4 Chapter Study Guide Psychology 101
Chapter 4 Definitions Learning- any process through which experience at one time can alter an individual's behavior at a future time Classical conditioning-learning process that had to do with the formation of new reflexes Alsoo is a form of reflex learning that does produce a new stimulus response sequence Reflex-a simple, relatively automatic, stimulus-response sequence mediated by the nervous system Stimulus- results in a particular well-defined event in the environment Respones- well-defined bit of behavior Habituation- decline in the magnitude of a reflexive response when the stimulus is repeated several times in succession Simplest form of learning Ivan Pavlov- studied the stimulus- response reflex Initially discovered classical sonditioning Conditioned reflex- depended on the unique conditions present in the dog-s previous experience- pairing the bell sound with food Conditioned stimulus- stimulus in a conditioned reflex (the bell sound) Conditioned response-the learned response (salivation) Unconditioned reflex-original unlearned reflex Unconditional stimulus-food place in the mouth Unconditioned response salivation Look at figure 4.2 on page 93 Before condition Netral stimulus(bell) leads to no response Unconditioned stimulus (food) leads to the unconditional reflex being the unconditional response (salivation) DURING CONDITIONING:Neutral stimulus (bell) Unconditioned stimulus (food) leads to the unconditioned response (salivation) AFTER CONDITIONING: conditioned stimulus (bell) the conditioned reflex leads to the conditioned response (salivation) Extinction-the conditioned stimulus (bell) presented with out the unconditional stimulus (food) eventually the conditioned response will fade out Sponteneous recovery- passage of time following extinction can partially renew the conditioned reflex Generalization-after conditioning snimals show the conditioned response not just to the orifinal conditioned stimulus but also to new stimuli that resemble that stimulus Depends on degree of similarity between the new stim. And the original conditioned stim. Responding to things that resemble the conditioned stimulus (salivating to other bell sounds) so salivate to good, will salivate when interpreting things as good like winning a battle or game Also when they are similar to their subjective meaning to the person Discrimination- abolishing generalization-if the response to one is reinforced while the response to the other is extinguished Animals can sense two different things Conditioning procedure: In classical conditioning one begins with an undontioned reflex (food to salivation)
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Chapter 4 Study Guide Psychology 101
During conditioning a conditioned stimulus (bell sound) is presented just before the unconditioned stimulus (food) After sufficient pairings the conditioned stimulus alone elicits a conditioned response this is a conditioned reflex (bell sound to salivation) Extinction If a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus the conditioned response stops occurring (salicating The condtitioned reflex is not unlearned in extinction it is merely suppressed as shown by SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY Generalization and Discrimination Gerneralization occurs when a stimulus similar to the conditioned stimulus also elicits the conditioned response Repreated presentation of the conditioned stimulus followed by the unconditioned stimulus and of the similar stimulus followed by nothing reduces generalization that is, it promotes discrimination Discrimination training is useful in studying sensory abilities in animals Word meaning can provide a basis for generalization in humans Behaviorism-psych should focuse on the relationship between observable evenets (stim) and the observable reactions (responses) JOHN B. WATSON principle founder of behaviorism (1913) All behavior is in essence reflex-like in nature, behavior could be understood and described without regerence to mental procese Described even complex examples of human learning in terms of what we now call classical conditioning Stimulus response theory (learned connection between the bell and salivation WATSON S-R theory, conditioning produces direct bond between the conditoioined stimulus and the response Stimulus- stimulus theory of conditioning (bell to mental rep of food to salivation PAVLOV-CONDITIONING PRDUCES A BOND BETWEEN THE CONDITONED STIMULUS AND A MENTAL REP OF THE UNCONDITION STIMULUS RESULTING IN THE RESPONSE Mor cognitive (info held in the mind) The mental representation of food is best understood as an expectation of the undonditioned stimulus Expectation theory- helps make sense of the observation that a conditioned reponse is often quete different from the unconditioned response Bell-expectation of food-tail wagging food begging salivation\ 5 important conceptsStimulus generalization-Watson and loud noises and furry animals and babies Albert was not only afraid of white rats but became afraid of anything furry and white Conditioned responses to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus Extinction-association between conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimuls is lost after having been learned Spontenous recovery-after exctinction a conditioned response happens afains when the conditioned stimulus is present Blocking- one Latent inhibiton Conditioned fear hunger and Sexual arousal FEAR-Albert and the rats- rat had become a conditioned stimulus for fear thorugh being paried with a loud sound which was an unconditioned stimulus for fear
