midterm 2 Flashcards
coolidge effect?
??
problems with habituation - sex on the beach example
sex and bonding in humans, men habituate more quickly than women to erotic pictures, but men are also easier to arouse from pictures
potential solutions to habitutation?
prolonged abstinence or partial separation (separate bedrooms)
spaced presentation (long distance relationships)
how can you introduce dishabituation?
change the context (ie. avoid routine)
- but this routine dimension may have to do with the predictability of reinforcers
how does the predictability of reinforcers affect dishabituation?
social and affective neuroscience: endorphins and dopamine
if you want to habituate quickly?
Expose yourself to the S frequently (don’t avoid locations, pictures, memories, etc). This is massed exposure » BUT, it may lead
to spontaneous recovery
if you want to habituate for a long time?
Continue to expose yourself, but with
longer and longer inter-trial presentations (spaced exposure). It may take a
while, but you will get there.
delayed spontaneous recovery?
If the exposures continue
even if the responses are long gone. Movies and tv shows love these stories of ex’s
hooking-up years after they separated.
20
two strategies for dishabituation?
- Make the stimulus weaker: If loud music next door, put some earbuds on.
- Decrease your arousal: Avoid stimulants (e.g., caffeine), meditate, do yoga, etc.
what is sensitization?
The opposite of habituation (kinda…)
- The gradual increase in response to a stimulus that is repeatedly presented
and processed by the organism
where does sensitization occur?
Occurs in the “state system” » readiness to respond. Activated by eliciting
stimuli
how is sensitization affected by generalization?
- Exposed to artillery fire on the battlefield » get sensitized.
- Later respond to fireworks the same way
if habituation is stimulus-specific…
sensitization is generalizable
sensitization can lead to…
desensitization (the same way habituation can lead to dishabituation)
how can systematic desensitization be used in therapy?
In therapy, systematic desensitization is used for phobias, for example
what happens if an organism is stressed/sick/preoccupied (with sensitization)
If the organism is stressed or sick or preoccupied, what is normally habituated can become quickly sensitized: The paparazzi example in Gluck et al
pre-pulse inhibition?
The basic idea is that being pre-exposed to a stimulus, even if weaker, will reduce the
sensitization or response to that stimulus, even when presented at high intensity.
sensitization: startling stimulus =
strong response
sensitization: low intensity stimulus =
same stimulus but very high intensity (“startling”) » weaker response than above
what is “low intensity stimulus » same stimulus but very high intensity (“startling”) » weaker response than above” a case of
desensitization
What is dishabituation and what can we use it for: developmental psych?
In developmental psychology: understanding natural (non-learned) discrimination of S. Useful with infants and pre-verbal children, no need for language or understanding of the test
What is dishabituation and what can we use it for: animal psychophysics?
can an animal naturally (without training) detect and discriminate stimuli?
Example — ribbon snake ??
how does systematic desensitization work in therapy?
Initially with micro doses of the stimulus and then is increased with time
social learning can play a role!
Desensitize by using social learning, gradual exposure — removes flooding
what is pre pulse inhibition?
pre exposure to a stimulus may diminish your response to it later
- Pre exposure makes you more familiar which may help you cope with it
studying sensitization/habituation?
Can use a series of dependent variables — a lot of these are parts of the polygraph and studies used in sleep clinics
What are the best measures? Depends. Autonomic nervous systems measures differ a lot, they don’t always cross correlate.
ways to study sensitization/habituation?
- GSR
- EDA
- thermal response
- cardiac markers
- other polygraph measures
sensitization/habituation: GSR/EDA?
- GSR (galvanic skin response) or EDA (electro-dermal activity) can be used to monitor the autonomic nervous system (ANS) response
- GSR might be too sensitive — any little disruption and the person would have a strong response. This adds a lot of noise
- Simple versions of EDA can be bought and used at home — form a biofeedback. Get feedback at a certain threshold, eg. Beeping, and cause you to react
sensitization/habituation: thermal response?
