4.1 Learning content Flashcards
Describe classical conditioning.
Describe the process of a cat anticipating being fed when you take a can of cat food from the cupboard using classical conditioning.
Learning by association.
Uncontrolled stimulus (UCS): Any stimulus producing a natural, unlearned response.
Unconditioned response (UCR): A response that occurs naturally without any form of learning (a reflex action)
Neutral stimulus (NS): An environment stimulus that does not of itself (without association) produce a response.
Conditioned stimulus (CS): A stimulus that has been associated with an unconditioned stimulus so that it now produces the same response.
Conditioned response (CR): A behaviour that is shown in response to a learned stimulus.
(see page 213 in the thick blue text book for the cat)
In classical conditioning, what is extinction?
The removal (death) of a behaviour.
(If you constantly open a can of food and don’t give the cat any, the cat will gradually learn to dissociate the two stimuli - and so will not salivate on hearing a can opening.
In classical conditioning what is spontaneous recovery?
The accelerated form of learning and means that extinction Is not the same thing as ‘unlearning’.
Why the response may disappear it has certainly not been eradicated.
(If the tin is once again paired with the food following extinction, the cat will quickly learn to associate the food with the tin)
In classical conditioning what is stimulus generalisation?
The condition stimulus (CS) produces the same behaviour to a similar stimulus after the response has been conditioned.
(Your cat may come running to any tingeing opened in the kitchen, even if it’s not cat food)
Generalisation here suggests the stimulus triggering a reaction does not have to be the exact one involved int he process of learning, but that the more similarities, the more likely it will produce a conditioned response.
In classical conditioning, what is discrimination?
Over aperiodic time, learning occurs in response to a specific stimulus.
(For example, your cat may only respond to a can opening at a certain time of day or your cat only responds a tin of food but not a glass jar.)
Describe Pavlov’s (1927) experiment with dogs.
Found that when a dog encounters the stimulus offend, saliva is secreted from the salivary glands.
Hypothesised the dogs were reacting to lab coats of assistants. Each time the dogs received food, the assistant bringing the food was wearing a lab coat . The dogs were responding as if food was units way in the presence of a lab coat.
So,
He then used a metronome (NS), over several trials the dog was presented with the ticking of themetronome immediately before the food appeared. The dogs learned to associate the sound of the metronome with food.
After a while, they responded to the sound of the metronome with drool, even without the food.
(he also made his findings more reliable, see page 215 in the thick blue text book, the last paragraph)
Describe operant conditioning briefly.
Learning through consequence.
(when a laboratory pigeon taps a blue button with its beak, it receives a food pellet as a reward, when it taps a red button it receives a mild shock. The pigeon then learns to press the blue button and avoid the red button)
(see page 216 in the thick blue text book thread about an original experiment, dk how necessary it is)
Describe Skinner’s operant conditioning.
Started in 1930s. Lab experiment.
Skinner’s box:
Antecedent - Skinner box would present a stimulus (lights / noise) that triggers a behaviour.
Behaviour - A response made by the animal that can be observed (measured) as an outcome of the antecedent.
Consequence - The reward / punishment following the behaviour (shock / food)
The stimulus-response associations only repeated or learned if the consequence of the pairing is a positive one. A negative consequence would weaken the stimulus-response link.
(see page 217 in the thick blue text book, para above the rat picture)
What is positive punishment (P+)? (operant conditioning)
Adding an average stimulus that will reduce the showing of a behaviour.
For example. a child behaves badly at a party. The parents shout at and scold the child.
This reduces the showing of a behaviour by presenting an unpleasant stimulus when the behaviour occurs.
What is negative punishment (P-)? (operant conditioning)
The removal of a liked / desirable stimuli to reduce the showing of a behaviour.
For example, if a dog jumps on a person to greet them but the person walks away just as the dog jumps, they are removing their attention from the dog, so will reduce the frequency of jumping in the future.
What are primary reinforcers?
Primary reinforcers occur naturally and satisfy basic human needs such as food, water and shelter.
What are secondary reinforcers?
Secondary reinforcers only strengthen the behaviour because they are associated with a primary reinforcer,
for example, money can be used to buy food, accommodation, clothing and so on.
What is continuous reinforcement?
The desired behaviour is reinforced every time it occurs.
What is partial reinforcement?
The desired response is only reinforced some of the time.
What are the 4 schedules of partial reinforcement?
- Fixed interval
- Variable interval
- Fixed ratio
- Variable ratio
(see page 219 in the thick blue text book for explanation of each)
What are the 2 ideas behind behaviour modification?
- Extinguish undesirable behaviour (by removing the reinforcer)
- Replace original behaviour with a desirable behaviour and reinforce it.
(see page 220 in the thick blue text book for explanation of each)
What is successive approximation? (as Skinner referred to)
Rewarding behaviour for acting in a way that gets closer and closer to the desired behaviour.
Evaluate classical and operant conditioning.
(see page 221 in the thick blue text book for explanation of each)
What is a role model?
Significant individuals in a person’s life. You are more likely to imitate role models such as parents, teachers or idols (e.g., celebrities)
What is vicarious reinforcement?
Learning through the consequence of another person’s behaviour.
What is self-efficacy?
A person knowing their own ability to do something and being confident with it.
Describe social learning theory.
Propose by Bandura.
Learning through observation, imitating or copying behaviour.
Individuals that are observed are called models.
Proposed social learning would only occur if the following four criteria were met:
ATTENTION -
Attention must be paid to the role model or else learning will not take place.
Could depend on: distinctiveness of behaviour being modelled and the observers level of arousal.
Child is more likely to attend role models who a re similar to themselves (same sex)
Clear cognitive element to this theory.
RETENTION -
Individual must then retain or store what they have attended to.
Imagery and language assist the process of retaining information.
Humans store behaviours in the form of mental images or verbal description, then able to recall these later when reproducing the behaviour.
REPRODUCTION -
Showing the modelled behaviour - the reproduction what is being observed.
Could depend on: Physical capabilities of the individual. If behaviour is beyond our capabilities, then it cannot be reproduced.
MOTIVATION -
Refers to ‘incentive’.
If reward is offered, we are more likely to reproduce the behaviour.
There is intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
(more info on pages 222 in the thick blue text book)
What is intrinsic motivation when referring to social learning?
The doing of an activity where there might inherent satisfaction rather than some physical outcome.
For example,
A young boy imitates his dad’s behaviour.
The young person ‘feels good’ about his copied behaviour because he feels it makes him more like his dad.
What is extrinsic motivation when referring to social learning?
A motivation that is not so much a feeling or view, but rather something tangible, somewhat has a separable outcome.
For example,
A sportsperson receiving a trophy or medal for their performance.
