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Habituation

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is a reduction in the intensity or probability of a reflex response as a result of repeatedly evoking the response -a decline in responding to repeated representations of a stimulus

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The natural science approach

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this approach maintains that learning is a natural phenomenon and is based on four assumptions: - all natural phenomenon are caused - causes precede their effects - the causes of all natural events include only natural phenomena - the simplest explanation that fits the data is best (Law of Parsimony)

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Latency

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change in the time that it takes before a behaviour occurs. - Decrease in hesitation is a measure of learning through latency

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Speed

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learning often means doing something quickly, but learning can also mean a reduction in speed.

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Rate

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refers to the number of occurrences per unit of time. It allows us to see subtle changes in behaviour

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Fluency

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is a measure of learning that combines errors and rate; it is the number of correct responses per minute

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In between subjects experiment

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the researcher identifies two or more groups of participants and the independent variable is made to differ across these groups

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Matched sampling

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participants with identical features are identified ad are then assigned to either the control or experimental group

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within subjects experiment

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a participants behaviour is observed before the experimental treatment and then during or after it

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baseline period

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period before the experiment where the participant is observed

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Unconditional reflexes

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is the largely inborn and usually permanent reflex found in majority of species and that varies little from individual to individual

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Conditional reflexes

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are not present at birth; they must be acquired through experience and is relatively impermanent.

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An unconditional reflex

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consists of an unconditioned stimulus (US) and the behaviour it evokes is the unconditioned response (UR)

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A conditioned reflex

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consists of a conditioned stimulus (CS) and the behaviour it reliably evokes is the conditioned response (CR)

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2 elements of Pavlovian conditioning

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1. the behaviour elicited by the US is a reflex response (i.e., blinking, salivating, sweating) 2. the appearance of the two stimuli is independent of behaviour; the CS and the US are presented regardless of what the animal or person does

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Higher order conditioning

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the procedure of pairing a neutral stimulus with a well-established CS - indicates that a well trained CS can act as a US to condition a response to a neutral stimulus

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Test trials

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involves presenting the CS alone (without the US) periodically. If the dog salivates even when it gets no food, the salivation is clearly a conditioned response to the trials

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pseudo conditioning

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is the tendency of a neutral stimulus to elicit a CR after the US has elicited a reflex response

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Trace conditioning

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the CS begins and ends before the US appears. There is no gap between the 2 stimuli Eg: hearing a buzzer for 5 seconds - puff of air - blink - buzzer - blink

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Delay conditioning

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the CS and US overlap. The US appears before the US disappears Eg: sounding a buzzer for 5 seconds, then during this period, we might send a puff of air into the person's eye

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Simultaneous Conditioning

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the CS and US coincide exactly. - ringing a puff of air into a persons eye at the same moment - weak procedure for establishing a conditional response

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Backward Conditioning

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is when the CS follows the US. - the puff of air into a persons eye could be followed by the sound of a buzzer. - this US-CS sequence can occur outside the laboratory, as when a person sits on a splinter and then sees the offending object

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CS-US contingency

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is an if then statement. One event X, is contingent on another event Y, to the extent that X occurs if, and only if, Y occurs. - the probability that the US will occur given the presence of the CS minus the probability that the US will occur given the absence of the CS

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CS-US Contiguity

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refers to the closeness in time or space between two events - the interval between the CS and the US

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Inter-stimulus interval (ISI)

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the interval between the CS and US - the shorter it is, the quicker conditioning occurs

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Overshadowing

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the failure of a stimulus that is part of a compound stimulus to become a CS. The stimulus is said to be overshadowed by the stimulus that does become the CS - strong stimuli overshadow weaker ones

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Latent inhibition

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is the phenomenon whereby we are slower to learn about stimuli if we have experienced it numerous times in the past, in comparison to novel stimuli the failure of a CR to appear as a result of prior presentation of the CS in the absence of the US - prior exposure undermines the contingency between the CS and US during training

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Blocking

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is the phenomenon whereby if there is a CS present that predicts that the US will occur, you don't learn about other CS's which are also present resembles overshadowing in that one stimulus interferes with the ability of another to become a CS. - the effect is due to prior experience with one pare of a compound stimulus

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Sensory Preconditioning

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is a procedure in which two neutral stimuli are paired, after which one is repeatedly paired with a US the other stimulus it was paired with also becomes a CS and elicits a response - if the other stimuli is then presented alone, it may elicit a CR even though it was never paired with the US EG: opinions on Fred and Barney

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Intertrial interval

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is the gap between successive trials and can vary from a second to years. - longer intervals are more effective than shorter ones

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Extinction

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is the procedure of repeatedly presenting the CS alone. As a result, the CR no longer occurs.

