psych unit 6 (learning)

getting food when hungry is an example of

a primary reinforcer

reinforcement schedule

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

higher-order conditioning (Also called second-order conditioning)

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned response. whatever comes first will be a less intense CR than the one that comes second

mirror neurons

Frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation, language learning, and empathy.

violence viewing effect

after you view so much violence you become de-sensitized to it and you begin to imitate it

little albert experiment

albert feared loud noises but not white rats. Watson and Rayner presented a white rat and just as albert reached to touch it, a hammer struck against a steel bar just behind his head. After 7 repeats of seeing the rat and hearing the loud noise, Albert burst into tears at the mere sight of the rat

cope

alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods

spontaneous recovery

the appearance (after a pause) of an extinguished conditioned response

generalization

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

small but immediate consequences (late night TV watching) are sometimes more alluring than _______________(feeling alert tomorrow)

big delayed consequences

former drug users often feel a craving when they are again in a drug using __________(with people or places they associate with previous highs)

context

________ may help explain a well-established link between economic status and longevity

control

self control temporarily weakens after an _______, replenishes with rest and becomes stronger with exercise

exertion

observational learning (a form of cognitive learning) lets us learn from others' ________________

experiences

with partial reinforcement, learning is slower to appear but resistance to ___________is greater than with continuous reinforcement

extinction

conditioned reinforcers (secondary reinforcers)

gains its power through its association with a primary reinforcer (if a rat learns that a light signals food, the rat will turn on the light. The light has become the conditioned reinforcer)

pavlov noticed that a dog conditioned to the sound of a tone also responded to the sound of a new and different tone. This is an example of ______________

generalization

we like unfamiliar people better if they look like someone we've learned to like rather than dislike. This is an example of ____________

generalization

____________fears can linger. For example, one writer who was tortured gets scared when he sees black shoes because that is what he saw when the torturers approached his cell

generalized

we must learn to delay ________________to function effectively

gratification

learned associations also feed our __________________. As we repeat behaviors in a given context (eating popcorn in a movie theatre) the behaviors become associated with the contexts and our next experience of the context then evokes our habitual response

habitual behaviors

when a monkey grasps, holds, or tears something ___________ fire. They also fire when the monkey observes another doing so

mirror neurons

studies indicate that conditioned likes and dislikes are even stronger when people _______________________

notice and are aware of the associations they have learned (cognition matters)

in general response rates are higher when reinforcement is linked to the __________________ rather than to ____________________

number of responses (ratio schedule), time (interval schedule)

TV shows and learning are a powerful source of _____________________

observational learning

the brains response to observing others makes emotions contagious. Through its neurological echo, our brain stimulates and vicariously experiences what we ____________

observe

operant conditioning

organisms associate their own actions with consequences. Actions followed by reinforcers increase and those followed by punishers often decrease

biological predispositions for operant conditioning

organisms best learn behaviors similar to their natural behaviors (unnatural behaviors drift back to their natural ones)

cognitive processes classical conditioning

organisms develop expectation that CS signals the arrival of US

cognitive processes in classical conditioning

organisms develop expectation that CS signals the arrival of US

cognitive processes in operant conditioning

organisms develop expectation that a response will be reinforced or punished; they also exhibit latent learning, without reinforcement

cognitive processes operant conditioning

organisms develop expectation that a response will be reinforced or punished; they also exhibit latent learning, without reinforcement

a dog doesn't learn to salivate in response to food in its mouth. Food in the mouth automatically triggers the dogs salivary reflex. Thus, Pavlov called drooling an ___________________ and called the food an __________________

unconditioned response, unconditioned stimulus

marian and keller breland

used operant conditioning to train animals to be in movies, shows amusement parks, etc.

