Topic 5 - Learning Flashcards
What are 3 shared assumptions about learning?
- Experience shapes behaviour.
- Learning is adaptive.
- With careful experimentation we can uncover laws of learning.
What were Aristotle’s 3 laws of learning?
Laws of association = Conditions under which one thought becomes associated with another.
Law of contiguity = Two events will become connected in the mind if they occur close together in time.
Law of similarity = Objects that resemble each other are likely to become associated.
Define classical conditioning.
When we learn to identify a relationship between two different stimuli.
What is a conditional emotional response?
Conditioned emotional responses occur when a formerly neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that evokes an emotional response (either naturally or via learning).
E.g. little albert
Define stimulus generalisation.
Once an organism has learned to associate a Conditioned Stimulus with an Unconditioned Stimulus, it may respond to stimuli that resemble the CS with a similar response.
Define extinction in Classical conditioning
In classical conditioning, it refers to the process by which a Conditioned Response is weakened by presentation of the Conditioned Stimulus without the UCS.
What are 5 factors that affect classical conditioning?
- Interstimulus interval = time between presentation of the CS and UCS.
- Individuals learning history
- Blocking = the failure of a stimulus to elicit a CR when it is combined with another stimulus that already elicits the response.
- Latent inhibition = occurs when initial exposure to a neutral stimulus without a UCS slows the process of later learning the CS-UCS association and developing a CR.
- Preparedness to learn
Define operant conditioning.
Learning to operate on the environment to produce a consequence.
(reward & punishment learning)
Define law of effect.
an animal’s tendency to reproduce a behaviour depends on that behaviours’ effect on the environment and the consequent effect on the animal.
(Behaviour is controlled by its consequences)
What is the main difference between classical and operant conditioning?
The major distinction between classical conditioning and operant conditioning is which comes first, something in the environment or some behaviour from the organism.
Define reinforcer.
an environmental consequence that occurs after an organism has produced a response and makes the response more likely to recur.
What is the difference between positive and negative reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement: the process whereby presentation of a stimulus (a reward or pay-off) after a behaviour makes the behaviour more likely to occur again.
Negative reinforcement: the process whereby termination of an aversive stimulus makes a behaviour more likely to occur.
What is the difference between positive and negative reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement: the process whereby presentation of a stimulus (a reward or pay-off) after a behaviour makes the behaviour more likely to occur again.
Negative reinforcement: the process whereby termination of an aversive stimulus makes a behaviour more likely to occur.
What is punishment in operant conditioning?
punishment decreases the probability that a behaviour will recur.
Punishment can be positive or negative - positive meaning something is presented, negative meaning something is taken away.
What is extinction in operant conditioning?
Extinction occurs if enough conditioning trials pass in which the operant is not followed by the consequence previously associated with it.