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Spontaneous recovery

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after a period of extinction, the CS can still elicit the CR again

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Stimulus Substitution theory

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the theory that the CS substitutes for the US. It assumes that the CR is essentially the same as the UR - shows that the CR and the UR are not the same; the CR is weaker than, occurs less reliably than, and appears more slowly than the UR

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Preparatory Response theory

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Kimble proposed that the UR is an innate response designed to deal with a US, but the CR is a response designed to prepare for the US i.e., fight or flight

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Compensatory Response theory

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Siegal argues that the CR prepares the animal for the UR by compensating for the effects of the US

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Rescorla-Wagner model

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argues that there is a limit to the amount of conditioning that can occur in the pairing of two stimuli 2 determinants influence this theory - the nature of the US - the limit to which certain stimuli become CS faster than others.

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Instinctive drift

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the tendency for behaviour to "drift toward" a modal action pattern/fixed action pattern

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Continuum of preparedness

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is the idea that organisms are genetically disposed to learn some things but not others

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Conditioned emotional response

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an emotional response to a stimulus that is acquired through Pavlovian conditioning

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Counterconditioning

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The use of Pavlovian to reverse the unwanted effects of prior conditioning - typically referred to as aversion or exposure therapy

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Systematic Desensitisation

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a form of counterconditioning in which a patient imagines progressively troubling scenes while relaxed

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Polymorphously perverse

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meaning one can achieve sexual pleasure in many ways

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Paraphilia

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"incorrect love"

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exhibitionism

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displaying ones genitals to another person without their consent

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fetishism

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an attraction to certain objects or body parts

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transvestism

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wearing clothes of the opposite sex

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sadism

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inflicting pain on sexual partner

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masochism

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being humiliated or hurt by sexual partner

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Taste aversion

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results from pairing distinctive flavours and aversive stimuli - often occur even when the US is delayed or and hour or more

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Drug addiction

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the drug a person takes is an unconditioned stimulus, the high it produces is the unconditioned response - conditioned stimulus can range from people, furniture, room temperature, taste of food eaten before taking the drug - CR is the physiological changes that prepare the person for the drug by reducing its effects

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Thorndike's law of effect

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the statement that behaviour is a function of its consequences - the strength of a behaviour depends on its past effects on the environment

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Operant learning

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any procedure or experience in which a behaviour becomes stronger or weaker depending on its consequences

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reinforcement

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an increase in the strength of behaviour due to its consequence

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Positive reinforcement

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a reinforcement procedure or experience in which a behaviour is followed by the presentation of, or an increase in the intensity of a stimulus

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Positive reinforcer

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any stimulus which, when presented following a behaviour, increases or maintains the strength of that behaviour

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Negative reinforcement

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a behaviour is strengthened by the removal, or a decrease in the intensity of a stimulus - sometimes called escape learning or escape-avoidance learning

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Negative reinforcer

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is ordinarily something the individual tends to escape or avoid (the stimulus)

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Primary reinforcers

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are those that are innately reinforcing and are not dependent on its association with other reinforcers eg: sexual stimulation, food, water, social contact

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Satiation

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the loss of effectiveness of primary reinforcers due to their repeated use

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Secondary reinforcers

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are those that are not innate, but the result of learning experiences. - they normally acquire their reinforcing power by being paired with other reinforcers eg: praise, recognition, smiles, applause, money, clickers

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Generalised reinforcer

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any secondary reinforcer that has been paired with several different reinforcers and is effective in a wide variety of situations

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Natural reinforcers

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are events that follow spontaneously from a behaviour each reinforcing event is an automatic consequence of an action - sometimes called automatic reinforcers

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Contrived reinforcers

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are events that are provided by someone for the purpose of modifying behaviour eg: a boss giving a bonus to a highly productive worker to maintain their efforts

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Contingency (Operant)

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refers to the degree of correlation between a behaviour and its consequence. the stronger this correlation is, the more effective the reinforcer is likely to be

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Contiguity

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refers to the gap in time (interval) between the response and the delivery of the reinforcer the shorter the interval, the faster learning occurs

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Reinforcer characteristics

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an important characteristic is size and strength small reinforcers given frequently usually produce faster learning than large reinforcers given infrequently

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Behaviour characteristics

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Certain qualities of the behaviour being reinforced can affect the ease with which it can be strengthened

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Motivating operations

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are anything that changes the effectiveness of a consequence

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Establishing operations

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increase the effectiveness of a consequence

