Unit 6 Psychology

What schedules of reinforcement are these examples: example 1: Andrew works at a GM factory and is in charge of attaching 3 parts. After he gets his parts attached, he gets some free time before the next car moves down the line. example 2: Brittany is a telemarketer trying to sell life insurance. After so many calls, someone will eventually buy.

example 1: FR example 2: VR

what is operant conditioning? Who is BF Skinner?

1. B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) and Operant conditioning a) B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) was a college English major and an aspiring writer who, seeking a new direction, entered psychology graduate school b) He went on to become modern behaviorism's most influential and controversial figure c) Skinner's work elaborated on what psychologist Edward L Thorndike d) Classical conditioning involves an automatic response to a stimulus e) Operant conditioning involves learning how to control one's response to elicit a reward or avoid a punishment (to press a lever for example) shield to fear moving cars. f) To teach an elephant to walk on its hind legs or a child to say please, we must turn to operant conditioning 2. Classical conditioning and operant conditioning are both forms of associative learning, yet their differences is straightforward a) Classical conditioning forms associations between stimuli (a CS and US its signals). It also involve respondent behavior-actions that are automatic responses to a stimulus (such as salivating in response to meat powder and later in response to a tone b) In OPERANT CONDITIONING, organisms associate their own actions with consequences. Actions followed by reinforcement increase; those followed by punishers often decrease. Behavior that operates on the environment to produce rewarding or punishing stimuli is called OPERANT BEHAVIOR c) Operant conditioning: a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.

summary of biological and cognitive influences on conditioning?

1. BIOLOGICAL PREDISPOTIONS a) Classical Conditioning: Natural predispositions constrain what stimuli and responses can easily be associated b) operant conditioning: Organisms best learn behaviors similar to their natural behaviors; unnatural behaviors instinctively drift back toward natural ones 2. COGNITIVE PROCESSES a) Classical conditioning: Organism develop expectation that CS signals the arrival of US b) operant conditioning: Organisms develop expectation that a response will be reinforced or punished; they also exhibit latent learning without reinforcement

why does percieve loss of control predict health problems? what is extenal and internal locus of control?

1. Because losing control provokes an outpouring of stress hormones 2. When rats cannot control shock or when primates or humans feel unable to control their environment, stress hormone levels rise, blood pressure increases, and immune responses drop 3. Captive animals therefore experience more stress and more vulnerable to disease than are wild animals 4. Human studies have confirmed that crowding in high density neighborhoods, prisons, and college and university dorms is another source of diminished feelings of control and of elevated levels of stress hormones and blood pressure 5. Internal versus external locus of control a) If experiencing a loss of control can be stressful and unhealthy, do people who generally feel in control of their lives enjoy better health? b) Consider your own feelings of control c) Do you believe that your life is beyond your control? d) That getting a decent summer job depends mainly on being in the right place at the right time? e) Or do you more strongly believe that what happens to you is your own doing? f) That being a success is a matter of hard work? g) Did your parents influence your feelings of control? Did you culture? 6. Hundreds of studies have compared people who differ in their perceptions of control a) On one side are those who have what psychologists Julian Rotter called an EXTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL b) On the other are those who perceive an INTERNAL LOCUS OF CONTROL c) External locus of control: the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate d) Internal locus of control: the perception that you control your own fate e) In study after study, internals have achieved more in school and work, acted more independently, enjoyed better health, and felt less depressed than did externals f) Moreover, they were better at delaying gratification and coping with various stressors, including marital problems g) One study followed 7551 British people for two decades h) Those who expressed a more internal locus of control at age 10 exhibited less obesity, hypertension, and distress at age 30 i) Other studies have found that people who believed in free will, or that willpower is controllable, learn better, perform better at work, and are more helpful 7. Compared with their parents' generation, more Americans now endorse an external locus of control a) This shift may help explain an associated increase in rates of depression and other psychological disorders in the new generation

what was Pavlov's experiment? What is neural stimuli?

1. Before conditioning, food (unconditioned stimulus, US) produces salivation (unconditioned response, UR). 2. However, the tone (neutral stimulus) does not a) Before conditioning: US b) The response it produces that is naturally occurring: UR 3. During conditioning, the neutral stimulus (tone) and the US (food) are paired, resulting in salivation (UR). after conditioning, the neutral stimulus (now conditioned stimulus, CS) elicits salivation now conditioned response, CR) 4. Pavlov was driven by a lifelong passion for research a) After setting aside his initial plan to follow his father into the Russian Orthodox priesthood, Pavlov received a medical degree at age 33 ad spend the next two decades studying the digestive system b) This work earned him russia's first nobel prize in 1904 but his novel experiments on learning, which consumed the last three decades of his life, earned him his place in history c) Pavlov's new direction came when his creative mind seized on an incidental observation d) Without fail, putting food in a dog's mouth caused the animal to salivate e) Moreover, the dog began salivating not only at the taste of the food, but also at the mere sight of the food or at the food dish or at the person delivering the food or even at the sound of that person's approaching footsteps f) At first, Pavlov considered these"psychic secretions" an annoyance until he realized they pointed to a simple but important for of learning 5. Pavlov and his assistants tried to imagine what the dog was thinking and feeling as it drooled in anticipation of the food a) This only led them into fruitless debates b) So to explore the phenomenon more objectively, the experimented c) To eliminate other possible influences, they isolated the dog in a small room, secured it in a harness, and attached a device to divert its saliva to a measuring instrument d) From the next room, the presented food-first by sliding in a food bowl, later by blowing meat powder into the dog's mouth at a precise moment 6. They then paired various NEURAL STIMULI (NS) eventsthe dog could see or hear but didn't associate with food. a) Neural stimuli (NS): in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning b) The dog learned the link if the sight or sound regularly signaled the arrival of food and it began salivating in anticipation c) Just before placing the food in the dog's mouth to reduce salivation, Pavlov sounded a tone d) After several pairings of tone and food, the dog now anticipating the meat powder, began salivating to the tone alone e) In later experiments, a buzzer, a light, a touch on the leg, even the sight of a circle set off the drooling (this procedure works with people too) 7. A dog doesn't learn to salivate in response to food in its mouth. a) Food in the mouth automatically, unconditionally triggers a dog's salivary reflex b) Thus, Pavlov called the drooling an UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE (UR) and he called the food an UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS (US) c) Salivation in response to the tone is learned d) Because it is conditional upon the dog's associating the tone and the food, we call this response the CONDITIONED RESPONSE (CR) e) The stimulus that used to be neutral (in this case, a previously meaningless tone that now triggers salivation) is the CONDITIONED STIMULUS (CS)

who is john b watson?

1. Behaviorism: The founder 2. John B. Watson a) Viewed psychology as objective science b) Recommended study of behavior without reference to unobserved mental processes c) Did little albert experiments d) Watson performed the Little Albert experiment with Rayner

what is partial and continuous reinforcement?

1. Continuous reinforcement: reinforces the desired response each time it occurs a) With CONTINUOUS REINFORCEMENT, learning occurs rapidly, which makes this the best choice for mastering a behavior b) Continuous reinforcement: reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs c) But extinction also occurs rapidly d) When reinforcement stops-the behavior soon stops e) If a normally dependable candy machine fails to deliver a chocolate bar twice in a fox, we stop putting money into it (although a week later we may exhibit spontaneous recovery by trying again) f) Real life rarely provides continuous reinforcement 2. Partial (intermittent) reinforcement: reinforces responses only part of the time. Though this results in slower acquisition in the beginning, it shows greater resistance to extinction later on a) Persistence in your efforts are occasionally rewarded and is typical with b) PARTIAL (INTERMITTENT) REINFORCEMENT, in which responses are sometimes reinforced, sometimes not b) Partial intermittent reinforcement: reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement c) Learning is slower to appear, but resistance to extinction is greater than with continuous reinforcement d) Imagine a pigeon that has learned to peck a key to obtain food. If you gradually phase out the food delivery until it occurs only rarely, in no predictable pattern, the pigeon may peak 150,000 times without a reward Gambling machines and lottery tickets reward gamblers in much the same way 3. Lesson for child caregivers: partial reinforcement also works with children a) Occasionally giving in to children's tantrums for the sake of peace an quiet intermittently reinforces the tantrums b) This is the very best procedure for making a behavior persist

what are the four major drawbacks of physical punishment?

1. Criminal behavior uch of it impulsive is also influenced more by swift and sure punishers than by the threat of severe sentences a) Thus when Arizona introduced an exceptionally harsh sentence for first time drunk drivers, the drunk driving rate changed very little b) But when Kansas city police started patrolling a high crime area to increase the sameness and swiftness of punishment, that city's crime rate dropped dramatically 2. Many psychologists and supporters of nonviolent parenting note four major drawbacks of physical punishment a) PUNISHED BEHAVIOR IS SUPPRESSED, NOT FORGOTTEN. THIS TEMPORARY STATE MAY (NEGATIVELY) REINFORCE PARENTS' PUNISHING BEHAVIOR b) The child swears, the parents swats, the parent hears no more swearing and feels the punishment successfully stopped the behavior c) No wonder spanking is a hit with so many US parents of 3 and 4 year olds, more than 9 in 10 of whom acknowledged spanking their children 3. PUNISHMENT TEACHES DISCRIMINATION AMONG SITUATIONS. a) In operant conditioning, discrimination occurs when an organism learns that certain responses, but not others, will be reinforced b) Did the punishment effectively end the child's swearing or did the child simply learn that it's not okay to swear around the house though okay elsewhere 4. PUNISHMENT CAN TEACH FEAR a) In operant conditioning, generalization occurs when an organism's response to similar stimuli is also reinforced b) A punished child may associate fear not only with the undesirable behavior but also with the person who delivered the punishment or the place it occured c) Thus, children may learn to fear a punishing teacher and try to avoid school, or may become more anxious d) For such reasons, most European countries and most US states now ban hitting children in schools and child care institutions e) Thirty three countries, including those in Scandinavia, further outlaw hitting by parents, providing children the same legal protection given to spouses 5. PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT MAY INCREASE AGGRESSION BY MODELING AGGRESSION AS A WAY TO COPE WITH PROBLEMS a) Studies find that spanked children are at an increased risk for aggression and depression and low self esteem b) We know, for example, that many aggressive delinquents, and abusive parents come from abusive families.

what was the early operant conditioning? Who is Thorndike? What is the law of effect?

1. Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) 2. Early Operant Conditioning a) EL Thordike (1898) b) Puzzle boxes and cats c) Build boxes for cats and the cats had to figure out how to get out of the boxes to get their food (have to push the level) d) Get faster at it until they learn to just touch the lever to get food e) It is voluntary behavior so operant 3. Skinner's work elaborated on what psychologist Edward L Thorndike (1874-1949) called the LAW OF EFFECT a) Law of effect: Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely b) Using Thorndike's law of effect as a starting point, Skinner developed a behavioral technology that revealed principles of BEHAVIOR CONTROL c) These principles also enabled him to teach pigeons such pigeon like behaviors as walking, playing ping-pong, and keeping a missile on course by pecking at a screen target

what are applications for operant conditioning?

