What is learning and what are the two basic types?
Learning: an enduring change in behaviour resulting from prior experience
Two basic types:
• Nonassociative learning: A form of learning that involves a change in the magnitude of an elicited response with repetition of the eliciting stimulus
• Associative learning: A form of learning that involves making connections between stimuli and behavioral responses
What is habituation? What is dishabituation?
Habituation: A form of nonassociative learning by which an organism becomes less responsive to a repeated stimulus-– i.e., learns not to respond to repeated stimulus
• Think of it as the “cry wolf” effect
Dishabituation: The recovery of a response that has undergone habituation, typically as a result of the presentation of a novel stimulus
What is sensitization? What is the evolutionary purpose of this learning?
A form of nonassociative learning by which an organism becomes more sensitive, or responsive, to a repeated stimulus
ex: after a horror movie, every creak in your house scares you
• The evolutionary purpose of this form of learning is to bring attention to potentially noxious stimuli in our environment
How does the dual-process theory of learning describe whether habituation or sensitization is prioritized?
Habituation and sensitization are both always at work
Of the two, the one that has a stronger response and wins out depends on one’s state of arousal
- When aroused, sensitization is more potent than habituation
- When relaxed, habituation is more potent than sensitization
How is habituation used to study learning?
Researchers can capitalize on the occurrence of habituation and sensitization to study learning subjects who cannot communicate with us—babies and non- human animals
When does associative learning occur and what are the two types?
associative learning occurs when a connection, or association, is made between two events
• There are two types of associative learning: operant conditioning and classical conditioning
What is classical conditioning?
A passive form of learning by which an association is made between a reflex-eliciting stimulus (e.g., a shock) and other stimuli (e.g., a sound)
- A reflexive action becomes associated with the new stimulus
- After conditioning, the neutral stimulus can elicit the same reflex as the motivational stimulus originally did
How did Pavlov discover classical conditioning?
Pavlov used an apparatus to measure dog’s salivation during food consumption
• Noticed that dogs salivated in response to many other stimuli that occurred around the same time as the presentation of the food
• The dogs were learning that, if a specific condition was met, the food would arrive soon
What are the unconditioned/conditioned stimuli and response key terms of classical conditioning?
• Unconditioned stimulus (US): A stimulus that produces a reflexive response without prior learning
• Unconditioned response (UR): The response that is automatically generated by the unconditioned stimulus
• Conditioned stimulus (CS): A stimulus that has no prior association but comes to elicit a response after being associated with the unconditioned stimulus
• Conditioned response (CR): A response that occurs in the presence of the conditioned stimulus after an association between the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus is learned
What is acquisition in regards to learning?
The initial learning of an association between the unconditioned and conditioned stimuli during classical conditioning
What is extinction in regards to learning?
An active learning process in which there is a weakening of the conditioned response to the conditioned stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus
- Useful for getting rid of an undesired response
- Even if the response has been weakened to extinction, the organism may not have forgotten about the learned event (spontaneous recovery can still occur)
- extinction is NOT forgetting, it is the brain learning NOT to respond, so the response can return
What is spontaneous recovery in regards to learning?
The reappearance of an extinct behavior after a delay
• Some learning may never be completely forgotten, but is simply suppressed
What is the residual plasticity hypothesis?
Even after extinction, neural networks of learning persist, and can lead to savings if conditioning is reintroduced.
• Relearning an association after extinction happens more rapidly than the original conditioning session.
What is generalization in regards to learning?
The tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the condition stimulus, so that learning is not tied to narrowly to a specific stimulus
• The greater the similarity between two stimuli, the more like generalization is to occur
What is discrimination in regards to learning? How did Pavlov demonstrate this?
Learning to respond to a particular stimulus but not similar stimuli
• Pavlov trained dogs to salivate to the sight of a black square; this learning had generalized to the sight of a gray square
- After a series of trials where presentations of the gray square were never followed by food, whereas presentations of the black square were always followed by food, the dog stopped salivating to the gray square but continued to salivate to the black one
How does Conditioning depend on the Predictive Value of the Conditioned Stimulus?