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Abolishing operations

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decrease the effectiveness of a consequence

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Hull's drive reduction theory

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the belief that animals and people behave because of motivational states called drives. - believed that a reinforcer is an event that reduces one or more drives

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Relative value theory

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the theory of reinforcement that considers reinforcers to be behaviours rather than stimuli, and that attributes a reinforcers effectiveness to its probability relative to other behaviours

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Premack's Principle

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of any two responses, the more probable response will reinforce the less probable one "High-probability behaviour reinforces low-probability behaviour"

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Response Deprivation theory

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states that behaviour becomes reinforcing when the individual is prevented from engaging in the behaviour at its normal frequency

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Two-Process theory of avoidance

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states that 2 kinds of learning experiences are involved in avoidance learning: Pavlovian ad Operant

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One-process theory

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proposes that avoidance involves only one process: operant learning Both escape and avoidance behaviours are reinforced by a reduction in aversive stimulation

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Dishabituation

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is the reappearance of the response after the presentation of a second stimulus

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Sensitisation

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is an increase in responding following repeated presentations of a stimulus - is not stimulus specific

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Groves and Thompson's dual-process theory of Habituation

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the theory that stimulus-response (S-R) connections gradually get more difficult to activate with repeated presentations of a stimulus - only an intense stimulus will activate the state system which will generally increase all types of responses

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Exposure therapy

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involves exposing patients to things which they fear and avoid through repeated exposures anxiety lessens because they habituate to the feared stimuli

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The Coolidge effect

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is the decrease in sexual attraction which is experienced during a relationship and the increase in sexual attraction with a new partner

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A-Process in the standard pattern of affective dynamics

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is the fast acting response that remains for the duration of the response but it delays quickly. - primary emotional response

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B-Process in the standard pattern of affective dynamics

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is activated in response to the activity of the A-Process and takes longer to emerge and decay - the opponent emotional response

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The standard pattern of affective dynamics following repeated exposure

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The A-Process remains the same The B-Process rises more quickly, reaches a higher maximum and decays more slowly with repeated exposure (returns the body back to its natural states)

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Classical Conditioning

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is the process through which an initially neutral stimulus (conditioned stimulus), which does not elicit a particular response, comes to elicit a reflexive response (conditioned response) as a result of being paired with a reflexive stimulus (unconditioned stimulus, which elicits the unconditioned response)

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Taste aversion learning

answer

CS (food) = no response CS (food) + US (car travel) = UR (sickness) therefore CS (food) -> CR (aversion and sickness)

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Learning of conditioning

answer

is measured by: Frequency of the CR Size of the CR Duration of the CR

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How to determine if responding is result of conditioning and not a non-associative process

answer

- Random control: CS and US presented randomly - Differential conditioning: where one CS is followed by the US and another CS is not followed by the US

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Salience of conditioned stimulus

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i.e., how attention grabbing a stimulus is influences how much is learned about it - individuals learn quickly about salient stimuli but not so quickly about less salient stimuli - a more salient stimulus will overshadow a less salient stimulus

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intensity of the unconditioned stimulus

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effects both the amount that you will learn, as well as how quickly you learn. - a more intense US will produce a bigger conditioned response that is learned faster

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Acquisition

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refers to the first stages of learning when a response is established it refers to the period when the stimulus comes to evoke the conditioned response.

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Stimulus-response

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is when the innate representation of the US occurs as a visual representation that connects to the response centre of the brain, but once the conditioned response is learned, the US (innate stimulus) is no longer necessary in order to create the CR

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Stimulus-stimulus learning

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the CS (metronome) reminds the animal of the food (US) and that activates the mental representation of the food and the mental representation of food response results in the activation of the salivation response

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Limitations of the Rescorla-Wagner model

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the model doesn't specify how associative strength translates into behaviour the a & B variables free to vary and so the model can't be used to predict the specific findings from particular experiments

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Rapid Reacquisition

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of a conditioned response after extinction is often faster than the initial acquisition

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Reinstatement

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the phenomenon that a conditioned fear can be reinstated by presenting the US on its own following extinction

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Renewal

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occurs when there is a change in context following extinction training, which results in the renewal of the CR

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Boutons model of Extinction learning

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during acquisition an association is formed between the CS and the US, according to Bouton's theory, this is maintained during extinction learning during extinction it is proposed that an inhibitory association is learned, the inhibitory association counteracts the excitatory association to inhibit responding he then proposed that the inhibitory association is controlled by the context. It is activated when the context is the same as that of extinction training. If the context changes, the original learning is revealed.

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Why do we acquire phobias of some things and not others?