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Chapter 4 Study Guide Psychology 101
HUNGER-smell of food, dinner bell, clock chiming, SEXUAL AROUSALConditioned drug reactions Drug tolerance-Sigel and collages refers to decline in physiological and behavioral effects that occur with some drugs then they are taken repeatedly What is learned? According to the S-R theory, supported by early bahviorists, a link between the conditioned stimulus and response is LEARNED According to the S-S theory implies expectancy and is supported by Rescorla's experiment Consisten with the expectancy idea conditioning occurs best wehen the conditioned stimulus is a reliable predictor of the unconditoend stimulus Conditioned emotion and motivation Examples are the conditiong of fear (in little Albert) the conditiong of hunger (the appetizer effect) and the conditiong of sexual arousal In general, conditioned stimuli trigger reponses that help prepare the individual for a biologically significant event CONDITIONED DRUG REACTIONS With some druges, repeated pairing with a conditioned stimulus causes that stimulus to elicit the same type of reponse as the drug With some other drugs the conditioned stimulus elicits a response the is opposite to the drug response, such conditioned sompensatory reactions contribute to drug tolerance and druge relapse. In the absence of conditioned stimuli overdose can occur OPERANT CONDITIONG Operate responses- operate on the world to prduce some effect Function like tools to bring about some change in the environment Operant conditioning- defined as a learning process by which the effect or consequence of a response affects the future rate of production of that response Favorable effects increase in the rate of the operant response Thorndike pussle box procedure Dprived cats of food and put them in a lartch-release cage Then he made the law- of effect Reponses that procude a good effect become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation Skinner's methotu Did not consider the s-r refles to tbe the fundamental unit of all behavior. How nonrefelxive behaviors could be altered thorugh learning In operant conditioning the stimulus follosws and strengtchens the resonse In operant leaing is about consequences of behavior CLASICAL CONDITONING _PAVLOV OPERANT CONDTIONING_ SKINNER Sufficient to explain all of behavior In his box the animal was never let out Coined the terms operant response and operant conditioning Reinforce- refer to a stimulus change that occurs after a response Comes after the subject produces the desire response (EX. Humans with money) Shaping-successively closer approx. to the desired response are reinforced until the desired response finally occurs and can be reinforced
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Chapter 4 Study Guide Psychology 101
Partial reinforcement-particular response only sometimes produces a reinforce Interval-passage of time Ratio- # of times you have done it Fixed interval- every 10 min. Fixed ratio- every 5 min. Variable-random Fixed- set Variable interval-unpredictable passage of time Variable ratio-number of responses required before reinforcement varies unpredictably Reinforcement-any process that increases the likelihood that a particular response will occur (refer to an increase or decreases in the likelihood that the response will recur) Partial reinforcement Continuous reinforcement Positive reinforcement- ARRIVAL of some stimulus following a response makes the response more like to occur positive reinforce would be money, praise Negative reinforcement- occurs when the REMOVAL of some stimulus following a response makes the response more likely to recur\ Negative reinforce- shocks, loud noises Punishment- opposite of reinforcement, consequence of a response decreases the likelihood that the response will recur ( Positive punishment- ARRIVAL of a stim (electric shock) decreases the likelihood that response will occur (taking or add in always with pos. and neg.) Negative punishment-REMOVAL of a stim. (Taking food AWAY) decreases the likelihood the response will occur again Work of thorndike and skinner An operant response is an action that operates on the environment Thorndike's puzzle box experiments led him to postulate the law of effect Law of effect- responses that produce a satisfying effect become more likely to occur in that sit. And Reponses that produce anger will become less likely to occur again. Skinner developed an efficient way to study operant conditioning. He denied the reinforce as a stim. Change that follows and operant response and increases the frequency of that response Operant condition can occur without awareness Variations in availability of reinforcement Shaping occurs when