PSYCH 101 Chapter 9 Learning and Conditioning – Flashcards

A relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavioral potential) due to experience

An approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of the environment as a determinant of behavior

A basic kind of learning that involves associations between environmental stimuli and the organism's responses

The classical conditioning term for a stimulus that elicits a reflexive response in the absence of learning, food in the dog's mouth in Pavlov's experiments,

The classical conditioning term for a reflexive response elicited by a stimulus in the absence of learning, salivation in Pavlov's dog experiments

The classical conditioning term for an initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being associated with an unconditioned stimulus, learning occurs, seeing the food dish in Pavlov's experiments

The classical conditioning term for a response that is elicited by a conditioned stimulus, it occurs after the conditioned stimulus is associated with an unconditioned stimulus, Pavlov called the salivation in his dogs before the food got there this because it depended on environmental conditions, initially called "conditional" but error in translation led to "conditioned", this is a learned response that is similar or related to the original unlearned one

The process by which a previously neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a response through association with a stimulus that already elicits a similar or related response, also called Pavlovian or Respondent Conditioning, process by which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus, since Pavlov many involuntary automatic responses (like heartbeat and blood pressure) have been classically conditioned, optimal interval is very short between presentation of neutral stimulus and of US, this occurs in all species as an evolutionary adaptation that enables organisms to anticipate and prepare for a biologically important event

The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response, in classical conditioning it occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus, occurs gradually, NOT unlearning or forgetting

The reappearance of a learned response after its apparent extinction, often a weaker response, this is why it often requires more than one extinction session for complete elimination of a conditioned response, this is why extinction is NOT unlearning or forgetting

In classical conditioning, a procedure in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus though association with an already established conditioned stimulus, may explain why some words trigger emotional responses and if those words are associated with other words/objects similar emotional responses might occur - this is why higher order conditioning may contribute to the formation of prejudices

After conditioning the tendency to response to a stimulus that resembles one involved in the original conditioning, in classical conditioning it occurs when a stimulus that resembles the CS elicits the CR

The tendency to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli, in classical conditioning it occurs when a stimulus similar to the CS fails to evoke the CR, often learned, mirror image of stimulus generalization

The stimulus to be conditioned PRECEDES the unconditioned stimulus (does not follow it or occur at the same time) because the conditioned stimulus becomes a signal for the unconditioned stimulus

Not just an association between two paired stimulus that occur close together in time, but rather information conveyed by one stimulus about another - supported by Robert Rescorla's research showing that the mere pairing of an unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus is not enough to produce learning, to become a conditioned stimulus the neutral stimulus must reliably signal or predict the unconditioned one (so if food comes as often with dish as it doesn't then a conditioned response won't form)

Ads will often pair a product with music, attractive people, idyllic scenery, or celebrities because these things serve as unconditioned stimuli for internal responses associated with pleasure, etc. thus hoping that the ad will become a conditioned stimulus evoking similar responses

Humans are biologically primed to acquire conditioned fears of spiders, snakes, and heights compared to other things like butterflies because evolutionarily the former things have caused health problems

Occurs when a fear of an object or situation becomes irrational and interferes with normal activities EX: Watson and Rayner's Little Albert Experiment which showed that fears can be conditioned

Watson and Rainer demonstrated how a phobia might be learned: unconditioned stimulus was the loud noise (babies are innately afraid of) and Albert's unconditioned response was fear, they then started making the loud noise when they gave little Albert a fuzzy rat he liked and then Albert became afraid of rats, Albert then generalized (stimulus generalization) his fear to all furry things

In classical conditioning the process of pairing a conditioned stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a response that is incompatible with an unwanted conditioned response EX: Watson and Jones reversed a child's fear of rabbits, they paired the rabbit (CS) with a snack (US) which produced happy feelings incompatible with the conditioned response of fear, eventually the child liked rabbits EX: Variation of the above procedure called systematic desensitization helps treat phobias in adults

Part of the brain that deals with fear, acquisition of a conditioned fear appears to involve a receipt in the amgdala for the neurotransmitter glutamate, drugs that enhance the receptor's activities speeds up extinction of fears when combined with phobia therapy, genetics also can explain why some people are more likely than others to become anxious and fearful

-Learning fears -Taste, people often learn to dislike a food after eating it and then getting sick even if the two events were unrelated... the food, previously a neutral stimulus, becomes a conditioned stimulus for nausea/symptoms of illness - people do not associate other factors (like the people they were with or the restaurant) with the sickness because humans have a greater biological readiness to associate sickness with taste than with sights or sounds, a tendency which probably evolved to enhance survival -Psychologists have taken advantage of this taste conditioning by conditioning some predators to associate the taste of certain prey (livestock) with becoming ill so they won't eat the animals instead of poisoning or killing them -Reactions to medical treatments often generalize to stimuli entirely unrelated to the treatment itself, drug treatment is unconditioned stimulus for nausea and vomiting and through association the other previously neutral stimuli become conditioned stimuli for these responses -Some cancer patients develop a classically conditioned anxiety response to anything associated with their chemotherapy, an example of higher order conditioning -Placebos can also become conditioned stimuli elicit feelings of relief as the unconditioned response to real drugs, although the expectancy of placebo effects and classical conditioning are not mutually exclusive

