ch. 6 Flashcards
(53 cards)
what are the 6 kinds of learning?
- habituation
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning
- observational learning
- insight learning
- taste (flavor) aversion
habituation
when a novel stimulus is presented and nothing bad happens, we habituate to it
sensitization
when a novel stimulus is presented and smth bad happens, you react strongly (are sensitive to it)
phobia
irrational sensitization to smth
classical conditioning
- aka Pavlovian conditioning, aka associative learning
- called classical bc it’s first + oldest theory
- a learning process in which two stimuli are repeatedly paired (and thus associated w/ one another)
Pavlov’s experiment
- originally studying digestion
- unconditioned stimulus (meat) caused unconditioned response (salivation) in dogs
- Pavlov rang a bell (conditioned stimulus) before puffing meat powder in the dogs’ mouths
- initially, they didn’t react upon only hearing the bell w/o receiving meat
- after repeating the procedure several times, dogs began to salivate upon hearing the bell (conditioned response), even if he did not deliver meat
- the bell had thus become a conditioned stimulus
unconditioned stimulus
a stimulus that elicits an unlearned response/reflex (ex: the meat that causes dogs to salivate)
unconditioned response
an unlearned response/reflex (ex: salivating at the smell of meat, doesn’t require learning)
conditioned stimulus
a stimulus that doesn’t inherently provoke a response; only after being associated with a USC (ex: the bell which dogs learn to associate w/ food)
conditioned response
a learned response to a conditioned stimulus (ex: salivation occurring in response to the bell)
operant conditioning
learning an association b/w one’s behavior + its consequence (reinforcement or punishment)
* aka instrumental or Skinnerian conditioning
* wait for behavior / operation, then give a reward or punishment
* reward makes behavior MORE likely to occur, punishment makes it LESS likely
B.F. Skinner’s pigeon experiment (operant conditioning)
- pigeon in a small cage, learns to push lever so food will come down
- is rewarded for the correct operation
observational learning
- aka social learning, imitative learning, modeling, no trial learning
- in the 60s, kids observed a video of a teacher (model) doing mean things to BoBo the doll -> learned a complex set of behaviors thru observation
insight learning
- Kohler (Gestalt psychology)
- learning by thinking alone; taking what we know + applying it to another situation
- hungry chimp put in a large cage, banana just out of reach. has tools to get the food, uses trial + error to figure out how to use the tools to get the banana
taste (flavor) aversion
- one-trial learning process
- eat smth once that makes you sick and you won’t eat it again. evolutionarily keeps you safe from poisonous food
learning curve
- see graphs
- a graph of the changes in behavior that occur over the course of learning
steep learning curve =
quicker learning
acquisition training
the process of learning to associate CS with an UCS
extinction trials
no longer pairing the CS + UCS in order to extinguish the CR (after a break, spontaneous recovery of the CR may occur)
generalization
learning from one situation and applying it to another that is similar enough
discrimination
failure to generalize bc the new situation is different enough
counter conditioning
a behavior therapy procedure that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors; based on classical conditioning
systematic desensitization
- therapy technique used for phobias
- begin w/ least fear-inducing version of the stimulus + work your way up, learning to relax around it
- exposure therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy
aversive conditioning
- to treat bad habits
- associate the addictive habit w/ bad things like nausea / discomfort