___________ratio schedules produce high rates of responding Ex: gambling= reinforcers increase as the number of responses increases

variable

which form of partial reinforcement has a higher resistance to extinction

variable

_____________ schedules tend to produce slow, steady responding

variable interval schedules

which form of partial reinforcement has the highest rate of motivation

variable ratio

Watson and Rosalie Rayner

little albert experiment

internal locus of control

the perception that you control your own fate

4 major drawbacks of physical punishment

(1) Punished behavior is suppressed, not forgotten (the child is beaten so the swearing stops and the parent feels they have successfully stopped the behavior) (2) Punishment teaches discrimination among situations (child beaten for swearing may just learn that swearing is not ok at home) (3) Punishment can teach fear (the child may associate fear not only with the undesired behavior but also with the person who delivered the punishment) (4) Physical punishment may increase aggression by modeling aggression as a way to cope with problems

john garcia and robert koelling noticed that rats began to avoid drinking water from the plastic bottles in radiation chambers. Could classical conditioning be the culprit? Might the rats have linked plastic-tasting water (CS) to the sickness (UR) triggered by the radiation?

1. even if sickened as late as several hours after tasting a particular novel flavor, the rats therefore avoided that flavor (this appeared to violate the notion that for conditioning to occur, the US must immediately follow the CS) 2. the sickened rats developed aversions to tastes but not sights or sounds. This contradicted the idea that any perceivable stimulus could serve as a CS

if one adjusts for pre-existing antisocial behavior, than an occasional swat or 2 to a misbehaving child looks more effective. this is especially so if 2 other conditions are met:

1. the swat is only being used as a backup when milder disciplinary tactics fail 2. the swat is combined with a generous dose of reasoning and reinforcing

problem focused coping

Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor

albert bandura

Bobo doll experiment

extinction classical conditioning

CR decreases when CS is repeatedly presented alone

NS is the same as the

CS

acquisition

In classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.

unconditioned response

In classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US)

through higher-order conditioning, a new _____ can become a new ____. All that's required it for it to become associated with a previously conditioned stimulus

NS, CS

antisocial effects in observational learning

Observational learning can have adverse effect

biological predispositions of operant conditioning

Organisms best learn behaviors similar to their natural behaviors; unnatural behaviors instinctively drift back toward natural ones

reinforcement

any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

skinner used ___________to create his operant chamber

Thorndikes law of effect

formula for classical conditioning

UCS---->UCR NS+UCS---->UCR (repeat this step) CS---->CR

operant chamber (skinner box)

a chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer, with attached devices to record these responses

bobo doll experiement

a child sees an adult abuse a bobo doll and then when they are made angry and put in a room with a bobo doll, they are likely to abuse it as well

cognitive map

a mental representation of the layout of one's environment

discriminative stimulus

a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement

insight

a sudden realization of a problem's solution

gambling is an example of

a variable ratio schedule

5 major conditioning processes

acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, discrimination

Being able to recognize differences among stimuli (discrimination) is ______ because slightly different stimuli can be followed be vastly different consequences Ex: confronted by a guard dog, your heart may race. If you are confronted by a guard dog, it probably won't

adaptive

a genetic predisposition to associate a CS with a US that follows predictably and immediately is _________________(causes often immediately precede effects)

adaptive

generalization can be _________like how toddlers taught to dear moving cars with also fear trucks

adaptive

punishment

an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows

classical conditioning even works on the body's disease fighting immune system. When a particular taste accompanies a drug that influences immune responses, the taste itself may come to produce ___________________

an immune response

primary reinforcer

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need

habituation

an organism's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it

abusive parents may have aggressive children because of ____________

antisocial effects

punisher

any consequence that decreases the frequency of a behavior

acquisition classical conditioning

associating events; NS is paired with US and becomes CS

acquisition operant conditioning

associating response with a consequence (reinforcer or punisher)

when children viewed novel cartoon characters alongside either ice cream or brussel sprouts, they came to best like the characters alongside the ice cream. This is an example of ____________

associations influencing attitudes

emotion focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction

Why does perceived loss of control predict health problems?

b/c losing control provokes an outpouring of stress hormones (blood pressure increases and immune system drops)

in order for optimal learning to occur in classical conditioning, when should the NS (which is really the CS) be presented?