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The things that most commonly induce phobic reactions tend to have been threats in our evolutionary past - the biologically preparedness model of fear suggests that we are biologically prepared to fear some things and not others

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Treating anxiety with exposure

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Habituation: reduction in responding with repeated exposure Extinction: inhibiting previously learned fear associations Emotional Processing: developing new interpretations and meaning for feared stimuli and fearful responses Self-efficacy: increased perception that one is capable of tolerating fear stimuli and response

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Influence of food cues on eating

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food associated cues cause us to salivate, initiate hunger, and eating responses - can initiate eating in those who have just eaten - smell, vision and time of day can make you hungry

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Flavour-flavour conditioning

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flavours that are paired with already preferred flavours come to be more liked and flavours that are paired with disliked flavours come to be less liked - eg: coffee is bitter on its own, but paired with sugar is liked

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How do we study operant conditioning?

answer

Discrete trial procedure: has a start and an end with one response and the reinforcement usually occurs at the end. If an animal makes a wrong decision it is placed at the start until it makes the right choice Free operant procedure: can be made any time and reinforcement can be scheduled according to the response

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Extrinsic Reinforcers

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renforcement comes from the external environment being praised, winning an award - is tangible

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Intrinsic Reinforcers

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comes from inside the person eg: feelings of achievement, finding the activity pleasurable

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Token Economy

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uses tokens to reinforce desired behaviours tokens can be exchanged for access to desired items or activities

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Shaping

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uses successive approximations to train the desired behaviour

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Fixed ratio

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in this schedule a fixed number of responses have to occur before the reinforcer is delivered - responding is moderate and steady because the more you respond the more reinforcers you obtain eg: coffee loyalty cards

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Variable ratio

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the reinforcer occurs after a variable number of responses - responding is high and steady because you never know when you are going to be reinforced eg: pokie machines

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Fixed interval

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the reinforcer becomes available after a fixed period of time - responding shows a scallop pattern - little responding after a reinforcer was delivered and lots of responding just before it becomes available - working on assessments is a real life example

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Variable interval

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the reinforcer becomes available after a variable period of time - responding is low steady because you never know when the reinforcer will be available but the delivery of the reinforcer is not sensitive to the number of responses - fishing is an everyday example

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Skinner's operant-respondent distinction

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Behaviour can be controlled by both antecedent events (respondent) and by it's consequences (operant) A - antecedent B - behaviour C - consequences A -> B -> C

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Extinction (operant)

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refers to the gradual weakening and disappearance of a response because the response is no longer reinforced

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Extinction after continuous reinforcement

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is fast

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Extinction after intermittent reinforcement

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is slow, particularly if it follows a variable ratio schedule

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What is a reinforcer?

answer

Any event that follows a response and increases the probability that the response will occur in the future

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Biological definition of a reinforcer

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any event that produces a release of dopamine in the ventral tegmental area and nucleus

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Hull's Drive-Reduction theory

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the theory of reinforcement that attributes a reinforcer's effectiveness to the reduction of a drive, where the drive is the result of some biological deficit - the belief that a reinforcer is an event that reduces one or more drives

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the incentive value of an outcome

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is the expected pleasure that a stimulus will produce - reinforcers tend to have incentive value, and incentives are involved in the process of reinforcement

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Premack's Principle

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is the theory that of any two responses, the more probable response will reinforce the less probable one - High-probability behaviour reinforces low-probability behaviour

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Response Deprivation theory

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is the theory that any behaviour will be reinforcing when the individual is prevented from engaging in the behaviour at its normal frequency - restricting access to the behaviour below its unrestricted frequency will make it reinforcing

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A punisher

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is a consequence that follows a response and decreases the future likelihood of that response

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Positive Punishment

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a procedure or experience in which a behaviour is followed by the presentation of, or an increase in the intensity of, an aversive stimulus. - decreases the behaviour by adding a stimulus

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Negative punishment

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a procedure or experience in which a behaviour is followed by the removal of, or a decrease in the intensity of, a stimulus. - decreases the behaviour by subtracting a stimulus

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effectiveness of punishment

answer

Solomon et al., discovered that immediate punishment was most effective in preventing the behaviour when there was strong motivation and the longer the delay, the less effective the punishment

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Problems with punishment

answer

1. individuals can have emotional reactions, such as anger or aggression , which can increase the behaviour instead of decreasing it 2. individuals can attempt to escape and avoid it, such as crying or lying to get out of the situation 3. individuals can generally supress the behaviour, such as cases of learned helplessness, in order to avoid punishment 4. individuals that are punished may imitate the person that is modelling the behaviour - leading to punitive offences and imprisonment 5. the ethical issues surrounding punishment and the potential long-term physical or psychological problems it can cause

