Learning and Motivation

Question 1

What is classical conditioning

Answer 1

Classical conditioning is a type of learning where an individual learns to associate two stimuli, resulting in a change of behaviour

Question 2

What was Pavlov doing to discover classical conditioning

Answer 2

Pavlov was experimenting with dogs, and was interested in digestion. But he noticed that the dogs would salivate even before being presented food

Pavlov would ring a bell and then give food to dog, but the dog would salivate in response to other bell rings

Question 3

What did Pavlov initially call conditioning

Answer 3

Psychic reflex

Question 4

What are the 4 components to a classical conditioning example

Answer 4

Unconditioned stimulus (US), unconditioned response (UR), conditioned stimulus (CS), conditioned response (CR)

Question 5

What is an unconditioned stimulus (US)

Answer 5

This is a stimulus which naturally elicits a response (i.e. food)

Question 6

What is an unconditioned response (UR)

Answer 6

This is a natural response to an unconditioned stimulus (i.e. salivating in response to food)

Question 7

What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 7

This is a previously neutral stimulus, which is then paired with a US to produce a learned response (i.e. a bell)

Question 8

What is a conditioned response (CR)

Answer 8

This is a learned response to conditioned stimulus alone (i.e. salivation in response to bell)

Question 9

Why do you want a neutral stimulus for the CS

Answer 9

Because if not, it is hard to learn a new response because it could otherwise stimulate another behaviour

Question 10

Why isn’t conditioning called stimulus substitution

Answer 10

This is because it isn’t true in some cases. Especially as sometimes in conditioning, the CR isn’t always the same as UR (i.e. case of salivation), which you would expect if the stimuli were substituted

For example, after providing a mildly painful /unpleasant experience as a US, the animal might try avoiding it, but eventually as you keep repeating it to get classical conditioning, the animal would stop trying to escape –> CR is just laying down or not trying to escape (Different CR to UR)

Question 11

What is second order conditoning

Answer 11

This is where previous conditioned stimulus is used to condition a new, neutral stimulus, allowing for a chain of associations to form

Question 12

Give an example of second order conditioning

Answer 12

Already associating a bell with food, and then associating the bell with exposure to light –> the dog might think that the presence of light indicates presence of food

Question 13

What is appetitive conditioning? Give examples

Answer 13

This is where a pairing of stimulus with rewards –> +ve CR

I.e. Food preferences, place preferences

Question 14

What is aversive conditioning? Give examples

Answer 14

This is where pairing of neutral stimulus with unpleasant US –> CR of fear/avoidance etc

I.e. Conditioned fear, anticipatory nausea, conditioned taste aversion, place avoidance

Question 15

Explain how conditioning in advertising works

Answer 15

An individual might associate a certain person or the product with a feeling

I.e. Advertising operates by associating stimuli that elicits positive affective responses w/ a brand/product (such as a famous person with the brand or pdouct)

Question 16

What is acquisition

Answer 16

This is the process of repeatedly presenting the CS with the US –> increase in conditioned response when CS is presented

Question 17

What is extinction

Answer 17

It is where there is a repeated presentation of CS alone, following acquisition –> reduction in conditioned response (when CS is presented), which aims to break the association / memory by presenting the stimulus alone

However, extinction isn’t necessarily ‘unlearning’, but whats happening is that there are two memories being formed; an acquisition and an extinction memory, which both compete with each other, and certain ones are dominant in certain scenarios (i.e. could be dependent on place - an individual might be used to the extinction memory in a psych lab, but anywhere else, the acqusition memory might be doinant)

Question 18

What is renewal

Answer 18

This is where a change in context might cause an acquired behaviour to come back.

