CH3.1 Associative Learning, Classical and Operant Conditioning

Question 1

associative learning also happens to humans not just lab animals. T/F?

Answer 1

True

Question 2

stimulus

Answer 2

anything that triggers a response

Question 3

What must occur when learning has occured

Answer 3

when a behavioral response changes in response to a stimulus

Question 4

classical conditioning

Answer 4

Classical conditioning is a type of associative learning that takes advantage of biological, instinctual responses to create associations between two unrelated stimuli.

Classical conditioning works, first and foremost, because some stimuli cause an innate or reflexive physiological response. For example, we reflexively salivate when we smell bread baking in an oven, or we may jump or recoil when we hear a loud noise.

associating a neutral stimulus to an involuntary response

Question 5

neutral stimuli

Answer 5

sound of bell for dogs before learning. No reason it would have salivated uncontrollablly. Or a song that hasnt been associated with something in your life

causes no response related to the unconditioned pair

Question 6

ivan pavlov experiment

Answer 6

trained dogs to associated the neutral stimulus (bell) with the unconditioned stimulus of bringing food at feeding time. The dogs would unconditionally (innately) salivate at food. By introducing bell at same time as the food the dogs associated the bell with food. Ultimately the conditioned stimulus of the bell (once neutral) could trigger saliva production without food

Question 7

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 7

provokes an innate, instinctual response without effort

( unconditioned responses )
when you jump after being starteled
jumping when scared

Question 8

conditioned stimulus

Answer 8

former neutral stimuli when associated with unconditined stimuli trigger a conditioned response

spike in blood pressure is a newly conditioned response to the former neutral song stimuli (during aquisition)

Question 9

generalization

Answer 9

responding to a stimuli that resembles another conditioned stimulus

if a conditioned stimulus is a jazz song, responding to a diff jazz song is a generalization

Question 10

What was the Baby Albert Experiment?

Answer 10

A baby was conditioned to have a fear of white mice

UCR - unconditioned response
UCS - conditioned response

Question 11

discrimination

Answer 11

discern between similar stimulu

Question 12

extinction

Answer 12

extinction of a conditioned response between conditioned stimulus and conditioned response

Question 13

spontaneous recovery

Answer 13

someone is triggered by a conditioned respone again

which occurs after a relationship between conditioned stimuli and response is over (it was seemingly distinct)

Question 14

reinforcement

Answer 14

encouraging a behavior

Question 15

positive and negative reinforcement

Answer 15

positive reinforcement - encouraging a behavior, adding a stimulus

negative reinforcement - encouraging a behavior, removing a stimulus

Question 16

operant conditioning

Answer 16

Operant conditioning, sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning, is a method of learning that uses rewards and punishment to modify behavior. Through operant conditioning, behavior that is rewarded is likely to be repeated, and behavior that is punished will rarely occur.

Operant conditioning is associated with B. F. Skinner, who is considered one of the founders of behaviorism, the theory that all behaviors are conditioned

Question 17

punishment in operat conditioning

Answer 17

punishment is any change in a human or animal’s surroundings which, occurring after a given behavior or response, reduces the likelihood of that behavior occurring again in the future.

adding - makes it positive punishment
scolding a kid after cursing

removing - makes it negative punishment
removing a cell phone

Question 18

Escaping and avoiding in operant conditioning

Answer 18

Escape learning describes a situation where the animal experiences the unpleasant stimulus and, in response, displays the desired operant behavior in order to trigger the removal of the stimulus.

avoidance learning occurs when the animal displays the desired behavior in anticipation of the unpleasant stimulus, thereby avoiding the unpleasant stimulus.
(often develops with multiple expierences of escape learning)

Question 19

examples of reinforcement schedule

Answer 19

fixed ratio - child recieved a reward after cleaning a certain number of times (#)

continuous reinforcement -fixed ratio schedule where behavior is rewarded EVERY time it is performed

fixed interval - child recieved a reward after cleaning after period of (TIME)

variable ratio - child recieves a reward after # of cleaning dishes after varying number (she cant be sure). But overal average is consistent (ex, 2, 4, 8, 6)

variable interval - child recieves a reward after a random period of time (1 day, 2 weeks)

Question 20

which reinforcement schedule is the most addictive?

Answer 20

variable schedules are most resistant to extinction

fixed ratio is less addictive
variable ratio is best, then variable interval

Very Rapid and Very Resistant to extinction
VR for Variable Ratio

Question 21

latent learning

Answer 21

learning that reveals itself once a reward is introduced

incentivized to get good grades for a reward offered

Question 22

problem solving

Answer 22

apply knowledge learned

Question 23

biological prepardness

Answer 23

how inclined an animal is to learn a behavior necessary for survival
(occurs via predisposition)

a bird needs to peck when searchign for food, rewarding food in response to pecking works well for learning a task

Question 24

instinctive/instinctual drift

Answer 24

reverting to an innate behavior

trained dog bark at intruders

Question 25

associative learning

Answer 25

associative learning is the creation of a pairing, or association, either between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response.

On the MCAT, you’ll be tested on two kinds of associative learning: classical and operant conditioning.