Applications of Operant Conditioning 1. Reinforcement technologies are at work in schools, sports, worksplaces, and homes, and the principles of operant conditioning can support our self improvement as well a) At school 2. Fifty years ago, Skinner envisioned a day when teaching machines and textbooks would shape learning in small steps, immediately reinforcing correct responses a) He believed that such machines and texts would revolutionize education and free teachers to focus on each student's special needs b) Skinner believed that good instruction demands two things, students must be told immediately whether what they do is right or wrong and when right they must be directed to the step to be taken next 3. Skinner might be pleased to know that many of his ideals for education are now possible a) Teachers used to find it difficult to pace material to each student's rate of learning, and to provide prompt feedback b) Electronic adaptive quizzing dos both c) Students move through quizzes at their own pace, according to their own level of understanding d) And they get immediate feedback on their efforts 4. In sports a) The key to shaping behavior in athletic performance, as elsewhere, is first reinforcing small successes and then gradually increasing the challenge b) Golf students can learn putting by starting with very short putts, and then, as they build mastery, eventually stepping back farther and farther c) Novice batters can begin with half swings at an oversized ball pitched from 10 feet away, giving them the immediate pleasure of smacking the ball d) As the hitters' confidence builds with their success and they achieve mastery at each level, the pitcher gradually moves back to 15 then 22, 30, and 40.5 feet and eventually introduces a standard baseball e) Compared with children taught by conventional methods, those trained by this behavioral method have shown faster skill improvement f) In sports as in the laboratory, the accidental timing of rewards can produce SUPERSTITIOUS BEHAVIORS g) If a Skinner box food dispenser gives a pellet of food every 15 minutes whatever the animal happened to be doing just before the food arrives is more likely to be repeated and reinforced, which occasionally can produce a persistent superstitious behavior h) Likewise, if a baseball or softball player gets a hit after tapping the plate with the bat, he or she may be more likely to do so again i) Over time, the player may experience partial reinforcement for what becomes a superstitious behavior 5. At work a) Knowing that reinforcers influence productivity, many organizations have invited employees to share the risks and rewards of company ownership b) Others focus on reinforcing a job well done c) Rewards are most likely to increase productivity if the desired performance has been well defined and is achievable d) REWARD SPECIFIC ACHIEVABLE BEHAVIORS, NOT VAGUELY DEFINED "MERIT" e) Operant conditioning also reminds us that reinforcement should be IMMEDIATE f) IBM legend Thomas Watson understood g) When he observed an achievement, he wrote the employee a check on the spot h) But rewards need not be material or lavish i) An effective manager may simply walk the floor and sincerely affirm people for good work, or write notes of appreciation for a completed project j) As skinner said "how much richer would the whole world be if the reinforcers in daily life were more effectively contingent on productive work?" 6. At home a) As we have seen, parents can learn from operant conditioning practices b) Parent training researchers remind us that by saying "get ready for bed" but caving in to protests or defiance, parents reinforce such whining and arguing c) Exasperated, they may then yell or gesture menacingly d) When the child, now frightened, obeys, that reinforcers the parents' angry behavior e) Over time, a destructive parent-child relationship develops f) To disrupt this cycle, parents should remember that basic rule of shaping: NOTICE PEOPLE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT AND AFFIRM THEM FOR IT g) Give children attention and other reinforcers when they are behaving well h) Target a specific behavior, reward it, and watch it increase i) When children misbehave or are defiant, don't yell at them or hit them j) Simply explain that misbehavior and give them a time out 7. For self improvement a) Finally, we can use operant conditioning in our own lives b) To build up your SELF CONTROL, you need to reinforce your own desired behaviors and extinguish the undesired ones 8. Psychologists suggest taking these steps a) STATE YOUR GOAL IN MEASURABLE TERMS, AND ANNOUNCE IT A) You might, for example, aim to boost your study time by an hour a day and share that goal with some close friends b) MONITOR HOW OFTEN YOU ENGAGE IN YOUR DESIRED BEHAVIOR A) You might log your current study time, noting under what conditions you do and don't study c) REINFORCE THE DESIRED BEHAVIOR A) To increase your study time, give yourself a reward (a snack or some activity you enjoy) only after you finish your extra hour of study B) Agree with your friends that you will join them for weekend activities only if you have met your realistic weekly studying goal d) REDUCE THE REWARDS GRADUALLY A) As your new behaviors become more habitual, give yourself a mental pat on the back instead of a cookie 9. In addition, we can literally learn from ourselves. a) There is some evidence that when we have feedback about our bodily responses, we can sometimes change those responses

what are the antisocial effects of obersational learning?

Applications of observational learning 1. Bandura's studies show that antisocial models (family, neighborhood, or TV) may have antisocial effects a) The bad news is that observational learning may have ANTISOCIAL EFFECTS b) This helps us understand why abusive parents might have aggressive children, and why many men who beat their wives had wife-battering fathers 2. Critics note that being aggressive could be passed along by parents' genes a) But with monkeys we know it can be environmental b) In study after study, young monkeys separated from their mothers and subjected to high levels of aggression grew up to be aggressive themselves c) The lessons we learn as children are not easily replaced as adults, and they are sometimes visited on future generations 3. TV shows and Internet videos are a powerful source of observational learning a) While watching TV and videos, children may "learn" that bullying is an effective way to control others, that free and easy sex brings pleasures without later misery or ideas, or that men should be tough and women gentle b) And they have ample time to learn such lessons c) During their first 18 years, most children in developed countries spend more time watching TV shows than they spend in school d) The average teen watches TV show more than 4 hours a day; the average adult, 3 hours 4. TV shows viewers are learning about life from a rather peculiar storyteller, one that reflects the culture's mythology but not its reality 5. Between 1998 and 2006, prime time violence reportedly increased 75% a) If we include cable programming and video rentals, the violence numbers escalate b) An analysis of more than 3000 network and cable programs aired during closely studied year revealed that nearly 6 in 10 featured violence, the 74% of the violence went unpunished, that 58% did not show the victims' pain, that nearly half the incidents involved "justified" violence, and that nearly half involved an attractive perpetrator c) These conditions define the recipe for the VIOLENCE VIEWING EFFECT described in many studies 6. Our knowledge of learning principles comes from the work of hundreds of investigators a) This unit has focused on the ideas of a few pioneers-Ivan PavLov, John Watson, B. F. Skinner, and Albert Bandura b) They illustrate the impact that can result from single-minded devotion to a few well defined problems and ideas c) These researchers defined the issues and impressed on us the importance of learning d) As their legacy demonstrates, intellectual history is often made by people who risk going to extremes in pushing ideas to their limits 7. So the big news from Bandura's studies and the mirror neuron research is that we look, we mentally imitate, and we learn 8. Models-in our family or neighborhood, or an TV may have effects, good or bad

Give some examples of classical conditioning

1. Example: Advertising a) Many beer ads prominently feature attractive young women wearing bikinis. The young women (unconditioned stimulus) naturally elicit a favorable, mildly aroused feeling (unconditioned response) in most men. The beer is associated with this effect 2. Ex: Crime reaction a) When a professor was in college he was robbed at gunpoint by a young man who gave him the choice, "your money or your life." it was an unexpected and frightening experience. This event occurred just about dusk and for a long time thereafter, he often experienced moments of dread in the late afternoons particularly when he was just walking around the city. Even though he was quite safe, the lengthening shadows of the day were so strongly associated with the fear he experienced in the robbery, that he could not but help feel the emotion again 3. Ex: An auntie a) I like my aunt, she always made me feel warm and wanted. She always wore a particular perfume. When I smell the perfume now, I immediately feel warm and wanted 4. Ex: a cat example a) In order to be able to punish my cat even when I'm not near enough to reach him, I have paired the sound of a clicker with getting squirted with water. Now the sound of the clicker causes him to startle The click is developing the same aversive properties as the water through Classical Conditioning. The Unconditioned stimulus is the water; the Unconditioned response is the "jump" as in startle. The click starts out as a neutral stimulus, but becomes the Conditioned stimulus capable of producing the Conditioned "jump" response. 5. Ex: The smell of fresh bread baking makes my mouth water a) In the past the smell of the fresh bread immediately preceded putting a piece in my mouth which causes salivation. Through the mechanism of CLassical conditioning the smell itself comes to elicit salivation 6. Ex: After the bar car accident we had last year, I cringe and break into a sweat at the sound of squealing brakes a) This is classical conditioning. The cringing, which is an unconditioned response to pain or fear, was produced by the accident and its accompanying pain. That accident was probably preceded by the sound of squealing brakes, which became a conditioned stimulus for the conditioned response of cringing 7. Ex: Alcoholics a) Another way to treat alcoholics is to have them take a drug called Antabuse. If they ingest any alcohol at all, they will have serious vomiting issues. The desire is to pair the vomiting with the alcoholic drink

what is the general skinnerian idea?what were skinner's experiments?

1. General Skinnerian Idea: "a) Behavior is a function of its consequence" 2. Skinner's Experiments a) Skinner's experiments extend Throndike's thinking, especially his law of effect. This law states that rewarded behavior is likely to occur again

what are immediate and delayed reinforcer?

1. Immediate reinforcer: a reinforcer that occurs instantly after a behavior. A rat gets food pellet for a bar press 2. Delayed reinforcer: a reinforcer that is delayed in time for a certain behavior. A paycheck that comes at the end of a week a) Let's return to an imaginary shaping experiment in which you were conditioning a rat to press a bar b) Before performing this "wanted" behavior, the hungry rat will engage in a sequence of "unwanted" behaviors-scratching, sniffing, and moving around c) If you present food immediately after any one of these behaviors, the rat will likely repeat that rewarded behavior. d) If the rat presses the bar while you are distracted and you delay giving the reinforcer for longer than 30 seconds, the rat will not learn to press the bar e) You will have reinforced other incidental behaviors-more sniffing and moving that intervened after the bar press f) Unlike rats, humans do respond to delayed reinforcers: the paycheck at the end of the week, the good grade at the end of the term, the trophy at the end of the season g) Indeed, to function effectively, we must learn to delay gratification h) In laboratory testing, some 4-year olds show this ability i) In choosing a candy, they prefer having a big one tomorrow to munching on a small one right now j) Learning to control our impulses in order to achieve more valued rewards is a big step toward maturity k) No wonder children who make such choices have tended to become socially competent and high achieving adults 3. To our detriment, small but immediate consequences (the enjoyment of late night videos or texting for example) are sometimes more alluring than big but delayed consequences (the feeling of being alert tomorrow) a) For many teens, the immediate gratification of risky, unprotected sex in passionate moments prevails over the delayed gratification of safe sex or saved sex b) And for many people, the immediate rewards of today's gas guzzling vehicles, air travel, and air conditioning prevail over the bigger future consequences of global climate change, rising seas, and extreme weather

what are intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?

1. Intrinsic motivation a) The desire to perform a behavior for its own sake b) Always trumps extrinsic motivation c) The cognitive perspective has also shown as the limits of rewards d) Promising people a reward for a task they already enjoy can backfire e) Excessive rewards can destroy INTRINSIC MOTIVATION f) Intrinsic motivation: a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake g) In experiments, children have been promised a payoff for playing with an interesting puzzle or toy h) Later, they played with the toy less than other unpaid children did i) Likewise, rewarding children with toys or candy for reading, diminishes the time they spend reading j) It is as if they think "if I have to be bribed into doing this, it must be worth doing for its own sake" k) This overuse of bribes-leading people to see their actions as externally controlled rather than internally appealing has been called OVERJUSTIFICATION 2. Extrinsic motivation: a) The desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threat of punishment b) To sense the difference between intrinsic motivation and EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION think about your experience in this course c) Extrinsic motivation: a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment d) You are extrinsically motivated to read this lesson because of a deadline, your grade, or to get college credit e) You are intrinsic motivation also fuels your efforts if you find the material interesting, learning is makes you feel more competent, and you would want to learn the material for its own sake and not because of your grade f) Youth sports coaches who aim to promote enduring interest in an activity, not just to pressure players into winning, should focus on the intrinsic joy of playing and of reaching one's potential g) Giving people choices also enhances their intrinsic motivation h) Nevertheless, rewards used to signal a job well done (rather than to bride or control someone) can be effective i) Most improved player award for example can boost feelings of competence and increase enjoyment of a sport j) Rightly administered, rewards can raise performance and spark creativity k) And extrinsic rewards ( such as the college scholarships and jobs that often follow good grades) are here to stay

what is classical conditioning? What is behaviorism? Who is Pavlov and Watson?