Conditioning occurs mainly when the new stimulus provides information that helps the animal predict the arrival of the unconditioned stimulus
• Pavlov noted that timing between events is critical for learning their association
- For classical conditioning to occur, the CS has to precede the US, and the CS and US have to be presented together close in time (contiguity)
We also need contingency (predictiveness)
- The conditioned stimulus must signal heightened probability of occurrence of the unconditioned stimulus
Learning during classical conditioning is also influenced by the presence of other previous associations
- Conditioning from familiar stimuli is more difficult than conditioning from unfamiliar stimuli
What is blocking in regards to learning?
A classical conditioning phenomenon whereby a prior association with a conditioned stimulus prevents learning of an association with another stimulus because the second one adds no further predictive value
ex: the light alone will not elicit the response, but the ding will, because the second stimulus was ADDED LATER and did not add anything different or valuable in the prediction of the stimulus
What are the advantages of "blocking" during learning?
• Our brains are pragmatic learning machines, learning what is most informative
- By blocking false associations, we are more likely to learn the true causal associations of events
• Compromised or absent in individuals with certain disorders such as schizophrenia, possibly because the disorder disrupts a person’s ability to attend to environmental stimuli in a predictive manner
Can We Condition Emotional Responses?
Yes
John Watson and Rosalie Rayner (1920)
• Demonstrated how an 11-month-old infant (“Little Albert”) could be conditioned to fear a white rat
What is counterconditioning?
Conditioned new responses to stimuli that had triggered unwanted behavior.
How does PTSD affect individuals?
People who experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be stricken with anxiety for years after the event
• Negative associations can be so powerful that they are learned extremely rapidly and are easily generalized, even after a single experience
What brain regions are involved with fear conditioning?
Fear conditioning depends on the amygdala, the region next to the hippocampus in the medial temporal lobe
• Associations can also be made with pleasant experiences
- The amygdala is also involved in conditioned reward
How is classical conditioning adaptive for organisms preceding a biologically significant event?
Classical conditioning presents a way for organisms to learn to prepare themselves for imminent events that are biologically significant
- A conditioned stimulus preceding a painful or startling event can produce fear and bodily reactions that help avoid or brace the individual for the event
- A conditioned stimulus preceding delivery of food can elicit hunger and bodily responses that help prepare the gastrointestinal tract for food
What concept describes how humans are biologically prepared for association?
Preparedness: The species-specific biological predisposition to learn some associations more quickly than other associations
- Some specific phobias may have prepared us to be wary of spiders, snakes, and heights
- Strong predispositions exist for real-life threats that our species has faced during its evolution
ex: Monkeys can learn to fear snakes after watching a video of another monkey reacting negatively when encountering a snake
What is conditioned taste aversion?
A classically conditioned response where individuals are more likely to associate nausea with food than with other environmental stimuli
- Rats learned to associate nausea with consuming a specific food, even though the food was not to blame for the nausea
• Conditioned taste aversion can help organisms avoid food that has gone bad, or food that is poisonous
• In nature, rapid learning of taste aversions is important for survival
How is taste aversion used in cancer patients?
Chemotherapy and radiation treatment can lead to nausea and weight loss
- Patients usually associate the nausea with foods ingested or scents experienced before the nausea occurs
Patients are usually given a scapegoat food with unique flavor, such as root beer ice, before every treatment ("BLOCKING")
- Patients who link the scapegoat food to nausea experience a 30% reduction of aversion toward other foods
How does a "compensatory response" lead to drug overdose?