Question 26

what is aquisition?

Answer 26

The process of using a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus is termed acquisition

Question 27

4 possible relationships in operant conditioning

Answer 27

Question 28

example of avoidance learning with a seat belt warning in a car

Answer 28

Avoidance learning often develops from multiple experiences of escape learning. An example of this progression from escape learning to avoidance learning is the seat belt warning in a car. If a driver begins driving without buckling the seat belt, then the car will produce an annoying beeping noise, which only ends when the seat belt is buckled. In this example, the desired behavior is to buckle the seat belt. This behavior is reinforced by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus (the audible beeping), so this type of learning is negative reinforcement. More specifically, this example illustrates escape learning, since the driver first experiences the unpleasant stimulus, then exhibits the desired behavior in order to escape the unpleasant stimulus. However, after forgetting to buckle the seat belt several times, the driver will eventually learn to preemptively buckle up before driving the car in order to avoid the beeping sound. At that point, the escape learning has progressed to avoidance learning. Finally, this example illustrates an important misconception about the term negative reinforcement: Buckling one’s seat belt is generally considered a “positive” behavior, in that it protects one’s health. Nevertheless, the terms “positive” and “negative” in operant conditioning only refer to the addition or removal of a stimulus. So even though buckling up is a “good” thing, this example illustrates several types of negative reinforcement!

Question 29

how can classical and operant conditioning be paired?

Answer 29

in dog training when trainers use reinforcers when training dogs to preform tricks

, the trainers will feed the dog a bit of meat after it performs a trick. The meat can be said to be a primary reinforcer because the meat is a treat that the dog responds to naturally.

Dog trainers also use tiny handheld devices that emit a clicking sound. This clicker would not normally be a reinforcer on its own, but the trainers use classical conditioning to pair the clicker with meat to elicit the same response. The clicker is thus a conditioned reinforcer, which is sometimes called a secondary reinforcer

Eventually, the dog may even associate the presence of the trainer with the possibility of reward, making the presence of the trainer a discriminative stimulus. A discriminative stimulus indicates that reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm.

Question 30

discriminative stimulus

Answer 30

in operant conditioning, a stimulus that increases the probability of a response because of a previous history of differential reinforcement in the presence of that stimulus. For example, if a pigeon’s key pecks are reinforced when the key is illuminated red but not when the key is green, the red stimulus will come to serve as an SD and the pigeon will learn to peck only when the key is red.

Question 31

negative reinforcement vs positive punishment

Answer 31

Negative reinforcement is the removal of a bothersome stimulus to encourage a behavior; positive punishment is the addition of a bothersome stimulus to reduce a behavior.

Question 32

averse conditioning

Answer 32

Aversive conditioning is a type of classical conditioning in which an unwanted behavior is targeted by pairing it with a negative stimulus in an attempt to reduce the unwanted behavior.

Question 33

formal sanctions and informal sanctions on behavior

Answer 33

formal sanctions - rules, laws, reinforce or punish behavior
informal sanctions - ostracization, praise, shunning can reinforce or punish behavior

Question 34

shaping in operant conditioning

Answer 34

shaping, which is the process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviors that become closer to a desired response.

For example, if you wanted to train a bird to spin around in place and then peck a key on a keyboard, you might first give the bird a treat for turning slightly to the left, then only for turning a full 90 degrees, then 180, and so on, until the bird has learned to spin around completely. Then you might only reward this behavior if done near the keyboard until eventually the bird is only rewarded once the full set of behaviors is performed. While it may take some time, the use of shaping in operant conditioning can allow for the training of extremely complicated behaviors

Question 35

observational learning

Answer 35

Observational learning is the process of learning a new behavior or gaining information by watching others. via modeling

The most famous and perhaps most controversial study into observational learning is Albert Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment, in which children watched an adult in a room full of toys punching and kicking an inflatable clown toy. When the children were later allowed to play in the room, many of them ignored the other toys in the room and inflicted similar violence on the Bobo doll just as they had seen the adult do.

In later iterations of the Bobo doll experiment, children who watched the adult get scolded after attacking the Bobo doll were less likely to be aggressive toward the Bobo doll themselves.

Question 36

mirror neurons

Answer 36

These neurons are located in the frontal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex and fire both when an individual performs an action and when that individual observes someone else performing that action. Mirror neurons are largely involved in motor processes, but additionally are thought to be related to empathy and vicarious emotions; some mirror neurons fire both when we experience an emotion and also when we observe another experiencing the same emotion.

Question 37

BF Skinner experiment

Answer 37

Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his Skinner box and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current which caused it some discomfort. As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so the electric current would be switched off.

Question 38

which is an example of avoidance learning

father wears a knee brace
“i notived by knees hurt, and it reduces pain”

“i am going for a run and want to prevent future knee injuries from happening”

Answer 38

“i am going for a run and want to prevent future knee injuries from happening”

engage in one behavior to avoid undeseriable outcome

other scenario does avoid the outcome

Question 39

operant vs classical

Answer 39

operant - reward or punishment
classical - stimulus and response