Psychology Test 3
Behaviorism Assumption
1) Black Box Assumption 2) Learning Assumption 3) Equipotentiality Assumption
What are the three assumptions of behaviorism?
1) The mind is a blank slate 2) We have a few reflexes and the ability to learn and 3) It is the environment that makes us who we are.
What is important for good US-CS pairing?
1)Frequency of pairings: It takes many trials 2) Timing of stimulus: New stimulus & Unconditioned stimulus must be close in time. Stimulus generalization Higher order conditioning
28 What effects Classical Conditioning and makes it work best?
1)Frequency of pairings: It takes many trials 2) Timing of stimulus: New stimulus & Unconditioned stimulus must be close in time. There are a couple of exceptions to these guidelines.
Problems for Behaviorism
1. Some US - CS pairings just don't work 2. Can't override natural inclinations 3. If you are interested: It also cannot account for learning more complex things: Mice learning to navigate mazes, people learning to speak language. - We won't talk about these.
Kitty Genovese Case and its aftermath
38 witnesses to the attack ∗ "Good people" failed to call the police. ∗ No one did a thing ∗ One resident called police after she was already dead. Example of the bystander effect.
Conditioning (text)
A basic kind of learning that involves associations among environmental stimuli and an organism's behavior.
What was the prison study by Zimbardo?
A demonstration of power of roles known as the Stanford prison study. Philip Zimbardo wanted to know what would happen if ordinary college students were randomly assigned to the roles of prisoners and guards. The assigned prisoners and guards quickly learned their respective roles, which often have more influence on their behavior than their personalities do. The students transformed completely into their roles, with the guards relishing and abusing their power and students becoming emotionally distressed and/or rebellious.
What are roles?
A given social position that is governed by a set of norms for proper behavior.
Entrapment
A gradual process in which individuals escalate their commitment to a course of action to justify their investment of time, money or effort.
How long does it take people to be classically conditioned?
A long time! Conditioned responses can last for months or years. But if CS is repeatedly presented without US, CR will weaken.
What is behaviorism?
A movement/theory about learning.
Schemas
A pattern of thought or behavior that organizes categories of information. Think of it as a framework representing some aspect of the world, or a system of organizing and perceiving new information
Higher-order conditioning (Text)
A procedure in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus through association with an already established conditioned stimulus.
What is culture?
A program of shared rules that govern the behavior of people in a community or society, and a set of values, beliefs, and customs shared by most members of that community.
Positive reinforcement
A reinforcement procedure in which a response is followed by the presentation of, or increase in intensity of, a reinforcing stimulus; as a result, the response becomes stronger or more likely to occur.
Negative reinforcement
A reinforcement procedure in which a response is followed by the removal, delay or decrease in intensity of an unpleasant stimulus; as a result, the response becomes stronger or more likely to occur.
Learning (text)
A relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavioral potential) due to experience.
Unconditioned response (UR)
A response elicited by an unconditional stimulus.
Conditioned response (CR)
A response that is elicited by a conditioned stimulus; it occurs after the conditioned stimulus is associated with an unconditioned stimulus.
Cognitive dissonance
A state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent or when a person's belief is incongruent with his or her behavior.
Unconditioned stimulus (US) (text)
A stimulus that already elicits a certain response without additional learning.
Secondary punisher
A stimulus that has acquired punishing properties through association with other punishers.
Secondary reinforcer
A stimulus that has acquired reinforcement properties through association with other reinforcers.
Primary punisher
A stimulus that is inherently punishing; an example is electric shock.
Primary reinforcer
A stimulus that is inherently reinforcing, typically satisfying a physiological need; an example is food.
Prejudice
A strong, unreasonable dislike or hatred of a group, based on a negative stereotype.
Prejudice Lecture
A strong, unreasonable dislike or hatred of a group, based on a negative stereotype.
Stereotype Lecture
A summary impression of a group of people in which all members of the group are viewed as sharing a common trait or traits.
Stereotype
A summary impression of a group, in which a person believes that all members of the group share a common trait or traits (positive, negative, or neutral).
Example of why conformity is bad: Central Park, New York, 1989
A woman is raped,brutalized, and nearly killed while on an evening jog. Acting on reports of a roving gang of youths attacking people,police pick up five teenagers from Harlem.Four of the five teenagers provide police with video taped confessions, describing how they and their friends beat and raped the jogger. All five were found guilty. Matias Reyes was found to commit the crime, and the five had confessed to a crime they didn't commit.
Stimulus generalization
After conditioning, the tendency to respond to a stimulus that resembles one involved in the original conditioning; in classical conditioning, it occurs when a stimulus resembles the CS and elicits the CR.
