Thorndike

law of effect

law of effect

important first step in the scientific understanding of how behaviors are modified by their consequences; behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely; behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely; good consequences

acquisition (operant conditioning)

learning associations between the behavior and its consequences; continuous reinforcement: fast acquisition; intermittent reinforcement: slow acquisition

reinforcement

best way to teach behavior; event that strengthens the behavior it follows examples: praise, attention, food

positive reinforcement

adding positive consequence; example: money rewards doing work

negative reinforcement

removing negative consequence; example: aspirin relieves pain

primary reinforcement

biological need example: getting food when hungry

conditioned or secondary reinforcement

there is no initial intrinsic value but becomes rewarding when linked with primary reinforcer; people were less likely to give money to a charity when hungry

punishment

event that weakens the behavior it follows; examples: being scolded, getting in trouble

positive punishment (application)

adding negative consequence; example: being yelled at

negative punishment (removal)

removing positive consequence; example: being grounded: not being able to go out with friends

reinforcement vs. punishment

reinforcement tells you what to do; punishment tells you what not to do

effective punishment

-Swift -Limited in time and intensity -Targets behavior not person -No mixed messages -Most effective is negative punishment

extinction (operant conditioning)

individual stops doing a specific behavior; continuous reinforcement: fast extinction intermittent reinforcement: resisted extinction

generalization (operant conditioning)

behavior spreads from one situation to another

discrimination (operant conditioning)

tell the difference from one event to another

shaping

reinforcers guide behavior closer and closer toward the desired behavior

chaining

teaching multiple behaviors to complete a task; example: teaching a toddler to dress him/herself

overjustification effect

being reinforced for doing something you like decreases intrinsic motivation

Premack principle

preferred behaviors can be used to reinforce unpreferred behaviors; example: a child can only eat ice cream after finishing the vegetables

continuous reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

intermittent reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response only part of the time result: slower acquisition of response and greater resistance to extinction

fixed interval

reward is given after a specific interval of time; slow rate of responding; example: weekly paycheck

variable interval

reward is given after predetermined but random interval of time; slow and steady rate of responding; example: pop quiz most resistant to extinction

fixed ratio

reward is given after a specific number of responses; choppy but high rate of responding, rapid until after receiving the reward; example: free drink after 10 purchases

variable ratio

reward is given after predetermined but random number of responses; high rate of responding; example: slot machines

intrinsic motivation

desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

extrinsic motivation

desire to perform a behavior for external rewards or to avoid punishment

E.C. Tolman

cognitive map; latent learning; with reinforcement, the rats were able to get through the maze very quickly

cognitive map

mental layout of the environment; example: being able to see in your head the way around your house

latent learning

hidden learning; learning without consciously being aware that you are learning

insight learning

sudden realization of the solution to a problem

Keller and Marian Breland

instinctive drift; biological predispositions

instinctive drift

if not for survival purposes, the learned behavior of an animal is only temporary

biological predisposition

it is difficult to condition animals to perform behaviors that are not normally associated with or go against their natural behaviors

observational learning (social learning)

learn by observing and imitating others; new responses are acquired after others' behavior and the consequences of their behavior are observed

Albert Bandura

Bobo doll experiment; adult abuses the doll, kids who don't observe any negative consequences are more likely than the control group to be aggressive

modeling

process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

mirror neurons

frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or observing another doing so; enables imitation and empathy; children with autism have a lower level of activity in mirror neurons

prosocial effects (of observational learning)

-People who exemplify nonviolent, helpful behavior can prompt similar behavior in others -Parents are powerful models for their children: actions not commands have a greater effect on kids

antisocial effects (of observational learning)

-Abusive parents can lead to aggressive children -TV is a powerful source of observational learning and can make society imitate or numb to violence or abuse -violence viewing effects are imitation and desensitization