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Psycology Year 12 > Learning > Flashcards

Learning Flashcards

1
Q

What is learning?

A

Relatively permanent change that is the result of an experience

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2
Q

What is classical conditioning?

A

The pairing of 2 stimuli that results in a learned response

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3
Q

What is an unconditioned stimulus?

A

Anything that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction

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4
Q

What is an unconditioned response?

A

An automatic reaction produced by the unconditioned stimuli

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5
Q

What is a neutral stimulus?

A

A stimulus that initially produces no response

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6
Q

What is a conditioned stimulus?

A

Initially, a neutral stimulus that has now been associated with with the unconditioned stimulus

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7
Q

What is a conditioned response?

A

Reaction that resembles the unconditioned response but is caused by the conditioned stimulus

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8
Q

What were 2 studies conducted uncovering classical conditioning?

A
  • Pavlov’s Dogs
  • Little Albert
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9
Q

What Was the aim of Pavlov’s experiment?

A

To test his hypothesis of the dogs associating the footsteps with food, by replacing the footsteps with a bell, seeing the resulting behaviour

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10
Q

What were the methods of Pavlov’s experiment?

A

A bell was rung before feeding the dogs and this was repeated many times

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11
Q

What were the results of Pavlov’s experiment?

A
  • Originally the dogs only salivated when seeing or smelling food
  • Soon the dogs would drool whenever the bell was rung even when food wasn’t present
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12
Q

What were the conclusions of Pavlov’s experiment?

A

The dogs unconsciously associated the bell stimulus with the stimulus of the food, resulting in the same unconscious response for both stimuli.

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13
Q
A
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14
Q

What does extinction mean?

A

The gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the neutral stimulus

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15
Q

What does spontaneous recovery mean?

A

Describes how a conditioned behaviour can be recovered from extinction after a rest period (like relearning, happens faster 2nd time)

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16
Q

What does stimulus generalisation mean?

A

When the conditioned response still occurs even when the conditioned stimulus is slightly different

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17
Q

What does discrimination mean?

A

Capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli

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18
Q

Who conducted the Little Albert experiment?

A

Watson & Rayner

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19
Q

What was the aim in the Little Albert experiment?

A

To find out if an infant could be classically conditioned

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20
Q

What were the methods of the Little Albert experiment?

A
  • 8 month old presented with many stimuli, was unafraid of all of them
  • 2 months after the baseline session, a conditioning session was conducted where Albert was shown a white rat paired with a loud banging sound
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21
Q

What were the results of the Little Albert experiment?

A
  • After pairing the loud noise with the rat, Albert only needed to be shown the rat without the loud noises to display signs of fear and avoidance
  • Fear faded as time went on but the association could be relearned by repeating the procedure
  • Albert developed phobias of objects with similar characteristics to the rat, generalisation occured
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22
Q

What were 3 limitations of the Little Albert experiment?

A
  • Loud noise could have made Albert fear any object in the laboratory setting
  • Alberts’s responses were inconsistent, much calmer when allowed to suck on his thumb
  • As it is a case study there was no control and results cannot be generalised
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23
Q

What principle is operant conditioning based off?

A

Behaviour is increased through reinforcement and decreased through punishment

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24
Q

What are 3 things that need to be present for behaviours to occur consistently?

A
  • Antecedent: The stimulus that triggers a desired behaviour
  • Behaviour: The desired action made by the animal
  • Consequence: the reward or punishment recieved for the behaviour
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25
Q

What is reinforcement?

A

A consequence that increases the likelihood of a behaviour

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26
Q

Name and describe the 2 types of reinforcement

A
  • Positive reinforcement: The addition of a positive stimulus
  • Negative reinforcement: The removal of a negative stimulus
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27
Q

What is punishment?

A

A consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behaviour

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28
Q

Name and describe the 2 types of punishment

A
  • Positive punishment: The addition of a negative stimulus
  • Negative punishment: Removal of a positive stimulus
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29
Q

What are the 4 schedules of reinforcement?