The process by which a response becomes more likely to occur or less so depending on its consequences, AKA instrumental conditioning, second type of conditioning studied by behaviorists, organism's response OPERATES or produces effects on environment, learning in this way works best when the operant conditioning capitalizes on inborn tendencies (can't teach random animals to do a complicated dance) so like classical conditioning operant too is limited by an organism's genetic dispositions and physical characteristics

-in classical conditioning it does not matter whether the organism's behavior has consequences or not (dog gets food regardless of if it salivates) -responses in classical conditioning are typically reflexive, automatic reactions to something happening in environment while in operant conditioning are typically more complex and not reflexive

Involved in birth of radical behaviorism, said that behavior is controlled by its consequences after his experiments with cats, puts cats in a puzzle box with treat on outside and after several trials the cats would get faster and faster and then get out of box on first try

Established radical behaviorism, arguing that to understand behavior we should focus on the external causes of an action and the action's consequences, to explain behavior we should look outside the individual not inside, believed that perceptions existed but cannot explain behavior instead that these components of consciousness are themselves simply behaviors that occur because of reinforcement and punishment, controversially promoted a determinist view in which our actions are detriment by our environments and our genetic heritage (free will is an illusion)

1. Reinforcement strengthens the response or makes it more likely to occur, reinforcers being roughly equivalent to rewards (except strict behaviorists dont use reward because it implies something was earned), thus reinforcers strengthen the preceding behavior whether or not the organism experiences positive emotion/pleasure (like with a reward) EX: A paycheck is NOT a reinforcer because you can still get paid even if you dont work so hard one week, it does not reinforce hard work behavior 2. Punishment weakens the response or makes it less likely to recur, any unpleasant stimulus may be a punisher *The sooner a consequence follows a response the greater its effect!

The process by which a stimulus or event strengthens or increases the probability of the response that it follows

The process by which a stimulus or event weakens or reduces the probability of the response that it follows

A stimulus that is inherently reinforcing, typically satisfying a physiological need, not always useful in learning unless the organism is deprived (if you just had three bottles of water then another is not terribly satisfying), also cannot deprive people physiologically in research due to ethical reasons EX: food, water, light stroke of skin, comfortable air temperature

A stimulus that is inherently punishing, not very useful in research due to ethical reasons EX: electric shock, pain and extreme heat or cold

A stimulus that has acquired reinforcing properties through association with other reinforcers, AKA conditioned reinforcers because like in classical conditioning these reinforcers are learned often by being associated with primary reinforcers EX: money, good grades, awards, etc.

A stimulus that has acquired punishing properties through association with other punishers, AKA conditioned punishers because like in classical conditioning these punishers are learned often by being associated with primary punishers EX: criticism, fines, bad grades

A reinforcement procedure in which a response is allowed by the presentation of or increase in intensity of a reinforcing stimulus, this makes the response stronger or more likely to occur

A reinforcement procedure in which a response is followed by the removal, delay, or decrease in intensity of an unpleasant stimulus, this makes the response stronger or more likely to occur, this results in escaping or avoiding something unpleasant which explains why so many fears are long lasting EX: someone nags you to study but stops when you do study, thus making you more likely to study to avoid the nagging EX: take a pill to avoid pain

Something unpleasant occurs following some behavior, making it less likely to occur EX: stop studying if friends are bullying you for being a nerd

Something pleasant may be removed after some behavior EX: will stop studying if it makes you lose time with friends

Reinforcement: INCREASES likelihood of response Punishment: DECREASES likelihood of response

Experimental tool in operant conditioning studies, a chamber equipped with a device that delivers a reinforcer (usually food) when an animal makes a desired response or a punisher (brief shock) when animal makes an undesired response

The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response, in operant conditioning it occurs when a response is no longer followed by a reinforcer (spontaneous recovery may occur too) EX: put coin in vending machine and get nothing back, may try one maybe even two more coins, but most likely will stop. maybe will try once more the next day (spontaneous recovery) but will eventually quit trying

Tendency for a response that has been reinforced (or punished) in the presence of one stimulus to occur (or be suppressed) in the presence of other similar stimuli

Tendency of a response to occur in the presence of one stimulus but not in the presence of other similar stimuli that differ from it on some dimension

A stimulus that signals when a particular response is likely to be followed by a certain type of consequence, sometimes organisms only learn to response to a stimulus when this other stimulus is also present EX: traffic lights, doorbells, cell phone ring, facial expressions

A reinforcement schedule in which a particular response is always reinforced, learning is most rapid if the response is enforced in this way in the beginning