before the UCS (half a second before)

extrinsic punishment

behaving in certain ways to gain external rewards or avoid threatened punishment

skinner insisted that external influences (not thoughts and feelings) shape ___________

behavior

Many business organizations effectively use ____________ to train communications, sales, and customer service skills. Trainees gain skills faster when they are able to observe the skills being practiced effectively by experienced workers

behavior modeling

taking asprin for a headache may stop the negative effects but increase the odds that you will repeat these ________

behaviors

in their early training days the Brelands presumed that operant principles would work on almost any response an animal could make but then they learned about ________________

biological constraints

an animals capacity for conditioning is constrained by ______. Each species predispositions prepare it to learn the associations that enhance its survival

biology

a flash of lightning signals an impending crack of thunder so when lightning crashed we brace ourselves. this is an example of ______________

classical conditioning

People receiving therapy for alcohol use disorder may be given alcohol spiked with a nauseating drug. WIll they then associate alcohol with sickness? One's awareness that the nausea is induced by the drug, not the alcohol often weakens the association between drinking alcohol and feeling sick. This is an example of ________________

classical conditioning treatments that ignore cognition often have limited sucess

latent learning is evidence of what conclusion

cognition plays an important role in operant conditioning

rats exploring a map, given no obvious rewards, seem to develop a _______________

cognitive map

pavlov and watson underestimated the importance not only of biological constraints on an organisms learning capacity but also the effects of ________________

cognitive processes (thoughts, perceptions, and expectations)

sometimes negative and positive reinforcement ___________

coincide

salivation in response to the tone is learned because it's conditioned upon the dogs associating the tone and food. This is __________________

conditioned response

the more predictable the association, the stronger the __________________

conditioned response

___________helps an animal survive and reproduce by responding to cues that help it gain food, avoid dangers, locate mates, and produce offspring

conditioning

models are most effective when their actions and words are ___________

consistent

some critics say that skinner _________________people by neglecting their personal freedom and seeking to control their actions

dehumanized

receiving a paycheck at the end of the week is an example of a ___________reinforcer

delayed

positive punishment (description and example)

description: administer an aversive stimulus example: spray water on a barking dog

negative punishment (description and example)

description: withdraw a rewarding stimulus example: take away teens driving privileges

sharing can help us understand what nonverbal organisms perceive (can a dog distinguish red and green?). If we can shape them to respond to one stimulus and not another then we know they can perceive a ____________

difference

ivan pavlov

discovered classical conditioning; trained dogs to salivate at the ringing of a bell

martin seligman

discovered learned helplessness in an experiment where dogs were strapped into a harness and given repeated shocks with no opportunity to avoid them. In another situation where they were able to escape, they cowered with no hope

pavlov's dogs learned to respond to the sound of a particular tone and not to others. This is an example of _____________

discrimination

in the case with the quails where the males were conditioned to get excited by a red light that signaled a females arrival, such conditioning is even speedier, stronger, and more durable when the CS is ______________________

ecologically relevant (something similar to stimuli associated with sexual activity in the natural environment)

spontaneous recovery suggested that extinction was suppressing the CR rather than __________________

eliminating it

we turn to _______________coping when we cannot believe or believe we cannot change a situation

emotion focused

by learning, we humans adapt to our _____________

environments

classical conditioning is biologically adaptive because it helps humans and other animals prepare for good or bad ________ Ex: the originally neutral tone became a CS after signaling an important biological event, the arrival of the food (US)

events

with ____________schedules, we respond more frequently as the anticipated time for reward draws near Ex: people more frequently check the mail as the delivery time approaches

fixed interval

_____________ produces a choppy stop-start pattern rather than a steady rate of response

fixed interval schedules

free coffee after buying 10 is an example of ____________

fixed ratio schedule

An animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone. This is an example of______________

higher order conditioning

why was pavlov proud of his findings

his methods involved virtually no subjective judgements or guesses about what went on in the dogs mind (a process, such as learning, can be studied objectively)

if you became violently ill 4 hrs after eating contaminated seafood, you would probably develop an aversion to the taste of seafood but not the sight of the associated restaurant, its plates, the people you were with, etc. This is an example of ________________

human beings being biologically prepared to learn some associations rather than others

neutral stimuli (NS)

