Chapter 6 Learning Notes PDF

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Chapter 6 Learning Notes

1. Learning 1. systematic, relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs through experience 2. 2 types- Associative and Observational 2. Behaviorism 1. theory of learning focusing on observable behaviors, discounting importance of mental activities like thinking, wish and hoping 2. Behavioral Psychologists often define learning as relatively stable, observable changes in behavior 3. This approach emphasizes general laws that guide behavior change and make sense of some of the puzzling aspects of human life 4. maintains that the principles of learning are the same whether we are talking about humans or nonhuman animals 3. Associative Learning 1. learning that occurs when an organism makes a connection (association) between 2 events 2. Conditioning 1. process of learning these associations 2. 2 Types of Conditioning; both studied by behaviorists: 1. Classical-organisms learn association between two stimuli and learn to anticipate events 1. ex. seeing lightning and then hearing thunder 2. Can explain fears 3. Form of respondent behavior or behavior that occurs in automatic response to a stimulus 4. Environmental cues can serve as conditioned stimuli 5. Provides foundation for many commercials; embedded marketing-product placement 6. Helps explain habituation or the decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations 7. Can produce immunosuppression, a decrease in antibody production which can lower a person's ability to fight disease 8. Type of learning that occurs w/out awareness/effort 9. Reflexes-automatic stimulus-response connections that are inborn rather than learned 10. Unconditioned Stimulus (US)- stimulus that produces a response w/out prior learning 11. Unconditioned Response (UR)- Unlearned reaction automatically elicited by the US 1. involuntary and happen w/out conscious effort 12. Conditioned Stimulus (CS)- previously neutral stimulus that eventually elicits a CR after being paired with a US 13. Conditioned Response (CR)-learned response to CS that occurs after CS/US pairing 14. Neutral Stimulus-stimulus that doesn't have any signal value at all 15. Acquisition

1. first part of classical conditioning 2. Initial learning of the connection between the US and CS when the two stimuli are paired 3. During acquisition, CS is repeatedly presented followed by the US and eventually CS will produce a response 16. Contiguity- means CS and US are presented very close together in time 17. Contingency-means CS must not only precede the US closely in time but must serve as a reliable indicator that the US is on its way 18. Generalization 1. tendency of a new stimulus that is similar to original conditioned stimulus to elicit a response similar to conditioned response 2. value in preventing learning from being tied to certain stimuli but not always beneficial 19. Discrimination- process of learning to respond to certain stimuli and not others 20. Extinction- weakening of CR when US is absent though not always the end of a conditioned response 21. Spontaneous Recovery- the process by which a CR can recur after a time delay w/out further conditioning 22. Renewal-the recovery of the CR when organism is placed in a novel context 23. Counterconditioning- changing relationship between a conditioned stimulus and its conditioned response 1. used to break apart association between certain stimuli and positive feelings 24. Aversive Conditioning-form of treatment consisting of repeated pairings of a stimulus w/ a very unpleasant stimulus 1. ex. electric shocks are a noxious stimulus used in aversive conditioning 2. Taste Aversion-special kind of conditioning involving a learned association between a certain taste and nausea; only requires one pairing of neutral stimulus w/ UR of nausea to seal the connection 2. Operant Conditioning or instrumental conditioning- organisms learn the association between a behavior and a consequence which leads them to increase rewarded behaviors and decrease punished behaviors 1. i.e. a reward 2. focuses on the association between behaviors and the stimuli that follow them. 3. Occurs spontaneously 4. Contingency plays key role in operant conditioning 5. Skinner-primary figure in operant conditioning 1. Believed the mechanisms of learning are the same for all species 2. Skinner box- an operant conditioning chamber 6. Thorndike established the power of consequences in determining voluntary behavior. 1. Law of Effect- states that behaviors followed by pleasant outcomes are strengthened and that behaviors followed by unpleasant outcomes are weakened; presents the basic idea that the consequences of a behavior influence the likelihood of that behavior’s recurrence 7. Shaping-rewarding successive approximations of a desired behavior 8. Reinforcement-process by which a stimulus or event (a reinforcer) following a certain behavior increases the probability the behavior will happen again 1. Positive Reinforcement- frequency of a behavior increases when followed by a desirable stimulus