I.e. if environment changes, extinguished response can return (contextual shifts from original/extinction context)

I.e. extinguished a few of the responses to dogs in psych office, but if encounters a dog in a park –> renewal can occur because of different context, and fear could come back

Question 19

What is spontaneous recovery

Answer 19

This is where over time, even after the extinction phase, there might be some “spontaneous recovery” of the conditioned stimulis

Shows that learnt associations aren’t entirely erased from extinction

Question 20

What is Thorndike’s Law of Effect

Answer 20

Given a particular situation, if an action is met with satisfaction the organism will be more likely to make the same action next time it finds itself inthat situation

Question 21

WHat was Thorndike’s puzzle box

Answer 21

It was a small cage with a button/lever, which an animal had to press to get out and receive a reward (food)

Question 22

What was the findings of Thorndike’s puzzle box

Answer 22

Animals learn to escape the puzzle box by trial and error, however there is a progressive improvement over many trials. However, there is no sudden “insight” (where they are successful once and can do the same over and over).

Long time to get out of the box initially

So there is no insight, rather there needs to be a reinforcement of a certain action to produce a reward and escape from the box

Question 23

What was radical behaviourism

Answer 23

The belief that behaviour was only a result of environmental stimuli. It ignores the use of internal mental processes such as beliefs, motivations.

Rejects anything unobservable

Belief that all human psychology was reduced to relationships between stimuli, response and consequence

Question 24

Thorndike was a behaviourist, but he wasn’t a radical one. WHat did he believe about cat incentivisation?

Answer 24

He believed that the cat was incentivised to leave the box because of the internal process of a desire for a satisfying reward. However, radicals would have discounted this completely

Question 25

What are reinforcers

Answer 25

These are stimuli that increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated In the context of operant conditioning, reinforcer is any consequence that strengthens or maintains a behaviour. They can be classified as positive or negative

Question 26

Give an exxample of reinforcer

Answer 26

food

Question 27

WHat is a secondary reinforcer

Answer 27

They acquire reinforcing properties through exposure (not naturally beneficial) I.e. money and clicker training

Question 28

What is shaping? Give an example

Answer 28

This is a type of learning where gradual changes in behaviour are rewarded, until ultimately there is a more complex behaviour being performed In other words, it is a technique to teach a new behaviour by reinforcing successive approximations of desired behaviour. I.e. reinforcing small steps that lead to target behaviour I.e. reward for a dog for just touching a dog, followed by a reward by making the door move, and then a reward when the door closes --> ultiately trains the dog to close the door through small approximations of behaviour (gradual changes)

Question 29

What is instrumental conditioning

Answer 29

This is a type of learning where individual's behaviour is modified by its consequences / reinforcing benefits. These increase or decrease the likelihood of those behaviours being repeated

Question 30

What is the difference between classical and instrumental conditioning

Answer 30

Instrumental actually involves a consequence, whereas classical is just associative

Question 31

What is an appetitive vs an aversive consequence

Answer 31

Appetitive = a desired consequence (i.e. getting food) Aversive = an undesired punishment (i.e. getting punished with a slap)

Question 32

What is 'response produces consequences' vs 'response prevents consequences

Answer 32

In the name

Question 33

What happens when 'Response produces consequence' is combined with 'appetitive consequence'? Give an example

Answer 33

Positive reinforcement I.e. a dog successfully does a trick and is given some treats

Question 34

What happens when 'Response produces consequence' is combined with 'aversive consequence'? Give an example

Answer 34

Positive punishment I.e. a dog biting someone gets punished with a reprimanding

Question 35

What happens when 'Response prevents consequence' is combined with 'appetitive consequence'? Give an example

Answer 35

Negative punishment I.e. a dog bites someone and isn't allowed to play outside

Question 36

What happens when 'Response prevents consequence' is combined with 'aversive consequence'? Give an example

Answer 36

Negative reinforcement I.e. a dog runs away from a loud sound (behaviour allows them to escape the 'punishment')

Question 37

What is meant by a ratio vs interval reinforcement

Answer 37

Ratio = responses Interval = time

Question 38

What is meant by a fixed vs variable reinforcement

Answer 38

Fixed = a reinforcement is given after a set number of times / set time Variable = a reinforcement is given after an average number of times / average time

Question 39

WHat happens when a 'ratio' is combined with a 'fixed' reinforcement? Give an example

Answer 39

This results in the reinforcement happening every 'n' times. I.e. loyalty cards

Question 40

WHat happens when a 'ratio' is combined with a 'variable' reinforcement? Give an example

Answer 40

This happens when the reinforcement happens on average 'n' times I.e. Slot machine (would get a win on avg after 10 times for example)