A
  • Fixed ratio
  • Variable ratio
  • Fixed interval
  • Variable interval
30
Q

Explain a fixed ratio schedule and the response and extinction rate.

A

Reinforcement of a behaviour after a specific number of responses
- Response rate: Fast
- Extinction rate: Medium

31
Q

Explain a variable ratio schedule and the response and extinction rate.

A

Reinforcement of a behaviour after an average or unpredictable number of responses
- Response rate: Fast
- Extinction rate: Slow (due to the unpredictability)

32
Q

Explain a fixed interval schedule and the response and extinction rate.

A

Reinforcement of a behaviour after a specific amount of time. Behaviour is strong leading up to reinforcement but drops off after
- Response rate: Medium
- Extinction rate: Medium

33
Q

Explain a variable interval schedule and the response and extinction rate.

A

Reinforcement of a behaviour after an average or unpredictable amount of time.
- Response rate: Fast
- Extinction rate: Slow

34
Q

Which reinforcements cause the slowest and fastest extinction?

A
  • Continuous reinforcement causes the fastest extinction
  • Variable ratio schedules cause the slowest extinction
35
Q

Who theorised the Law of Effect?

A

Thorndike

36
Q

What does the Law of Effect state?

A

Behaviours with satisfying outcomes are more likely to occur again while behaviours with unsatisfying outcomes are less likely to occur again

37
Q

What was the aim of Thorndike’s experiment?

A

To test his Law of Effect by putting cats in puzzle boxes to see how they learned to escape for food

38
Q

What were the methods of Thornsikes experiment?

A

Cats were put inside puzzle boxes, food was placed outside the box and Thorndike recorded how long it took for the cats to escape.

39
Q

What were the results of Thorndikes experiment?

A

Cats became more likely to hit the lever to get out as they received a reward straight after, the cats got faster at opening the door

40
Q

What were the conclusions of Thorndikes experiment?

A

As pressing the lever on the door led to a favourable outcome it was more likely to be repeated, it led to Thorndike developing his Law of Effect theory. It is used in therapeutic sessions today

41
Q

What were the criticisms of Thorndikes experiment?

A

As he held sexist and racist views, his generalisation of findings to humans were likely skewed

42
Q

What term was coined by Skinner?

A

Operant conditioning

43
Q

Who conducted the ‘Superstition in the Pigeon’ experiment

A

Skinner

44
Q

What was the aim in Superstition in the pigeon?

A

To explore the effects of non-contingent (fixed variable) reinforcement on pigeons

45
Q

What were 3 methods of Superstition in the pigeon?

A
  • Pigeons were placed in a Skinner Box
  • Instead of food being given as a result of behaviour, it was given at
    regular intervals regardless of the behaviour
  • Behaviours were recorded
46
Q
A
47
Q

What were 4 conclusions of Superstition in the pigeon?

A
  • Behaviours can be conditioned without cause & effect relationships
  • Skinner believed the pigeons developed a superstition that their
    behaviour was causing the food delivery
  • Shows intricacies of operant conditioning
  • As well as parallels between animal and human behaviours
    regarding random reinforcements
48
Q

Who made the Social Learning Theory?

A

Bandura

49
Q

What is observational learning?

A

Learning by observing the actions and consequences of others and determining whether to imitate or not

50
Q

What is a model?

A

An individual who is observed by a learner, they can impact the learners behaviour in both positive and negative ways

51
Q

What is vicarious reiforcement?

A

When a model’s behaviour results in the learner getting a reward, the actions are more likely to be replicated

52
Q

What are the 5 steps of observational learning?