1. It was the Russian physiologist IVAN PAVLOV who elucidated classical conditioning a) He works with the dog experiment and discovery classical conditioning b) Classical conditioning is learning that takes place when an originally neutral stimulus comes to produce a conditioned response because of its association with an unconditioned stimulus c) Neutral stimulus is a stimulus that means nothing to you d) Classical Conditioning is associating something with a type of relax that your body already does like slaviating, heart rate increasing, blinking, sweating e) Apparatus for measuring conditioned responses: may need to know what it looks like 2. Ivan Pavlov is famous for his early twentieth century experiments-now psychology's most famous research- and are classics and the phenomenon he explored we call CLASSICAL CONDITIONING a) Classical conditioning: a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events 3. Pavlov's work laid the foundation for many of psychologists John B Watson's ideas a) In searching for laws underlying learning, Watson urged his colleagues to discard reference to inner thoughts, feelings, and motives b) The science of psychology should instead study how organisms respond to stimuli in their environments. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods. c) Psychology should be an objective science based on observable behavior d) This view, which influenced North American psychology during the first half of the twentieth century, Watson called BEHAVIORISM e) 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). f) Pavlov and Watson shared both a disdain for mentalistic concepts such as consciousness and a belief that the basic laws of learning were the same for all animals g) Few researchers today propose that psychology should ignore mental processes, but most now agree that classical conditioning is a basic form of learning by which all organisms adapt to their environment

what was bandura's methodology? What was his results, hypothesis, and social learning theory?

Bandura Methodology 1. Albert Bandura: Hypothesis a) Believed we learn through observation and imitation b) Hypothesized that children would imitate aggressive behavior they observed 2. Children watched films of adults beating Bobo dolls 3. Three groups: aggression-rewarded, aggression-punished, no consequences 4. Children went into rooms with toys 5. Bandura's Results a) Children in the aggression punished groups expressed the fewest aggressive behaviors toward the bobo dolls b) Children in the other groups expressed an equal number of aggressive behavior and were more aggressive than children in the aggression punished group c) Other groups are the model rewarded and no consequences 6. Bandura's social learning theory: a) Relates to effects of violence and other images on TV and in the movies b) Children imitate good and neutral behaviors as well as bad ones

what is learning?

1. Learning is defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that occurs as a result of experience a) Learning; the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors. b) By learning, humans are able to adapt to our environments 2. We learn to expect and prepare for significant events such as food or pain (CLASSICAL CONDITIONING), to repeat acts that bring rewards and to avoid acts that bring unwanted results (OPERANT CONDITIONING), and learn new behaviors by observing events and by watching others and through language we learn things we have neither experienced nor observed (COGNITIVE LEARNING) a) More than 200 years ago, philosophers echoed Aristotle's conclusion from 2000 years earlier: WE LEARN BY ASSOCIATION b) Our minds naturally connect events that occur in sequence. c) Suppose you see and smell freshly baked bread, eat some and find it satisfying. The net time you see and smell fresh bread you will expect that eating it will again by satisfying d) So too, with sounds, if you associate a sound with a frightening consequences, hearing the sound alone may trigger your fear e) Learning associations often operate subtly f) Give people a red pen (associated with error marking) rather than a black pen and when correcting essays, they will spot more errors and give lower grades g) When voting people are more likely to support taxes to aid education if their assigned voting place is in a school h) Learned associations also feed our habitual behaviors i) As we repeat behaviors in a given context, the behaviors become associated with the contexts 3. Our next experience of the context then evokes our habitual response a) On average, behaviors became habitual after about 66 days. If there is something you like to make a routine part of your life, just do it every day for two months or a bit longer for exercise and you likely will find yourself with a new habit b) Other animals also learn by association c) Disturbed by a squirt of water, the sea slug protectively withdraws its gill d) If the squirt continue, as happens naturally in choppy water, the withdrawal response diminishes and the slug habituates e) Habituates: an organism's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it f) Complex animals can learn to associate their own behavior with its outcomes g) An aquarium seal will repeat behaviors such as slapping and barking that prompt people to toss it a herring

what is associative learning? What are the types of conditioning? What is cognitive and observational learning?

1. One type of learning is Classical Conditioning a) Aka Associative learning b) Conditioning = learning c) Associating one thing with another thing like a bell with food 2. By linking two events that occur close together, both animals are exhibiting ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING a) Associative learning: learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning) b) The sea slug associates the squirt with an impending shock, the seal associates slapping and barking with a herring treat c) Each animal has learned something important to its survival; predicting the immediate future 2. This process of learning associations is CONDITIONING and it takes two main forms CLASSICAL CONDITIONING, we learn to associate two stimuli and thus to anticipate events a) Stimulus: any event or situation that evokes a response b) OPERANT CONDITIONING, we learn to associate a response (our behavior) and its consequence. Thus we and other animals learn to repeat acts followed by good results and avoid acts followed by bas results c) Often the two types of learning occur together d) Conditioning is not the only form of learning e) Through COGNITIVE LEARNING, we acquire mental information that guides our behavior f) Cognitive learning: the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events by watching others, or through language g) OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING, one form of cognitive learning lets us learn from others' experiences h) Chimpanzees for example sometimes learning behaviors merely by watching others perform them i) If one animal sees another solve a puzzle and gain a food reward, the observer may perform the trick more quickly. j) So too in humans, we look and we learn

what are the scheules of reinforcement? What is fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, and variable interval schedules?

1. Schedules of reinforcement: a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced a) It varies b) Skinner and his collaborators compared four schedules of partial reinforcement c) Some are rigidly fixed, some unpredictably variable 2. Schedules of reinforcement: a) Extinction b) Continuous c) Intermittent A) Interval 1) Fixed 2) Variable B) Ratio 1) Fixed 2) Variable 3) Variable can have different values because they are variables 4) Fixed is the same number every time d) Partial reinforcement lies between continuous reinforcement and extinction 3. Fixed ratio (FR) a) Reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses b) Faster you respond the more rewards you get c) Different ratios d) Very high rate of responding e) Like piecework pay f) FIX RATIO SCHEDULES reinforce behavior after a set number of responses 4. Fix ratio schedules: in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses a) Coffee shops may reward us with a free drink after every 10 purchases b) In the laboratory, rats may be reinforced on a fixed ratio of say one food pellet for every 30 responses. c) Once conditioned animals will pause only briefly after a reinforcer before returning to a high rate of responding 5. Variable ratio (VR): a) Reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses b) Like gambling, fishing c) Very hard to extinguish because of unpredictability d) VARIABLE RATIO SCHEDULES provide reinforcers after a seemingly unpredictable number of responses. e) Variable ratio schedules: in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses f) This is what slot machine players and fly casting anglers experience-unpredictable reinforcement-and what makes gambling and fly fishing so hard to extinguish even when both are getting nothing for something g) Because reinforcers increase as the number of responses increases, variable ratio schedules produce high rates 6. Fixed interval (FI) a) Reinforces a response only after a specified (fixed) time has elapsed b) Response occurs more frequently as the anticipated time for reward draws near c) FIXED INTERVAL SCHEDULES reinforce the first response after a fixed time period d) Fixed interval schedules: in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed e) Animals on this type of schedule tend to respond more frequently as the anticipated time for reward draws near f) People check more frequently for the mail as the delivery time approaches g) A hungry child jiggles the Jell-O more often to see if it has set h) Pigeons peck keys more rapidly as the time for reinforcement draws nearer i) This produces a choppy stop start pattern rather than a steady rate of response 7. Variable Interval (VI) a) Reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals b) Produces slow steady responding c) Like pop quiz d) VARIABLE-INTERVAL SCHEDULES reinforce the first response after varying time intervals e) Variable interval schedules: in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals f) Like the longed for responses that finally reward persistence in rechecking email or facebook, variable interval schedules tend to produce slow steady responding g) This makes sense, because there is no knowing when the waiting will be over 8. Fixed are predictable a) Fixed ratio is predictable and based on the number of necessary responses b) Fixed interval is based on time that must first pass 9. Variable is unpredictable a) Variable ratio is based on number of necessary responses b) Variable interval is based on time that must first pass c) In general, response rates are higher when reinforcement is linked to the number of responses (a ratio schedule) rather than to time (an interval schedule) d) But responding is more consistent when reinforcement is unpredictable (a variable schedule) than when it is predictable (a fixed schedule) e) Animal behaviors differ, yet Skinner contended that the reinforcement principles of operant conditioning are universal f) It matters little he said what response what reinforcer, or what species you use

what do researchers argue about for punishments?

1. Some researchers note a problem a) They say physically punished children may be more aggressive for the same reason that people who have undergone psychotherapy are more likely to suffer depression-because they had preexisting problems that triggered the treatment b) If one adjusts for preexisting antisocial behavior, then an occasional single swat or two to misbehaving 2 to 6 year olds looks more effective. That is especially so if two other conditions are met: c) The swat is used only as a backup when milder disciplinary tactics, such as a time out (removing them from reinforcing surroundings), fail d) The swat is combined with a generous dose of reasoning and reinforcing 2. Other researchers remain unconvinced a) After controlling for prior misbehaviour, they report that more frequent spankings of young children predict future aggressiveness 3. Parents of delinquent youths are often unaware of how to achieve desirable behaviors without screaming at or hitting their children a) Training programs can help transform dire threats into positive incentives b) Stop and think about it c) Aren't many threats of punishment just as forceful and perhaps more effective when rephrased positively d) Such responses reduce unwanted behavior while reinforcing more desirable alternatives e) Remember: PUNISHMENT TELLS YOU WHAT NOT TO DO; REINFORCEMENT TELLS YOU WHAT TO DO 4. What punishment often teaches, said Skinner, is how to avoid it. Most psychologists now favor an emphasis on reinforcement

does viewing media violence trigger violent behavior?