With organisms that don’t sweat a thermal response can be used (eg. Thermal cameras, these are less obtrusive)
sensitization/habituation: cardiac measures?
All the cardiac markers work as well: ECG, heart rate, blood pressure, etc.
sensitization/habituation: other polygraph measures?
- Challenge with these are that you need a baseline — this is why apple watches can be good because they take daily measurements
- Might be able to pick up responses on one test and not another, depends on the individual
measuring sensitization/habituation: lacey and lacey?
- found pattern in these — some people have huge reactions to some things and not others, depends on the person. Found this is constant throughout life.
- Intersection between geography and psychology here — tracking patterns, can assess your ability to monitor and control
dual process theory (DPT): Groves and Thompson, 1970
says that habituation and sensitization posits are both activated at the same time
States that they can both be defined and discussed and are measurable
DPT: process?
Process: the physiological mechanisms involved
DPT: effects?
Effects: the observable consequences or behaviours (response)
DPT: process and effects?
- Both processes are adaptive
- Not always adaptive to keep responding to some stimuli (eg. crying baby – which we do have an initial physiological reaction to)
DPT: final statement
So it is not H or S but rather H and S, but the connections between the sensory neurons (input) and motor neurons (output) is what matters, and changes over time.
opponent process theory (OPT)
- Complex theory (gadbois favourite)
- Emotional regulation for high arousal events (skydiving, bungie jumping) is very well explained by the OPT
OPT what happens with time?
- Initial fear response becomes weaker (habituates faster) — first jump, overwhelmed by fear. Once you land the first time it is accompanied by relief. The theory thinks that is what people are after. The fear is not what is fun, what is potentially intriguing is the elation you experience when you experience it
- Rebound exhilaration response becomes stronger — allows elation response to either increase or be more salient (obvious)
what is different about OPT compared to DPT?
- The rebound is triggered by the initial response
- Both underlying processes are associated with emotional arousal
what is familiarization?
- With times exposure will increase the sense of “sameness” of familiarity
- Studied via novel object recognition — you get a sense of familiarity, having seen something before.
problem with familiarization?
Problem (seen through mnemonic theory) is that it is very context specific and at a context of time
familiarization: recognition memory?
Recognition memory is usually in reference to something you have already seen
recognition memory example?
if prof sees someone in a different environment, may not ‘recognize’ you, the problem is context. When you’re exposed to so many people, in context they will recognize you. Outside of context it might not be as obvious.
what is priming?
- Unconscious effect of an exposure, often repeated
- Implicit memory
- Change from physiological psychology — now cognitive or neuro
- Repeated exposure with a stimulus will actually prime, at the very least, that stimulus if not related stimuli
- Priming is unconscious and lasts long
priming general idea?
Idea is if you’re exposed to something, you will recall that first later. Eg. Have a conversation about healthcare professions, later on if someone asks you to name a profession you will name one of those first
example of priming?
The blue jay example (p. 88-89 of Gluck et al): Exposure to different species of moth (without reinforcement), will facilitate moth detection and discrimination later on
what is true about recognition (familiarity)
is conscious and does not last long; it is also very context-specific
are recognition and priming the same?
Unclear if we are dealing with two different processes
- We don’t know how it exactly works but it is very documented
- We think specific parts of the cortex are activated in these processes, thought limbic system was involved but no obvious proof of that
priming famous case?
Example: famous case is HM — triangle tower, you have to move them through three pegs and reconstitute the tower. Very specific sequence is needed. HM was asked to do it, first time took a while, with time he got better and faster (like most people). Thing is, every time he was exposed to the tower he would claim he had never seen it before.
–> This is priming, unconscious/implicit memory
what do different types of priming have in common?
all via stimulus repetition
different types of priming?