Question 41

WHat happens when a 'interval' is combined with a 'fixed' reinforcement? Give an example

Answer 41

This happens when the reinforcement is given after 'n' minutes/weeks/hours I.e. paycheck (get a reinforcement every week)

Question 42

WHat happens when a 'interval' is combined with a 'variable' reinforcement? Give an example

Answer 42

Reinforcement is available on average after n minutes / day

Question 43

Explain the impacts of fixed, variable, ratios and intervals on the number of responses over time (i.e. explain the graph)

Answer 43

Fixed ratio causes the fastest time to reach 1000 responses, followed by variable ratio (these have steep lines) Meanwhile the intervals are a more gradual line/slope, with the fixed intervals getting more responses than the variable interval

Question 44

WHat is the stimulus control theory

Answer 44

Stimulus Control Theory is a behavioral theory that examines how environmental cues, or stimuli, influence behavior. According to this theory, behaviors are more likely to occur in the presence of specific cues that signal certain consequences. When a particular behavior consistently leads to a desired outcome in a specific context, that behavior becomes "under stimulus control" of the cues associated with that context.

Question 45

What is a discriminative stimulus

Answer 45

A signal that an aciton will produce a consequence or outcome

Question 46

What is discrimination training

Answer 46

Individuals learn to associate specific stimuli with particular outcomes

Question 47

What are the 3 components to Skinner's Tripartite Contingency

Answer 47

ABC model Antecedent, Behaviour, consequence

Question 48

What is antecdent

Answer 48

The stimulus controlling behaviour

Question 49

What is behaviour

Answer 49

What is the response being reinforced/punished

Question 50

What is consequence

Answer 50

What is the immediate outcome of the behaviour

Question 51

What are important factors influencing stimulus control

Answer 51

How effective the stimulus is learnt How similar or different the stimulus is to previous learnt stimulus

Question 52

How can 'how effective the stimulus is learnt' affect stimulus control

Question 53

How can 'how similar or different the stimulus is to previous learned stimulus' affect stimulus control

Question 54

What is generalisation

Answer 54

This is the extent to which behaviour transfers to a new stimulus (i.e. transferring behaviour/knowledge to new situations, despite differences)

Question 55

Explain the experiment and the findings of the generalisation with Little Albert

Answer 55

Little Albert was classically conditioned to fear a white rat. He was then given different things like white, furry objects such as rabbbits, dogs, a fur coat and even santa claus mask with a white beard --> Little Albert feared all of them because he generalised his fear from white rat

Question 56

What is the generalisation gradient, and what does it tell us

Answer 56

Involved an experiment training pigeons to peck whenever a green colour appeared, but experiment slightly changes so the gradient of the green colour changed (i.e. from light blue --> green --> yellow gradient), and examined if pigeons would peck at these different colours Found that generalisation is stronger to stimuli which is closest to original stimuli

Question 57

Explain why generalisation in humans is more complicated

Answer 57

Because humans can consider various things like: Physical attributes Semantic similarity Rules/anaologies that link otherwise dissimilar events

Question 58

What did Razran (1939) find about generalisation in humans

Answer 58

Words (CS) was paired with food (US) ---> salivation was measured using cotton wool under tongue Trained CS : Style, urn, freeze, surf Tested responses to phonologoically similar words: stile, earn, frieze, serf Tested responses to semantically similar words: fashion, vase, chill, wave Found a greater CR to items which are semantically similar --> humans generalise based on meaning rather than spelling (or looks)

Question 59

What is discrimination

Answer 59

Extent to which behaviour doesn't transfer to new stimuli (i.e. learning to only close a certain door instead of all doors)

Question 60

How can discrimination be learnt. Give an example

Answer 60

Training with reinforcement to different stimuli which could be considered very similar A normal example: High pitched tone --> food US Low pitched tone --> no US The US is only contingent on higher tone, and CR will differ

Question 61

WHat is social learning? What could it result in

Answer 61

Social learning is when an individual/animal learns a behaviour or changes their behaviour based on their observation of others. It doesn't involve direct reinforcement or punishment, but rather people watch a model and the consequences of the model's actions It could result in people changing their behaviours