1. Television and Observational learning a) Gentile et al. (2004) shows that children in elementary school who are exposed to violent television, videos, and video games express increased aggression 2. Modeling violence: a) Research shows that viewing media violence leads to an increased expression of aggression b) Was the judge who in 1993, tried two British 10 year olds for the murder of a two year old right to suspect that the pair had been influenced by violent video films c) Were the american media right to wonder if Adam Lanza, the 2012 mass killer of young children and their teachers at Connecticut's Sandy Hook Elementary School, was influenced by his playing of the violent video games found stockpiled in his home? d) To understand whether violence viewing leads to violent behavior, researchers have done some 600 correlational and experimental studies 3. Correlational studies do support this link: a) In the United States and Canada, homicide rates doubled between 1957 and 1974, just when TV was introduced and spreading. Moreover, census regions with later dates for TV services also had homicide rates that jumped later b) White south africans were first introduced to TV in 1975. A similar near doubling of the homicide rate began after 1975 c) Elementary schoolchildren with heavy exposure to media violence (via TV, videos, and video games) tend to get into more fights. As teens, they are at a greater risk of violent behavior 5. But as we know from unit 2, correlation need not mean causation a) So these studies do not prove that viewing violence causes aggression b) Maybe aggressive children prefer violent programs c) Maybe abused or neglected children are both more aggressive and more often left in front of the TV or computer d) Maybe violent programs simply reflect, rather than affect, violent trends 6. To pin down causation, psychologists experimented a) They randomly assigned some viewers to observe violence and others to watch entertaining nonviolence 7. Does viewing cruelty prepare people, when irritated to react more cruelly? a) To some extent, it does b) This is especially so when an attractive person commits seemingly justified, realistic violence that goes unpunished and causes no visible pain or harm 8. The violence viewing effect seems to stem from at least two factors a) One is imitation b) Children as young as 14 months will imitate acts they observe on TV c) As they watch, their brains simulate the behavior and after this inner rehearsal they become more likely to act it out d) Thus, in one experiment, violent play increased sevenfold immediately after children viewed power rangers episodes 9. Prolonged exposure to violence also desensitizes viewers a) They become more indifferent to it when later viewing a brawl whether on TV or in real life b) Adult males who spent three evenings watching sezually violent movies became progressively less bothered by the rapes and slashings c) Compared with those in a control group, the film watchers later expressed less sympathy for domestic violence victims, and they rated the victims' injuries as less severe d) Likewise, moviegoers were less likely to help an injured woman pick up her crutches if they had just watched a violent rather than a nonviolent movie 10. Drawing on such findings, the American Academy of Pediatrics (2009) had advised pediatricians that media violence can contribute to aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, nightmares, and fear of being harmed a) Indeed an evil psychologists could hardly imagine a better way to make people indifferent to brutality than to expose them to a graded series of scenes from fights to killings to the mutations in slasher movies b) Watching cruelty fosters indifference 11. Video games, a good side? a) The better that people got at Medal of Honor, the more their attention and memory skills outside the game skyrocketed

how does the brain's response to observing others make their emotions contagious?

1. The brain's response to observing others makes emotions contagious 2. Through its neurological echo, our brain simulates and vicariously experiences what we observe a) So real are these mental instant replays that we may misremember an action we have observed as an action we have performed b) But through these reenactments, we grape others' states of mind c) Observing others' postures, faces, voices, and writing styles, we unconsciously synchronize our own to theirs-which helps us feel what they are feeling d) We find ourselves yawning, when they yawn, laughing when they laugh 3. When observing movie characters smoking, smokers' brains spontaneously simulate smoking, which helps explain their cravings a) Seeing a loved one's pain, our faces mirror the other's emotion and so do our brains b) In this fMRI scan, the pain imagined by an empathic romantic partner has triggered some of the same brain activity experienced by the loved one actually have the pain c) Even reading fiction may trigger such activity, as we mentally simulate (and vicariously experience) the experiences described d) The bottom line: BRAIN ACTIVITY UNDERLIES OUR INTENSELY SOCIAL NATURE

what are the biological predispositiosn that limit classical conditioning?

1. Today's learning theorists recognize that learning is the product of the interaction of biological, psychological, and social cultural influences 2. Biological Constraints on Conditioning a) Ever since Charles Darwin, scientists have assumed that all animals share a common evolutionary history and thus share commonalities in their makeup and functioning b) Pavlov and Watson, for example believed the basic laws of learning were essentially similar in all animals c) So it should make little difference whether one studied pigeons or people d) Moreover it seemed that any natural response could be conditioned to any neutral stimulus 3. Limits on Classical Conditioning a) In 1956, learning researcher Gregory Kimble proclaimed, "just about any activity of which the organisms is capable can be conditioned and these responses can be conditioned to any stimulus that the organisms can perceive b) 25 years later, he humbly acknowledged that half a thousand scientific reports have proven him wrong c) More than the early behaviorists realized, an animal's capacity for conditioning is constrained by its biology d) Each species' predispositions prepare it to learn that associations that enhance its survival e) Environments are not the whole story 4. John Garcia was among those who challenged the prevailing idea that all associations can be learned equally well a) While researching the effects of radiation on laboratory animals, Garcia and Robert Joelling noticed that rats began to avoid drinking water from the plastic bottles in radiation chambers b) To find an explanation, Garcia and Koelling exposed the rats to a particular taste, sight or sound (CS) and later also to radiation or drugs (US) that led to nausea and vomiting (UR). 5. Two startling findings emerged: first even sicked as late as several hours after tasting a particular novel flavor, the rats therefore avoided that flavor a) This appeared to violate the notion that for conditioning to occur, the US must immediately follow the CS b) Second, the sickened rats developed aversions to tastes but not to sights or sounds c) This contradicted the behaviorists' idea that any perceivable stimulus could serve as a CS d) But it made adaptive sense e) For rats, the easiest way to identify tainted food is to taste it; if sickened after sampling a new food, they thereafter avoid it f) This response, called TASTE AVERSION makes it difficult to eradicate a population of bait shy rats by poisoning 6. Humans too seem biologically prepared to learn some associations rather than others a) If you become violently ill four hours after eating contaminated seafood, you will probably develop an aversion to the taste of seafood but usually not to the sight of the associated restaurant, its plates, the people you were with, or the music you heard there b) In contrasts, birds which hunt by sight, appear biologically primed to develop aversions to the sight of tainted food 7. Garcia's early findings on taste aversion were met with an onslaught of criticism a) Learning journals refused to publish Garcia's work: the findings are impossible, said some critics b) But as often happens in science, Garcia and Koelling's taste aversion research is now basic textbook material c) It is also a good example of experiments that begin with the discomfort of some laboratory animals and end by enhancing the welfare of many others d) In one conditioned taste aversion study, coyotes and wolves were tempted into eating sheep carcasses laced with a sickening poison e) Thereafter, they developed an aversion to sheep meat; two wolves later penned with a live sheep seemed actually to fear it f) These studies not only saved the sheep from their predators, but also saved the sheep shunning coyotes and wolves from angry ranchers and farmers who had wanted to destroy them g) Similar applications have prevented baboons from raiding African gardens, raccoons from attacking chickens, and ravens and crows from feeding on crane eggs h) In all these cases, research helped preserve both the prey and their predators who occupy an important ecological niche 8. Such research supports Darwin's principle that natural selection favors traits that aid survival a) 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 b) Nausea, like anxiety, paink, and other bad feelings, serves a good purpose c) Like a low oil warning on a car dashboard, each alerts the body to a threat 9. And remember those Japanese quail that were conditioned to get excited by a red light that signaled a receptive female's arrival a) Michael Domjam and his colleagues report that such conditioning is even speedier, stronge, and more durable when the CS is ECOLOGICALLY RELEVANT-something similar to stimuli associated with sexual activity in the natural environment, such as the stuffed head of a female quail b) In the real world, observes Domjam, conditioned stimuli have natural association with the unconditioned stimuli they predict 10. The tendency to learn behaviors favored by natural selection may help explain why we humans seem to be naturally disposed to learn associations between the color red and sexuality a) Female primates display red when nearing ovulation b) In human females, enhanced blood flow produces the red blush of flirtation and sexual excitation c) Does the frequent pairing of red and sex-with Valentine's hearts, red light districts, and red lipstick naturally nehance men's attraction to women e) Experiments suggest that, without men's awareness, it does f) In follow up studies, men who viewed a supposed female conversation partner in red rather than green shirt chose to sit closer to where they expected her to sit and to ask her more intimate questions g) And it's not just men: women tend to perceive men as more attractive when seen on a red background or in red clothing 11. A genetic predisposition to associate a CS with a US that follows predictably and immediately is adaptive: Causes often immediately precede effects a) Often, but not always, as we saw in the taste aversion findings b) At such times, our predispositions can trick us c) When chemotherapy triggers nausea and vomiting more than an hour following treatment, cancer patients may over time develop classically conditioned nausea (and sometimes anxiety) to the sights, sounds, and smells associated with the clinic d) Merely returning to the clinic's waiting room or seeing the nurses can provoke these conditioned feelings e) Under normal circumstances, such revulsion to sickening stimuli would be adaptive

what is acquistion and higher order conditioning?

Acquisition The initial learning stage in classical conditioning in which an association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus takes place a) Dog is making a connection between the bell and the food 1. In most cases, for conditioning to occur, the neutral stimulus needs to come before the unconditioned stimulus 2. The time in between the two stimuli should be about half a second. One must reliably predict the other a) The timing has to be right and the unconditioned response and unconditioned response need to happen within 30 seconds of each other so the association can be made b) You have to have an expectation that it is going to happen in the future by repeated use 3. 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 a) To understand the acquisition of the stimulus-response relationship, Pavlov and his associates had to confront the question of timing: ho much time should elapse between the presenting NS (the tone, the light the touch), and the US (the food) b) In most cases, not much, half a second usually works well c) What would happen if the food (US) appeared before the tone (NS) rather than after? Would conditioning occur? d) Not likely e) Within but a few exceptions, conditioning doesn't happen when NS follows the US f) REMEMBER, CLASSICAL CONDITIONING IS BIOLOGICALLY ADAPTIVE BECAUSE IT HELPS HUMANS AND OTHER ANIMALS PREPARE FOR GOOD OR BAD EVENTS g) To Pavlov's dogs, the originally neutral tone became a (CS) after signaling an important biological event- the arrival of food (US) h) To deer in the forest, the snapping of a twig (CS) may signal a predator's approach (US). i) If the good or bad event has already occurred, the tone of the sound won't help the animal prepare 4. More recent research on male Japanese quail shows how a CS can signal another important biological event a) Just before presenting an approachable female quail, the researcher turned on a red light b) Over time, as the red light continued to herald the female's arrival, the light caused the male quail to become excited. c) They develop a preference for their cage's red light district, and when a female appeared, they mated with her more quickly and released more semen and sperm 5. In humans too, objects, smells, and sights associated with sexual pleasure can become conditioned stimuli for sexual arousal a) Onion breath does not usually produce sexual arousal b) But when repeatedly paired with a passionate kiss, it can become a CS and do just that c) The larger lesson: CONDITIONING HELPS AN ANIMAL SURVIVE AND REPRODUCE- BY RESPONDING TO CUES THAT HELP IT GAIN FOOD, AVOID DANGERS, LOCATE MATES, AND PRODUCE OFFSPRING 6. Through HIGHER ORDER CONDITIONING, a new NS can become a new CS. a) Higher order conditioning: a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paid with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. For example, 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 (also called second order conditioning) b) Although this higher order conditioning tends to be weaker than first order conditioning, it influences our everyday lives c) Imagine that something makes us very afraid (perhaps a guard dog, associated with a previous dog bite). If something else, such as the sound of a barking dog, brings to mind that guard dog, the bark alone may make us feel a little afraid

what was bandura's experiment?

