LECTURE 8

Question 1

TWO TYPES OF CONDITIONING

Answer 1

• Classical (or Pavlovian) conditioning
• Operant conditioning

Question 2

Classical Conditioning famous experiment

Answer 2

In his famous experiment, Pavlov rang a bell and then gave a dog some food. After repeating this pairing multiple times, the dog eventually treated the bell as a signal for food, and began salivating in anticipation of the treat.The dog food in Pavlov’s experiment is called the unconditioned stimulus (US) because it
elicits an unconditioned response (UR). That is, without any kind of “training” or “teaching,” the stimulus produces a natural or instinctual reaction. In Pavlov’s case, the food (US) automatically makes the dog drool (UR). Other examples of unconditioned stimuli include
loud noises (US) that startle us (UR), or a hot shower (US) that produces pleasure (UR).

Question 3

Classical Conditioning is studied for two reasons

Answer 3

• It is a straightforward test of associative learning that can be used to study other, more complex behaviors.
• Because classical conditioning is always occurring in our lives, its effects on behavior have important implications for understanding normal and disordered behavior in humans.

Question 4

Classical Conditioning

Answer 4

The procedure in which an initially neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus, or CS) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (or US). The result is that the conditioned stimulus begins to elicit a conditioned response (CR). Classical conditioning is nowadays considered important as both a behavioral phenomenon and as a method to study simple associative learning. Same as Pavlovian conditioning.

Occurs whenever neutral stimuli are associated with
psychologically significant events.

Question 5

Blocking

Answer 5

In classical conditioning, the finding that no conditioning occurs to a stimulus if it is combined with a previously conditioned stimulus during conditioning trials. Suggests that information, surprise value, or prediction error is important in conditioning.

Question 6

Categorize

Answer 6

To sort or arrange different items into classes or categories.

Question 7

Unconditioned response (UR)

Answer 7

In classical conditioning, an innate response that is elicited by a stimulus before (or in the absence of) conditioning.

Question 8

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

Answer 8

In classical conditioning, the stimulus that elicits the response before conditioning occurs.

Question 9

Conditioned Stimulus

Answer 9

An initially neutral stimulus (like a bell, light, or tone) that elicits a conditioned response after it has been associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

Question 10

Conditioned response (CR)

Answer 10

The response that is elicited by the conditioned stimulus after classical conditioning has taken
place.

Question 11

Difference between conditioned and unconditioned response

Answer 11

Although it can be confusing, the conditioned response is almost always the same as the unconditioned response. However, it is called the conditioned response because it is conditional on (or, depends on) being paired with the conditioned stimulus (e.g., the bell). To help make this clearer, consider becoming
really hungry when you see the logo for a fast food restaurant. There’s a good chance you’ll start salivating. Although it is the actual eating of the food (US) that normally produces the salivation (UR), simply seeing the restaurant’s logo (CS) can trigger the same reaction (CR).

Question 12

Instrumental aka Operant conditioning

Answer 12

Process in which animals learn about the relationship between their behaviors and their consequences. Also known as operant conditioning. Operant conditioning
occurs when a behavior (as opposed to a stimulus) is associated with the occurrence of a significant event.

Question 13

Famous example of Operant conditioning

Answer 13

A rat in a laboratory learns to press a lever in a cage (called a “Skinner box”) to receive food. Because the rat has no “natural” association between pressing a lever and getting food, the rat has to learn this connection. At first, the rat may simply explore its cage, climbing on top of things, burrowing under things, in search of food. Eventually while poking around its cage, the rat accidentally presses the lever, and a food pellet drops in.

Question 14

Operant

Answer 14

A behavior that is controlled by its consequences. The simplest example is the rat’s lever- pressing, which is controlled by the presentation of the reinforcer.

Question 15

Reinforcer

Answer 15

Any consequence of a behavior that strengthens the behavior or increases the likelihood it will be performed it again.

Question 16

operant response

Answer 16

engaging with your environment

Question 17

Law of effect

Answer 17

The idea that instrumental or operant responses are influenced by their effects. Responses that are followed by a pleasant state of affairs will be strengthened and those that are followed by discomfort will be weakened. Nowadays, the term refers to the idea that operant or
instrumental behaviors are lawfully controlled by their consequences.