A reinforcement schedule in which a particular response is sometimes but not always reinforced, this method of reinforcement will make an already established response more resistant to extinction, this pattern of reinforcement also explains why people often attach to "lucky" charms/rituals because if one of these randoms charms/rituals is coincidentally followed by a reinforcer the charm/ritual (good grade, home run) also becomes resistant to extinction to try and make that reinforcer happen again

Witholding all reinforcement in this way is the best way to rid of your own or someone else's unwanted response, but you have to be careful not to give in every now and then with reinforcement because this is intermittent reinforcement which is the best way to reinforce a response

An operant conditioning procedure in which successive approximations of a desired response are reinforced, this allows us to teach organisms new skills because you can only reinforce responses that occur first, thus redirect responses until you finally get the desired response EX: this is how many guide/therapy animals are trained to do little tasks for their disabled owners

Behaviors in shaping that are ordered in terms of increasing similarity or closeness to the desired response, with the achievement of each approximation the next one becomes more likely thus making it available for reinforcement

During operant learning, the tendency for an organism to revert to instinctive behavior, these genetic dispositions and physical characteristics make it hard to teach organisms tasks that go against their instincts EX: inborn temperament in humans affect how we react to different reinforcers/punishments

AKA applied behavior analysis, the application of operant conditioning techniques to teach new responses or to reduce or eliminate maladaptive or problematic behavior in the real world EX: has helped teach autistic children social skills, toddlers potty training in a few sessions, adults to quit smoking, etc.

Consistency of punishment matters more than severity because if rule breakers get away with crimes their behavior is then intermittently reinforced and thus becomes resistant to extinction,

1. People often administer punishment inappropriately or mindlessly 2. The recipient of harsh or frequent punishment often responds with anxiety, fear, or rage... through classical conditioning processes these emotional side effects may generalize to the entire situation in which the punishment occurs, creating more problems than the punishment solved 3. The effectiveness of punishment is often temporary, depending heavily on the presence of the punishing person or circumstances... sometimes all people learn is how to not get caught 4. Most misbehavior is hard to punish immediately... rapid punishment is hard to achieve and during the delay the behavior may actually be reinforced many times 5. Punishment conveys little information... punishment tells the recipient what NOT to do but not what they SHOULD do 6. An action intended to punish may instead be reinforcing because it brings attention... like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum, it is actually better just to ignore them *As a result of these reasons, severe punishment is usually not advisable. Minor punishment is better when necessary, and a combination of extinction of undesirable acts with reinforcement of alternative ones is best

When punishment is the only option/necessary.. 1. It should not involve physical abuse, but instead parents can use time outs or loss of privileges as negative punishers 2. It should be consistent 3. It should be accompanied by information about the kind of behavior that would be appropriate 4. It should be followed, whenever possible, by the reinforcement of a desirable behavior

Giving young kids good grades on poor assignments to boost their confidence and help them to keep wanting to learn is bad because... 1. Self esteem does not improve academic performance 2. Genuine self esteem emerges from effort, persistence, and the gradual acquisition of skills *Overuse of rewards in this way has resulted in grade inflation 3. Also, studies have shown that kids who complete activities for the sake of enjoyment repeatedly go back to the new activities but kids who just did it to get a reward never went back and tried again

Reinforcers that are not inherently related to the activity being reinforced, as in most of our examples of operant conditioning, sometimes can be too much of a good thing because... 1. they undermine the pleasure of doing something for its own sake because when we are paid to do something we interpret that activity as work, 2. also we tend to regard extrinsic rewards as controlling and pressuring, 3. extrinsic reinforcers sometimes raise the rates of responding above some optimal, enjoyable level so the activity really does become work because you do not want to do it anymore EX: money, praise, hug,

Reinforcers that are inherently related to the activity being reinforced EX: satisfaction of accomplishment, enjoyment of task

Antecedents (events preceding behavior) Behavior Consequences *Explain basic learning

A form of learning that is not immediately expressed in an overt response, it occurs without obvious reinforcement, a great deal of human learning also remains latent until circumstances allow or require it to be expressed, knowledge about responses and their consequences (not specific responses themselves) seem to be acquired

Group 1 Rats always found food at end of maze and quickly learned to find it every time Group 2 Rats never found food and just wandered around Group 3 Rats wandered for 10 days until they finally found food, and then acted as quickly as Group 1 *Group 3 demonstrated latent learning, they had been learning about the maze the whole time they just had no reason to act on that learning until they began to find the food

Theories that emphasize how behavior is learned and maintained through observation and imitation of others, positive consequences, and cognitive processes such as plans, expectations, and beliefs

A process in which an individual learns new responses by observing the behavior of another (a model) rather than through direct experience, sometimes called vicarious learning by behaviorists who believe it can be explained in stimulus-response terms, the learned behavior can be operant but observational learning is also important in acquisition of automatic reflexive responses such as fears and phobias