successive approx. to the desired response are reinforced Extinction is the decline in response rate that occurs when an operant response is no longer reinforced Partial reinforcement can occur on various schedules of reinforcement. The type of schedule affects the response rate and resistance to extinction Reinforcement vs. punishment Reinforcement increases response rate, punishment decreases response rate Reinforcement can be either positive or negative Punishment can be either positive or negative. Discriminative stimulus- as a cue signaling the availability of a reinforce, present when a particular response will be reinforces and absent otherwise concept-a rule for categorizing stimuli into groups-pigeons tree concept Learning when to respond If reinforcement is available only when a specific stim. Is present that stim. Becomes a discriminative stim. Subjects learn to respond only when it is present
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Chapter 4 Study Guide Psychology 101
Learners generalize to stim. That they perceive as similar to the discriminative stim. But can be trained to discriminate Discrimination training has been used to study perception in infants and concepts in pigos Learning what to expect According to the cognitive view, subjects in operant conditioning learns a means- end relationship that a certain response has a certain effect. This view is supported by an experiment in which the motivational state of rats was varied between training and testing Means- end learning helps to explain reward contrast effects and over justification effects. In these cases expectations about reward influence the rate of operant responding Means end relationship- knowledge or belief that a particular response win a particular sit. Will have a certain effect Discriminative stim.- a cue signaling the availability of a reinforce, present when a particular response will be reinforced and absent otherwise Reward contrast effects-learn to aspect a certain reward for making a certain response Other learning Play- practice in a safe environment Exploration you are learning ABOUT not learning to do (learning divided into two categories) Observational learning-learning by watching others Stimulus enhancement- increase in attractiveness of the object that the observed in. Is acting upon Goal enhancement- refers to an increase drive to obtain rewards similar to what the observed individual is receiving Play Common in young animals, practice survival skills Resembles serious survival activities Exploration- more primitive than play, promotes learning about the envir. Curiosity motivates exploration of novel objects and places but is balanced by fear Latent learning experiments show that exploration alone, without external reward produces useful knowledge Observational learning Stim. Enhancement and goal enhancement are simpler forms of observational learning that is imitation Cultural differences among cimps result from imitative ability Bandura demos. That children learn spec. actions and general modes of behavior through observation ( bodo doll) Choosing food Rats and ppl avoid foods that they had eaten some minutes or hours before becoming ill. Food avoidance differs from general classical condition Rats and possibly humans can learn to prefer foods associate with health improve. Observation of what other eat influences food choose Objects of fear We are innately biased to learn to fear objects or situations that were threatening in the species evo. Past In ex. Monkeys learned to fear snakes, but not flowers by observing others fearful reactions Imprinting on mother
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Chapter 4 Study Guide Psychology 101
Ducks follow first moving object they see with in a critical period, and continue to follow it FOCUS QUESTIONS 1)What is a reflex, and how can it change through habituation? A reflex is a simple, relatively automatic, stimulus-response sequence mediated by the nervous system. Reflexes weaken through habituation because the stimulus is reoccurring 2) How did Pavlov discover the conditioned reflex? Through his studies of digestive reflexes in dogs, realized the dogs would react to food before they actually got the food, the dogs were reacting to the stimulus 3)After his initial discovery, how did Pavlov systematize the process of conditioning and what names did he give to the relevant stimuli and responses? Conditioned reflex-the dog would salivate in reponse to the bell sound alone Conditioned stimulus-the stimulus in the conditioned reflex (THE BELL) Conditioined response- the learned response to the stimulus (the dogs salvation) Unconditioned reflex- the original unlearned reflex Unconditioned stimulus- the food placed in the dogs mouth Unconditioned response- the response to the original stimulus (salivation) 4) How can a conditioned reflex be extinguished? What evidence led Pavlov to conclude that extinction does not return the animal to its original untrained state? When the conditioned stimulus is presented with without the unconditioned stimulus (meaning with the bell is sounded and the dog receives no food) Spontaneous recovery- over a passage of time following