Psychology Ch 7

We learn by association:

1. When two stimuli tend to occur together or in sequence 2. When actions become associated with pleasant or aversive results. 3. When two pieces of information are linked

We learn from experience:

1. When we learn to predict events we already like or don't like by noticing other events or sensation that happen first. 2. When our actions have consequences 3. When we watch other people do

delayed

A piece of paper (paycheck) can be a ______ reinforcer, paid a month later, if we link it to our performance.

spontaneous recovery

After a CR (salivation) has been conditioned and then extinguished: following a rest period, presenting the tone alone might lead to a___________(a return of the conditioned response despite a lack of further conditioning). if the CS (tone) is again presented repeatedly without the US, the CR becomes extinct again.

B.F. Skinner: The Operant Chamber

B. F. Skinner, like Ivan Pavlov, pioneered more controlled methods of studying conditioning. The operant chamber, often called "the Skinner box," allowed detailed tracking of rates of behavior change in response to different rates of reinforcement.

B.F. Skinner's Legacy

B.F. Skinner's View The way to modify behavior is through consequences. Behavior is influenced only by external feedback, not by thoughts and feelings. We should intentionally create consequences to shape the behavior of others. Humanity improves through conscious reinforcement of positive behavior and the punishment of bad behavior. Critique This leaves out the value of instruction and modeling. Adult humans have the ability to use thinking to make choices and plans Natural consequences are more justifiable than manipulation of others. Humanity improves through free choice guided by wisdom, conscience, and responsibility.

Summary of factors affecting learning

Biological Influences: genetic predispositions, unconditioned responses, adaptive responses Psychological influences: previous experiences, predictability of associations, generalization, discrimination Social-cultural influences: culturally learned preferences, motivation affected by the presence of others

Associative Learning: Operant Conditioning

Child associates his "response" (behavior) with consequences. Child learns to repeat behaviors (saying "please") which were followed by desirable results (cookie). Child learns to avoid behaviors (yelling "gimme!") which were followed by undesirable results (scolding or loss of dessert).

Biological Influences on Conditioning

Classical Conditioning John Garcia and others found it was easier to learn associations that make sense for survival. Examples: Food aversions can be acquired even if the UR (nausea) does NOT immediately follow the NS. The body associates nausea with whatever food was recently eaten. Males in one study were more likely to see a pictured woman as attractive if the picture had a red border.

A Human Talent: Responding to Delayed Reinforcers

Dogs learn from immediate reinforcement; a treat five minutes after a trick won't reinforce the trick. Humans have the ability to link a consequence to a behavior even if they aren't linked sequentially in time. A piece of paper (paycheck) can be a delayed reinforcer, paid a month later, if we link it to our performance. Delaying gratification, a skill related to impulse control, enables longer-term goal setting.

immediate

Dogs learn from_______ reinforcement; a treat five minutes after a trick won't reinforce the trick.

Thorndike's Law of Effect

Edward Thorndike placed cats in a puzzle box; they were rewarded with food (and freedom) when they solved the puzzle. Thorndike noted that the cats took less time to escape after repeated trials and rewards. ______________: behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.

Classical Condition(Associative Learning)

How it works: after repeated exposure to two stimuli occurring in sequence, we associate those stimuli with each other. Result: our natural response to one stimulus now can be triggered by the new, predictive stimulus.

higher-order conditioning

If the dog becomes conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell, can the dog be conditioned to salivate when a light flashes...by associating it with the BELL instead of with food? Yes! The conditioned response can be transferred from the US to a CS, then from there to another CS. This is _________: turning a NS into a CS by associating it with another CS. A man who was conditioned to associate joy with coffee, could then learn to associate joy with a restaurant if he was served coffee there every time he walked in to the restaurant.

John B. Watson and Classical Conditioning: Playing with Fear

In 1920, 9-month-old Little Albert was not afraid of rats. John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner then clanged a steel bar every time a rat was presented to Albert. Albert acquired a fear of rats, and generalized this fear to other soft and furry things. Watson prided himself in his ability to shape people's emotions. He later went into advertising.

continuous reinforcement

In _____________ (giving a reward after the target every single time), the subject acquires the desired behavior quickly.

partial/intermittent reinforcement

In ______________ (giving rewards part of the time), the target behavior takes longer to be acquired/established but persists longer without reward.

Insights about conditioning in general

It occurs in all creatures. It is related to biological drives and responses.