Question 18

Reinforcers and Punishers

Answer 18

Effects that increase behaviors are referred to as reinforcers, and effects that decrease them are referred
to as punishers.

Question 19

Difference between classical and operant conditioning

Answer 19

An important distinction of operant conditioning is that it provides a method for studying how consequences influence “voluntary” behavior. The rat’s decision to press the lever is voluntary, in the sense that the rat is free to make and repeat that response whenever it wants. Classical conditioning, on the other hand, is just the opposite—depending instead on “involuntary”
behavior (e.g., the dog doesn’t choose to drool; it just does). So, whereas the rat must actively participate and perform some kind of behavior to attain its reward, the dog in Pavlov’s experiment is a passive participant. One of the lessons of operant conditioning research, then,
is that voluntary behavior is strongly influenced by its consequences. In classical conditioning, the animal behaves as if it has learned to associate a stimulus with a significant event. In operant conditioning, the animal behaves as if it has learned to associate a behavior
with a significant event. Another difference is that the response in the classical situation (e.g., salivation) is elicited by a stimulus that comes before it, whereas the response in the operant case is not elicited by any particular stimulus. Instead, operant responses are said to be emitted. The word “emitted” further conveys the idea that operant behaviors are essentially voluntary
in nature.

Question 20

Classical Conditioning Has Many Effects on Behavior

Answer 20

A classical CS (e.g., the bell) does not merely elicit a simple, unitary reflex. Pavlov emphasized salivation because that was the only response he measured. But his bell almost certainly elicited a whole system of responses that functioned to get the organism ready for the upcoming US (food) (see Timberlake, 2001). For example, in addition to salivation, CSs (such as the bell) that signal that food is near also elicit the secretion of gastric acid, pancreatic enzymes, and insulin (which gets blood glucose into cells). All of these responses prepare the body for digestion. Additionally, the CS elicits approach behavior and a state of excitement. And presenting a CS for food can also cause animals whose stomachs are full to eat more food if it is available. In fact, food CSs are so prevalent in modern society, humans are likewise inclined to eat or feel hungry in response to cues associated with food, such as the sound of a bag of potato chips opening, the sight of a well-known logo (e.g., Coca-Cola), or the feel of the couch in front of the television.

Question 21

Taste aversion learning

Answer 21

The phenomenon in which a taste is paired with sickness, and this causes the organism to reject—and dislike—that taste in the future.

Question 22

Fear conditioning

Answer 22

A type of classical or Pavlovian conditioning in which the conditioned stimulus(CS)is associated with an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US), such as a foot shock. As a consequence of learning, the CS comes to evoke fear. The phenomenon is thought to be involved in the
development of anxiety disorders in humans.

Question 23

Conditioned compensatory response

Answer 23

In classical conditioning, a conditioned response that opposes, rather than is the same as, the unconditioned response. It functions to reduce the strength of the unconditioned response. Often seen in conditioning when drugs are used as unconditioned stimuli. This conditioned compensatory response has many implications.

For instance, a drug user will be most “tolerant” to the drug in the presence of cues that have been associated with it (because such cues elicit compensatory responses). As a result, overdose is usually not due to an increase in dosage, but to taking the drug in a new place without the familiar cues— which would have otherwise allowed the user to tolerate the drug (see Siegel, Hinson, Krank, & McCully, 1982). Conditioned compensatory responses (which include heightened pain sensitivity and decreased body temperature, among others) might also cause discomfort, thus motivating the drug user to continue usage of the drug to reduce them. This is one of several ways classical conditioning might be a factor in drug addiction and dependence. A final effect of classical cues is that they motivate ongoing operant behavior (see Balleine, 2005). For example, if a rat has learned via operant conditioning that pressing a lever will give it a drug, in the presence of cues that signal the “drug is coming soon” (like the sound of the lever squeaking), the rat will work harder to press the lever than if those cues weren’t present (i.e., there is no squeaking lever sound). Similarly, in the presence of food-associated cues (e.g., smells), a rat (or an overeater) will work harder for food. And finally, even in the presence of negative cues (like something that signals fear), a rat, a human, or any other organism will work harder to avoid those situations that might lead to trauma.