The brain of a chronic drug user can learn to anticipate the receipt of drugs and make adjustments that reduce the impact of the drug
- This can lead to decreased responsiveness to the drug and increased drug tolerance
- Typically, this is the result of an environmental context, such as the user always using drugs in the same place, such as their bedroom, or a garage, or another familiar location (CS)
o When the user takes drugs in a new context (novel stimulus, stronger response), they may end up overdosing, which can lead to a potentially fatal effect
What is operant conditioning?
An active form of learning by which an association is made between a stimulus (e.g., food) and a voluntary response (e.g., pulling a lever)
• Behaviors must be performed to get or avoid something
What are the ABCs of operant conditioning?
• Antecedents: The stimuli that precede the behavior and signal the consequence
- For example: When a traffic light is green, stepping on the gas is good; when the traffic light is red, stepping on the gas is bad
• Behavior: The voluntary action that takes place.
• Consequences: The stimuli after the behavior that either increase or decrease the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated
What is the law of effect?
The idea that behavior is a function of its consequences—actions that are followed by positive outcomes are strengthened, and behaviors that are followed by negative outcomes are weakened
What is reinforcement vs punishment?
Reinforcement: A consequence that increases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated
Punishment: A consequence that decreases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated
What are Primary vs. Secondary Reinforcers?
Primary reinforcers: A consequence that is innately pleasurable and/or satisfies some biological need.
- Primary reinforcers can include food, drink, warmth, and sex
Secondary reinforcers: A learned pleasure that acquires value through experience because if its association with primary reinforcers
- Sometimes can be used to exchange for primary reinforcers
- Money can be used to purchase food, drinks, etc
What is positive vs negative reinforcement?
Positive Reinforcerment
• The presentation of a positive stimulus, leading to an increase in the frequency of a behavior
Negative Reinforcement
• The removal of a negative stimulus, leading to an
increase in the frequency of a behavior.
- For example: taking pain medication to relieve a headache
- not a punishment
What is a positive vs negative punishment?
Positive Punishment
• The presentation of a negative stimulus, leading to a
decrease in the frequency of a behavior
- For example: getting a speeding ticket
Negative Punishment
• The removal of a positive stimulus, leading to a decrease in the frequency of a behavior.
- For example: losing your license for getting too many speeding tickets; being grounded for staying out too late
What is delayed reinforcement and delayed discounting?
Delayed reinforcement: Receiving reinforcement after having already performed a behavior some time ago
- Paychecks
Delay discounting: Future consequences have less
potency than consequences that are immediate
- May guide people toward impulsive choices
Immediate reinforcing consequences often overpower delayed punishment
- We might go to a party instead of studying, even though not studying will result in a bad grade
How did BF Skinner use free operant responses?
Placed rats and pigeons in operant conditioning chambers (also known as Skinner boxes) in order to study their behaviors
- Free operant responses: Allow the animal to respond at any time and as many times as needed
What is shaping and what is the reinforcement of successive approximations?
Shaping:
• The process by which random behaviors are gradually changed into a desired target behavior
Reinforcement of successive approximations:
Starting with the behavior that is vaguely similar to the target behavior and reinforcing behaviors that are closer and closer to the desired end behavior.
- Can be used to teach animals complex tricks that they would not be able to do spontaneously
- Can also be used to get people who have a specific phobia to ameliorate their anxieties
What is instinctive drift?
An animal’s reversion to evolutionarily derived instinctive behaviors instead of demonstrating newly learned responses.
- Raccoons can be taught to pick up trinkets, but over time their behavior of rubbing the trinkets together (washing behavior) overrides the behavior in which they placed them on a tray
• Although operant conditioning is a powerful tool, wild animals should not be disregarded just because we can use operant learning to get them to perform tricks
What is a continuous reinforcement schedule? What are the pros and cons?
A reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is rewarded every time it is performed.
- Pro: Leads to a rapid acquisition of a behavior
- Con: Behavior is also subject to rapid extinction
ex: Vending machines.
Every time you put your money in, you get a product; but if you put your money in and you don’t get a product, you will stop using the machine
What is a partial reinforcement schedule and the types?
A reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is rewarded only some of the time.
• Fixed-ratio schedule: A reinforcement schedule in which a specific number of behaviors are required before reward is given.
- Behavior tends to decrease briefly immediately after a reward is received and then accelerate as repetitions get closer to the threshold for receiving the reward.
- Example: A salesperson receiving a bonus for every five items sold
• Variable-ratio schedule: A reinforcement schedule in which an average number of behaviors are required before a reward is given.
- Less predictable than fixed ratio schedule
- Effective schedule for eliciting a consistently high level of behavior because it lacks predictability
o Casinos encourage people to put money into slot machines despite little evidence of a payoff (unpredictability can increase value of reward, ie gambling)
What are the 2 types of interval schedules?
Fixed-Interval Schedule
• A reinforcement schedule based on a fixed amount of time before an award is given.
- Response rate yields a very distinct scallop-shaped pattern when graphed
- Even though a test is 3 weeks away, you may intensify your studying only several days before the exam.
Variable-Interval Schedule
• A reinforcement schedule based on an amount of time between rewards that varies around a constant average.
- Leads to slow and consistent responses because the time to the next reinforcer is relatively unpredictable
• Example: Your desire to check your phone is probably high, because you do not know when you will see something you like
What is Contingent vs. Noncontingent Reinforcement?
• Contingent reinforcement: A specific response is reinforced because it yields a desired change in the environment
• Noncontingent reinforcement: A reward delivered on a fixed-interval schedule no matter what behavior the organism is engaging in
Which type of reinforcement schedule is fasted vs slowest?
fixed ratio is fasted
variable interval is slower, but more difficult to extinguish
What is superstitious conditioning?
A form of noncontingent reinforcement, in which individuals learn a behavior that has no actual relationship with reinforcement
- Because an organism is doing something when the first reinforcement arrives, that particular behavior ends up being reinforced
- Learning depends on the associations made in the mind of the beholder, not on actual causal associations
• Edward Tolman: rewards affect what animals do more than what they learn
• Latent learning: learning that is not immediately
demonstrated in the animal’s behaviour
An internal mental representation of the world
• In an experiment, rats seem to have learned the complexity of a maze without being rewarded for completing the maze
• The learning of cognitive maps is supported by changes in the hippocampus
What is observational learning?
A form of learning in which a person observes and imitates a behavior from a model
- Eliminates a lot of the trial and error process involved in other types of learning
- Increases the rate of learning associated with operant or classical methods
- Both social and cognitive factors affect learning
Neurons found in various parts of the cerebral cortex that are active both when performing an action and when observing that same action being performed by someone else
What is the social learning theory?
A theory stating that learning is a cognitive process derived from social observation, rather than direct reinforcement of motor actions
Albert Bandura: Claimed that children learn behaviors through social learning
-Involves four main processes
- Attention
- Retention
- Motor reproduction
- Reinforcement
What is vicarious reinforcement and vicarious punishment?
Vicarious reinforcement: An increase in a behavior due to the observer witnessing the model being reinforced for that behavior.
Vicarious punishment: A decrease in a behavior due to the observer witnessing the model being punished for that behavior
What is cumulative cultural evolution?
Cultures evolved to build complex practices and areas of knowledge that gradually improve over centuries and millennia
What is the cultural, vertical and horizontal transmission of learning?
• Cultural transmission: The transfer of information from one generation to another that is maintained not by genetics, but by teaching and learning.
• Vertical transmission: The transmission of skills from parent to offspring.
• Horizontal transmission: The transmission of skills between peers.
What is a diffusion chain?
A process in which individuals learn a behavior by observing a model and then serve as models from whom other individuals can learn
- Cultural innovations can spread across separate groups, even if the group that originated the behavior is not in direct contact with other groups
• There is ample evidence for local behavioral traditions in orangutans as well as in chimpanzees