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Delayed reinforcement

answer

generally results in poorer learning - this can be overcome by presenting a signal to indicate that the reinforcer is going to be delivered after the delay

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Reinforcer characteristics

answer

the effects of quality and quantity of reinforcers are most clearly seen in how many responses an animal or person will make to obtain the reinforcer - if a reinforcer is devalued then behaviour associated with that reinforcer decreases

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Stimulus generalisation

answer

is the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the CS and that are not present during training

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Stimulus discrimination

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is the tendency for behaviour to occur in certain situations but not in others. - the tendency for behaviour to occur in the presence of a certain stimuli but not in its absence

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Matching to sample

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is a discrimination training procedure in which the task is to select from two or more comparison stimuli to the one that matches the sample.

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Stimulus Control

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is when discrimination training is brought under the influence of discriminative stimuli - the tendency for a behaviour to occur in the presence of an Sd but not in the presence of an S(delta)

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Peak shift

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the tendency following discrimination training for the peak of responding in a generalisation gradient to shift away from the CS or the S(delta)

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Lashley-Wade theory

answer

argued that generalisation gradients depend on prior experience with stimuli similar to those used in testing - the theory implies that if an animal is prevented from having any experience with a certain kind of stimulus, its behaviour following training will be affected - its gradient generalisation will be flat

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Generalisation gradient

answer

is any graphic representation of generalisation data

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The four kinds of generalisation

answer

Vicarious generalisation (generalisation across people) Response maintenance (generalisation across time) Response generalisation (generalisation across behaviours Stimulus generalisation (generalisation across situations)

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Response generalisation

answer

is the tendency for changes in one behaviour to spread to other behaviours

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Pavlovian discrimination training

answer

is when one conditional stimulus (CS+) is regularly paired with a US, and another stimulus (designated CS-) regularly appears alone

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Operant discrimination training

answer

is when one stimulus, designated S+ or Sd typically indicates that a behaviour will have reinforcing consequences, another stimulus, S- or S(delta - triangle) indicates that the behavior will not have reinforcing consequences

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SD & SDelta (triangle)

answer

are discriminative stimuli that signal different consequences for a behaviour

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Oddity matching/mismatching

answer

is a variation of matching to sample, in which reinforcement is available for selecting the comparison stimulus that is different from the sample

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Superstitious behaviour

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is any behaviour that occurs repeatedly even though it does not produce the reinforcers that maintain it - there does not have to be a causal connection between the behaviour and its consequences for the consequences to influence the behaviour - has to be a contiguous relationship between the behaviour and the reinforcer

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superstitious sportspeople

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- are the result of coincident sporting success - the superstitious behaviours give an illusion of control, as well as increase self-efficacy and performance

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Escape learning

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involves a response that terminates an aversive event

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Avoidance learning

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involves a response that avoids the aversive event before it has begun

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Mowrer's two factor theory

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is the result of both classical and operant conditioning processes - it is the theory that a signal that predicts an aversive stimulus comes to elicit an avoidance response - the avoidance response then reduces the fear response which serves to negatively reinforce it

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Avoidance

answer

is very persistent, it can persist even when the aversive stimulus is completely removes - the avoidance response is self-reinforcing as it prevents exposure to the feared stimulus - plays a significant role in maintaining anxiety

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Learned helplessness

answer

is the tendency to give up on a problem as a result of previous exposure to insoluble problems

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Animal training

answer

involves teaching animals specific responses to specific stimuli or situations

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Sniffer dogs

answer

Shaping is used to teach sniffing of specific objects - treats or clickers (secondary reinforcers) are used as positive reinforcers once the dog identifies the target odours - discriminative reinforcement is used to teach identification of target odours - these animals need ongoing training including on the job training and training sessions off the job

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Operant conditioning in zoos

answer

clicker training is used to allow for medical check ups of chimps - food rewards are used to condition instinctive food foraging behaviours among coati

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Instinctive drift

answer

the tendency for behaviour to "drift toward" a modal action pattern Keller and Breland discovered that misbehaviours were species-specific food related behaviours, as food rewards activated the animals instinctive food behaviours. - shows that behaviour is not only influenced by reinforcement but also by innate behavioural tendencies

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Trephining (trepanning)

answer

was the procedure of making a hole in the skull so that evil spirits could escape the body - 10% of the population were found with trepanation holes