Stimulus generalization (Text)
After conditioning, the tendency to respond to a stimulus that resembles one involved in the original conditioning; in classical conditioning, it occurs when a stimulus that resembles the CS elicits the CR.
Behaviorism
An approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of the environment and prior experience as determinants of behavior.
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
An initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being associated with an unconditional stimulus.
Reflex
An involuntary and nearly instantaneous movement in response to a stimulus.
Shaping (Text)
An operant-conditioning procedure in which successive approximations of a desired response are reinforced.
Can you recognize and provide an example of an unconditioned response?
An unconditioned response is the result of an unconditioned stimulus. See the food (donut/skittles/US)and that results in salivation (UR)
Stanford prison experiment
Another case of obedience. How people will psychologically abuse others in the context of an experiment.
Equipotentiality Assumption
Any reinforcer or punishment is the same as any another reinforcer/punishment. All animals possess the same (domain-general) learning ability, the only difference is how much each can learn.
Operant Conditioning (Lec 19)
Behavior changes due to reward or punishment. ∗ Reward = behavior will more likely happen ∗ Punishment = behavior will less likely happen
Conformity
Behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards. Compliance with standards, rules, or laws. Compliance with authorities. Typically a good thing to do -obeying rules & laws - but not always...
Behavioral perspective
Behavioral perspective emphasizes the influence of prior experience of current behavior, rather than thoughts or other aspects of the "mind."
What are three assumptions of behaviorism?
Behaviorists argued that information processing cannot be observed, so we shouldn't discuss it. Focused on the stimuli ---> Response. Behaviorists also assumed that the mind is a blank slate. They argued that we have a few reflexes and the ability to learn. The third assumption is that the environment makes us who we are.
What is classical conditioning?
Believed by Pavlov (1849-1936). Classical conditioning always starts with a reflex. Through forming associations, you can change the patterns of future activations of a reflex.
Skinner
Believed in operant conditioning. All behavior can be explained by rewards and punishments
Positive reinforcement example
Big Bang Theory example: Sheldon giving chocolates to Penny as positive reinforcement to get her to stop talking so they all can watch television in silence.
Higher order conditioning
But you can also Classically Condition emotions and fear. Advertising does this all the time. For example, Kobe Bryant/Father time commercial.
More on equipotentiality assumption
By the use of conditioning (and only conditioning), rats can learn any association between any US-CS.
Bystander effect
Bystander effects have been demonstrated in countless experiments ∗ The more people there are, the less likely anyone will do something
Dispositional attribution:
Cause of behavior is something about the person themselves (their personality)
Situational attribution
Cause of behavior is the environment or situation
Animal instincts
Chicken playing baseball: Chicken chased the ball, rather than run around the base. Reliably developing mechanism: Explore small moving objects.
What are two types of learning according to behaviorists?
Classical Conditioning (Pavlov) and Operant Conditioning (Skinner).
Two types of learning according to behaviorists
Classical conditioning (Pavlov) (1849-1936), Operant conditioning (Skinner, 1904-1990).
Differences between classical conditioning and operant conditioning
Classical conditioning is about reflexes, and operant conditioning is about effects. Operant conditioning is not about pairing US-CS. Not based on reflexes.
How are classical conditioning and operant conditioning different?
Classical conditioning starts with a reflex.
Involuntary confessions
Compliant: go along with the police / yielding to authority Criminal Interrogation and Confessions Inbau & Reid's Confrontation Interrogation Technique: Isolate the suspect Keep the suspect waiting Gain the suspect's trust Minimize the severity of the crime Offer understanding and sympathy Interrupt any attempts to deny Give the appearance of evidence
Hearing the car keys and associating it with skittles/donuts is an example of what?
Conditioned response.
What does CR stand for?
Conditioned response.
What does CS stand for?
Conditioned stimulus
Car keys sound is an example of what?
Conditioned stimulus.
Shaping
Creating complex behavior via schedules of reward. Reinforcing successively closer approximations of the behavior until the correct behavior is displayed.
What did Watson try to show with classical conditioning?
Empiricist: Watson (1925) - experience could write virtually any message on the tabula rasa (blank slate). Stated "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist - doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, beggar or thief. Regardless of his talents, tendencies, abilities, vocabulary and race.
Classical conditioning: The conditioned response
Eventually, the new stimulus triggers the behavior all on its own (the Conditioned Response). The sound of the car keys (CS) is learned and that results in the conditioned response (salivation from hearing the keys jingle).
Unconditioned
Everything you have not yet learned, do not need to learn (or have forgotten)
Unconditioned
Everything you have not yet learned, do not need to learn (or have forgotten) is "unconditioned."