Observational learning:Albert Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment (1961)

Kids saw adults punching an inflated doll while narrating their aggressive behaviors such as "kick him." These kids were then put in a toy-deprived situation... and acted out the same behaviors they had seen.

Insights about science

Learning can be studied objectively, by quantifying actions and isolating elements of behavior.

Problem: Punishing focuses on what NOT to do, which does not guide people to a desired behavior. Even if undesirable behaviors do stop, another problem behavior may emerge that serves the same purpose, especially if no replacement behaviors are taught and reinforced.

Lesson: In order to teach desired behavior, reinforce what's right more often than punishing what's wrong.

ending

Negative reinforcement: ______ something unpleasant (e.g., the cold)

During Conditioning: Unconditioned response (UR): dog salivates

Neutral stimulus (NS) + Unconditioned stimulus (US)

Biological Constraints on Conditioning

Operant Conditioning Can a monkey be trained to peck with its nose? No, but a pigeon can. Can a pigeon be trained to dive underwater? No, but a dolphin can. Operant conditioning encounters biological tendencies and limits that are difficult to override. What can we most easily train a dog to do based on natural tendencies? detecting scents? climbing and balancing? putting on clothes?

Operant Conditioning:How it works:

Operant conditioning involves adjusting to the consequences of our behaviors, so we can easily learn to do more of what works, and less of what doesn't work. Examples We may smile more at work after this repeatedly gets us bigger tips. We learn how to ride a bike using the strategies that don't make us crash. How it works: An act of chosen behavior (a "response") is followed by a reward or punitive feedback from the environment. Results: Reinforced behavior is more likely to be tried again. Punished behavior is less likely to be chosen in the future.

Reduces target behavior (cursing)

Positive + Punishment (You get spanked) Negative -Punishment (No cell phone)

Strengthens target behavior (You do chores)

Positive + Reinforcement (You get candy) Negative -Reinforcement (I stop yelling)

adding

Positive reinforcement: ______something desirable (e.g., warmth)

Applying operant conditioning to parentingProblems with Physical Punishment

Punished behaviors may restart when the punishment is over; learning is not lasting. Instead of learning behaviors, the child may learn to discriminate among situations, and avoid those in which punishment might occur. Instead of behaviors, the child might learn an attitude of fear or hatred, which can interfere with learning. This can generalize to a fear/hatred of all adults or many settings. Physical punishment models aggression and control as a method of dealing with problems.

immediate and certain

Punishment works best in natural settings when we encounter punishing consequences from actions such as reaching into a fire; in that case, operant conditioning helps us to avoid dangers. Punishment is effective when we try to artificially create punishing consequences for other's choices; these work best when consequences happen as they do in nature. Severity of punishments is not as helpful as making the punishments _________________________.

FR FI FR VR VI/VR VI FR VR VR FI

Rat gets food every third time it presses the lever Getting paid weekly no matter how much work is done Getting paid for every ten boxes you make Hitting a jackpot sometimes on the slot machine Winning sometimes on the lottery you play once a day Checking cell phone all day; sometimes getting a text Buy eight pizzas, get the next one free Fundraiser averages one donation for every eight houses visited Kid has tantrum, parents sometimes give in Repeatedly checking mail until paycheck arrives

cognitive maps

Rats appear to form _________. They can learn a maze just by wandering, with no cheese to reinforce their learning.

Applications of Operant Conditioning

School: long before tablet computers, B.F. Skinner proposed machines that would reinforce students for correct responses, allowing students to improve at different rates and work on different learning goals. Sports: athletes improve most in the shaping approach in which they are reinforced for performance that comes closer and closer to the target skill (e.g., hitting pitches that are progressively faster). Work: some companies make pay a function of performance or company profit rather than seniority; they target more specific behaviors to reinforce.

mirroring, cognition

Skills required: ______, being able to picture ourselves doing the same action, and ______, noticing consequences and associations.

behaviorism, classical, operant

The term _______ was used by John B. Watson (1878-1958), a proponent of _________ conditioning, as well as by B.F. Skinner (1904-1990), a leader in research about ________ conditioning. Both scientists believed the mental life was much less important than behavior as a foundation for psychological science. Both foresaw applications in controlling human behavior: Skinner conceived of utopian communities. Watson went into advertising.

mirror neurons

These neurons are referred to as ________, and they fire only to reflect the actions or feelings of others.