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

unconditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers a response.

conditioned response

in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that (after association with an unconditioned stimulus) comes to trigger a conditioned response

discrimination

in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus (which predicts the US) and other irrelevant stimuli

variable-ratio schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

variable interval schedules

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals (unpredictably often)

fixed ratio schedules

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses (every so many)

fixed interval schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

judged by today's knowledge of the interplay of our biology, psychology, and social-cultural environment, Pavlov's ideas were __________

incomplete

negative reinforcement

increasing the strength of a given response by reducing or removing something negative (not a punishment)

Pigs trained to pick up large wooden coins and deposit them in a piggy bank began to drift back to their natural ways. This exemplifies _______________

instinctive drift (the animals reverted back to their biologically predisposed patterns)

____________ have achieved more in school, work, acted more independently, and had better health than _______

internals, externals

giving people choice enhances _________________

intrinsic motivation

excessive rewards can destroy ____________

intrinsic motivation (the desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake)

classical conditioning response

involuntary, automatic

if a sight or sound signaled the arrival of food, would the dog learn the link?

just before placing the food in the dogs mouth to produce salivation, Pavlov sounded a tone. After several pairings or tone and food, the dog began salivating at the tone alone

k

k

in the experiment with the rats in the maze, the rats experienced __________________as they only ran through the maze when motivated with food

latent learning

skinner's work elaborated what Edward Thorndike had called____________

law of effect

we _________by association (our minds naturally connect events that occur in sequence)

learn

_________________is a relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience

learning

modeling

learning by imitating a specific behavior

observational learning

learning by observing others; also called social learning

associative learning

learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).

latent learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

the more control workers have, the longer they _____

live

biological predispositions in classical conditioning

natural predispositions constrain what stimuli and responses can easily be associated

biological predispositions of classical conditioning

natural predispositions constrain what stimuli and responses can easily be associated

________________________removes a punishing event

negative reinforcement

behavior that operates on the environment to produce rewarding or punishing stimuli is called _______________

operant behavior

nature sets limits on each species capacity for _______________________

operant conditioning

discrimination operant conditioning

organism learns that certain responses, but not others, will be reinforced

generalization operant conditioning

organism's response to similar stimuli is also reinforced

if the rat learns to press the bar while YOU are distracted and you delay giving the reinforcer the rat won't learn to press the bar because you will have reinforced ____________________that occured after the bar press

other incidental behaviors (sniffing and moving)

the overuse of bribes leading people to see their actions as externally controlled rather than internally appealing which is called __________________

overjustification

what process would produce the acquisition of a conditioned response?

pair a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus several times

____________ reinforcement also works with children. Occasionally giving in to childrens tantrums for the sake of quiet, intermittently reinforces the tantrums and then this behavior will persist

partial

in humans, imitation is ____________. Our catchphrases, fashions, traditions, etc. all spread by one person copying another

pervasive

a worried student who had goofed off and gotten a bad grade studies harder for the next test. This increased effort may be negatively reinforced by the students anxiety and positively reinforced by a better grade. This is an example of ____________________

positive and negative reinforcement coinciding

prosocial effects in observational learning

positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior

in the real world, conditioned stimuli have a natural association with the unconditioned stimuli they ___________

predict

________reinforcers are unlearned

primary

we tend to use __________________ when we feel a sense of control over a situation and think we can change the circumstances or at least change ourselves to deal with the circumstances more capably

problem-focused strategies

shaping

procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

reinforcement increases a behavior while ______________does the opposite

punishment

which form of partial reinforcement is faster in terms of learning

ratio

_______________rarely provides continuous reinforcement

real life

fixed interval schedules

reinforce the first response after a fixed time period (reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed)