Question 62

What is proof of social learning in terms of monkeys (and how they learn from conspecific)

Answer 62

They found that a monkey's fear of snake was learnt by observation of their conspecific (other monkeys). Lab raised monkeys had no fear of snakes. However, when shown another monkey being fearful of snakes --> the lab raised monkey acquires a fear of snakes

Question 63

What social process affects learning

Answer 63

Preparedness for learning

Question 64

Explain the idea of 'preparedness for learning', and the experiment which proves it

Answer 64

Suggests that we have potentially evolved to learn fear quicker for certain threats than others. We have prepared to learn certain things faster than others. For example, Cook and Minkea spliced videos of a monkeys fear reaction to (flower fear and toy snake safe, flower safe, and toy snake fear), and found that monkeys didn't learn a fear of flowers, but did for snakes. There wasn't an innate fear of snakes but they learnt the fear of snakes faster. Suggests that we have evolved to learn more quickly about potential threats

Question 65

How can classical conditioning occur by observation

Answer 65

It just does

Question 66

What is emulation? Give an example

Answer 66

Emulation is when an individual/animal understands the goal behind an action, but uses a different method to achieve the goal For example, chimps obtaining food placed on a plate by pulling on the block underneat or nudging the block etc)

Question 67

What is imitation? Give an example

Answer 67

Imitation is when an individual/animal understands the goal behind an action and does the same method to achieve the goal For example, two action tests have a reward in the box, but could be opened in two different ways; child watches a model do it one of two distinct ways, and the child imitates exactly that

Question 68

Give an exammple of social learning (maybe) - blue tits?

Answer 68

Blue tits learning to open milk bottles and steal cream

Question 69

What is social facilitation

Answer 69

This is where a group provides the opportunity to learn from direct experiences about certain things (not social learning)

Question 70

How can social facilitation be achieved

Answer 70

Goal enhancement Stimulus enhancement Increased motivation to act/explore

Question 71

How does goal enhancement improve social facilitation

Answer 71

Access to appetitive consequence facilitates later trial and error learning (e.g. access to cream not usually readily available) --> more chance to access a reward --> more likely to adopt a behaviour (MIGHT CHECK GPT)

Question 72

How does stimulus enhancement improve social facilitation

Answer 72

Following others in a group and being more likely to approach certain places which may contain certain stimuli --> more chance to access stimuli --> enhancement of access to stimuli (MIGHT CHECK GPT)

Question 73

How does increased motivation to act/explore improve social facilitation

Answer 73

The individual is more likely to try things in the company of friends and parents For example, on your own you might not be influenced to fly towards the milk

Question 74

Why is behaviour changing in social facilitation?

Answer 74

Because of increased access to goal, stimulus or motivation to act by following or being near others. Then, learning is through direct experience. Behaviour of others facilitate greater opportunities for your direct learning without any observational learning

Question 75

What is social modelling

Answer 75

Copying of the behavioural style of others generating new behaviours in same style or concept as others I.e. Bandura, Ross & Ross 1961 - bobo doll violence where the child did what was modelled by the model

Question 76

What was Bandura's findings on social modelling

Answer 76

Children won't only imitate adult's specific behaviour, but also model the general styles of behaviour E.g. after watching the model be violent to a bobo doll, the children adopts the aggressive behavioural style --> aggressive actions and language towards the bobo doll Suggests the presence of a cognitive aspect of social learning in humans

Question 77

What did Bandura find about reinforcement on social modelling

Answer 77

Modelling is dependent on reinforcement/punishment towards modeller Modelling can occur through media, not just in person Ultimately, providing a reinforcement does encourage greater social modelling

Question 78

What factors affect conditioning

Answer 78

Frequency (number of pairings) Intensity of conditioning Contiguity (timing - how far apart the events occur) Contingency (statistical relationship between events)

Question 79

How can frequency (number of pairings) affect conditioning

Answer 79

As number of pairings (frequency of conditioning) increases, the strength of CR increases. However, CR is increasing at a decreasing rate, and it will get stronger until it hits an asymptote