Vicarious Conditioning

Vicarious: experienced indirectly, through others Vicarious reinforcement and punishment means our choices are affected as we see others get consequences for their behaviors.

Ivan Pavlov's Discovery

While studying salivation in dogs, Ivan Pavlov found that salivation from eating food was eventually triggered by what should have been neutral stimuli such as: just seeing the food. seeing the dish. seeing the person who brought the food. just hearing that person's footsteps.

+ Positive Punishment

You ADD something unpleasant/aversive (ex: spank the child)

- Negative Punishment

You TAKE AWAY something pleasant/ desired (ex: no TV time, no attention)--MINUS is the "negative" here

Before Conditioning:Neutral stimulus:

a stimulus which does not trigger a response

Before Conditioning:Unconditioned stimulus and response:

a stimulus which triggers a response naturally, before/without any conditioning

Cognitive learning:

acquiring new behaviors and information through observation and information, rather than by direct experience

antisocial behavior

actions that are harmful to individuals and society. Children who witness violence in their homes, but are not physically harmed themselves, may hate violence but still may become violent more often than the average child. Perhaps this is a result of "the Bobo doll effect"? Under stress, we do what has been modeled for us.

Punished

behavior is less likely to be chosen in the future.

Reinforced

behavior is more likely to be tried again.

Operant conditioning:

changing behavior choices in response to consequences

Punishments

have the opposite effects of reinforcement. These consequences make the target behavior less likely to occur in the future.

Operant Conditioning as different forms of associative learning

involves operant behavior, chosen behaviors which "operate" on the environment these behaviors become associated with consequences which punish (decrease) or reinforce (increase) the operant behavior

Classical Conditioning as different forms of associative learning

involves respondent behavior, reflexive, automatic reactions such as fear or craving these reactions to unconditioned stimuli (US) become associated with neutral (thenconditioned) stimuli

Classical conditioning:

learning to link two stimuli in a way that helps us anticipate an event to which we have a reaction

violence-viewing effect

might be explained by imitation, and also by desensitization toward pain in others.

After Conditioning

neutral stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus

Learning

process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Cognitive learning

refers to acquiring new behaviors and information mentally, rather than by direct experience. Cognitive learning occurs: by observing events and the behavior of others. by using language to acquire information about events experienced by others.

Prosocial behavior

refers to actions which benefit others, contribute value to groups, and follow moral codes and social norms.Parents try to teach this behavior through lectures, but it may be taught best through modeling... especially if kids can see the benefits of the behavior to oneself or others.

Reinforcement

refers to any feedback from the environment that makes a behavior more likely to recur.

Extrinsic motivation

refers to doing a behavior to receive rewards from others.

Latent learning

refers to skills or knowledge gained from experience, but not apparent in behavior until rewards are given.

Intrinsic motivation

refers to the desire to perform a behavior well for its own sake. The reward is internalized as a feeling of satisfaction.

Extinction

refers to the diminishing of a conditioned response. If the US (food) stops appearing with the CS (bell), the CR decreases.

Acquisition

refers to the initial stage of learning/conditioning. What gets "acquired"? The association between a neutral stimulus (NS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US). How can we tell that acquisition has occurred? The UR now gets triggered by a CS (drooling now gets triggered by a bell). Timing For the association to be acquired, the neutral stimulus (NS) needs to repeatedly appear before the unconditioned stimulus (US)...about a half-second before, in most cases. The bell must come right before the food.

Discrimination

refers to the learned ability to only respond to a specific stimuli, preventing generalization.

Generalization

refers to the tendency to have conditioned responses triggered by related stimuli.

Variable interval schedule:

reward after a changing/random amount of time passes

Variable ratio schedule:

reward after a randomly chosen instance of the target behavior

Fixed ratio schedule:

reward every five targeted behaviors

Fixed interval schedule:

reward every hour

observational learning:

watching what happens when other people do a behavior and learning from their experience.

Insights from specific applications

Substance abuse involves conditioned triggers, and these triggers (certain places, events) can be avoided or associated with new responses.

modeling

The behavior of others serves as a model, an example of how to respond to a situation; we may try this model regardless of reinforcement.

follows

The experimental (consequence) stimulus repeatedly _____ the operant behavior, and eventually punishes or reinforces that behavior.

precedes

The experimental (neutral) stimulus repeatedly ______the respondent behavior, and eventually triggers that behavior.

Acquisition and Extinction

The strength of a CR grows with conditioning.