Bandura's Experiments: 1. Bandura's bobo doll study (1961) initiated that individuals (children) learn through imitating others who receive rewards and punishments 2. General idea: people learn by observing others 3. Children then promised rewards for imitating the adult in the film a) Now, all three groups were equally aggressive b) Children had learned the aggressive behavior from the film, but those who saw the adults being punished were less likely to act aggressively 4. Picture this scene from an experiment by Albert Bandura, the pioneering researcher of observational learning: a preschool child works on a drawing a) An adult in another part of the room is building with tinker toys b) As the child watches, the adult gets up and for nearly 10 minutes pounds, kicks and throws around the room a large inflated bobo doll, yelling "sock him in the nose...hit him down...kick him." c) The child is then taken to another room filled with appealing toys d) Soon the experimenter returns and tells the child she has decided to save these good toys for the other children e) She takes the now frustrated child to a third room containing a few toys including a bobo doll f) Left alone, compared with children not exposed to the adult model, those who viewed the model's actions were more likely to ash out at the doll g) Observing the aggressive outburst apparently lowered their inhibitions h) But something more was also at work, for the children imitated the very acts they had observed and used the very words they had heard i) That something more, Bandura suggests was this: by watching a model, we experience VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT OR VICARIOUS PUNISHMENT, and we learn to anticipate a behavior's consequences in situations like those we are observing j) We are especially likely to learn from people we perceive as similar to ourselves, as successful, or as admirable k) Functional MRI scans show that when people observe someone winning a reward (and especially when its someone likeable and similar to themselves) their own brain reward systems activate, much as if they themselves had won the reward l) When we identify with someone, we experience their outcomes vicariously m) Lord chesterfield had the idea: we are in truth, more than half what are by imitation

What is biofeedback?

BioFeedback: a system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension 1. When a few psychologists started experimenting with the idea that we can train people to counteract stress, bringing their heart rate and blood pressure under conscious control by knowing the damaging effects of stress, many of their colleagues thought them foolish a) After all, these functions are controlled by the autonomic nervous system Then in the late 1960s, experiments by respected psychologists made the skeptics wonder b) Neal Miller, for one, found that rats could modify their heartbeat if given pleasurable brain stimulation when their heartbeat increased or decreased c) Later research revealed that some paralyzed humans could also learn to control their blood pressure d) Miller was experimenting with biofeedback 2. Biofeedback instruments mirror the results of a person's own efforts, thereby allowing the person to learn techniques for controlling a particular physiological response a) After a decade of study, however, researchers decided the initial claims for biofeedback were overblown and oversold b) A 1995 National Institute of Health panel declared that biofeedback works best on tension headaches

what are the biological predispositions that limit operant conditioning?

Biological predisposition 1. Biological constraints predisposed organisms to learn associations that are naturally adaptive 2. Limits on Operant Conditioning a) As with classical conditioning, nature sets limits on each species' capacity for operant conditioning b) We most easily learn and retina behaviors that reflect our biological predispositions c) Thus, using food as a reinforcer, you could easily condition a hamster to dig or to rear up because these are among the animal's natural food searching behaviors d) But you won't be so successful if you use food as a reinforcer to shape face washing and other hamster behaviors that aren't normally associated with food or hunger e) Similarly ,you could easily teach pigeons to flap their wings to avoid being shocked and to peck to obtain food: fleeting with their wings and eating with their beaks are natural pigeon behaviors f) However, pigeons would have a hard time learning to peck to avoid a shock, or to flap their wings to obtain food g) The principle: BIOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS PREDISPOSE ORGANISMS TO LEARN ASSOCIATIONS THAT ARE NATURALLY ADAPTIVE 3. In the early 1940s, University of Minnesota graduate students Marian Breland and Keller Breland witnessed the power of operant conditioning a) Their mentor was BF Skinner b) Impressed with hs results, they began training dogs, cats, chickens, parakeets, turkeys, pigs, ducks, and hamsters c) The rest is history d) The company they formed spent the next half century training more than 15,000 animals from 140 species for movies, traveling shows, amusement parks, corporations, and the government e) And along the way, the Brelands themselves mentored others, including Sea World's first director of training f) In their early training days, the Brelands presumed that operant principles would work on almost any response an animal could make g) But along the way, they too learned about biological constraints h) In one act, pigs trained to pick up large wooden dollars and deposit them in a piggy bank began to drift back to their natural ways i) They dropped the coin, pushed it with their snouts as pigs are prone to do, picked it up again, and then repeated the sequence-delaying their food reinforcer j) This INSTINCTIVE DRIFT occurred as the animals reverted to their biologically predisposed patterns

what are the biopsychosocial influences on learning?

Biopsychosocial influences on learning 1. Biological influences: a) Genetic predisposition b) Unconditioned responses c) Adaptive responses 2. Psychological influences: a) Previous experience b) Predictability of associations c) Generalization d) Discrimination 3. Social Cultural influences: a) Culturally learned preferences b) Motivation, affected by presence of others

what is cognitive influence on classical conditioning?

Cognition's influence on conditioning 1. Cognitive processes and classical conditioning a) In their dismissal of mentalist concepts such as consciousness, Pavlov and Watson underestimated the important not only of biological constraints on an organism's learning capacity; but also the effects of cognitive processes (thoughts, perceptions, expectations) b) The early behaviorists believed that rats' and dogs' learned behaviors could be reduced to mindless mechanisms, so there was no need to consider cognition 2. But Robert Rescorla and Allan Wagner showed that an animal can learned the PREDICTABILITY of an event a) If a shock always is preceded by a tone, and then may also be preceded by a light that accompanies the tone, a rat will react with fear to the tone but not to the light b) Although the light is always followed by the shock, it adds no new information; the tone is a better predictor c) The more predictable the association, the stronger the conditioned response d) Its as if the animal learns an EXPECTANCY, an awareness of how likely it is that the US will occur 3. Associations can influence attitudes a) When british children viewed novel cartoon characters alongside either ice cream or brussels sprouts, they came to like best the ice cream associated characters b) Other researchers have classically conditioned adults' attitudes, using little known Pokemon characters c) The participants, playing the role of a security guard monitoring a video screen, viewed a stream of words, images, and Pokemon characters d) Their tasks, they were told, was to respond to one target Pokemon character by pressing a button e) Unnoticed by the participants, when two other pokemon characters appeared on the screen, one was consistently associated with various positive words and images (such as awesome or a hot fudge sundae) and the other appeared with negative words and images (such as awful or a cockroach) f) Without any conscious memory for the pairings, the participants formed more gut level liking for the characters associated with the positive stimuli 4. Follow up studies indicate that conditioned likes and dislikes are even stronger with people notice and are aware of the associations they have learned 5. Cognition matters 6. Such experiments help explain why classical conditioning treatments that ignore cognition often have limited success a) For example, people receiving therapy for alcohol use disorder may be given alcohol spiked with a nauseating drug b) Will they then associate alcohol with sickness: if classical conditioning were merely a matter of "stamping in" stimulus associations, we might hope so, and to some extent this does occur c) However, one's awareness that the nausea is induced by the drug, not the alcohol, often weakens the association between drinking alcohol and feeling sick d) So even in classical conditioning, it is especially with humans, not simply the CS-US association but also the thought that counts

what did behaviorists believe about cognitive processes and biological predisposition?

Cognitive Processes 1. Early behaviorists believed that learned behaviors of various animals could be reduced to mindless mechanisms a) Believed that it is automatic and involves no mental processes b) But it probably does involved at least some type of mental processes even though it is probably unconscious to connect the two 2. However, later behaviorists suggested that animals learn the predictability of a stimulus, meaning they learn expectancy or awareness of a stimulus 3. The more predictable the association the stronger the CR Biological Predispositions 4. Pavlov and Watson believed that laws of learning were similar for all animals. Therefore, a pigeon and a person do not differ in their learning. a) It is probably different to teach learning to some animals than others b) Some animals can learn stuff better than others 5. However, behaviorists later suggested that learning is constrained by an animal's biology a) Animals are predisposed to learn things that enhance survival 6. John Garcia a) Conditioned taste aversions b) If you have something, and it makes you sick, you won't want to taste it ever again c) Not all neutral stimuli can become conditioned stimuli d) Internal stimuli-associate better with taste e) External stimuli-associate better with pain 7. Biological preparedness

what are the cognitive processes involved in operant conditioning?

Cognitive Processes and Operant COnditioning 1. BF Skinner acknowledged the biological underpinnings of behavior and the existence of private thought processes 2. Nevertheless, many psychologists criticized him for discounting the importance of these influences 3. A mere eight days before dying of leukemia in 1990, Skinner stood before the American Psychological Association convention a) In this final address, he again resisted the growing belief that cognitive processes (thoughts, perceptions, expectations) have a necessary place in the science of psychology and even in our understanding of conditioning b) He viewed "cognitive science" as a throwback to early twentieth century introspectionism c) For skinner, thoughts and emotions were behaviors that follow the same laws as other behaviors 4. Nevertheless, the evidence of cognitive processes cannot be ignored a) For example, animals on a fixed interval reinforcement schedule respond more and more frequently as the time approaches when a response will produce a reinforcer b) Although a strict behaviorists would object to talk of "expectations" the animals behave as if they expected that repeating the response would soon produce the reward

what is the cognitive appraoch? What happens with cognition and operant conditioing?

Cognitive approach: 1. Emphasizes abstract and subtle learning that could not be achieved through conditioning or social learning alone 2. learn new behaviors by observing events and by watching others and through language we learn things we have neither experienced nor observed (COGNITIVE LEARNING) 3. Cognition and Operant conditioning a) Evidence of cognitive processes during operant learning comes from rats during a maze exploration in which they navigate the maze without an obvious reward. b) Rats seem to develop cognitive maps (EC Tolman) or mental representation of the layout of the maze (environment)

what is conditioned response?

Conditioned response (CR) 1. The learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus 2. The UCR/UR is always the same as the CR 3. Also occurs after learning. 4. Conditioned response (CR): in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)

what is conditioned stimulus?

Conditioned stimulus (CS) 1. An originally irrelevant stimulus that after association with unconditioned stimuli triggers a conditioned response 2. You cannot have a conditioned stimulus until learning has occurred 3. The tone in Pavlov's experiment is the CS because it was originally irrelevant until the dogs learned to associated it with food a) Ex: bell, light, odor b) Conditioned is what the behaviorist are all about 4. Conditioned stimulus (CS): in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR) a) Distinguishing these two kinds of stimuli and responses is easy: conditioned = learned, unconditioned = unlearned

what is self control and deplition?

Depleting and Strengthening self control 1. Self Control: the ability to control impulses and delay short term gratification for greater long term rewards 2. In studies, this ability has predicted good adjustment, better grades, and social success 3. Students who planned their day's activities and then lived out their day as planned were also at low risk for depression 4. Self control often fluctuates a) Like a muscle, self control temporarily weakens after an exertion, replenishes with rest, and becomes stronger with exercise b) Exercising willpower temporarily depletes the mental energy needed for self control on other tasks c) In one experiment, hungry people who had resisted the temptation to eat chocolate chip cookies abandoned a tedious task sooner than those who had not resisted the cookies d) And after expending willpower on laboratory tasks, such as stifling prejudice or saying the color of words (for example "red" even if the red colored word was green), people were less restrained in their aggressive responses to provocation and in their sexuality 5. Researchers have found that exercising willpower depletes the blood sugar and neural activity associated with mental focus a) What, then, might be the energy boosting sugar (in a naturally rather than an artificially sweetened lemonade) had a sweet effect: it strengthened people's effortful thinking and reduced their financial impulsiveness b) Even dogs can experience both self control depletion on the one hand an rejuvenation with sugar on the other 6. In the long run, self control requires attention and energy a) With physical exercise and time managed study programs, people have strengthened their self control as seen in both their performance on laboratory tasks and their improved self management of eating, drinking, smoking, and household chores 7. The bottom line: WE CAN GROW OUR WILLPOWER MUSCLES-OUR CAPACITY FOR SELF REGULATIONS. BUT DOING SO REQUIRES SOME WILLPOWER

What schedules of reinforcement are these examples: example 1: When I bake cookies, I can only put one set at a time, so after 10 minutes my first set of cookies is done. After another ten minutes, my second set of cookies is done. I get to eat cookies after each set is done baking. example 2: After every 10 math problems that I complete, I allow myself a 5 minute break example 3: I look over my notes every night because I never know how much time will go by before my next pop quiz example 4: When hunting season comes around, sometimes I'll spend all day sitting in the woods waiting to get a shot at a big buck. It's worth it though when I get a nice 10 point

Example 1: FI Example 2: FR Example 3: VI Example 4: VR

what are some applications of classical conditioning?