Perceptual priming
Lexical/semantic/conceptual priming
Affective and kindness priming
Associative or context priming
perceptual priming?
involves the extra striate cortex (part of occipital cortex: V3, V4, V5/MT)
Lexical/semantic/conceptual priming
involves the left prefrontal lobe
Affective and kindness priming
based on the positive or negative valence of prime
Associative or context priming
basic contextual/cue conditioning?
what is perceptual priming?
Being exposed to stimuli over and over will change the way you perceive them (exposing yourself to a variation of these stimuli, statistical learning, often unconscious)
what does perceptual learning help?
discrimination
perceptual learning examples?
- Wine is a wine is a wine? Not to a sommelier
- Rash is a rash is a rash? Not to a dermatologist
- Thrush is a thrush is a thrush? Not to a seasoned birdwatcher
- These nuances aren’t clear to people that are not trained/experienced with these things
what is perceptual learning a form of?
latent learning. Because unconscious and not dependent on reinforcement it is like habituation, sensitization and priming
perceptual learning is also called?
statistical learning
difference of perceptual learning compared to priming?
it is long lasting, if not permanent
- priming is a lot more fleeting
what could explain perceptual learning?
dual process theory
what is perceptual learning really about?
It is about perceptual invariance, simpler way to say this: it is about identifying the difference. See the difference, hear the difference. That is what discrimination is.
perceptual invariance example?
wolves vs. Cayotes — immediate difference in size, nose, eyes, tail. Trained people can see so many differences. Interestingly, that is so remarkable when you realize that people in movies sub a German Shepard for a wolf. If you knew the difference, you would think that is obviously dumb. If you don’t know to look for differences, interestingly you won’t see them
what is spatial learning another form of?
Another form of latent learning, often implicit
spatial learning example?
Tolman and Honzik (1930): rats in mazes
tolman and honzik method?
Operation training (food at the end of the maze) vs. Exploration — behaviourists at the time believed in responses you could see. The rat basically memorizes the route, tolman thought if it was that specific to the response, I am going to make them go through the same maze but flooded. Interestingly, the rat could still find the way. Not based on motor responses but on mental map. Might be based on both, individual differences.
tolman and honzik what rats learned faster?
Trained rats learn faster initially
Explorer rate learn better at end — may take longer initially, but remember better
tolman and honzik two theories of learning?
hippocampal learning
striatal learning
what is hippocampal learning?
learning a navigational map (the mental map for the psychologists or the search image for the ethologists) — indeed based on mental representation
what is striatal learning?
learning motor navigation (turns): motor learning of spatial learning — striatal system that records this moments and sequence of them, basal ganglia domain
what is individual adapation?
Conditioning allows you to get familiarized with your environment so you can adapt to it (individual adaptation)
what do you need for any kind of conditioning?
you need the right mental/motivational state
what is true about classical and operant conditioning?
not completely separate topics
Eg. Pavlov is always on your shoulder even when working with skinner
what is instrumental conditioning?
the law of effect - thorndike
- Association between a stimulus and response, ie. it is about S-R learning
what does instrumental conditioning say about S-R?
S-R association strengthened if S followed by a satisfying event
S-R association weakened if S followed by an annoying event
what does instrumental conditioning presuppose?
motivational states
example of instrumental conditioning (real world)
Examples: saying thank you, tipping
- You are aware of contingencies — you are manipulating the other person, both sides are implicated
- Dialectical in social interactions, may not be aware you are doing it, but you are playing that game of conditioning
instrumental conditioning (refer to notes for whole story)
- Prof in an American uni that decided to make a point. He would compliment all the female students that would show up to class dressed in red, on a typical day not that many. This is an example of classical conditioning (implicit)
- Students then decided to play a game with this guy. The following year the students decided to condition him (instrumental, although might be a mix)
four players in outcomes?
- Reward — increases the behaviour,
- Punishment
- Omission — not doing something
- Avoidance/escape — avoiding or escaping an aversive stimulus
what does negative mean in terms of punishment?