extinction can partially renew the conditioned reflex 5)How can generalization in classical conditioning be abolished through discrimination training? How can discrimination training be used to assess an animal's sensory capacities? Generalization is the idea that the conditioned response will occur to things resembling the conditioned stimulus- it can be abolished if the response to one is reinforced while the to response the other is extinguished If an animal can be trained to respond to one stimulus and not another we know that it can sense the difference between the two. 6) How have researchers shown that the meaning of a stimulus, not just its physical characteristics, can provide a basis for generalization in classical conditioning? The idea that college students responded more to printed words on a page that resembled the original conditioned stimuli in meaning than to those that resembled the originals in physical appearance. For example the originals stimuli were "style, urn, freeze, and surf" the words many students responded too as the original stimuli were "fashion, vase, chill, and wave"- these words are similar. 7)What were the characteristics of early, North American behaviorism? Why were Pavlov's findings on conditioning particularly appealing to behaviorists? Science should avoid terms that refer to mental entities, b/c they cannot be directly observed, psych should focus on the relationship between observable events and observable reactions Pavlov- if all behavior is essentially reflexive and most is learned, and if conditioning is the process by which reflex are learned, then conditioned would appear to be psych/s most
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Chapter 4 Study Guide Psychology 101
basic explanatory concept. Pavlov seemed to provide an objective, stimulus-response way of studying and understanding learning 8) How did Pavlov's S-S theory of classical conditioning differ from Watson's S-R theory? How does and experiment involving habituation of the unconditioned stimulus support the S-S Theory? Watson (S-R theory)- a new stimulus response connection is learned in conditioning, Pavlov dog salivated to the bell b/c of a direct learned connection between the bell and salivation. Pavlov (s-S theory)- the dog salivated b/c the bell gave the mental representation of food, making the dog hungry and salivating. Rats freeze to a loud sound simultaneously being shown a signal light. S-R theory rats should freeze to just the view of the signal light b/c there should be a direct connect between the light and freezing. S-s theory that they shouldn't freeze. Rats did not freeze supporting the idea that the unconditioned stimulus produces a mental representation. 9)How does the cognitive construct of expectancy help explain the way sin which conditioned responses differ from unconditional responses? According to the expectancy theory all responses (tail wagging, salivation, food begging) occur no b/c of the unconditioned stimulus but b/c they are the dog's responses to the EXPECTATION of food (99) 10)What are the three conditions in which the pairing of a new stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus does not result in classical conditioning? How do these observations support the idea that classical conditioned is a process of learning to predict the onset of unconditioned stimulus. The conditioned stimulus must precede the unconditioned stimulus The conditioned stimulus must signal heightened prob. Of occurrence of the unconditioned stimulus Conditioning is ineffective when the animal already has a good predictor 11) How did Watson demonstrate that the emotion of fear can be conditioned? He used a baby and a loud noise when seeing a rabbit. Therefore every time the baby saw a rabbit or any other furry creature he would cry. 12) How can the appetizer affect be explained in terms of classical conditioning? The idea that a signal that precedes food not only just for salivation it also makes our body prepare for food by secreting digestive juices making us hungrier 13)How has sexual arousal been conditioned in humans and other animals? What is the evidence, from experiments with non human animals, that such conditioning promotes success in reproduction? A stimulus becomes paired with an unconditioned stimulus causing sexual arousal. B/c it prepares the body for courtship therefore making it more receptive for implantation? (Not really sure about..pg102) 14)Why is the conditioned response to a drug-related stimulus often the opposite of the direct effect of the drug? A drug produces the direct effect and then is followed by a compensatory reaction that counteracts the direct effect and tends to restore the normal body state. Therefore the stimulus counteracts the drug causing the drug to be nothing. 15)How does classical conditioning contribute to the development of drug tolerance? Why is it dangerous for a drug addict to take his or her usual drug dose in an unusual environment? Ppl who regularly take a drug have to increase their doses over time...because tolerance is a result of long term buildup of physiological systems in the body that help counteract the drug's effects.