Examples of Applications of Classical Conditioning 1. Former crack cocaine users should avoid cues (people, places) associated with previous drug use a) You can't go to these places because you have been conditioned to have cravings if you go to those places or hang out with those people who did when you were using drugs b) Through classical conditioning, a drug (plus its taste) that affects the immune response may cause the taste of the drug to invoke the immune response 2. Pavlov's principles can influence human health and well being with two examples a) Former drug users often feel a craving when they are again in the drug using context-with people or in places they associate with previous highs. b) Thus drug counselors advise addicts to steer clear of people and settings that may trigger these cravings c) Classical conditioning even works on the body's disease fighting immune system. When a particular taste accompanies a drug that influences immune response, the taste by itself may come to produce an immune response 3. Pavlov's work also provide a basis for Watson's idea that human emotions and behaviors, though biologically influenced, are mainly a bundle of conditioned responses

what is extinction?

Extinction 1. When the US (food) does not follow the CS (tone), CR (salivation) begins to decrease and eventually causes extinction 2. A disappeared CR is called extinguished, not extinct 3. If the US is CR is not followed repeatedly, it is no longer learned, but if you started it again, it would come back 4. What would happen if after conditioning the CS occurred repeatedly with the US a) The answer was mixed. b) The gods salivated less and less, a reaction knowns as EXTINCTION c) 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 d) But a different picture emerged when Pavlov allowed several hours to elapse before sounding the tone again e) After the delay, the dogs would again began salivating to the tone

what are the factors that increase imitation?

Factors that increase imitation: You're more likely to imitate: 1. People who are rewarded for their behavior 2. Warm, nurturant people 3. People who have control over you or have the power to influence your life 4. People who are similar to you in terms of age, sex, and interests 5. People you perceive as having higher social status 6. When the task to be imitated is not extremely easy or difficult 7. If you lack confidence in your own abilities in a particular situation 8. If the situation is unfamiliar or ambiguous 9. If you've been rewarded for imitating the same behavior in the past

when is the onset of imitation?

Imitation Onset: 1. Learning by observation begins early in life. A 14 month old child imitates the adult on TV in pulling a toy apart 2. Children see, children do 3. Imitation is widespread in other species a) In one experiment, a monkey watching another selecting certain pictures to gain treats learned to imitate the order of choices b) In other research, rhesus macaque monkeys rarely made up quickly after a fight-unless they grew up with forgiving older macaques c) Then, more often than not, their fights, too were quickly followed by reconciliation d) Rats, pigeons, crows, and gorillas all observe others and learn e) Chimpanzees observe and imitate all sorts of novel foraging and tool use behaviors, which are then transmitted from generation to generation within their local culture 4. In humans, imitation is pervasive a) Our catchphrases, fashions, ceremonies, foods, traditions, morals, and fads all spread by one person copying another b) Imitation shapes even very young human's behavior c) Shortly after birth, a baby may imitate an adult who sticks out his tongue d) By 8 to 16 months, infants imitate various novel gestures e) By age 12 months, they look where an adult is looking f) And by age 14 months, children imitate acts modeled on TV g) Even as 2 ½ years olds, when many of their mental abilities are near those of adult chimpanzees, young humans surpass chimps at social tasks such as imitating another's solution to a problem h) Children see, children do 5. So strong is the human predisposition to learn from watching adults that 2- to 5-year old children OVER-IMITATE a) Whether living in urban Australia or rural Africa, they copy ever irrelevant adult actions b) Before reaching for a toy in a plastic jar, they will first stroke the jar with a feather if that's what they have observed c) Or, imitating an adult, they will wave a stick over a box and then use the stick to push on a knob that opens the box-when all they needed to do to pen the box was to push on the knob 6. Humans, like monkeys have brains that support empathy and imitation a) Researchers cannot insert experiential electrodes in human brains, but they can use fMRI scans to see brain activity associated with performing and with observing actions b) Researchers are currently debating if human capacity to simulate another's action and to share in another's experience due to specialized mirror neurons or to distributed brain networks c) Regardless, children's brains enable their empathy and their ability to infer another's mental state, an ability known as theory of mind

what is the difference between reinforcement and punishment?

Kinds of Reinforcement and Punishment: 1. Positive: adding stimulus 2. Negative: removing stimulus 3. Reinforcement (labeled afterwards to describe increase in behavior) a) Positive reinforcement: adding pleasant consequence b) Negative reinforcement: removing aversive stimuli Turning off the alarm clock in the morning 4. Punishment (label afterwards to describe decrease in behavior) a) Positive punishment: adding aversive stimuli A) Getting shocked, introducing an unpleasant stimulus b) Negative punishment: removing pleasant stimuli A) Taking away cake c) Negative reinforcement is not punishment d) Negative reinforcement is the removal of unpleasant stimulus when target behavior is observed (a positive consequence of behavior-increases behavior) e) Punishments is the introduction of an aversive (unpleasant) stimulus or removal of a pleasant stimulus as a consequence of behavior- (a negative consequence of behavior-decreases behavior)

what is insight learning? What is latent learning?

Latent Learning 1. When you learn stuff but you aren't aware of it 2. Learning that only becomes apartment when there is some incentive to demonstrate it a) Evidence of cognitive processes has also come from studying rats in mazes, including classic studies by Edward Chase Tolman and CH Honzik that were done in Skinner's youth b) Rats exploring a maze, given no obvious rewards, seem to develop a COGNITIVE MAP c) Cognitive map: a mental representation of the layout of one's environment. For example, after exploring a maze, rats acts as if they have learned a cognitive map of it d) This map, and the rats' learning, is not demonstrated until the experimenter places food in the maze's goal box, which motivates the rats to run the maze at least as quickly and efficiently as other rats that were previously reinforced with food for this result 3. Like people sightseeing in a new town, the exploring rats seemingly experienced LATENT LEARNING during their earlier tours a) Latent learning: learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it b) That learning became apparent only when there was some incentive to demonstrate it c) Children, too, may learn from watching a parent but demonstrate the learning only much later, as needed 4. The point to remember: THERE IS MORE TO LEARNING THAN ASSOCIATING A RESPONSE WITH A CONSEQUENCE; THERE IS ALSO COGNITION 5. Insight learning a) Some learning occurs after little or no systematic interaction with our environment b) For example, we may puzzle over a problem, and suddenly, the pieces fall together as we perceive the solution in a sudden flash of INSIGHT c) Insight: a sudden realization of a problem's solution d) Ten year old johnny appleton's insight solved a problem that had stumped construction workers: how to rescue a young robin that had fallen into a narrow 30 inch deep hole in a cement block wall e) Johnny's solution: slowly pour in sand, giving the bird enough time to keep its feet on top of the constantly rising pile

what is learned helplessness?

Learned helplessness: 1. Failure to try to avoid an unpleasant stimulus because in the past it was unavoidable 2. Possible model for depression in humans 3. Use dogs to move the dog over a fence by shocking him, but eventually if the dog is shocked enough times on both sides of the fence, he will give up and just lay there a) Two rats received simultaneous shocks b) One can turn a wheel to stop the shocks c) The helpless rat, but not the wheel turner, becomes more susceptible to ulcers and lowered immunity to disease 4. In humans, too uncontrollable threats trigger the strongest stress responses a) Feeling helpless and oppressed may lead to a state of passive resignation called LEARNED HELPLESSNESS b) Learned helplessness: the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learned when unable to avoid repeated aversive events 5. Researcher Martin Seligman discovered this in some long ago experiments in which dogs were strapped in a harness and given repeated shocks, with no opportunity to avoid them a) Later when placed in another situation where they could escape the punishment by simply leaping a hurdle, the dogs cowered as if without hope b) In contrast, animals able to escape the first shocks learned personal control and easily escaped the shocks in the new situation 6. Humans can also learned helplessness a) When repeatedly faced with traumatic events over which they have no control, people come to feel helpless, hopeless, and depressed

what is observational learning? What is modeling?

Learning by observation 1. Higher animals especially humans, learn through observing and imitating others 2. The monkey imitates another monkey in touch the pictures in a certain order to obtain a reward 3. Cognition is certainly a factor in OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING (also called social learning) in which higher animals, especially humans, learn without direct experience, by watching and imitating other s a) Observational learning: learning by observing others. Also called social learning b) A child who sees his sister burn her fingers on a hot stove learns not to touch it c) We learn out native languages and various other specific behaviors by observing and imitating others, a process called MODELING d) Modeling: the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

what happened during the little albert experiment?

Little Albert example: 1. Conditioned fear experiments such as Albert's experience would never occur today due to ethical standards a) Used classical conditioning to overcome phobias b) Expose people to their phobia and then teach them relaxation techniques 2. The loud noise: unconditioned stimulus 3. Conditioned fear into an infant a) Presented a rat immediately followed, a by a loud noise, starling the baby b) After a few tries, Albert was afraid of the rat Albert generalized his fears to other furry objects c) Remember that Little Albert generalized his fear of rats into fear of anything with white fur, including a Santa Claus mask, a rabbit, etc d) UCS (Loud Noise) -------------> UCR (fear/crying) + association formed/pairing made e) CS (Rat or Rabbit) -----------> CR (fear/crying) learned S-R 4. Pavlov's work also provide a basis for Watson's idea that human emotions and behaviors, though biologically influenced, are mainly a bundle of conditioned responses a) Working with an 11 month old, Watson and Rosalie Rayner showed how specific fears might be conditioned b) Like most infants "Little Albert" feared loud noises but not white rats c) Watson and Rayner presented a white rat and as Little Albert reached to touch it, struck a hammer against a steel bar just behind his head d) After seven repeats of seeing the rat and hearing the frightening noise, Albert burst into tears at the mere sight of the rat e) Five days later, he had generalized this startled fear reaction to the sight of a rabbit, a dog, and a sealskin coat but not to dissimilar objects such as toys 5. For years, people wondered what became of Little Albert a) Not until 2009 did some psychologists sleuths identify him as Douglas Merritte, the son of a campus hospital wet nurse who received $1 for her tot's participation b) Sadly ,Albert died at age 6, apparently having suffered all his short life from congenital hydrocephalus, complicated later by meningitis c) This brain damage probably influenced his behavior during Watson and Rayner's experiment d) People also wondered what became of Watson e) After losing his John Hopkins professorship over an affair with Rayner (whom he later married), he joined an advertising agency as the company's resident psychologist f) There he used his knowledge of associative learning to conceive many successful advertising campaigns, including one for Maxwell House that helped make the coffee break an American custom 6. The treatment of little albert would be unacceptable by today's ethical standards a) Also, some psychologists, noting that the infant's fear wasn't learned quickly, had difficulty repeating Watson and Rayner's findings with other children b) Nevertheless, Little Albert's learned fears led many psychologists to wonder whether each of us might be a walking responsory of conditioned emotions c) If so, might extinction procedures or even new conditioning help us change out unwanted responses to emotion arousing stimulus d) One patient who for 30 years feared going into an elevator alone, did just that e) Following his therapist's advice, he forced himself to enter 20 elevators a day f) Within 10 days, his fear had nearly vanished g) With support from airtran, comedian writer mark malkoff likewise extinguished his fear of flying h) He lived on an airplane for 30 days taking 135 flights that had him in the air 14 hours a day i) After a week and a half, his fears had faded and he began playing games with fellow passengers

who is mary cover jones and what did she do?