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Supernatural phenomenon

answer

it was believed that abnormal behaviours were generally thought to be caused by supernatural forces and that to be cured, the evil spirit had to be cast out - music was used to drive out the spirits or god from the body

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Greek Four Humours

answer

was the belief that human physical and mental health was the result of the balance of four different essential fluids - blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile - patients were bled with leeches or cupping, they were given emetics or laxatives or were fed a special diet

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Four Humours - Blood

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season: spring element: air organ: liver ancient name: sanguine ancient characteristics: courageous, hopeful, amorous

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Four humours - yellow bile

answer

season: summer element: fire organ: spleen ancient name: choleric ancient characteristics: easily angered, bad tempered

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Four humours - black bile

answer

season: autumn element: earth organ: gall bladder ancient name: melancholic ancient characteristics: despondent, sleepless, irritable

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Four humours - Phlegm

answer

season: winter element: water organ: brain/lungs ancient name: phlegmatic ancient characteristics: calm, unemotional

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Christianity and possession

answer

- possession by the devil was thought to cause mental illness - exorcism, burning at the stake, regular attendance to church or holy pilgrimages were variously used to treat mental illness and abnormal behaviour

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Establishment of asylums

answer

during the 16th century asylums were established for the treatment and housing of the mentally ill - in the 18th and 19th century asylums were reformed using a humanitarian approach, patients were treated with dignity and respect

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The rise of the medial model

answer

Charcot was the first to describe the symptoms and pathology of multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease - he brought upon medicine as a cure and focused on neurology (disorders of the brain)

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the medical model

answer

according to this model, mental disorders are the result of 3 possible causes - Systematic causes: organ or physiological system malfunctions (e.g., schizophrenia) - Infection of the brain: e.g., syphilis can adversely effect behaviour once the infection reaches the brain - Traumatic injury: e.g., Phineas Gage's destruction of left frontal lobe

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Assumptions of the medial model

answer

is that there is an underlying physiological cause of abnormal behaviour - if the underlying cause cannot be treated then the behaviour will remain abnormal, if it is found and treated then the behaviour should return back to normal - Patients need to be diagnosed in terms of the underlying cause

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Problems with the medical model

answer

There are many psychological disorders that we do not understand the underlying physiological causes for - it is difficult to identify individuals and group them based on the underlying causes of abnormal behaviour - diagnosis are largely made on the basis of symptoms - determining whether a particular behaviour is abnormal is subjective - "abnormal" behaviours are largely problems of living, i.e., normal reactions to struggles of living in the world - many medical treatments for psychological disorders are either very mixed in their efficacy or are no more effective than a placebo

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Psychodynamic perspectives

answer

examined the unique experiences, feelings and emotions of the individual as a potential cause of abnormal behaviour - conflict between the id, ego and superego proposed to be the cause of abnormal behaviour - had three classes of abnormal behaviour: neuroses, personality disorders and psychoses

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Neuroses (psychodynamic perspective)

answer

is characterised as problems of living that cause distress eg: anxiety, phobias, depression - stem from environmental experiences

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Personality disorder (psychodynamic perspective)

answer

are maladaptive patterns of thought, feelings and behaviours - stem from environmental experiences

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Psychoses

answer

are significant disturbances to the perception of reality - caused by physiological imbalances

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Tenets of the Behavioural approach

answer

are: - abnormal behaviour develops through the same learning process as normal behaviour: i.e., is sculpted by the surroundings and environment & learnt through classical and operant conditioning - abnormal behaviour is not the result of some underlying disease process - the behaviour is the problem: the underlying cause of the behaviour must be treated in order to cure mental illness

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Tenets of the behavioural approach continued...

answer

- the behavioural approach focuses upon the current problem, not its origin - normality is a social construct and can change across time and cultures - treatments are individually tailored - therapies should be assessed for their effectiveness

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Four basic behavioural approaches

answer

- Stimulus-response interventions: e.g., systematic desensitisation, exposure and response prevention - Operant conditioning interventions: e.g., applied behavioural analysis, token economies, aversion therapy, behavioural activation Observational and social Learning interventions: e.g., social skills training Cognitive behaviour modification: e.g., Ellis' rational emotive therapies, Beck's cognitive behavioural therapy

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Criticisms of Behavioural approach

answer

- behaviour therapy is dehumanising and mechanical - the ethical issue of whether it is right to seek to control the behaviour of others - behaviour therapy reduces complex human behaviours to a few simple principles - purely behavioural therapies ignores the influences of mental processes on behaviour

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Radical behaviourism

answer

ignores cognition and emotion, rejects free will and assumes that observable reinforcement is necessary for learning