- Negative doesn’t mean bad — instead just describes a process of what you are doing
- Positive punishment is the worst form of punishment! Don’t take it semantically. It is positive in the sense that you use something you add — eg. Electrical shock.
difference between avoidance and escape?
- Avoidance: the unpleasant (aversive) S / event has not occurred yet (procrastination)
- Escape: the unpleasant (aversive) S / event is occurring in the moment
omission learning/training?
When a behaviour prevents the occurrence of a good outcome
refer to tables!!!!
important hehehhhh
what is reinforcement?
anything that will increase the probability/rate/duration/liklihood of a response
what is punishment?
anything that will reduce the probability/rate/duration/liklihood of a response
important note about reinforcement/punishment?
That is not what you think is reinforcement/punishment but rather what the subject thinks is reinforcement/punishment — it is subject by subject
learning theory - are shock collars punishment?
epends. If there is no reduction in behaviour for a specific animal than the shock collar is not punishment. Same with this, is giving kibble to a dog reinforcement. Some say yes, but some dogs don’t care about kibble so then not for them.
what does ignoring do? (in terms of punishment)
- If it leads to no response, then it is punishment. Therefore ignoring can be punishment.
- Punishment and reinforcement is just feedback on a response — feedback leads to more or less response.
punishment vs. reinforcement (stimulus type?)
Punishment uses an aversive stimulus and reinforcement uses an appetitive one
what kind of punishment is time out/taking phone away?
negative punishment
is taking stuff away punitive by nature?
an be punitive, but depends on the behaviour that you are trying to extinguish. When you try to stop a behaviour, pull the reinforcement — there is usually a larger response. Takes a while before they realize that positive reinforcement isn’t going to come back and then they stop.
when do the four quadrants come into play?
Everything you say and do taps into all four quadrants with most people around you. Even if you didn’t mean to be nasty, if it fits the definition it counts.
what is punishment/reinforcement?
information
- The way the brain works is by acquiring and strengthening some connections, and pruning others
punishment/reinforcement - what is true
This terms have been poisoned because people don’t understand them
how does cognitive psych view punishment/reinforcement?
In many tasks, you got a tone or green light when you do a task right. Or a bad tone and red light that comes up if you get it wrong — that is punishment. You don’t leave crying, but you are informing. We know that you learn faster if you know what behaviour not to reproduce — this is how discrimination training works.
punishment/reinforcement - thorndike?
In other words, thorndike was right, you have to experience trial-and-error, it is the contrast between success and failure in trial and error that gets you to understand what is good (leads to an answer) and bad (doesn’t lead to an answer).
error of correction?
Dog trainers wrap it into something positive, “keep going signal” — that wasn’t it, keep going. Not because you call it that makes it reinforcement, but people prefer calling it that than positive punishment
what are societal views on corporal and punitive punishment?
- Corporal punishment is different — strong consensus there that is wrong
- Punitive punishment often leads to spontaneous regeneration — some criminals go back to crimes right after being released
what impacts how you understand punishment?
Your ability to measure the response (Feedback) is how your understand the punishment
people say you should never put an animal on cyclic punishment - thoughts?
People say never put a human/animal on cyclic punishment, why not? Because they get stressed. The moment that rat in the skinner box on an intermittent schedule shows stress — you are doing something wrong. You are usually going too fast. Nothing wrong with scheduled reinforcement, something wrong if you are using it in the wrong way — eg. Speeding through.
punishment is often only a …
a temporary stop, spontaneous recovery in the right conditions will often happen.
reinforcement =
strengthening of the response.
reinforcement =
strengthening of the response
does punishment always reduce responses?
It depends on the behaviour! In imprinting, it will often increase the following response: Think, analogically, about the abused with their abusers…
what does positive mean in punishment?
The term “positive” means that something is produced, not that it is perceived as positi
positive reinforcement?
You GIVE a reinforcement (something perceived as positive)
negative reinforcement?