Learning Assumption
Few reflexes, everything else is learned
Can you recognize and provide an example of Unconditioned stimulus?
Food (Donut) Unconditioned stimulus
Shaping problems
Found that shaping sometimes will not work, because animals cannot inhibit their "natural inclinations."
What is classical conditioning?
Founded by Pavlov. Always starts with a reflex. Through forming associations, you can change the patterns of future activations of a reflex.
Cognitive Dissonance experiment
Had to do a boring lego activity and convince a classmate that it was interesting. When do you think most people enjoy doing the task more? ∗ When paid $20 or $1 to describe it to the next person? ∗ If you are paid $1 you enjoy it more!
Collective Ignorance
In ambiguous situations, we look to others for cues on how to act
Attribution theory Lecture
In any context where you are interacting with others, there is the situation and the attribute we think about the person.
What is higher order conditioning?
In classical conditioning, a procedure in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus through association with an already established conditioned stimulus.
Higher-order conditioning
In classical conditioning, a procedure in which a neutral stimulus through association with an already established conditioned stimulus.
Counterconditioning
In classical conditioning, the process of pairing a conditioned stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a response that is incompatible with an unwanted conditioned response.
Diffusion of responsibility
In groups, the tendency of members to avoid taking action because they assume that others will.
Obedience to authority
In most situations -this is what makes society work. But it shouldn't be without question.
Define Learning
Information ---> Information processing ----> Behavior
Conditioning
Involves associations among stimuli and behavior.
Learning (Continued)
Learning is conditioning. When you learn something, it is conditioned. Everything you have not have learned, do not need to learn (or have forgotten) is "unconditioned."
Miligram experiment result
Milgram's experiment took place before many of the ethical rules that are now in place in psychology However, a replication was done in 2006: Participants were stopped at 150 V -the "critical point" Results? 63% still passed 150 People (not just evil people) have a difficult time resisting authority -even if the authority asks them to do something wrong/against their moral or ethical principles.
Black Box Assumption
No benefit to talking about minds, internal motivation
Why do people obey in these situations?
Obvious consequences of disobedience: They can be suspended from school, fired from their jobs or arrested. They may also obey an authority because they hope to gain advantages or promotions or expect to learn from the authority's greater knowledge or experience. The obey because they are dependent on authority and respect the authority's legitimacy. They do want to rock the boat, appear to doubt the experts or be rude, for fear of being disliked or rejected.
Cognitive Dissonance example
On December 20, 1954,Dorothy Martin assembles a group in her backyard, ready to be saved from the imminent destruction of the Earth by a flying saucer. The group's beliefs and advocacy got stronger! (For a while at least) Leon Festinger's When Prophecy Fails
What are cultural norms?
One example of a cultural norm is conversational distance: how close people stand to one another when they are speaking. For example, Arabs stand much closer in conversation than Westerners do, close enough to feel one another's breath and "read" one another's eyes. Most westerners would feel "crowded"standing so close, even when talking to a friend.
Bystander effect theories
One theory: Diffusion of responsibility ∗ I don't have to do something because someone else will ∗ Another theory: Collective Ignorance ∗ In ambiguous situations, we look to others for cues on how to act
Operant conditioning examples
Positive = Adding something. Examples: Chocolate, Warning sign. Can add either a reward or a punishment. Negative = taking something away. Examples: A rock award, or punishment (child sitting in a corner).
Group of rats
Presented Contingently: What should the rats learn? To flinch to the light? Do they? Yes.
Raccoon saving pennies
Raccoon dipped the coins in the coin bank, but would not let go. Reliably developing mechanism: Clean shiny food-like objects
Effects
Rewards and punishments
Effective Training (Conditioning)
Rewards or Punishments should be immediate. High predictive power Training should be reliable, frequent association.
What are norms?
Rules that regulate social life, including explicit laws and implicit cultural conventions.
Can you give an example of higher order conditioning?
Say Milo had to salivate to the sight of his food dish. Now you flash a bright light before presenting the dish. With repeated pairings of the light and the dish, Milo may learn to salivate to the light.
Obedience is not always good
Silently hands folded conformity can lead to large social problems. Choosing to act on your conscience instead of conforming can be a legitimate force of social change.
Skinner's pigeon experiment
Skinner used operant conditioning to train the pigeon by eating once he switched on a light. When the pigeon moved, he would "shape" the behavior using positive reinforcement/reward (with the light and the food).
Punch line: Selective assumptions
Some associations after only one trial. Some associations do not develop at all.