Question 80

How can intensity affect conditioning

Answer 80

Intensity defined as the salience of the CS or the US. An intense CS could be a louder sound, whilst weak CS is more quiet. Normally, a more intense CS --. greater strength of conditioning Moreover, an intense US (might be like how much reward you're giving in terms of food), might also increase strength of conditioning

Question 81

How can contiguity (timing - how far apart the events occur) affect conditoning

Answer 81

Closer together the CS and US are, the better it is. Inter stimulus interval (ISI): time between 'CS on' and 'US on' If ISI is too close, its hard to learn that both CS and US are associated. However this is also the case if ISI is too far. Ideal ISI depends on what relationship there is

Question 82

How can contingency (statistical relationship between events) affect conditioning

Answer 82

Greater contingency --> greater learning Describes how well two events are related to each other Needs 2 pieces of information; What is probability of US given CS (I.e. do I provide US everytime presentation of CS occurs? or only 50%) What is probability that US occurs anyways (i.e. if you get pocket money regardless of doing chores) -->lower association The CS must increase probability of a reward/US occurring

Question 83

How can learning and performance differ?

Answer 83

Learning is often reflected by a change in behaviour. Performance is affected by learning, but it also depends on opportunity, motivation and sensory/motor capabilities Learning is a process of acquiring skills, knowledge etc, which may not always be immediately observable. Meanwhile, performance is the observable execution of knowledge or skills, which might be influenced by temporary factors like motivation

Question 84

What is learning

Answer 84

Learning is an enduring change within an organism brought about by an experience that leads to a change in behaviour

Question 85

What isn't learning

Answer 85

Reflexes Instincts Maturation Fatigue

Question 86

What are reflexes

Answer 86

Reflexes are automatic, usually very fast and learning isn't required. An eliciting stimuli is followed by corresponding response Reflexes arc is when sensory nerves detect stimuli --> motor nerves stimulate muscles

Question 87

Give an example of a reflex

Answer 87

I.e. food --> salivation airpuff --> eye blink Pain --> withdrawl

Question 88

What are instincts

Answer 88

Behavioural sequence which are largely genetically determined An instinct is a typically more complex sequence of behaviours than a reflex

Question 89

Give an example of an instinct

Answer 89

I.e. turtles get released after hatching. their instinct is to swim towards light Bird migration, nest building etc

Question 90

Explain what maturation is

Answer 90

Changes that take place in your body and behaviour as you get older. I.e. learning to walk - this is thus not considered learning

Question 91

What is fatigue and its relation to learning

Answer 91

Fatigue is a transient state of discomfort and loss of efficiency as a normal reaction to emotional strain, physical strain, boredom or sleep deprivation This can lead to physical inability to perform a learned response, but isn't evidence for a lack of learning

Question 92

What is habituation

Answer 92

Decreased responding to a stimuli produced by repeated stimulation I.e. a rat jumps less with each presentation of a loud noise

Question 93

What is habituation NOT

Answer 93

Fatigue - muscles become incapactitated so organism can't perform response Sensory adaptation - sense organs become temporarily insensitive to stimulation

Question 94

What is sensitisation

Answer 94

Increased responding to a certain stimulus produced by repeated stimulation --> decrease in the threshold required to elicit a response I.e. rats run more in response to a certain amount of cocaine if they have been pre-exposed However, this is more common in situations involving pain, threat or strong emotional arousal I.e. Providing a noxious food to a rat repeatedly --> more sensitive (probably)

Question 95

How can we test habituation

Answer 95

Present a different sound that is loud and startling --> should see a startled response if they haven't fatigued or adapted sensorily (sign of habituation)

Question 96

Why do we habituate and sensitise

Answer 96

It helps sort out what stimuli to ignore and what to respond to, and ultimately help us organise and focus our behaviour Habituate = prevents wasting energy on safe stimuli/situations Sensitise = helps avoid harmful situations

Question 97

What is motivation

Answer 97

An internal process that initiates, guides and sustains goal-driven behaviours

Question 98

What is Hebb's analogy of motivation

Answer 98

For a car to move, there must be an engine (provides power), and steering (determines direction) Motivation is said to be the engine --> provides power to the behaviour