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Chapter 4 Study Guide Psychology 101
Full impact of drug kicks in unfamiliar environments b/c the conditioned cure that counteracts the drug are NOT present due to the change in environment, may cause an overdose. 16) How does classical conditioning help explain drug relapse after an addict returns home from a treatment center? Home has all the cues that made the addict do drugs. Causes the addict to feel withdrawal symptoms. 17)How did Thorndike train cats to escape from a puzzle box? How did this research contribute to Thorndike's formulation of the law of effect? He deprived the cat of food and put them in a latch-release box The law states that the successful response in a situation results in that response being much stronger. So when in the situation again the response is more likely to occur. 18)How did Skinner's method for studying learning differ from Thorndike's and why did he prefer the term reinforcement to Thorndike's satisfaction? Kept the animal in the cage, learning can be depicted as change in rate of responses. Reinforcer refers to the effect the stimulus has. It makes no assumptions about anything happening in the mind; it merely refers to the effect that the stimulus change has on the animals subsequent behavior. 19)How were the people conditioned without awareness to make a tiny thumb twitch, and how is this relevant for understanding the acquisition of motor skills? They made it so that the static would get worse or better by the twitches of one's thumbs. B/c the people were listening so intently to the radio station none realized the it was their thumb that was controlling the static. This is relevant for the acquisition of motor skills b/c often we do not know just hat we are doing different to produce good effects. For example-riding a bike we do not think about shifting our weight we just do it. 20)How can operant conditioning be used to get an animal to do something that is currently doesn't Through the idea of Shaping (defined as the reinforce comes after the desired response. therefore you train an animal by having it do something and then rewarding it-like getting a squirrel to ride on water skis) 21) In what ways is extinction in operant conditioning similar to extinction in classical conditioning? Extinction in operant conditioning is not true "unlearning"- passage of time following extinction can lead to spontaneous recovery of responses 22) How do the four types of partial-reinforcement schedules differ from one another, and why do responses generally occur faster to ratio schedules than do interval schedules? Fixed ratio schedule- reinforces occur after nth response Variable-ratio schedule- varies unpredictably around some average Fixed-interval schedule- fixed period of time must elapse between one reinforced response and the next Variable-interval schedule-the period that must elapse before a response will be reinforced varies unpredictably around some average. Responses are faster in ratio schedules b/c it produces reinforces at a rate that is directly proportional to the rate of responding. 23)How do variable-ratio and variable interval schedule produce behavior that is highly resistant to extinction b/c animals and humans are persistent, so if something works after a few results they wil be more inclined to keep doing it sporadically 24)How does negative reinforcement differ from positive reinforcement?
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Chapter 4 Study Guide Psychology 101
Negative reinforcement is the removal of a stimulus following a response, making response less likely to occur Positive reinforcement- arrival of some stimulus follow a response make the response more likely to recur 25)How does punishment differ from reinforcement, and how do the two kinds of punishment parallel the two kinds of reinforcement? Punishment is opposite of reinforcement. Process through which the consequence of a response decreases the likelihood that the response will recur. Positive punishment is the arrival of a stimulus, such as an electric shock (Positive reinforcement is the arrival of a stimulus making it more likely to recur like food) Negative punishment is the removal of a stimulus like taking away food ( Negative reinforcement is the removal of a stimulus like taking away electric shocks and loud noises) 26) how can an animal be trained to produce an operant response only when a specific cue is present? Discrimitive stimulus reinforce the animals response when specific stimulus is present and remove response when stimulus is absent. (113) 27) How was discrimination training used to demonstrate that pigeons understand the concept of a tree? Gave bird food when it pecks the slide when it sees a tree, then used different slides and the bird guessed correctly which one had trees in it 28)How do cognitive theories of operant conditioning differ from the S-r theory? Operant conditioning is a learning of relationships between means and ends, the animals learns to expect that a particular response, at a certain time, will produce a certain consequence. 29) How can the view that operant conditioning involves mean-end knowledge be experimentally tested? What were the results of one such test? Tested it by depriving rats of food and water and then seeing which rats (the ones fed with sugar water [would satisfy thirst and hunger] or dry pellets) would push the lever more The rates with the sugar water pressed the lever more proving that rats had acquired knowledge of the kind of reinforced they would receive for pressing the lever and were able to use that knowledge to decide whether or not the reinforce would satisfy their current drive state. 