Learning Study Guide- AP Psychology

What caused and what are the results of learned helplessness?

(Martin Seligman) Is a behavior in which an organism forced to endure aversive, painful or otherwise unpleasant stimuli, becomes unable or unwilling to avoid subsequent encounters with those stimuli, even if they are escapable. If a previous experience has given someone (or animal) the expectancy that nothing it does will prevent an aversive stimulus from occurring, it will likely experience learned helplessness and give up trying.

Explain the principles and regains examples of social cognitive learning (or social learning)

Also called observational learning. Refers to learning done vicariously. An organism simply observes another perform a behavior, notes the consequences, and modifies its own behavior in a future, similar situation. EX: Baduras experiment of allowing 4-year-old children to watch a inflatable bobo doll be kick, punched, and shouted at. The kids who watched it were more likely to imitate the models aggressive behavior than the children in the control group.

Who is Edward L. Thorndike and what is his law of effect? How did it influence behaviorism?

An animal behavior fascinated, his studies of baby chicks and cats were the first systematic investigation of animal learning. Focused on how voluntary behaviors are influenced by their consequences. In the law of effect, he postulated that responses that led to satisfying outcomes are more likely to be repeated.

Explain Albert Bandura's famous Bobo Doll experiment. What were his conclusions?

Bandura and his colleagues allowed 4 year old children to separately watch a love or televised adult model aggressively kick, punch, or shout at a large inflated Bobo doll and the second group did not watch the models. Then the children were allowed to play in a room with toys and the Bobo doll. The children that watched the model were more likely to imitate the model's aggressive behavior than the children in the control group. Bandura's experiment demonstrated the powerful influence of observational learning on behavior.

What role biological processes play in classical conditioning?

Certain species are biologically predisposed to learn particular associations that enhance their survival, ex. taste aversion.

Explain the principles and recognize examples of classical conditioning. Be sure to understand and apply in examples the neutral stimulus, UCS, UCR, CS, CR.

Classical Conditioning: Pavlov noticed that his dogs tended to salivate before food was actually delivered to their mouths. Neutral Stimulus (NS): Any stimulus that produces no conditioned response prior to learning EX: A ringing bell Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): A natural stimulus that reflectively elicits a response without the need for prior learning. "condition" means "learned" this an unconditioned stimulus is really an unlearned stimulus. EX: Food because it produced a naturally occurring salivation reflex. Conditioned Stimulus (CS): Was originally the neutral stimulus. When systematically paired with the unconditioned stimulus, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned (or learned) stimulus as it gains the power to cause a response EX: The ringing bell when it began to produce the same salivating response that the food once produced. Conditioned Response (CR): A learned response elicited by the conditioned stimulus. EX: He paired the ringing bell with food -EXAMPLES ARE ALL FROM PAVOLVS EXPERIMENT

Explain the principles, recognize examples, and know the major researcher, Edward Tolman, involved in latent learning. Include in your understanding the concept of cognitive maps.

Examples: Tolman's experiment with the rats running through the maze (one group got food and the other did not, later both groups both found the food in the same amount of time, as they created mental maps) Latent learning: occurs in the absence of rewards Cognitive maps: internal representations of the physical characteristics of the external environments -Tolman's work demonstrated that cognitive processes are at work

Explain the process and results of John Garcia's research on taste aversion. How (2 ways) did it expand our knowledge of classical conditioning? Explain how taste aversion develops.

First, the conditioning only required a single pairing. Second, instead of being separated by a few seconds, Garcia separated the two stimuli by several hours. His research demonstrated that there are important biological constraints on conditioning. Taste aversion is a classically conditioned dislike for and avoidance of a particular food that develops when an organism, becomes ill after eating food.

What does it mean if a behavior is extinguished?

In classical conditioning CR decreases when CS is repeatedly presented alone. In operant conditioning responding decreases when reinforcement stops.

What is the major difference between negative reinforcement and punishment?