Question 24

Extinction

Answer 24

Decrease in the strength of a learned behavior that occurs when the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus (in classical conditioning) or when the behavior is no longer reinforced (in instrumental conditioning). The term describes both the procedure (the US or reinforcer is no longer presented) as well as the result of the procedure (the learned response declines). Behaviors that have been reduced in strength through extinction are said
to be “extinguished.”

Question 25

Spontaneous recovery

Answer 25

Recovery of an extinguished response that occurs with the passage of time after extinction. Can occur after extinction in either classical or instrumental conditioning.

Question 26

Renewal effect

Answer 26

Recovery of an extinguished response that occurs when the context is changed after extinction. Especially strong when the change of context involves return to the context in which conditioning originally occurred. Can occur after extinction in either classical or instrumental conditioning.

Question 27

Context

Answer 27

Stimuli that are in the background whenever learning occurs. For instance, the Skinner box or room in which learning takes place is the classic example of a context. However, “context” can also be provided by internal stimuli, such as the sensory effects of drugs (e.g., being under the influence of alcohol has stimulus properties that provide a context) and mood states (e.g., being happy or sad). It can also be provided by a specific period in time—the passage of time is sometimes said to change the “temporal context.”

Question 28

Stimulus control

Answer 28

When an operant behavior is controlled by a stimulus that precedes it

Question 29

Discriminative stimulus

Answer 29

In operant conditioning, a stimulus that signals whether the response will be reinforced. It is said to “set the occasion” for the operant response.

Question 30

Observational learning

Answer 30

Learning by observing the behavior of others.

Question 31

Social Learning Theory

Answer 31

The theory that people can learn new responses and behaviors by observing the behavior of others.

Question 32

Social models

Answer 32

Authorities that are the targets for observation and who model behaviors.

Question 33

Bandura theorizes

Answer 33

The first is attention—as, quite simply, one must pay attention to what s/he is observing in order to learn.
The second part is retention: to learn one must be able to retain the behavior s/he is observing in memory.The third part of observational learning, initiation, acknowledges that the learner must be able to execute (or initiate) the learned behavior. Lastly, the observer must possess the motivation to engage in observational learning. In our vignette, the child must want to learn how to play the game in order to properly engage in observational learning.

Question 34

Vicarious reinforcement

Answer 34

Learning that occurs by observing the reinforcement or punishment of another person.

Question 35

Goal-directed behavior

Answer 35

Instrumental behavior that is influenced by the animal’s knowledge of the association between the behavior and its consequence and the current value of the consequence. Sensitive to the reinforcer devaluation effect.

Question 36

habit

Answer 36

Instrumental behavior that occurs automatically in the presence of a stimulus and is no longer influenced by the animal’s knowledge of the value of the reinforcer. Insensitive to the reinforcer devaluation effect.

Question 37

Prediction error

Answer 37

When the outcome of a conditioning trial is different from that which is predicted by the conditioned stimuli that are present on the trial (i.e., when the US is surprising).Prediction error is necessary to create Pavlovian conditioning (and associative learning generally). As learning occurs over repeated conditioning trials, the conditioned stimulus increasingly
predicts the unconditioned stimulus, and prediction error declines. Conditioning works to correct or reduce prediction error.

Question 38

Preparedness

Answer 38

The idea that an organism’s evolutionary history can make it easy to learn a particular association. Because of preparedness, you are more likely to associate the taste of tequila, and not the circumstances surrounding drinking it, with getting sick. Similarly, humans are
more likely to associate images of spiders and snakes than flowers and mushrooms with aversive outcomes like shocks.

Question 39

Quantitative law of effect

Answer 39

A mathematical rule that states that the effectiveness of a reinforcer at strengthening an operant response depends on the amount of reinforcement earned for all alternative behaviors. A reinforcer is less effective if there is a lot of reinforcement in the environment
for other behaviors.

Question 40

Reinforcer devaluation effect

Answer 40

The finding that an animal will stop performing an instrumental response that once led to a reinforcer if the reinforcer is separately made aversive or undesirable.