Ch.7 Learning

Some scientists believe that the brain has ________ neurons that enable empathy and imitation

mirror

Fill in the three blanks below with one of the following terms: positive reinforcement (PR), negative reinforcement (NR), positive punishment (PP) and negative punishment (NP). We have provided the first answer (PR) for you. Type of Stimulus/ Give it / Take it Away Desired (for ex, a teen's use of the car) / 1.PR / 2. Undesired/adversity (for ex, and insult) / 3. / 4.

1. PR 2. NP 3. PP 4. NR

Match the examples (1-5) to the appropriate underlying learning principle (a-e): a. Classical conditioning b. Operant conditioning c. Latent learning d. Observational learning e. Biological predispositions 1. Knowing the way from your bed to the bathroom in the dark 2. Your little brothers getting in a fight after watching a violent action movie 3. Salivating when you smell brownies in the oven 4. Disliking the taste of chili after being violently sick a few hours after eating chili 5. Your dog racing to greet you on your arrival home

1. c 2. d 3. a 4. e 5. b

7-10 How do different reinforcement schedules affect behavior?

A reinforcement schedule defines how often a response will be reinforced. In continuous reinforcement (reinforcing desired responses every time they occur), learning is rapid, but so is extinction if rewards cease. In partial (intermittent) reinforcement (reinforcing responses only sometimes), initial learning is slower, but the behavior is much more resistant to extinction. Fixed-ratio schedules reinforce behaviors after a set number of responses; variable-ratio schedules, after an unpredictable number. Fixed-interval schedules reinforce behaviors after set time periods; variable-interval schedules, after unpredictable time periods.

"Sex sells!" is a common saying in advertising. using classical conditioning terms, explain how sexual images in advertisements can condition your response to a product

A sexual image is a US that triggers a UR of interest or arousal. Before the ad pairs a product with a sexual image, the product is in an NS. Overtime the product can become a CS that triggers the CR of interest or arousal

7-14 How do biological constraints affect classical and operant conditioning?

An animal's capacity for conditioning is limited by biological constraints, so some associations are easier to learn. Each species learns behaviors that aid its survival—a phenomenon called preparedness. Those who readily learned taste aversions were unlikely to eat the same toxic food again and were more likely to survive and leave descendants. Nature constrains each species' capacity for both classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Our preparedness to associate a CS with a US that follows predictably and immediately is often (but not always) adaptive. During operant training, animals may display instinctive drift by reverting to biologically predisposed patterns.

7-8 Who was Skinner, and how is operant behavior reinforced and shaped?

B. F. Skinner was a college English major and aspiring writer who later entered psychology graduate school. He became modern behaviorism's most influential and controversial figure. Expanding on Edward Thorndike's law of effect, Skinner and others found that the behavior of rats or pigeons placed in an operant chamber (Skinner box) can be shaped by using reinforcers to guide successive approximations of the desired behavior.

7-17 What is the impact of prosocial modeling and of antisocial modeling?

Children tend to imitate what a model does and says, whether the behavior being modeled is prosocial (positive, constructive, and helpful) or antisocial. If a model's actions and words are inconsistent, children may imitate the hypocrisy they observe.

7-6 What have been some applications of Pavlov's work to human health and well-being? How did Watson apply Pavlov's principles to learned fears?

Classical conditioning techniques are used to improve human health and well-being in many areas, including behavioral therapy for some types of psychological disorders. The body's immune system may also respond to classical conditioning. Pavlov's work also provided a basis for Watson's idea that human emotions and behaviors, though biologically influenced, are mainly a bundle of conditioned responses. Watson applied classical conditioning principles in his studies of "Little Albert" to demonstrate how specific fears might be conditioned.

7-12 Why did Skinner's ideas provoke controversy, and how might his operant conditioning principles be applied at school, in sports, at work, in parenting, and for self-improvement?