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psychodynamic explanations of behaviour

answer

are based on untestable unconscious drives/needs; they ignore conscious cognitions and situational influences and are shown to be ineffective basis for treatment

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Social learning theory

answer

was developed by Albert Bandura - the theory that new behaviours can be acquired without observable reinforcement; instead we pay attention to what others do and repeat their actions

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Social Learning occurs through

answer

Imitation: copying other's actions Observation: Learning derived from observing others' actions and their consequences Modelling: adding or removing specific acts based on observing the consequences on others Vicarious reinforcement: reinforcement obtained through observation of a behaviour and its consequence (on another person)

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Basic processes of Observational Learning

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1. Attentional Processes (attend to and accurately perceive the model's behaviour) 2. Retention Processes (remember the model's behaviour) 3. Reproduction Processes (translate memories of the model's behaviour into new response patterns) 4. Motivational Processes (if positive reinforcement is potentially available, enact the modelled behaviour i.e., you are more likely to imitate the behaviour)

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Excessive self punishment leads to

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Compensation - superiority complex, delusions of grandeur Inactivity: apathy, boredom, depression Escape: through drugs and alcohol, fantasies or even suicide

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Vicarious positive reinforcement or punishment

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is when a child takes into consideration what happens to other people when deciding whether or not to imitate or copy the models actions

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Self reinforcement

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occurs when we reward or punish ourselves for meeting or failing to meet our own standards - positive or negative thoughts that run through our heads about meeting our own standards

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Self regulation

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allows us to choose behaviours that help to avoid punishments and achieve long term goals it involves: 1. Self observation: looking at ourselves and our behaviour 2. Judgement: comparing what we see with a standard 3. Self-response: giving yourself rewarding or punishing self-responses (can span from treating yourself, being proud of yourself, or ashamed) -> self concept: if you praise yourself for meeting your goals you will have a good self-concept, if you punish yourself you will have a bad self-concept

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Self efficacy

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can be done through: - Mastery experiences: performing a task successfully strengthens our sense of self-efficacy. Failing a task can undermine or weaken it - Social Modelling: seeing other people similar to you successfully completing a task improves self-efficacy - Social persuasion: people can be persuaded to believe that they have the skills and capabilities to succeed - Psychological responses: our self-responses and emotional reactions to situations play a role in our self-efficacy

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Triadic Model of Reciprocal determination

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is Bandura's theory that behaviour is determined, but not controlled, through personal factors and by environmental factors.

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Lewisohn's Model of Depression

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is the model that suggests certain events induce depression because they reduce positive reinforcement - the essence of depression is a low rate of behaviour, and that this results from a lack of reinforcement from the environment - however this is oversimplified and does not account for biological depression or genetic factors

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Martin Seligman's learned helplessness and depression

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theorises that depression develops in individuals who, as a result of their learning history, perceive having little or no control over rewards and punishments in their environment As a result people think that: 1. they have no control over the reinforcements in their lives 2. they themselves think they are responsible for this helpless state

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Attributional style and depression

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can be internal, stable or global: - Their own characteristics (internal attributions) "Its all my fault, I'm just not good with people, that's just who i am" - Factors that are unlikely to change (attributions of stability) "why should i bother when i keep getting fired because I'm dumb" - Factors that are likely to have an influence on the individual cross situations (global attributions) " why bother getting another job - the same thing will happen"

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Rehm's self control theory of depression

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believes that depression is caused by deficits in self control processes such as: - self monitoring: selective attention is given to negative rather than positive events - self evaluation: stringent standards, and negative, inaccurate attributions of responsibility - Self-reinforcement: insufficient positive self-reinforcement and instead attributes negative outcomes to oneself with excessive self-punishment

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Ellis' Rational emotive therapy

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the belief that Irrational patterns of thinking feeling and behaving contribute to emotional and behavioural self-and- social defeatism - thus the need to turn grandiose, absolutistic and fatalistic thinking into flexible preferences, desires and wishes

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Ellis' ABCDE

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A - activating adverse event B - Beliefs about the activating event are rigid, absolutistic and dysfunctional C - Consequences are dysfunctional emotion and behaviour D - Disputing of the irrational beliefs needs to be done in order to break down the irrational beliefs E - effects of the treatment

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Cognitive behavioural view

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Beck's theory that depression is seen as being related to the way individuals perceive vents in their environment - as a result of learning history, there are cognitive distortions or cognitive schemata's that contribute to a negative view of the self, the world, and the future - these views contribute to feelings of self-blame, failure and hopelessness

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Beck's cognitive triad

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Involve an overgeneralisation on the basis of a single insignificant event that lead to negative views of the self, negative views of the world and negative views of the future