30)How are reward contrast effects explained from a cognitive perspective? Contrast effects are explained in 2 ways: Person learned to expect a certain reward Able to compare the actual reward with expected on resulting in a negative or positive outcome. 31) Why might a period of reward lead to a subsequent decline in response rate when the reward is no longer available? Because the person may view that task as work then and not do it for fun so when rewards are no longer given the task is given up. 32) How is an animal's play distinguishable from it's serious (non-play) behavior? Play occurs in playful contest, it occurs when other drives are satisfied, repetition it occurs in sequence and there are special play signals to remind play mates that the actions, which may appear aggressive are only play and no harm is intended. 33)What is Grro's theory about the evolutionary function of animals' play, and what is some evidence supporting that theory? For function it promotes survival skills in young animals
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Chapter 4 Study Guide Psychology 101
Evidence: young animals who have not developed skills play much more than older animals do, teaches them to fend for themselves and feed themselves 34)How does exploration differ from play in its evolutionary function? Learning is divided into two categories: Learning to do (actions): through play Learning about environment: through exploration They must learn where food, shelter, maters and other necessities for life and reproduction are located around them 35)How do rats explore a novel environment? How did Tolman and subsequent researchers show that rats learns useful info. in their exploration? Rats explore slowly by creeping out of there hole little by little The obtain extreme amount of knowledge about their surroundings so when food is put in goal box they know EXACTLY where to run to get to the food. 36)How does observation of skilled performers facilitate the learning of new operant tasks by animals? How does imitation differ from stimulus enhancement and goal enhancement, and what evidence suggests that chimpanzees can learn through imitation? ? Stimulus enhancement refers to an increase in the attractiveness of the object that the observed individual is acting upon Goal Enhancement refers to an increased drive to obtain rewards similar to what the observed individual is receiving Imitation refers to instances in which the observer reproduces the specific actions of the observed individual An example of this would be that younger chimps learn from their elders how to crack shelled nuts by picking specific rocks 37) How did Bandura demonstrate two functions of observational learning in experiments with children? He had the children observe an older person abuse the Bobo doll and had another group of children observe an adult be gentle and nice to the Bobo doll. When put in a room with the Bobo doll those kids that observed an aggressive attitude towards the doll, had an aggressive attitude towards the doll, and those that observed the gentle attitude towards the doll were gentle towards the doll. 38)What are the two ways in which food-aversion learning differs from typical examples of classical conditioning? How do these differences make sense in terms of function of such learning? Learning in food aversion can occur up to 24 hours later It must be a structured taste or smell stimuli Make excellent sense when considering the light of the function that such learning serves in the natural environment. In general, poisons and spoiled goods do not make an individual ill immediately, but only after many minutes or several hours. 39)How might rats learn which food contains a needed vitamin or mineral? When deprived of a certain mineral rats can pick the food that is needed to improve their health 40) What observations with human babies are similar to results of food selection experiments with rats? What precautions should be kept in mind in interpreting those observations? The babies like the rats could choose what food they needed to improve their health: shown by the baby with rickets who self selected food that was rich in Vitamin D to improve his rickets
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Chapter 4 Study Guide Psychology 101
Should be kept in mind that the babies change in food taste may be a result of boredom not nutritional fulfillment 41) What evidence, with rats and people, points to the importance of social learning in food selection? At a young age children will eat what they see those around them eating like rats who eat what they smell on each other's breathe 42)In sum, what has natural selection imparted to young omnivores about food selection? Natural selection has shaped the brain to operate in accordance with these rules: 1) eat what your elders eat 2) when you eat a new food remember it's taste and smell 43) What is some evidence that people and monkeys are biologically predisposed to learn to fear some things more easily than other things? Has to do with our natural instinct and if that object or animal posed a threat to our ancestors lives 44)what aspects of a young fowls ability to follow its mother depend on learning and how is that learning guided by inborn biases? When a young fowl is born it follows the first moving thing that walks by it. This is called imprinting and can be seen as an inborn bias because the baby does not know exactly who it's mother is it just follows the first moving thing? (not quite sure about this pg 128)
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