Critics of Skinner's principles believed the approach dehumanized people by neglecting their personal freedom and seeking to control their actions. Skinner replied that people's actions are already controlled by external consequences, and that reinforcement is more humane than punishment as a means for controlling behavior. Teachers can use shaping techniques to guide students' behaviors, and use interactive media such as online adaptive quizzing to provide immediate feedback. (The LearningCurve system available with this text provides such feedback, and allows students to direct the pace of their own learning.) Coaches can build players' skills and self-confidence by rewarding small improvements. Managers can boost productivity and morale by rewarding well-defined and achievable behaviors. Parents can reward desired behaviors but not undesirable ones. We can shape our own behaviors by stating realistic goals, planning how to work toward those goals, monitoring the frequency of desired behaviors, reinforcing desired behaviors, and gradually reducing rewards as behaviors become habitual.

How did Garcia and Koelling's taste-aversion studies help disprove Gregory Kimble's early claim that "just about any activity of which the organism is capable can be conditioned . . . to any stimulus that the organism can perceive"?

Garcia and Koelling demonstrated that rats may learn an aversion to tastes, on which their survival depends, but not to sights or sounds.

Why are habits, such as having something sweet with that cup of coffee, so hard to break?

Habits form when we repeat behaviors in a given context and, as a result, learn associations—often without our awareness. For example, we may have eaten a sweet pastry with a cup of coffee often enough to associate the flavor of the coffee with the treat, so that the cup of coffee alone just doesn't seem right anymore!

Ethan constantly misbehaves at preschool even though his teacher scolds him repeatedly. Why does Ethan's misbehavior continue, and what can his teacher do to stop it?

If Ethan is seeking attention, the teacher's scolding may be reinforcing rather than punishing. To change Ethan's behavior, his teacher could offer reinforcement (such as praise) each time he behaves well. The teacher might encourage Ethan toward increasingly appropriate behavior through shaping, or by rephrasing rules as rewards instead of punishments. ("You can have a snack if you play nicely with the other children" [reward] rather than "You will not get a snack if you misbehave!" [punishment]).

In slasher movies, sexually arousing images of women are sometimes paired with violence against women. Based on classical conditioning principles, what might be an effect of this pairing?

If viewing an attractive nude or seminude woman (a US) elicits sexual arousal (a UR) in some viewers, then pairing the US with a new stimulus (violence) could turn the violence into a conditioned stimulus (CS) that also becomes sexually arousing, a conditioned response (CR).

7-15 How do cognitive processes affect classical and operant conditioning?

In classical conditioning, animals may learn when to expect a US and may be aware of the link between stimuli and responses. In operant conditioning, cognitive mapping and latent learningresearch demonstrate the importance of cognitive processes in learning. Other research shows that excessive rewards (driving extrinsic motivation) can undermine intrinsic motivation.

7-4 In classical conditioning, what are the processes of acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination?

In classical conditioning, the first stage is acquisition, associating an NS with the US so that the NS begins triggering the CR. Acquisition occurs most readily when the NS is presented just before (ideally, about a half-second before) a US, preparing the organism for the upcoming event. This finding supports the view that classical conditioning is biologically adaptive. Through higher-order conditioning, a new NS can become a new CS. Extinction is diminished responding, which occurs if the CS appears repeatedly by itself without the US. Spontaneous recovery is the appearance of a formerly extinguished conditioned response, following a rest period. Generalization is the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to a CS. Discrimination is the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other irrelevant stimuli.

7-13 How does operant conditioning differ from classical conditioning?

In operant conditioning, an organism learns associations between its own behavior and resulting events; this form of conditioning involves operant behavior (behavior that operates on the environment, producing rewarding or punishing consequences). In classical conditioning, the organism forms associations between stimuli—events it does not control; this form of conditioning involves respondent behavior (automatic responses to some stimulus).

7-2 What was behaviorism's view of learning?

Ivan Pavlov's work on classical conditioning laid the foundation for behaviorism, the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes. The behaviorists believed that the basic laws of learning are the same for all species, including humans.

7-3 Who was Pavlov, and what are the basic components of classical conditioning?

Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, created novel experiments on learning. His early twentieth-century research over the last three decades of his life demonstrated that classical conditioning is a basic form of learning. Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli and anticipate events. A UR is an event that occurs naturally (such as salivation), in response to some stimulus. A US is something that naturally and automatically (without learning) triggers the unlearned response (as food in the mouth triggers salivation). A CS is originally an NS (neutral stimulus, such as a tone) that, after association with a US (such as food) comes to trigger a CR. A CR is the learned response (salivating) to the originally neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus.

Jason's parents and older friends all drive over the speed limit, but they advised him not to. Juan's parents and friends drive within the speed limit, but they say nothing to deter him from speeding. Or Jason or Juan be more likely to speed?

Jason may be more likely to speed. Observational learning studies suggest that children tend to do as others do and see what they say.

7-1 How do we define learning, and what are some basic forms of learning?

Learning is the process of acquiring through experience new information or behaviors. In associative learning, we learn that certain events occur together. In classical conditioning, we learn to associate two or more stimuli. Automatically responding to stimuli we do not control is called respondent behavior. In operant conditioning, we learn to associate a response and its consequences. These associations produce operant behaviors. Through cognitive learning, we acquire mental information that guides our behavior. For example, in observational learning, we learn new behaviors by observing events and watching others.

7-18 What is the violence-viewing effect?

Media violence can contribute to aggression. This violence-viewing effect may be prompted by imitation and desensitization. Correlation does not equal causation, but study participants have reacted more cruelly when they have viewed violence (instead of entertaining nonviolence).

An experimenter sounds a tone just before delivering an air puff to your blinking eye. After several repetitions, you blink to the tone alone. What is the NS? The US? The UR? The CS? The CR?

NS = tone before conditioning; US = air puff; UR = blink to air puff; CS = tone after conditioning; CR = blink to tone

7-16 How does observational learning differ from associative learning? How may observational learning be enabled by neural mirroring?

Observational learning involves learning by watching and imitating, rather than learning associations between different events. We learn to anticipate a behavior's consequences because we experience vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment. Our brain's frontal lobes have a demonstrated ability to mirror the activity of another's brain, which some psychologists believe is enabled by mirror neurons; others argue it may be more due to the brain's distributed brain networks.

7-7 What is operant conditioning?

Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.

7-5 Why does Pavlov's work remain so important?

Pavlov taught us that significant psychological phenomena can be studied objectively, and that classical conditioning is a basic form of learning that applies to all species.

7-11 How does punishment differ from negative reinforcement, and how does punishment affect behavior?

Punishment administers an undesirable consequence (such as spanking) or withdraws something desirable (such as taking away a favorite toy) to decrease the frequency of a behavior (a child's disobedience). Negative reinforcement (taking an aspirin) removes an aversive stimulus (a headache). This desired consequence (freedom from pain) increases the likelihood that the behavior (taking aspirin to end pain) will be repeated. Punishment can have undesirable side effects, such as suppressing rather than changing unwanted behaviors; encouraging discrimination (so that the undesirable behavior appears when the punisher is not present); creating fear; teaching aggression; and fostering depression and feelings of helplessness.

7-9 How do positive and negative reinforcement differ, and what are the basic types of reinforcers?

Reinforcement is any consequence that strengthens behavior. Positive reinforcement adds a desirable stimulus to increase the frequency of a behavior. Negative reinforcement reduces or removes an aversive stimulus to increase the frequency of a behavior. Primary reinforcers (such as receiving food when hungry or having nausea end during an illness) are innately satisfying—no learning is required. Conditioned (or secondary) reinforcers (such as cash) are satisfying because we have learned to associate them with more basic rewards (such as the food or medicine we buy with them). Immediate reinforcers (such as a purchased treat) offer immediate payback; delayed reinforcers (such as a paycheck) require the ability to delay gratification.

The first step of classical conditioning, when an NS becomes a CS, is called ______________. When a US no longer follows the CS, and the CR becomes weakened, this is called ______________.

acquisition; extinction

Thorndike's law of effect was the basis for ___________'s work on operant conditioning and behavior control.