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Examples of cognitive distortions

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Filtering, catastrophizing, polarised thinking, mind reading/snap judgements

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Filtering

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is when individuals look at only one element of a situation and have tunnel vision and selective memory for negative events

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Catastrophizing

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involve what if statements, and involve assuming the worst

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Polarised thinking

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Black and white thinking, and involves either/or thinking in which there is no room for middle ground or understanding the alternatives

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Mind reading/Snap judgements

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are assumptions about what others are thinking, feeling, projecting about what motivates them in the way they are reacting to you

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The matching law and choice of reinforcer

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is the relative frequency of the behaviour equals the relative frequency of reinforcement - the relative responding to lever 1 is a function of the total time spent responding for all choices in the environment (1+2) which is equal to the respective reinforcement rate associated with lever R1 divided by the total reinforcement rate in the environment (R1 + R2)

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Demand

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is determined by the price the consumer is willing to pay for a given amount of a product

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Elasticity

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is the relationship between price and demand for a given commodity

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Elastic demand

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is responsive to price e.g., restaurant meals, movie tickets, clothes

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Inelastic demand

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is not responsive to price e.g., tobacco, insulin, petrol, accommodation

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relativity

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the idea that value is relative, depending on the framing context

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Anchoring heuristic

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describes the common human tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered when making decisions - thus we value things relative to completely arbitrary anchoring values

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Expectations

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our expectancies about whether a stimulus is going to be negative or positive influences whether we rate them as being pleasant or unpleasant

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Perverse incentives

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- is an incentive that has an unintended and undesirable result which is contrary to the interests of the incentive makers.

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Habits

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are behaviours which are performed regularly and are initially guided by reinforcement - tend to be performed automatically and are usually triggered by a particular stimulus or context

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DSM 5 definition of addiction

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(i) strong motivation to take the drug (ii) an inability to refrain from drug-seeking (iii) maintained drug use despite aversive consequences

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which neurotransmitter has been shown to be common to the action of all drugs of addiction?

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Dopamine

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incidence of people who become addicted to different drugs

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- 32% of people who try tobacco - 23% of those who try heroin - 17% of those who try cocaine - 15% of those who try alcohol - 9% of those who try marijuana

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Predictors of addiction

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- genetics - environment - stage of life - temperament

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impulsivity and drug addiction

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- highly impulsive rats show an addictive pattern of drug use in that they continue to self administer cocaine at high rates despite being punished for it - impulsivity was negatively correlated with the number of midbrain dopamine receptors - impulsivity was positively correlated with the release of dopamine following amphetamine

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Drug tolerance

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the decrease in effectiveness of a drug - larger levels of the drug is needed to produce a high - it is context specific

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Conditioning model of drug tolerance

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Conditioned stimulus - are the drug related cues, and can range from time of day, equipment used to take drug, place you use drug, people you do drugs with etc. Unconditioned stimulus - the drug Unconditioned response - the high the drug elicits Conditioned response - drug like and drug opposite effects

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Effects of drug associated cues

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many overdose fatalities do not involve an unusually large amount of the drug, but often involve a dosage that has been well tolerated on previous occasions - a change in context or associated cues can lead to overdoses.

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drug treatment and stimulus control

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involves the elimination of cues and situations that were previously precursors of drug use and involves an increase in situations and activities that are incompatible with drug use - not always possible however because when the addict exists rehab, they aren't able to avoid the people and cues that they associated with drug use

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Drug treatment - Extinction

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exposure to drug associated cutes in the absence of drug use or the effects of drug use - often involves pharmacological treatments that block the drug - it however doesn't eliminate the behavioural drug associated cues and spontaneous recovery occurs

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Drug treatment - Counterconditioning

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involves exposing the addict to the taste of alcohol or cigarettes followed by a drug that produces nausea and vomiting - effective in the short term but not the long term

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Drug treatment - Competing response training

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involves performing behaviours that are incompatible with drug use whenever drug CS's are encountered - usually used in conjunction with stimulus control and extinction procedures

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Drug treatment - Drug replacement therapies

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e.g. nicotine replacement therapies for smoking addictions - can help break the contingency between the drug associated cues and the delivery of the drug - reduces cravings and withdrawal as well as social felonies (e.g., stealing money, stealing from people etc)

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Temporal Conditioning

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in this conditioning, there is no CS at all, but if the US is presented at regular intervals the passage of time since the previous US can function as a CS e.g., if you have morning tea at 10 am every day at work, then the time can function as a CS and elicit hunger just before 10 am

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