You REMOVE or TAKE AWAY something perceived as negative.
what does the term negative mean, punishment?
means that something is removed, not that it is perceived as negative.
what is shaping?
the main dimension of “training” (as in training an animal)
Reinforcing an animal or human with successive approximations is called…
shaping
shaping procedure?
at first, you reinforce anything that is in the direction or shape of the target behaviour. Then you slowly progressively start reinforcing the behaviours that are closer to the target behaviour until you get to the point that you reinforce only the “perfect” target behaviour
important dimensions of shaping?
- The topology (proximal to goal) or spatial dimension — a lot of what you need to do is understand that the first part of the goal is to get the rat close to the lever, then the timing is important.
- The timing of the behaviour or temporal dimension
- You ignore (ie. do not reinforce) the behaviours that are desired or too far spatially and temporally from what you are looking for
- Sometimes you can get animals to do very complex things very quickly — eg. Rat in a skinner box
what is important about making an operant setting work in shaping?
the topology
what is autoshaping?
computer training a rat in a skinner box rather than a person. There is then no feedback given from a person. Put them in a box, computer starts running and usually the rat has shaped to the task within an hour.
gadbois nose hold on a target stimulus steps
- At first just orienting towards the target S — reinforce this
- Then approaching the stimulus
- Then having the “nose down” towards S
- Then touching the S
- Then holding on the S, at first for a few seconds
- Then holding for a full 5 seconds
what is target always called?
S+ = positive stimulus
what is successive approximation?
topology, reinforcement is successful but contingent on getting closer to the target (stop rewarding behaviour that goes backward)
what happens if you go too fast in reinforcing a behaviour?
If you go too fast it is possible that the new thresholds aren’t registering, you could fall back. You might need to go retro and use baby steps at that point, might need a refresher (small reward) to reorient them to the task.
is reinforcement dependent on anything?
species dependent — need to be mindful of what youre working with and the behaviour they typically produce
detection training?
responding yes or no to a stimulus
discrimination training?
choosing the appropriate stimulus out of n number distractors
what is an important measure when a choice has to be made (dogs)?
Because a choice has to be made, it is a good idea to have a clear, well defined response (a good nose hold, held for a full 5 seconds, until the reinforcement (R+) is produced/delivered).
can instrumental conditioning/shaping happen without a coach, trainer, teacher?
yes
what can have the same effect as instrumental conditioning/shaping?
Trial and error learning (thorndiike)
what is selection by consequence?
makes instrumental conditioning very similar to natural selection (ie. species-level adaption) except that it is individual-level adaption
what is learning a force in?
learning is one of the few forces in evolution
what is classical conditioning?
Classical conditioning can be very powerful (as demonstrating through neuro eg. Sick building syndrome). Not all individuals condition the same
what did pavlov come up with (topology)?
Pavlov is the first one that came up with a temperament topology for dogs — four types of topology. Based on how responsive they were to classical conditioning. Not all of us are as easily conditional as one other, there are individual differences (seen with rats and even slugs)
classical conditioning: pavlov’s dog - salivation?
Goal: preparatory for digestion (in fact, arguably the first step as saliva will start the digestion process with starches: think of bread “melting” in your mouth
classical conditioning: taste aversion?
- Too much jack at your birthday — you can get very sick for days, may develop a strong and long lasting aversion, may even be generalized to similar alcohol
- Note: this example is actually special as it often requires very little event. Classical conditioning will often lead to “one-trial learning. This is obviously potentially very adaptive.
biological examples of importance of classical conditioning?
- The Hollis experiment with Blue Gouramis: a kind of warning signal that “primes” the combatant
- The domain experiment with Japanese quails: priming the male for sex
- Note that this is (unconsciously?) important to humans when creating an “atmosphere”
unconscious classical conditioning examples?
sports
dates
restaurant/bars
classical conditioning: sports?
intensive/aggressive music, lightinwhg, narrative (us vs. Them motivational comments). Locker room talk is meant to pump you up, cues for competition because it is context specific
classical conditioning: dates?
slow/languorous music, lighting, clothing, make-up, perfume/cologne, etc.
classical conditioning: restaurants/bars?
music, lighting, etc.
what does marketing and advertising take advantage of?