Skinner

People who send spam e-mail are reinforced by which schedule? Home bakers checking the oven to see if the cookies are done are on which schedule? Sandwich shops that offer a free sandwich after every 10 sandwiches purchased are using which reinforcement schedule?

Spammers are reinforced on a variable-ratio schedule after sending a varying number of e-mails). Cookie checkers are reinforced on a fixed-interval schedule. Sandwish shop programs use a fixed-ratio schedule.

How is operant conditioning at work in this cartoon?

The baby negatively reinforces her parents' behavior when she stops crying once they grant her wish. Her parents positively reinforce her cries by letting her sleep with them.

If the aroma of a baking cake sets your mouth to watering, what is the US? The CS? The CR?

The cake (and its taste) are the US. The associated aroma is the CS. Salivation to the aroma is the CR.

Instinctive drift and latent learning are examples of what important idea?

The success of operant conditioning is affected not just by environmental cues, but also by biological and cognitive factors.

Taste-aversion research has shown that some animals develop aversions to certain taste but not two sites or sounds. What evolutionary psychology finding does the support?

This finding supports Darwin's principle that natural selection favors traits that aid survival

The partial reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after unpredictable time periods is a __________________-________________ scheudle

Variable-interval

How could your psychology instructor use negative reinforcement to encourage your attentive behavior during class?

Your instructor could reinforce your attentive behavior by taking away something you dislike. For example, your instructor could offer to shorten the length of an assigned paper or replace lecture time with an in-class activity. In both cases, the instructor would remove something aversive in order to negatively reinforce your focused attention.

Evidence that cognitive processes play an important role in learning comes in part from studies in which rats running a maze develop a __________ ____________ of the maze

cognitive map

In Pavlov's experiments, the tone started as a neutral stimulus, and then became a(n) _______________ stimulus

conditioned

Dogs have been taught to salivate to a circle but not to a square. This process is an example of _____.

discrimination

With classical conditioning, we learn associations between events we (do/do not) control. With operant conditioning, we learn associations between our behavior and (resulting/random) events.

do not; resulting

A restaurant is running a special deal. After you buy four meals at full price, your fifth meal will be free. This is an example of a ________ schedule of reinforcement.

fixed ratio

After Watson and Rayner classically conditioned Little Albert to fear a white rat, the child later showed fear in response to a rabbit, a dog, and a sealskin coat. This illustrates

generalization

What conditioning principle is affecting the snail's affections?

generalization

Learning is defined as "the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring __________ or __________."

information; behaviors

Most experts agree that repeated viewing of media violence

is a risk factor for viewer's increased aggression

Rats that explored a maze without any reward were later able to run the maze as well as the other rats that had received food rewards for running the maze. The rats that had learned without reinforcement demonstrated __________ _____________.

latent learning

Your dog is barking so loudly that it's making your ears ring. You clap your hands, the dog stops barking, your ears stop ringing, and you think to yourself, "I'll have to do that when he barks again." The end of the barking was for you a

negative reinforcer

Children learn many social behaviors by imitating parents and other models. This type of learning is called

observational learning

Reinforcing a desired response only some of the times it occurs is called ___________ reinforcement.

partial

A medieval proverb notes that "a burnt child dreads the fire." In operant conditioning, the burning would be an example of a

punisher

Salivating in response to a tone paired with food is a(n) __________ behavior; pressing a bar to obtain food is a(n) __________ behavior.

respondent; operant

One way to change behavior is to reward natural behaviors in small steps, as they get closer and closer to the desired behavior. This process is called

shaping

Garcia and Koelling's ____________-_______________ studies showed that conditioning can occur even when the unconditioned stimulus (US) does not immediately follow the neutral stimulus (NS).

taste-aversion

Two forms of associative learning are classical conditioning, in which the organism associates ________, and operant conditioning, in which the organism associates ________.

two or more stimuli; a response and consequence

According to Bandura, we learn by watching models because we experience ________ reinforcement or ________ punishment.

vicarious; vicarious