CH4 Approaches to Understand Learning Flashcards
1
Q
Learning
(Define, approaches)
A
- A relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience.
- Can occur intentionally or unintentionally, can be active or passive.
- Approaches to (ways to explain and understand) learning can be behaviourist (i.e. classical and operant conditioning) or social-cognitive (i.e observational).
2
Q
Behaviourist approach to learning
(Including the two types)
A
- States that behaviours are learnt through interactions with the environment.
- Studies observable behaviour alone, without regard to underlying mental processes and states such as thoughts, feelings, motives and consciousness.
- E.g. classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
3
Q
Classical conditioning (CC)
A
- Refers to a type of learning that occurs through the repeated association of two (or more) different stimuli.
- Learning is only said to have occurred when a particular stimulus consistently produces a response that it did not previously produce.
- The response is said to be involuntary and occurs automatically.
- Developed by Ivan Pavlov; experimented on a dog
4
Q
The three-phase process of CC
A
-
Before conditioning
-
Neutral stimulus (NS) → no relevant response
- i.e. bell
-
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) → unconditioned response (UCR)
- i.e. eating/being presented with food → salivation
-
Neutral stimulus (NS) → no relevant response
-
During conditioning
-
NS + UCS → UCR
- bell + food → salivation
-
NS + UCS → UCR
-
After conditioning
-
Conditioned stimulus (was once neutral; same thing as NS) → conditioned response (was once unconditioned; same as UCR)
- bell → salivation
-
Conditioned stimulus (was once neutral; same thing as NS) → conditioned response (was once unconditioned; same as UCR)
5
Q
For CC to be successful…
A
- The NS and the UCS occur close together in time and always in the same sequence.
- Repeated pairing of NS and UCS
- UCS must be present immediately after the NS (i.e. ideally less than 0.5s)
(U) comes after (N) in the alphabet
6
Q
Operant conditioning (OC)
A
- Is a learning process whereby the consequences of behaviour determine the likelihood that it will be performed again in the future.
- Developed by B.F. Skinner; tested on mice and pigeons
- Proposes that an organism will tend to perform or repeat a behaviour (an operant) that has desirable consequences and avoid undesirable consequences.
7
Q
Key terms in OC
A
- An antecedent is any environmental stimulus that triggers and predicts the likely outcome of a behaviour.
- A behaviour is any voluntary action.
- An operant is any voluntary action that acts on its environment to trigger a consequence. It is influenced by the consequences that proceed them.
- A consequence is something that makes the behaviour more or less likely to occur again.
All operants are behaviours, but not all behaviours are operants.
8
Q
The three-phase process of OC
A
-
Before behaviour: antecedent
- Stimuli relevant to who is being trained – triggers behaviour.
- Through its association with a consequence (due to prior experience), the antecedent stimulus signals whether certain behaviour will lead to a particular consequence (but does NOT actually elicit a response as in classical conditioning).
-
Behaviour
- Is the voluntary action that occurs in the presence of the antecedent stimulus.
- In all cases, it involves activity that has an effect on the environment in the form of a consequence that follows it.
-
After behaviour: consequence
- Reinforcements increase likelihood of performing the behaviour again in the future. (+/-)
- Punishments decrease the likelihood of performing the behaviour again in the future. (+/-)
9
Q
Positive v negative consequences
In operant conditioning
A
-
Postitive refers to adding a stimulus, whereas negative refers to taking away a stimulus.
- Vivienne was banned from the Year 12 formal for wagging class; (-) punishment.
- Mohammad is going back to the same dry cleaner because they did a good job cleaning the stains off his favourite shirt last week; (-) reinforcement.
- Raffaele was severely injured when trying to climb a fence to skip the queues at the festival; (+) punishment.
- Employees are given a free coffee for completing their tasks on time; (+) reinforcement.
In ‘confusing’ examples, just focus on what information is provided in the scenario, rather than going in a technical or round-a-bout way.
10
Q
For OC to be successful….
A
- Order → wait for the desired response and then present the punishment or reinforcement (same one; consistently).
- Timing → consequence should be immediate
- Appropriateness → reinforcements must actually be desirable; punishments must actually be undesirable
11
Q
Stimulus discrimination
In operant conditioning
A
- Behaviour occurs in response to specific antecedent only.
- E.g. a dog who is being taught how to sit (by positive reinforcement) only responds to the command from their trainer
12
Q
Stimulus generalisation
A
- Behaviour occurs in response to a similar, but different, antecedent.
- E.g. an infant who is being taught how to call its “Mum” calls every middle-aged woman “Mum.”
13
Q
Differences between CC and OC
A
- Role of the learner/participant
- Passive in CC
- Active in OC
- Nature of response
- Involuntary in CC
- Voluntary in OC
- Timing of stimulus and response
- Stimulus (i.e. CS) presented BEFORE response (i.e. CR) in CC
- Stimulus (i.e. consequence) presented AFTER response (i.e. behaviour) in OC
- Triggering responses
- Stimulus (i.e. UCS) directly produces a response (i.e. UCR) in CC
- Antecedent does not directly produce a response (i.e. behaviour) in OC
14
Q
Extinction and spontaneous recovery
A
15
Q
Social-cognitive approach to learning
A
- Proposes that learning occurs in a social setting and involves cognitive processes that influence the individual and the learning process.
- Theory founded by Bandura
- E.g. observational learning
On the other hand, behaviourist approaches emphasise learning through association of different stimuli