Marketing and advertising will take advantage of those conditioning stimuli OR they will condition you
classical conditioning and sex?
- Early exposure to stimuli and outcomes (eg. Arousal, pleasure, orgasm, etc.)
- Tapping into motivational systems — sex is used in more subtle ways now, but it is still there
- Good and bad associations depending on the outcome
stimuli following a bad experience could induce
fear, stress, panic
stimuli that could induce fear, stress, panic?
- Long hair or facial hair
- Smell of a person or sell of a location
- Music (specific music/song)
what can happen with classical conditioning in a good experience?
some of these stimuli still may become almost necessary for arousal, or certainly would be facilitating — can trigger the memory responses of the event, works out of context too
positive experience stimuli?
- Long hair or facial hair
- Smell of a person or sell of a location
- Music (specific music/song)
SA: classical conditioning?
- Sex: everything that happens in the context of SA is heavily connected to cues that will follow you for life, connected to PTSD
- Problem with trauma, after SA for example, is to disconnect these associations
classical conditioning and olfaction?
- Olfaction is particular interesting here: it is one of the processes that can bypass the thalamus as a switch board. Thats why you will experience emotion first before even recognizing the smell and the thought of that person.
- Odours are often part of context, good or bad.
shepard siegel and classical conditioning with drugs examples?
- Conditioned analgesia
- Conditioned withdrawal
- Conditioned tolerance
- Conditioned compensatory response
drug tolerance?
When you take a drug, with time you develop drug tolerance. The affects of the drugs reduce with time, this is why people start taking more with some categories of drugs (morphine, heroin, opioids)
tolerance is a huge problem with…
pain management in end of life — trying to make people comfortable but it takes more and more of the drug
tolerance is heavily…
conditioned by environmental stimuli, indicated that if you change some of the cues you lose some of the tolerance — eg. Change the room, change the music, they will become less tolerant to the drug and the dosage will work better
idea, when you take a drug there is a _____ response…
Interesting idea, when you take a drug there is a compensatory response, your metabolism/immune system knows how to react to it. This is good. The right thing in terms of adaptation. Tries to get you back to some sort of immunostatic state, alcohol is poison, the effects of toxicity (drunk) is a poison
is tolerance context specific?
very!
drunk as a skunk example?
Every Thursday you go to a certain bar, have a certain number of drinks over a certain period of time. Over time, you have 4/5/6 beers and you’re relatively fine. Then one time, your friends suggest going to a different bar. You go to that new place, stay the same amount of time, drink the same amount. But you leave and are drunk as a skunk (super drunk) — what happened? As simple as what you are perceiving. Your compensatory response is conditioned to a specific environment and set of cues, remove those cues and it goes back to the way it was before (despite the dose being the same)
emergency doc OD anecdote?
Discovered by Siegel (emergency doc) and they would get people that would come from heroin/morphine OD. At first they were puzzled, would ask people what happened, OD suggests to most people that you took more of the drug. Friends would say that they didnt take any more and could tolerate that amount before. So then why an overdose today? They realized one of two things were happening: either doing it with another group of people or in another environment. Change the environment and that response is gone.
what are therapies for drinking/drug abuse?
send you somewhere remote (new environment) and get you to stop cold turkey. This is super smart, taking you away from the social and physical environment where you have been taking that drug. All those cues are no longer there. After that period of time, you go back home where you used to drink but within a few hours you might be back to drinking. Association of cues is very powerful and has a very strong effect. Although you have not experienced withdrawal in the new environment, you go back to the old one and experience withdrawal — the cues trigger it. Best way to get rid of withdrawal, take the drug again. That is what happens.
conditioned analgesia?
Analgesia or how you feel about a painkiller may be associated with a room
Idea is that theoretically, if you could change the room and other cues, the tolerance could bounce back.