_______________is any consequence that strengthens a behavior

reinforcement

variable ratio schedule

reinforces a response after an unpredictable # of responses

continuous reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

classical conditioning forms associations between stimuli (a CS and the US it signals). It also involves _____________(actions that are automatic responses to a stimulus such as salivating in response to meat powder)

respondent behavior

extinction operant conditioning

responding decreases when reinforcement stops

partial (intermittent) reinforcement

responses are sometimes reinforced, sometimes not

although a strict behaviorist would object talk of "expectations", the animals behave as if they expected that repeating the response would soon produce the ___________

reward

before performing the "wanted" behavior (pressing the bar), the rat will engage in unwanted behaviors like scratching, sniffing, moving, etc. If you present food after these behaviors the rat will repeat that _____________

rewarded behavior

law of effect

rewarded behavior is likely to recur

________________is a good predictor of good adjustment, better grades, and social sucess

self control

the tendency to learn behaviors favored by natural selection may help explain why humans seem to be naturally disposed to learn associations between the color red and __________

sexuality (female primates display red when ovulating and in human females enhanced blood flow and produces a red blush)

Imagine you wanted to condition a hungry rat to press a bar. Like skinner, you would tease out this action with _______, gradually guiding the rats actions toward the desired behavior. First, you would watch how the animal naturally behaves so that you could build on its existing behaviors. You might give the rat some food each time it approaches the bar, then you only give it food when it gets really close, then finally only when it touches the bar

shaping

we are especially likely to learn from people were perceived as _______to ourselves, successful, or admirable

similar

a different picture emerged when Pavlov allowed several hours to elapse before sounding the tone again (after this delay the dogs began salivating at the tone). This is ________________

spontaneous recovery

positive reinforcement

strengthens a response by presenting a typically pleasurable stimulus after a response

learned associations often operate _________. Give people a red pen (associated with error marking) rather than a black or blue pen and they will spot more errors and give lower grades

subtly

when chemotherapy triggers nausea and vomiting more than an hour after treatment, cancer patients may develop classically conditioned nausea to sights, sounds, and smells associated with the clinic. Under normal circumstances_______________

such revulsion to sickening stimuli would be adaptive

our ancestors who readily learned taste aversions were unlikely to eat the same toxic food again and were more likely to ___________________

survive and leave descendants

taste aversion studies led to what conclusion

taste aversion is a universal survival mechanism

john garcia

taste aversion with the rats (challenged the prevailing idea that all associations can be learned equally well)

generalization classical conditioning

tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS

self control

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards

cognitive learning

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language

with continuous reinforcement, learning occurs rapidly which makes this the best choice for mastering behavior but when reinforcement stops____________________________

the behavior stops

extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.

learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

discrimination classical conditioning

the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

external locus of control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate.

learning

the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring (semi permanent) information or behaviors

spontaneous recovery operant conditioning

the reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished response

what is the most likely consequence of the brain's tendency to vicariously experience something we observe?

the risk of misremembering our own actions

behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

humans have brains that support empathy and imitation. A child's brain enables their empathy and ability to infer another's mental state through an ability known as ____________

theory of mind

operant conditioning response

voluntary, operates on environment

classical conditioning

we learn to associate two stimuli and thus to anticipate events

You could teach a pigeon to flap their wings to avoid being shocked and to peck to obtain food but they would have a hard time learning to peck to avoid shock or to flap their wings to obtain food. This exemplifies _________________

we most easily learn and retain behaviors that reflect our biological predispositions (biological constraints predispose organisms to learn associations that are naturally adaptive)

does the frequent pairing of red (hearts, lipstick, etc.) and sex naturally enhance a man's attraction to women?

yes (without a men's awareness even)

successive approximations

you reward responses that are ever-closer to the final desired behavior, and you ignore all other responses (how complex behaviors are shaped)