Negative Reinforcement: A situation in which a behavior or response is followed by the removal of an adverse stimulus Negative punishment: The removal or subtraction of a reinforcing stimulus

Explain the principles and recognize examples of higher-order learning.

Occurs when a conditioned stimulus from one learning trial is paired with a new unconditioned stimulus. EX:Pavlov classically conditioned a dog to salivate to the sound of a ticking metronome. He then paired the ticking metronome with a black square. After several pairing of the ticking metronome and the black square, the black square produced salivation even though it had never been directly paired with food.

Explain the principles and recognize examples of operant conditioning, including the types of reinforcement, punishment, and schedules of reinforcement. Be sure to highlight an Skinner Box, operant response, positive and negative reinforcement, conditioned or secondary reinforcers, effectiveness of delayed punishment, continuous reinforcement, continuous reinforcement, fixed-interval schedule, variable ratio, variable interval.

Operant Conditioning: method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. It encourages the subject to associate desirable or undesirable outcomes with certain behaviors. Reinforcement: Occurs when a stimulus (the reinforce) follows an active behavior response. Positive Reinforcement: A behavior or response is followed by the addition of a reinforcing stimulus. The stimulus increases the probability that the response will occur again. EX: Your performance in the school play is flawless. Your drama coach applauds and exclaims "Bravo!" Negative Reinforcement: Situation in which a behavior or response is followed by the removal of an adverse stimulus. Typically enables you to either escape an existing aversive stimulus or avoid an aversive stimulus before it occurs. Skinner Box: To study operant conditioning and develop the process of shaping. Conditioned or Secondary Reinforces: reinforce that gains its effectiveness by a learned association (conditioned) with primary reinforces. EX: Money Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforcement schedule in which all correct responses are reinforced Fixed Interval Schedules: Reinforcement occurs after a predetermined time has elapsed. Typically produce moderate response rates followed by a flurry of activity near the end of each interval. EX: employers who pay their workers every two weeks Variable Ratio: Reinforcement is unpredictable because the ratio varies. EX: Casino owners use slot machines designed to operate on a variable ration schedule. Variable Interval: Reinforcement occurs unpredictably since the time interval varies. EX: teachers who give pop quizzes are using a variable interval schedule. Positive Punishment: The application or adding of an adverse stimulus after a response. EX: You arrive late to work and are reprimanded by your supervisor. Negative Punishment: The removal or subtraction of a reinforcing stimulus. EX: you arrive late to work and are sent home without pay.

Explain Robert Rescoral's contingency model of classical conditioning. Remember, conditioning occurs only when one event reliably predicts another.

Rescoral demonstrated that contiguity and contingency (CS's ability to reliably predict the UCS) is necessary for classical conditioning ; in his contingency model of classical conditioning, conditioning occurs only one event reliably predicts another; demonstrated that a neutral stimulus will become a CS only if continent and informative

Explain the principles and recognize examples of (stimulus) discrimination, spontaneous recovery, extinction, shaping, habituation, and (stimulus) generalization.

Spontaneous recovery: Is the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a time delay. Shows how difficult it can be to eliminate a conditioned response EX: Pavlov discovered that after a period of time, his dogs began salivating when they heard the sound of the bell. Stimulus Generalization: Occurs when stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus also elicit the conditioned response. It is important to remember that the new stimulus was not paired with the unconditioned stimulus. EX: Pavlov found that a dog conditioned to a low-pitched tone would respond to a high-pitched tone. Stimulus Discrimination: The ability to distinguish between two similar stimuli. EX: Students have learned that different responses to the sound of bells in classrooms, cell phones, and front doors. Similarly, gardeners demonstrate stimulus discrimination when the respond differently to weeds and to flowers. Extinction: Occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without the presence of the UCS. The result is gradual weakening of a conditioned behavior when the conditioned stimulus is not followed by the unconditioned stimulus. EX: He presented the ringing bell without the food. As a result, the ringing bell gradually lost its power to elicit the conditioned response of salivation. Shaping: The technique of strengthening behavior by reinforcing successive approximations of a behavior until the entire correct routine is displayed. Extensively used by athletic coaches and animal trainers. Skinner used his "Skinner Box" to conduct experiments on shaping. Habituation: Is the diminishing of a physiological or emotional response to a frequently repeated stimulus.