Miligram obedience experiment, 1963
Stanley Milgram (1933 ‐ 1984) Wanted to show that people (i.e., Americans)are able to resist pressure to act immorally; we're not evil. Used a "shock machine." About 65% of subjects went all the way to 450 volts.
How the behaviorists see it
Stimulus (Information) -----> Black Box -----> Response (Behavior). Behaviorists argued that information processing cannot be observed, so we shouldn't discuss it. Focused on stimuli >>> response.
According to behaviorists
Stimulus (Information) ---> I learned ----> Response (Behavior)
According to behaviorists (II)
Stimulus (Information) ---> I learned Dutch ----> Response (Behavior.) Stimulus (Dutch language) ----> I learned ---> Response (I spoke, made myself understood, got "rewards" for learning and avoided "bad things."
Other things about Classical conditioning
Stimulus generalization: The Conditioned Response will be elicited by stimuli similar to the Conditioned Stimulus. Example: Different sounding keys will elicit salivation.
Pavlov dog experiment
Study salivation in dogs. Dogs salivated before the food was placed in its mouth. Sight and smell of the food was a stimulus. New salivary responses were not inborn, therefore must have been acquired through experience.
Social psychology and cultural psychology
Study the influence of the social and cultural environment on the actions of individuals and groups. The influence of roles and attitudes How people's behavior is affected by the groups and situations they are in. What are the conditions under which people conform or dissent.
Stimulus generalization
The Conditioned Response will be elicited by stimuli similar to the Conditioned Stimulus. For example, different sounding keys will elicit salivation.
Attribution example
The attribution: The driver is an inconsiderate person and a bad driver. The situation: The driver had gotten a call that his daughter was injured and was rushing to see whether she was okay.
Conditioned response (CR)
The classical-conditioning term for a response that is elicited by a conditioned stimulus; it occurs after the conditioned stimulus is associated with an unconditioned stimulus.
Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
The classical-conditioning term for a stimulus that already elicits a certain response without additional learning.
Unconditioned response (UR)
The classical-conditioning term for an initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being associated with an unconditional stimulus.
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
The classical-conditioning term for an initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being associated with an unconditioned stimulus.
Classical conditioning
The process by which a previously neutral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus that already elicits a response, and in turn, acquires the capacity to elicit a similar or related response. Also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning.
Operant conditioning
The process by which a response becomes more likely to occur or less so, depending on its consequences.
Reinforcement
The process by which a stimulus or event strengthens or increases the probability of the response that it follows.
Punishment
The process by which a stimulus or event weakens or reduces the probability of the response that it follows.
Spontaneous Recovery (Text)
The reappearance of a learned response after its apparent extinction.
Spontaneous recovery
The reappearance of a learned response after its apparent extinction.
Spontaneous recovery (II)
The reappearance of a learned response after its apparent extinction.
Operant conditioning (III)
The response produces "effects" on the environment. These "effects" influence whether the response will occur again.
What is operant conditioning?
The response produces "effects" on the environment. These "effects" influence whether the response will occur again. Effects = rewards and punishments. Not about pairing US-CS and not based on reflexes.
What did the results show?
The results demonstrated how roles affected behavior. The guards' aggression was entirely a result of wearing a guard's uniform and having the power conferred by the guard's authority.
Behaviorism (Text)
The school of psychology that accounts for behavior in terms of observable acts and events.
Groupthink
The tendency for all members of a group to think alike for the sake of harmony and to suppress disagreement.
Stimulus discrimination
The tendency to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli; in classical conditioning, it occurs when a stimulus similar to the CS fails to evoke the CR.
Stimulus discrimination (Text)
The tendency to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli; in classical conditioning, it occurs when a stimulus similar to the CS fails to evoke the CR.
Fundamental Attribution Error
The tendency, in explaining other people's behavior, to overestimate personality factors and underestimate the influence of the situation.
Attribution theory
The theory that people are motivated to explain their own and other people's behavior by attributing causes of that behavior to a situation or a disposition.
Extinction
The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response.
Extinction
The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; in classical conditioning, it occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditional stimulus.
Extinction (Text)
The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; in classical conditioning, it occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus.
When you have eating/drank something that made you feel sick...
Then you feel sick when thinking about it. One trial ->>> you never want to eat it again. But alcohol violates the equipotentiality assumption.
Apple ad using conditioning
They don't tell you anything about their product - they just pair images and videos of kids playing football around the world mix with Little Simz's song "Wingz." The images/videos and music (the US) are all supposed to make you feel good - feel inspiration (the UR). Then at the end it says iPhone (the CS) and they are hoping that you have a CR (feeling good, inspired) to the iPhone.