Mary Cover Jones 1. Mary Cover Jones used an early form of desensitization to prove that fears (phobias) could be unlearned 2. Peter, a young boy, had an extreme fear of rabbits. Jones gave Peter his favorite food while slowly bringing the rabbit closer and closer. Eventually Peter no longer panicked around rabbits 3. Colleague of Watson 4. Deconditioned 3-year old Peter from his fears by gradually moving a rabbit (and other things) closer to him while he was eating...systematic desensitization

what are mirror nuerons?

Mirror Neurons 1. Neuroscientists discovered mirror neurons in the brains of animals and humans that are active during observational learning 2. On a 1991 hot summer day in Parma, Italy, a lab monkey awaited its researchers' return from lunch a) The researchers had implanted wires next to its motor cortex, in a frontal lobe brain region that enabled the monkey to plan and enact movements b) The monitoring device would alert the researchers to activity in the region of the monkey's brain c) When the monkey moved a peanut into its mouth, for example, the device would buzz d) That day, as one of the researchers reentered the lab, ice cream cone in hand, the monkey started at him e) As the researcher raised the cone to link it, the monkey's monitor buzzed as if the motionless monkey had itself moved f) The same buzzing had been heard earlier when the monkey watched humans or other monkeys move peanuts to their mouths g) The flabbergasted researchers had, they believed, stumbled onto a previously unknown type of neuron 3. These presumed MIRROR NEURONS may provide a neural basis for everyday imitations and observational learning a) Mirror neurons: frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation and empathy b) When a monkey grasps, holds, or tears something, these neurons fire c) And they likewise fire when the monkey observes another doing so. d) When one monkey sees, its neurons mirror what another monkey does

what is operant behavior? What is respondent behavior? What is an operant chamber/skinner box?

Operant Conditioning 1. Both classical and operant conditioning are forms of associative learning 2. Both involve ACQUISTION, EXTINCTION, SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY, GENERALIZATION, AND DISCRIMINATION 3. But these two forms of learning also differ 4. Operant behavior a) Operates (acts) on environment b) Produces consequences c) Through operant conditioning, we associate our own behaviors that act on our environment to produce rewarding or punishing stimuli (OPERANT BEHAVIORS) with their consequences d) Operant behavior: behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences 5. Respondent behavior a) Occurs as an automatic response to stimulus b) Behavior learned through classical conditioning c) Through classical (Pavlovian) conditioning, we associate different stimuli we do not control, and we respond automatically (RESPONDENT BEHAVIORS) d) Respondent behaviors: behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus 6. Operant chamber: a) Skinner Box b) Chamber with a bar or key that an animal manipulates to obtain a food or water reinforcer c) Contains devices to record responses d) Rats placed in Skinner boxes e) Shaped to get closer and closer to the bar in order to receive food f) Eventually required to press the bar to receive food Food is a reinforcer g) For his pioneering studies, Skinner designed an OPERANT CHAMBER, popularly known as a Skinner box h) Operant chamber: in operant conditioning research, a chamber (also known as a Skinner box) containing a bar or a key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking i) This design creates a stage on which rats and other animals act out Skinner's concept of REINFORCEMENT

compare classical and operant conditioning?

Our biology and cognitive processes influence both classical and operant conditioning Comparison of classical and operant conditioning: 1. BASIC IDEA a) Classical Conditioning: Organism associates events b) Operant conditioning: Organisms associates behavior and resulting events 2. RESPONSE a) Classical Conditioning: involuntary , automatic b) Operant conditioning: Voluntary operates on environment 3. ACQUISITION a) Classical Conditioning: Associating events; NS is paired with US and becomes CS b) Operant conditioning: Associating response with a consequence (reinforcer or punisher) 4. EXTINCTION a) Classical Conditioning: CR decreases with CS is repeatedly presented alone b) Operant conditioning: Responding decreases when reinforcement stops 5. SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY a) Classical Conditioning: The reappearance after a rest period, of an extinguished CR b) Operant conditioning: The reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished response 6. GENERALIZATION a) Classical Conditioning: The tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS b) Operant conditioning: Organism's response to similar stimuli is also reinforced 7. DESCRIMINATION a) Classical Conditioning: The learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that do not signal a US b) Operant conditioning: Organisms learns that certain responses, but not others, will be reinforced

what are the five major conditioning processes

Pavlov and his associates explored five major conditioning processes: acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination

Pavlov's dog example of classical conditioning?

Pavlov's dog example of CC 1. UCS to UCR a) UCS is food presented b) UCR is dog salivating c) Unlearned S-R + association formed/pairing made 2. CS to CR a) CS is the tone b) CR is dog salivating c) Learned S-R 3. Be able to identify what the all of this is from the notes example 4. Unconditioned response and conditioned response are the same thing a) Unconditioned stimulus is something that you are born doing b) Learning is connecting two things c) Conditioned stimulus can be planned but it doesn't necessarily have to be planned

what is pavlov's legacy?

Pavlov's legacy 1. Because of Pavlov learning is studied objectively 2. Classical conditioning is a way that all organisms learn to adapt 3. What remains today of Pavlov's ideas?: a great deal a) Most psychologists now agree that classical conditioning is a basic form of learning b) Judged by today's knowledge of the interplay of our biology, psychology and social cultural environment, Pavlov's ideas were incomplete c) But if we see further than Pavlov did, it is because we stand on his shoulders The importance of Pavlov's work lies first in this finding: MANY OTHER RESPONSES TO MANY OTHER STIMULI CAN BE CLASSICALLY CONDITIONED IN MANY OTHER ORGANISMS- in fact, in every species tested, from earthworms to fish to dogs to monkeys to people d) Thus classical conditioning is one way that virtually all organisms learn to adapt to their environment 4. PAVLOV SHOWED US HOW A PROCESS SUCH AS LEARNING CAN BE STUDIED OBJECTIVELY a) He was proud that his methods involved virtually no subjective judgments or guesses about what went on in a dog's mind b) The salivary response is a behavior measurable in cubic, centimeters of saliva c) Pavlov's success therefore suggested a scientific model for how the young discipline of psychology might proceed by isolating the basic building blocks of complex behaviors and studying them with objective laboratory procedures 5. Applications of classical conditioning

what is the prosocial effects?

Positive observational learning 1. Prosocial (positive helpful) models may have prosocial effects a) The good news is that prosocial (positive helpful) models can have prosocial effects b) Prosocial behavior: positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior c) Many business organizations effectively use BEHAVIOR MODELING to help new employees learn communications, sales, and customer service skills d) Trainees gain these skills faster when they are able to observe the skills being modeled effectively by experienced works (or actors simulating them) e) People who exemplify nonviolent, helpful behavior can also prompt similar behavior in others f) India's Mahatma Gandhi and America's Martin Lucker King Jr, both draw on the power of modeling, making nonviolent action a powerful force for social change in both countries. 2. Parents are also powerful models a) European christians who risked their lives to rescue Jews from the Nazis usually had a close relationship with at least one parents who modeled a strong moral or humanitarian concern; this was also true for US civil rights activists in the 1960s b) The observational learning of morality begins early 3. Socially responsive toddlers who readily imitate their parents tend to become preschoolers with a strong internalized conscience 4. Models are most effective when their actions and words are consistent a) Sometimes, however, models say one thing and do another b) To encourage children to read, read to them and surround them with books and people who read c) To increase the odds that your children will practice your religion, worship and attend religious activities with them d) Many parents seem to operate according to the principle "Do as I say not as I do." e) Experiments suggest that children learn to do both f) Exposed to a hypocrite, they tend to imitate the hypocrisy-by doing what the model did and saying what the model said

what are primary and conditioned (secondary) reinforcer?

Primary reinforcer: an innately reinforcing stimulus like food or drink (satisfied a biological need 1. Getting food when hungry or having a painful headache go away is innately satisfying a) These PRIMARY REINFORCERS are unlearned b) Primary reinforcers: an innately reinforcing stimulus such as one that satisfies a biological need 2. Conditioned (secondary) reinforcer: a learn reinforcer that gets its reinforcing power through association with the primary reinforcer a) CONDITIONED REINFORCERS, also called secondary reinforcers, get their power through learned association with primary reinforcers b) Conditioned reinforcers: a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also knowns as a secondary reinforcer c) If a rat in a Skinner box learns that a light reliably signals a food delivery, the rat will work to turn on the light d) The light has become a conditioned reinforcers e) Over lives are filled with conditioned reinforcers-money, good grades- a pleasant tone of voice- each of which has been linked with more basic rewards

what is emotion focused coping? What is problem focused coping?

Problems in life are unavoidable 1. this facts gives us a clear message: we need to learn to COPE with the problems in our lives by alleviating the stress they cause with emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods a) Cope: alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods 2. Some problems, called stressors, we address directly, with PROBLEM FOCUSED COPING a) Problem focused coping: attempting to alleviate stress directly-by hanging the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor b) If our impatience leads to a family fight, we may go directly to that family member to work things out c) We tend to use problem focused strategies 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 3. We turn to EMOTION-FOCUSED COPING when we cannot or believe we cannot change a situation a) Emotion focused coping: attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction b) If, despite our best efforts, we cannot get along with that family member, we may search for stress relief by reaching out to friends for support and comfort c) Emotion-focused strategies can be adaptive as when we exercise or keep busy with hobbies to avoid thinking about an old addiction d) Emotion-focused strategies can be maladaptive, however, as when students worried about not keeping up with the reading in class go out to party to get it off their mind e) Sometimes a problem focused strategy (catching up with the reading) more effectively reduces stress and promotes long term health and satisfaction f) When challenged, some of us tend to respond with cool problem focused coping, others with emotion focused coping g) Our feelings of personal control, our explanatory style, and our supportive connections all influence our ability to cope h) Perceiving a loss of control, we become more vulnerable to stress and ill health i) A famous study of elderly nursing home residents with little perceived control over their activities found that they declined faster and died sooner than those given more control j) Workers able to adjust office furnishings and control interruptions and distractions in their work environment have experienced less stress k) Such findings may help explain why British civil service workers at the executive grades have tended to outline those at clerical or laboring grades and why Finnish workers with low job stress have been less than half as likely to die of strokes or heart disease as those with a demanding job and little control l) The more control workers have, the longer they live 4. Increasing self control noticeably improves health and morale a) In the case of the nursing home patients, 93% of those encouraged to exert more control became more alert, active, and happy b) As researcher Ellen langer concluded, Perceived control is basic to human functioning 5. Control may also help explain a well established link between economic status and longevity a) In one study of 843 grave markers in an old graveyard in Glasgow, Scotland, those with the costliest, highest pillars (indicating the most affluence) tended to have the least overcrowding and unemployment have the greatest longevity b) There and elsewhere, high economic status predicts a lower risk of heart and respiratory diseases c) Wealthy predicts healthy among children too d) With higher economic status comes reduced risks of low birth weight, infant mortality, smoking, and violence e) Even among other primates, individuals at the bottom of the social pecking order have been more likely than their higher status companions to become sick when exposed to a cold like virus f) But high status also entails stress: high status baboons and monkeys who frequently have to physically defined their dominant position show high stress levels

what is punishment? What is positive and negative punishment?