2. Negative Reinforcement-frequency of behavior increases because it is followed by the removal of something undesirable 1. Avoidance Learning-Special kind of response to negative reinforcement which occurs when an organisms learns that by making a certain response, a negative stimulus can be avoided 1. ex. student studying hard after receiving bad grades continuing to do so even when bad grade is no longer present 3. Learned Helplessness- organism has learned that it has no control over negative outcomes 1. ID'ed by Martin Seligman and associates 4. Reinforcers 1. Primary Reinforcers- inanely satisfying; does not require learning on the organism's part to make it pleasurable 1. ex. food, water, sexual satisfaction 2. Secondary Reinforcers-acquires its positive value through an organism's experience; is a learned or conditioned reinforcer 1. can be linked to primary reinforcers through classical conditioning 2. ex. getting an A on a test 5. Generalization- operant conditioning- means performing reinforced behavior in different situation 1. ex. student acing calculus through nightly studying starts studying in history every night as well 6. Discrimination- in operant conditioning- responding appropriately to stimuli that signal that a behavior will or will not be reinforced 7. Extinction-operant conditioning- occurs when behavior is no longer reinforced and decreases in frequency 8. Continuous Reinforcement- behavior is reinforced every time it occurs 9. Schedules of Reinforcement-Specific patterns determining when a behavior will be reinforced 10. Partial Reinforcement- reinforcer follows a behavior only a portion of the time 1. characterizes most life experiences 2. 4 main schedules of partial reinforcement 1. Fixed ratio-reinforces behavior after a set number of behaviors 2. Variable ratio-timetable in which behaviors are rewarded an average number of times but on an unpredictable basis 3. Fixed interval-reinforces firs appropriate behavior after fixed amount of time has passed 4. Variable interval- timetable in which behavior is reinforced after a variable amount of time has elapsed; slow and consistent 3. Ratio schedules involve the number of behaviors that must be performed prior to reward and interval schedules is the amount of time that must pass before a behavior is rewarded 4. Fixed schedule- number of behaviors/amount of time is always the same 5. Variable Schedule- required number of behaviors/amount of time that must pass changes 11. Punishment 1. Consequence that decreases likelihood that a behavior will occur

2. Positive Punishment- presentation of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to decrease behavior's frequency 1. ex. spanking a misbehaving child 3. Negative Punishment- removal of stimulus following given behavior in order to decrease behavior's frequency 1. ex. Time out 12. Applied Behavior Analysis 1. Behavior modification 2. use of operant conditioning principles to change human behavior 3. rewards and punishers are carefully analyzed and manipulated to change behaviors 4. seeks to ID any rewards that may be maintaining unwanted behaviors and enhance rewards of more appropriate behaviors 5. 4. Observational Learning 1. learning behavior through observing and imitating another's behavior 2. Present in educational and other settings 3. Relies on mental processes 4. Albert Bandura (imitation or modeling) 1. if all learning were conducted in trail and error fashion, learning would be tedious and hazardous at times 2. many complex behaviors are result of exposure to competent models 3. 4 main processes involved in observational learning: 1. Attention 2. Retention- means you must hold the information in memory 3. Motor Reproduction-process of imitating the model's actions 4. Reinforcement-question is whether the model's behavior is followed by a consequence 1. Vicarious Reinforcement-seeing a model receive a reward for an activity increases the chance that the activity will be repeated 2. Vicarious Punishment- seeing a model punished makes the behavior less likely to be repeated 5. Cognitive Factors in Learning 1. E.C Tolman 1. emphasized purposiveness of behavior- the idea that much of behavior is goal directed 2. believed entire behavioral sequence should be studied in order to understand why people engage in certain actions 3. When classical and operant conditioning occur, the organism acquires certain expectations, which are acquired from people's experiences with their environment 4. Expectations play role in placebo effect 5. The info value of conditioned stimulus is important as a signal or an expectation that an unconditioned stimulus will follow 2. Latent Learning 1. Implicit Learning 2. unreinforced learning that is not immediately reflected in behavior 3. Insight Learning 1. Wolfgang Kohler 2. A form of problem solving in which organisms develop a sudden insight into or understanding of a problem's solution

3. Entails both gradual and sudden processes 4. Requires thinking outside the box, setting aside previous expectations and assumptions 5. A way to enhance is through multicultural experiences 6. Biological, Cultural and Psychological Factors in Learning 1. Instinctive Drift- tendency of animals to revert to instinctive behavior that interferes with learning 2. Preparedness-species specific biological predisposition to learn in certain ways but not others 1. much of the evidence for preparedness comes from research on taste aversion 3. Most psychologists agree principles of classical conditioning, operant conditioning and observational learning are universal and powerful learning processes in every culture 1. Culture can influence the degree to which these processes are used however 2. Culture can also determine the content of learning; cannot learn something we don't experience 4. Can be psychological constraints on learning 5. Mindset- describes the way our beliefs about ability dictate what goals we set for ourselves, what we think we can learn and what we do learn 1. Two Mindsets: 1. Fixed Mindset-believe that qualities are carved in stone and cannot change 2. Growth Mindset-believe that qualities can change and improve through effort 7. Learning and Health and Wellness 1. Control may be key to avoiding stress...