psychology : learning

• Instincts and Reflexes

• innate behaviours(born with them)

• provide survival skills

• Reflexes

• motor/neural reactions to the environment

• specific body parts

• spinal cord and medulla level -babies sucking reflex

• instincts-more complex involving full body

• higher brain centers.

learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour or knowledge resulting from experience

1. enables organism to adapt to environment

2. relatively permanent ; excludes temporary change due to fatigue, drugs etc

3. result of experience-doesn’t happen passively

when an organism makes connections between stimuli or events that occur together in the environment

1. classical conditioning

2. Operant conditioning

3. Obvservational learning

• is a basic form of learning

• association between stimuli is called classical conditioning

• associated between behaviour and consequence is called operant or instrumental conditioning.

Ivan Pavlov-

• after classical conditioning an unrelated stimulus elicits a behaviour that is normally exhibited in the presence of some other stimulus

• what he noticed about dog

Before conditioning: unlearned, natural stimulus (unconditioned and stimulus us) brings about an instinctive response (unconditioned response ur) while a neutral stimulus (ns) does not.

During conditioning: neutral stimulus presented with us.The UR follows the us.

After conditioning: neutral stimulus is now a conditioned stimulus CS which brings about the conditioned respponse CR (which is the same behaviour as the ur in most cases).

association grows more rapidly at the beginning

repeated presentation of the cs without the us seems to decrease the association withthe cr

An extinguished CR may reappear after a test period

Traditional classical conditioning theory holds that the nature of the neural stimulus is unimportant

A stimulus similar to the originial cs also elicts the cr

A stimulus distinct from the cs does not elicit the CR

Timing

• conditioning is strongest when the cs is presented immediately before the US(best when half second)

• If presented after or at the same time there is little or no conditioning

Predictability

• conditioning is strongest when the cs is always followed by the Us (realiably predicts the us)

Conditioning is faster and stronger when the us is stronger (louder,brighter,more painful)

Attention

• A subject is more likely to become conditioned to a stimulus that they are paying attention to.

second order conditioning (higher order)

• Once conditioned,a CS can serve as the US to another neutral stimulus.

Allergic reactions-classical conditioned

• smell of fish

  Emotional Conditioning :many fears may also be a result of classical conditioning (phobias: irrational fears of specific obj or situations)(watson, from salivating to phobias) case of little Albert

• taste aversion : US Poison and Ur (sicknesss) far apart

• Enuresis bedwetting - alarm (us)-awaken UR

• bladder extension CS—awaken Cr

learning in which behaviour is

strengthened if followed by reinforcement

diminished if followed by punishment

Law of Effect

Thorndike ’s principle- behaviours followed by favourable consequences become more likely and behaviours by unfavourable consequences become less likely.

LOOK AT THE DAMN TABLE

B.F Skinner elaborated Thorndike’s law of effect

developed behavioural technology

Chamber with bar or key that an animal manipulates to obtain a food or water reinforcer

contains devices to record responses

Operant conditioning procedure in which reinforces guide behaviour toward closer approximations of desired goal

Reinforcer- any event that increases the frequency of the proceding event

positve reinforcer : introduce pleasant stimulus

negative reinforcers : remove unpleasant stimulus

REINFORCERS ALWAYS STRENGTHEN BEHAVIOUR

Primary reinforcers :innately satisfying not learned (e.g getting food)

Secondary Reinforcers : associated with the primary reinforcers and learned praise

immadiate reinforcemnt: Reinforce immediately following behaviour nicotine

Delayed Reinforcemnet : Reinforcement at some point after behaviour occurs (paycheck)

Continuous: every time behaviour occrs (rare)

Partial: not every time behaviour occurs (learning is slower but more resitanr to extinction where one stops reinforcing behaviour )

a pigeon will peck 150,00 times without reward

fixed ratio-reinforce every responses

• pause briefly after reinforcement then turn to high rate of responding

Variable ration :reinforce after? responses

• high rate of responding

Fixed interval-reinforce after fixed time

ex: scalloped increase rate as anticipated time draw near

Variable interval- reinforce after??time

ex: slow but steady responding.

administers an undesirable consequence or withdraws something desirable in an attempt to decrease the frequency of a behaviour (child’s disobedience)

presenting a negative consequence after an undesired behaviour is exhibited, making that behaviour less likely to happen in the future.

removing a desired stimulus after a particular undesired behaviour is exhibited,resulting in reducing that behaviour in the future.

always weakens a behaviour

behaviour is not forgotten-merely suppressed (may reappear in other situations.

punishment can teach fear

does not guide toward acceptable behaviour (doesn’t tell you what you should do)

At School : awards scholarships.

In Sports: behaviour methods are used to shape behaviour in athletic performance (hockey sit out if not performing )

At work: rewards have been successfully used to increase productivity and skill development (promotion at uni)

At home: cookie for hanging up coat

On Internet: smokers get vouchers when they demonstrate less CO in their breath

it is easier to associate some stimuli than others

Classical conditioning: taste-aversion and learning-Garcia showed that duration between cs and nus can be long (hrs) and yet result in conditioning.Biologically adaptive cs (taste)led to conditioning and not others (light or sound).

Humans seem to have a predisposition to be afraid of snakes and spiders.

Operant conditioning :easier to a hamster to dig or rear for food but not so easy to get the to face wash for food.

hard to get a pigeon to peck a key to turn off shock and flap wings to get food (reverse easier ).

Latent learning : rats can learn maze even without reinforcement - cognitive map rats perform as well as reinforced rats.

Skinner acknowledged the biological underspinnings of behaviour but has been criticized for discounting the importance of cognition

animals response on a fixed-interval reinforcement schedule

development of cognitive maps in rats (latent learning that becomes evident only when there is an incentive to desmonstrate it

intrinsic motivation : a desire to perform a behaviour effectively for its own sake

extrinsic motivation: a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

Mirror neurons

frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so.

may enable imitation,language,learning and empathy.

Prosocial effects

Prosocial modeling : of behaviour can have prosocial effects.

behaviour modeling enhances learning of comm. sales and customer service skills in new employees.

• modeling nonviolent , helpful behaviour prompts similar behaviour in others

  • research across seven countries showed that viewing prosocial media increased later helping behaviour

  • models are most effective when they include consistent actions and words.

abusive parents may have aggressive children

tv

• bullying is an effective tool for controlling others

• men should be tough women should be gentle

  the violence-viewing effect is demonstrated when viewing media violence triggers violent behaviour