Question 99

What is aa fixed action pattern

Answer 99

Innate set of behaviour displayed by all members / sex of a species in response to the same 'sign stimulus' FAP is a sequence of behaviours often regulated by specific biological status Sometimes FAP could be performed without respect to a goal (i.e. removing egg in the middle of an action, the goose still dragged the 'egg', which shows that once FAP started, for geese, it continues regardless if the egg is there) As such FAP is typically an instinct as it isn't motivated by a consideration of the end goal

Question 100

What is a sign stimulus

Answer 100

It is an external stimuli that signals the fixed action pattern - i.e. an egg shaped object triggers FAP in geese to bring it back

Question 101

What is a supernormal stimulus

Answer 101

It is an exaggerated version of a sign stimulus which motivates stronger behavioural tendencies I.e. a bird showing preference for a larger egg and leaving its own egg for that larger egg, even if its not theirs

Question 102

How can we tell if a behaviour is instinctive or learnt?

Answer 102

Biological basis (test for genetic component for certain behaviours, or does this behaviour normally occur in different situations) Cross species similarity Cross cultural similarity (people in diff cultures = diff environments --> observe differences in behaviours of these cultures) Twin studies (can look at twins separated at birth, helps determine whether genetic or enviro has the largest role in determining behaviour) Developmental studies (innate reflexes in babies)

Question 103

Cross cultural tests on human behaviours

Answer 103

Eibl - Eibesfeldt used a side viewing camera to capture 'natural' human facial expressions (non verbal communication) Cross cultural similarities of different facial expressions suggest a biological basis for behaviour Proposed that identifiable compoments of human behaviour can be seen across cultures (i.e. smiling)

Question 104

What are the problems with evolutionary/biological explanations for behaviour such as instincts

Answer 104

Circular reasoning (when the end of an aargument comes back to the beginning (e.g. behaviour is innate --> behaviour wasn't learnt --> behaviour is innate and it keeps repeating) Proliferation (tendency to overuse instincts as the explanation for a range of behaviours, i.e. observe 'n' diff behaviours = n different instincts)

Question 105

What are habits

Answer 105

A habit is a learnt response performed without consideration of the value of the goal (i.e. autopilot) i.e, driving home and doing certain turns out of habit --> shows that it is quite habitual in how you drive

Question 106

How can you tell if a behaviour is habit or goal directed

Answer 106

De value the outcome to see effects on behaviour. If goal directed, response should be influenced by value of outcome. I.e. letting a rat eat as much food as it wants before chucking it into skinner's cage to press a lever which releases food. If action is goal directed, there shouldn't be a press for food, but if it is a habit, the rat will press even if it doesn't take the food

Question 107

What are goals

Answer 107

Long term motivations for behaviour Requires an understanding of incentive value --> anticipated reward / pleasure (beyond biological needs), how much an individual wants something Our goals often centre on intrinsic motivation (e.g. satisfaction from achieving success or feeling good from helping people)

Question 108

What is incentive value

Answer 108

The degree to which rewards attract an individual's behaviour Can be acquired through conditioning (stimuli that have been associated w/ highly rewarding outcomes) Can change mmoment by moment (biological state, liking vs wanting)

Question 109

What is incentive motivation

Answer 109

It is a type of motivation driven by desire to achieve rewards or avoid undesirable outcomes --> can encourage or discourage behaviour

Question 110

What is delayed reward discounting

Answer 110

Refers to the tendency for people to perceive a reward as less valuable when its delayed in time --> the longer someone has to wait for a reward, the less appealing it is

Question 111

Give an example of the experiment for delayed reward discounting and the findings of it

Answer 111

I.e. experiment asks for $20 today vs $100 in 3 months Motivational properties of incentivies follow economic findings, where the value of reawrd decreases over time. This is correlated with impulsitivity and abuse disorders

Question 112

What was the delayed gratification experiment

Answer 112

One marshamllow offered or two later 2/3 ate marshmallow in 15 mins Follow up: children who waited had better life outcomes (academic and social) Preferences are also predicted by SES and enviro scarcity (low SES or high scarcity --> no waiting)