A
  1. Attention
  2. Retention
  3. Reproduction
  4. Motivation
  5. Reinforcement
53
Q

Explain the 1st step of observational learning

A

Attention
- Learner must show interest and pay attention to the model’s
behaviour to decide whether to imitate their behaviour or not

54
Q

Explain the 2nd step of observational learning

A

Retention
- Learner must retain the model’s behavior in their memory, as the
better a behavior is retained, the more likely it is to be remembered

55
Q

Explain the 3rd step of observational learning

A

Reproduction
- Learner must have the ability to perform the model’s behaviour,
physical ability can limit us in reproducing a behaviour

56
Q

Explain the 4th step of observational learning

A

Motivation
- Learner will consider the rewards and punishments that follow a behaviour and they must have a desire to perform it. If perceived pros outweigh perceived cons the behaviour is more likely to be imitated

57
Q

Explain the 5th step of observational learning

A

Reinforcement
- The actual rewards or punishments received for displaying the behaviour will affect the likelihood of it happening again (same principles as operant conditioning)

58
Q

Who conducted the Bobo Doll experiment?

A

Bandura, Ross and Ross

59
Q

What was the aim of the Bobo doll experiment?

A

To test whether children will imitate an adult behaving in an aggressive way to a bobo doll

60
Q

What were 3 methods of the Bobo doll experiment?

A
  • Experiments tested 36 girls and boys aged 3 to 6 whose aggression levels were measured and equally distributed into 3 groups
  • Bandura filled a room full of toys for the kids to play with
  • Before the kids entered the room they saw an adult role model play with the toys:
    Group 1: Observed an aggressive role model who hit and threw the toys around
    Group 2: Observed a non-aggressive role model who played with the toys normally
    Group 3: Observed no role model
61
Q

What are 4 results of the Bobo doll experiment?

A
  • Children who observe the aggressive model made far more aggressive responses than those in other groups
  • Boys were more likely to imitate same-sex models than girls
  • Girls were more likely to be physically aggressive with a male model, but more verbally aggressive if the model was a female
  • Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls, with little difference in verbal aggression between boys and girls
62
Q

What are 2 conclusions of the Bobo doll experiment?

A
  • Demonstrated that children can learn social behaviour (eg. aggression) through watching the behaviour of another person, or observational learning
  • Results support Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
63
Q

What are 4 criticisms of the Bobo doll experiment?

A
  • Lacks validity as it occurred in a lab, doesn’t replicate real-life
  • Selection bias as all children from upper-class white families
  • Model was a stranger, doesn’t replicate ‘normal’ modelling
  • Retention was not measured
64
Q

What is behaviour modification?

A

Use of conditioning techniques to alter human behaviour. Used to change unwanted behaviours and strengthen desirable ones

65
Q

What is systematic desensitisation?

A

Uses classical conditioning techniques to reduce fears and phobias. Fear is replaced with relaxation techniques to result in a more appropriate response

66
Q

What are the 5 steps to systematic desensitisation?

A
  1. Find the extent of the fear (eg. big/live/all snakes)
  2. Find the source of the fear (what events caused it)
  3. Create a list of least to most scary situations (picture, video, in-person, holding)
  4. Relaxation techniques are taught and practised
  5. Fears are gradually introduced from least to most scary until subject is comfortable with graded exposure
67
Q

What is a strength and criticism of systematic desensitisation?

A
  • When paired with therapy and relaxation it is a great way to conquer phobias and fears
  • Can take months of regular therapy sessions to see results
68
Q

What are token economies?

A

Use operant conditioning by introducing symbolic markers (stickers, counters, fake money) as a currency to reward good behaviours. Markers can be exchanged for something more valuable eg. goods or priverlages

69
Q

What are 3 examples of uses of token economies?

A
  • Used in classrooms, psychiatric hospitals and prisons to alter undesirable behaviours
  • Loyalty programs eg. coffee cards, frequent flyer points
  • Casino chips
70
Q

What are 2 strengths of token economies?

A
  • More effective than simple reinforcement techniques, as simple operant conditioning can cause someone to be ‘full’ and stop responding to the reinforcement as the reward loses value
  • Slow accumulation of tokens means secondary goals aren’t attained at an unsustainable rate
71
Q

What is a criticism of token economies?

A

Once individuals leave the environment with the tokens, there is difficulty maintaining an improvement in behaviour as there is no longer a reward system

Psycology Year 12 (6 decks)

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