Punishment: 1. An aversive event that decreases the behavior it follows a) Reinforcement increases a behavior, punishment does the opposite b) Punishment: an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows 2. A punisher is any consequence that decreases the frequency of a preceding behavior a) Swift and sure punishers can powerfully restrain unwanted behavior b) The rat that is shocked after touching a forbidden object and the child who is burned by touching a hot stove will learn not to repeat those behaviors c) A dog that has learned to come running at the sound of an electric can opener will stop coming if its owner runs the machine to attract the dog and banish it to the basement Type of punisher: 1. Positive punishment: administer an aversive stimulus a) Ex: spanking; a parking ticket, spray water on a barking dog; give a traffic ticket for speeding 2. Negative punishment: withdraw a desirable stimulus a) Ex: time out from privileges (such as time with friends); revoked driver's license, revoke a library card for nonpayment of fines

what is shaping? What is discriminative stimulus?

Shaping 1. You can train a slime mold to run through a maze 2. Shaping is the operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior towards the desired target behavior through successive approximations a) Break down a complex behavior into smaller, smaller parts and you reward them for each small part b) A rat shaped to sniff mines. c) A manatee shaped to discriminate objects of different shapes, colors, and sizes 3. Imagine that you wanted to condition a hungry rat to press a bar. 4. Like skinner, you could tease out this action with SHAPING, gradually guiding the rat's actions toward the desired behavior a) Shaping: an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior 5. First you would watch how the animal naturally behaves, so that you could build on its existing behavior a) You might give the rat a bit of food each time it approaches the bar b) Once the rat is approaching regularly, you would give the food only when it moves close to the bar, then closer still c) Finally, you would require it to touch the bar to get food d) With this method of SUCCESSIVE APPROXIMATIONS, you reward responses that are ever closer to the final desired behavior, and you ignore all other responses e) By making rewards contingent on desired behaviors, researchers and animal trainers gradually shape complex behaviors 6. Shaping can also help us understand what nonverbal organisms perceive a) If we can shape them to respond to one stimulus and not to another, then we know they can perceive the difference b) Such experiments have even shown that some animals can form concepts c) When experimenters reinforced pigeons for pecking after seeing a human face, but not after seeing other images, the pigeon's behavior showed that it could recognize human faces d) In this experiment, the human face was a DISCRIMINATIVE STIMULUS e) Discriminative stimulus: in operant conditioning, a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement (in contrast to related stimuli not associated with reinforcement) f) Discriminative stimuli signal that a response will be reinforced g) After being trained to discriminate among classes of events or objects-pigeons can usually identify the category in which a new pictured object belongs h) They have even been trained to discriminate between the music of Bach and Stravinsky 7. In everyday life, we continually reinforce and shape others' behavior according to Skinner, though we may not mean to do so a) Consider a teacher who pastes gold stars on a wall chart beside the names of children scoring 100% on spelling tests b) As everyone can then see, some children consistently do perfect work c) The others, who take the same test and may have worked harder than the academic all stars, get no rewards d) The teacher would be better advised to apply the principles of operant conditioning to reinforce all spellers for gradual improvements (successive approximations toward perfect spelling of words they find challenging)

what is skinner's legacy?

Skinner's legacy 1. Skinner argued that behaviors were shaped by external influences instead of inner thoughts and feelings 2. Critics argued that Skinner dehumanized people by neglecting their free will 3. BF Skinner stirred a hornet's nest with his outspoken beliefs. 4. He repeatedly insisted that external influences (not internal thoughts and feelings) shape behavior. And he urged people to use operant principles to influence others' behavior at school, work, and home 5. Knowing that behavior is shaped by its results, he said we should use rewards to evoke more desirable behavior 6. Skinner's critics objected, saying that he dehumanized people by neglecting their personal freedom and by seeking to control their actions 7. Skinner's replay: external consequences already haphazardly control people's behavior. Why not administer those consequences toward human behavior? Wouldn't reinforcers be more humane than the punishments used in homes, schools, and prisons? And if it is humbling to think that our history has shaped us, doesn't this very idea also give us hope that we can shape our future?

what is spontaneous recovery?

Spontaneous Recovery 1. After a rest period, an extinguished CR (salivation) spontaneously recovers, but if the CS (tone) persists alone, the CR becomes extinct again a) Learning never goes away and it can be recovered again usually something triggers it 2. This SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY suggested to Pavlov that extinction was suppressing the CR rather than eliminating it 3. Spontaneous recovery: the reappearance after a pause of an extinguished conditioned response

what is stimulus discrimination?

Stimulus Discrimination 1. Discrimination is the ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus 2. Pavlov's dogs also learned to respond to the sound of a particular tone and not to other tones 3. This learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus (which predicts the US) and a other irrelevant stimuli called the DISCRIMINATION a) Discrimination: in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus b) Being able to recognize differences is adaptive c) Slightly different stimuli can be followed by vastly different consequences d) Confronted by a guard dog, your heart may race, confronted by a guide dog, it probably will not

what is stimulus generalization/generalization?

Stimulus Generalization 1. Tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS is called generalization 2. Pavlov could have read different bells and it would give the same response from the dogs a) Pavlov and his students noticed that a dog conditioned to the sound of one tone also responded somewhat to the sound of a new and different tone b) Likewise, a dog conditioned to salivate when rubbed would also drool a bit when scratched or when touched on a different body part c) This is called GENERALIZATION 3. Generalization: the tendency, one a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses a) Generalization can be adaptive as when toddlers taught to fear moving cars also become afraid of moving trucks and motorcycles b) And generalized fears can linger c) One Argentine writer who underwent torture still recoils with fear when he sees black shoes, his first glimpse of his torturers as they approached his cell d) Generalized anxiety reactions have been demonstrated in laboratory studies comparing abused with non abused children e) When an angry face appears on a computer screen, abused children's brain wave responses are dramatically stronger and longer lasting 4. Stimuli similar to naturally disgusting objects will, by association, also evoke some disgust, as otherwise desirable fudge does when shaped to resemble dog feces a) Researchers have also found that we like unfamiliar people more if they look somewhat like someone we've learned to like rather than dislike b) They find this by subtly morphine the facial features of someone we've learned to like or dislike onto a novel face c) In each of these human examples ,people's emotional reactions to one stimulus have generalized to similar stimuli

what is reinforcement? What are the types of reinfocements?

Types of Reinforcers 1. Reinforcement: any event that strengthens the behavior it follows a) Reinforcement: in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows b) What is reinforcing depends on the animal and the conditions c) For people, it may be praise, attention or a paycheck. d) For hungry and thirsty rats, food and water work well e) Skinner's experiments have done far more than teach us how to pull habits out of a rat f) They have explored the precise conditions that foster efficient and enduring learning g) A heat lamp positively reinforces a meerkat's behavior in the cold There are two basic kinds of reinforcement- positive and negative reinforcement 1. Positive reinforcer (+) a) Adds something rewarding following a behavior, making that behavior more likely to occur again b) Giving a dog a treat for fetching a ball is an example c) Get something d) Positive reinforcement: increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that when present after a response, strengthens the response e) Ex: pet a dog that comes when you call it; pay the person who paints your house 2. Negative reinforcer (-) a) Removes something unpleasant that was already in the environment following a behavior, making that behavior more likely to occur again b) Get rid of something c) Taking an aspirin to relieve a headache is an example d) Reinforcement: you want it to happen again e) Punishment: you don't want it to happen again f) Negative reinforcement: increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (note negative reinforcement is not punishment) g) Ex: take painkillers to end pain; fasten seat belt to end loud beeping h) These welcome results provide negative reinforcement and increase the odds that you will repeat these behaviors i) For drug addicts, the negative reinforcement of ending withdrawal pangs can be a compelling reason to resume using j) Negative reinforcement removes a punishing (aversive) event k) Think of negative reinforcement as something that provides relief from that whining teenager, bad headache, or annoying alarm 3. Sometimes negative and positive reinforcement coincide a) Imagine a worried student who after goofing off and getting a bad test grade, studies harder for the next test b) This increased effort may be negatively reinforced by reduced anxiety and positively reinforced by a better grade c) Whether it work by reducing something aversive, or by giving something desirable, REINFORCEMENT IS ANY CONSEQUENCE THAT STRENGTHENS BEHAVIOR

what is unconditioned response?

Unconditioned response (UR) 1. An UR can be any unlearned response that can be elicited from an organism a) Heart Rate increasing b) Sweat c) vomit/nausea d) Tears e) Salivating f) Blinking 2. Unconditioned response (UR): in classical conditioning, an unlearned naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth)

what is unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) 1. Any stimulus that creates an autonomic/automatic/reflexive response in an organism 2. Bright light (UCS) and their pupil contraction (UR) 3. Food (UCS) and salivation (UR) 4. Puff of air (UCS) and eye blink (UR) 5. Unconditioned stimulus (US): in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally-natural and automatically-triggers a response (UR).

how have we updated skinner's understanding?

Updating Skinner's understanding 1. Skinner's emphasis on external control of behavior made him an influential, but controversial figure 2. Many psychologists criticized Skinner for underestimating the importance of cognitive and biological constraints

What schedules of reinforcement are these examples: example 1: Snakes get hungry at certain times of the day. They might watch any number of prey go by before they decided to strike example 2: Mr. Bertani receives a salary paycheck every 2 weeks. (Miss Suter doesn't) example 3: Christina works at a tanning salon. For every 2 bottles of lotion she sells, she gets 1 dollar in commission. example 4: Mike is trying to study for his upcoming Psychology quiz. He reads five pages, then takes a break. He resumes reading and takes another break after he has completed 5 more pages

example 1: VI example 2: FI example 3: FI example 4: FR

What schedules of reinforcement are these examples: example 1: Today in Psychology class we were talking about Schedules of reinforcement and everyone was eagerly raising their hands and participating. Miranda raised her hand a couple of times answer eventually called on example 2: Madison spanks her son if she has to ask him three times to clean up his room example 3: Emily has a spelling test every Friday. She usually does well and gets a star sticker example 4: Steve's a big gambling man. He plays the slot machines all day hoping for a big win.

example 1: VR example 2: FR example 3: FI example 4: VR

What schedules of reinforcement are these examples: example 1: Megan is fundraising to try to raise money so she can go on the annual band trip. She goes door to door in her neighborhood trying to sell popcorn tins. She eventually sells some example 2: Kylie is a business girl who works in the big city. Her boss is busy, so he only checks her work periodically example 3: Mark is a lawyer who owns his own practice. His customers makes payments at irregular times example 4: Jessica is a dental assistant and gets a raise every year at the same time and never in between

example 1: VR example 2: VI example 3: VI example FI