What reflects contemporary interpretations of classical conditioning?

They take into account cognitive processes like expectancy.

What is the relationship between the intermittent nature of the US during maintenance, the strength of the CR during extinction?

US (unconditioned stimulus): is a natural stimulus that reflexively elicits a response without the need for prior learning CR (conditional responses): learned response elicited by the conditioned stimulus, process is called acquisition

When is classical conditioning most efficient in terms of the unconditional stimulus (UCS)?

When the conditioned stimulus immediately precedes the conditioned stimulus.

Explain the principles of insight learning. Describe the famous experiment by Wolfgang Kohler ad Sultan. Recognize an example.

Wolfgang Kohler suspended bananas just outside the reach of a caged chimpanzee (Sultan). Sultan did not solve the problem through trial-and-error but he studied the problem and used insight to use a stick to knock the bananas down. Kohler called this insight learning and it is impertinent to note that Sultan's behavior can't be explained by either classical or operant conditioning

Define learning. Distinguish between classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning/ observational.

a lasting change in behavior or mental processes as the result of an experience classical conditioning: Involuntary, automatic, and association. operant conditioning: Voluntary, not association, reward of punishment social learning/ observational: Learn by watching others.

Describe modeling and recognize examples.

a models observed behavior is most influential while the behavior is seen as having reinforcing consequences; the model is liked, respected, and perceived positively; perceived similarities between the models and the observer; the model's behavior is is visible and salient

Define acquisition and explain factors that influence its occurrence.

acquisition is the process by which a CS elicits a CR and by which this elicitation increases in frequency over repeated; they must occur close together in time

What have social learning experiments on the modeling of aggressive behavior have demonstrated? Who did a famous experiment on this subject?

an organism observes another preform a behavior, notes the consequences , and modifies its own behavior in a future, similar situation; Albert Bandura

What did Watson and Rayner's classical conditioning of the "Little Albert" show about human emotions such as fear?

classical conditioning can create a phobia ***

What is biological preparedness?

is when two species have evolved so that its members require less learning experience to acquire certain conditioned responses

What is observational learning and recognize examples?

it is learning that occurs through watching others and then imitating or modeling the observed behavior, also known as " social learning" or "cognitive social learning"; learning done vicariously; EX: Bobo doll study of children mocking adult violence on Bobo

What are mirror neurons? Where are they located? How are they useful for observation learning?

mirror neurons provide a neutral basis for observational learning; located in the frontal lobe; help children's empathy and their theory of mind

What concepts are central to social learning theory?

observation, imitation, and modeling

According to the diagram, describe the occurrence of spontaneous recovery.

spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a time delay; in Pavlov's experiment showed that the conditioned response reappeared at a lower intensity; spontaneous recovery shows how difficult it is to eliminate a conditioned response

In operant conditioning, what is the Premack Principle? Recognize examples.

the Premark Principle states that the opportunity to engage in a preferred activity can be used to reinforce a less-proffered activity; EX: you enjoy playing video games more than studying for the ACT. knowing this you tie the less-proffered activity (video games); EX: you enjoy eating ice cream more than veggies. knowing this you mom ties eating veggies to getting some ice cream

Why it is unlikely that John Watson's "Little Albert" experiment could be repeated today? Think ethics

the experiment failed to warn little Albert's mother about the potential pain and stressed that can be associated with the experiment

Define and explain desensitization therapy. For what disorder could it be used?

the reduction in both emotional arousal and in distress at viewing violence; anxiety*

What are fixed and unlearned patterns of behavior that are characteristic of an entire species?

they are predetermined sets of responses

What is the goal of both positive and negative reinforcement?

to increase the likelihood that the preceding behavior will be repeated

What schedule of reinforcement produces the highest and most steady rate of performance?

variable-interval schedule