Advertising and how they use conditioning
This ad is relying on the celebrity status of Kobe Bryant and the comedic banter between him and the actor Michael B. Jordan to make you feel good. Here Kobe Bryant is the US, the UR is positive feelings, the CS is Apple TV, and they are hoping the CR is feeling good. Although this one is relying on classical conditioning less than most of their ads, since it also shows you features of Apple TV that also might make you interested in their product.
Classical conditioning: Starting point
US ---> UR. Associating a stimuli to the Unconditioned Stimuli. For example, the sound car keys makes you think of driving to get the donuts/skittles (US) which causes salivation. (UR)
Salivation is an example of what?
Unconditioned response.
What does UR stand for?
Unconditioned response.
Food is an example of what?
Unconditioned stimuli.
What does US stand for?
Unconditioned stimulus
What did Watson try to show with classical conditioning? Cont
Watson believed that behavior is shaped solely by a person's environment. He experimented using 100's of infants and tried to condition their behavior based on their environment.
For example, can you describe how Watson showed how fear is learned?
Watson experimented using Little Albert to prove that fear is learned. He used infants because they have a blank slate (tabula rasa). He believed the environment is more powerful than genetics. He presented Little Albert with a burning newspaper and rat, but Albert was not afraid of him. Then he used a loud banging noise with the rat, and repeated the experiment many times because that upset Albert. Over time, Albert became afraid of all fury things. This proved Watson's theory that fear is learned, not inherited, and it is a product of one's environment.
The Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)
We overestimate personality traits of others and underestimate the influence of the situation. ∗ When someone else does it, it's because of who they are ∗ When I do it, it's because of the situation ∗ It works for good things, too, by the way.
Obedience as a function of the situation (being compliant)
What is the situation here? Authority (police) lied about the evidence they had: Detective Tom McKenna falsely told one of the teenagers (Yusef Salaam) that fingerprints had been found on the jogger's clothes. "Salaam looks at me and says, 'I was there, but I didn't rape her,' "Detective McKenna recalls. "We are allowed, by law, to use guile and ruse, and we do."
Group of rats II
What should the rats learn? Presented Contingently: To flinch to the taste. Do they? No!
More on Cognitive Dissonance
When our beliefs come into conflict with our actions, our beliefs are more likely to change
Cognitive Dissonance (Lecture)
When you have either: two opinions (attitudes/beliefs) or an opinion/attitude/belief and a behavior/action that are in conflict with each other. The two things are dissonant (in tension or clash) This makes you feel uncomfortable.
Conditioned
When you learn something.
Conditioned
When you learned something it it "conditioned."
Classical conditioning in real life
Works well with snakes (brings out conditioned fear in people) and less well with butterflies (brings out joy)
Have you ever eaten something that made you sick that you never wanted to eat again?
Yes, Burger Lounge. Alcohol.
Cognitive Dissonance example II
Your belief: It is bad to skip class -it makes the material I miss harder to learn. You today: Sleeping. You wake up after class is over and feel uncomfortable. We don't like to feel uncomfortable so we have to do something. Typically what we do is change our belief. Your belief now: It doesn't really matter if I skip class, everyone does it.
What did they do in the experiment?
Zimbardo and his associates set up a serious-looking "prison" in the basement of a Stanford building, complete with individual cells, different uniforms for prisoners and guards, and nightsticks for the guards. The students were randomly assigned a role of guard or a prisoner and agreed to live there for two weeks.
Positive reinforcement example Lecture
a kind word after you help someone, a winning an award after your great job on the debate team, praise from your family after getting accepted to the college you wanted to go to.
Negative reinforcement Lecture
a police officer decides not to give you a speeding ticket, your professor decides to not count the last test on your grade because everyone did very poor on the test, you stay in your bedroom instead of talking to your roommate when they get home because you don't want to hear them complain about their day at work.
Positive punishment
someone yells at you for cutting them off, angry looks in your direction after you remind the professor that there is supposed to be another quiz, a loud annoying sound when you do not buckle your seat belt in the car.
Negative punishment Lecture
your parents take away your phone, your friend stops listening to you, your boyfriend or girlfriend who you love stops calling you
Example of Cognitive Dissonance
∗ Example of Cognitive Dissonance: When our beliefs come into conflict with our actions, our beliefs are more likely to change. ∗ Belief - this was boring, ∗ Action - I just told this other person it was really interesting. ∗ I now feel uncomfortable - I'm experiencing cognitive dissonance. ∗ Better change my belief!
Why the FAE?
∗ We don't have the capacity (limited time, attention, memory) to consider, understand situational factors for everyone. ∗ We rely on schemas, stereotypes to fill in the blanks and make quick judgments. We only learn about those most important to us (and easiest to find out about): those in our groups.
