Learning Theories and Concepts in Psychology

AP Psychology Unit 6: Learning Learning - the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors A more specific type of learning discovered and studied by behaviorists is associative learning,which is learning that certain events occur together - With classical conditioning, it is learning to anticipate (i.e., the dog learning food followsthe bell), and with operant conditioning, it is associating punishments and reinforcementswith certain behaviors (i.e., potty training a dog with rewards for properly going outside) Behaviorism - the field of psychology that believed psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental process, essentially ignoring cognitive learning- learning through mental processes such as observation and language (i.e., watching orlistening to an explanation to learn).Most psychologists agree that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior. Classical conditioning - (Ivan Pavlow) - where one learns to associate two or more stimuli and anticipate events (i.e., teaches one to prepare for good or bad developments once a certainstimuli has been received - be ot sound, touch, etc) (NS) Neutral stimulus - a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning (bell) (UCS) Unconditioned stimulus - a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response food(UCR) Unconditioned response - natural response to stimuli - salvation (CS) Conditioned stimulus - an originally irrelevant stimulus that, when paired with with an unconditioned stimulus triggers a conditioned response response (bell, after the dog hasbeen trained) (CR) Conditioned response - a conditioned response to a previously neutral stimulus (salvation after a bell - previously neutral)John Watson (father of behaviorism) - had his Baby Albert to fear furry animals by using a loudnoise as the unconditioned stimulus Acquisition - paring the neutral stimulus to make it have a reaction Generalization - the tendency to respond to a similar CS - Ex - Pavlov’s dogs might feel that a buzzer is close enough to a bell and they might salivate to a buzzer. Or, if they’re conditioned to respond to a white light, they might alsorespond to a red light. Discrimation - drawing the line between responding to some stimuli, but not others - Ex - Pavlov’s dogs might respond to a bell or a buzzer, but discriminate against a police siren. They’re essentially saying, “The buzzer is like the bell, but the siren is not.” Extinction - the loss of the association/the diminished association between the UCS (food) and the CS (bell) after the UCS is removed Spontaneous recovery - after a time lapse, the association between the UCS and the CS reappears. High-order learning - One can also layer more stimuli by adding additionally conditioned stimuli to thealready-existing conditioned stimulus

- Ex - one can teach Pavlov’s dog to associate a red light with the conditioned bell,causing the dog to salivate both at the sight of the light and sound of the bell Practice - subjects and people can start to learn slowly and easily with progressively fulfilling results along the way B. F Skinner - pioneered new ideas that expanded the understanding of learned behavior and what Watson had coined “Behaviorism” - Discovered operant conditioning - the idea that behaviors are strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher - Found that reinforcement - an event that strengthens the behavior behind it - can be used as a reward to encourage behavior in animals and humans - Found punishment - an event that diminishes the behavior behind it with an adverse consequence - can be used to discourage unwanted behaviors in animals and humans - Shaping - a procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior Reinforcement and punishments - (good things) - Positive reinforcemen t (add) - giving the subject something it wants (food - Negative reinforcement (take away) - taking away something the subject does not like or want (removing a collar or leash from a dog) - (bad things) - negative punishment - the withdrawal of a rewarding stimulus (take away driving privileges from a 16-year-old) - Positive punishment - the administering of an aversive stimulus (giving a traffic or speeding ticket) Discriminative stimulus - the stimulus that elicits a response after association with a reinforcer - Primary reinforcers - an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need (ex food/treat) - secondary stimulus - get their power by attaching to a primary reinforcer. - effective as they are linked or associated with primary reinforcers - For example, in a Skinner Box, rats learned that pulling the lever (conditionedreinforcer) gave some food (primary reinforce). Continuous reinforcement - reinforces a response every time the desired behavior occurs - Ex - providing a treat every time the dog rolls over Fixed-ratio schedule - a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses - Ex - a company providing one free coffee for every ten - Must be a fixed number of target responses before reinforcement reinforcement is given - This schedule produces a high rate of responding following brief pauses by theorganism after obtaining reinforcement partial/ intermittent reinforcement - reinforces a response only part of the time

- Ex - a salesman constantly make pitches to prospective customers despite only getting asmall percentage of the time - Partial - results in lower acquisition than constant reinforcement, but is also moreresistant to extinction than continuous reinforcement Variable-ratio schedule - reinforces behavior in a seemingly unpredictable manner where reinforcement can come in waves of frequent reinforcement or no reinforcement - gambler ‘s schedule (ex) - Ex - a boxer is never sure how many punches are required to knock out an opponent Fixed-interval schedule (time) - The first target response after a fixed interval of time has passed is reinforced - Responses on an Fl schedule increase toward the end of the interval. Thispattern of responding is called “scalloping” Albert Bandura - pioneered what would become known as observational learning - learning by observing other (social learning) He is regarded as a transitional figure behaviorism to cognitivepsychology - Modeling - the process of observing and imitating a certain behavior - Observational learning - purely internal - one does not need to experience consequences in order to learn observationally - Mirror neurons - frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when performing imitation actions or when observing others - Semantic memory - a portion of long-term memory that processes ideas and concepts that are not drawn from personal experience - instead, they can be drawn throughlanguage - Prosocial behavior - positive, constructive, helpful behavior - Ex - if a parent wishes to show their children how to appropriately disagree withsomeone, they should do so in a claim, respectful manner, and keep their tempers incheck - Antisocial behavior - negative, physically/verbally aggressive or reclusive behavior - Insight learning - learning that comes all-at-once. You may be stumped on something,but then, all-of-a-sudden, the problem is solved in a flash. - Ex - a team of firefighters were stumped for more than 2 hours about how torescue an injured robin from a tube too thin for human hands. Suddenly, one ofthe firefighters thought of filling the tube slowly with sand to progressively life thebird out. No hint or clues were given to draw the idea out - it simply popped intohis brain

- Emotional learning - a form of social learning in which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand andmanage emotions, set and achieve goals, feel and show empathy for others, and makeresponsible decisions - Latent learning - learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it - Ex - exploring a new city and not knowing it well. However, you are likely toaccurately explain how to retrace your steps, despite not knowing the town - Self-control - the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for longer-term reward - Pay-off for delaying gratification is tremendous, and multiple studies haveconfirmed the utility of self-control - Behavioral modification - the altering and/or encouraging of the behavior of children, friends, family, self, or animals through the use of reinforcement and punishments - Biofeedback - the conscious moving of limbs when the autonomic function has been damaged or disabled - thus showing the power of the conscious mind over bodilyfunction - Superstitious behaviors - develop when one is accidentally rewarded in sport, or other events, in which a neutral stimulus is incorrectly associated with a reward - Ex - if you hit a home run after you scratch your left ear, you may falsely attributeyour home run to scratching your ear when it had nothing to do with it - Taste aversions - resistance to eating things that made you sick or ill - Ex - John Garcia - discovered that irradiating rats before food can cause them to associate food with nausea, and resulted in them avoiding food or eating - Learned helplessness - the hopelessness and passive resignation of an animal or human when unable to avoid repeated aversive events - Ex - when psychologists strapped and shocked dogs, they later lost hope andmerely cowered and accepted the shocks, as opposed to fighting, barking, orattempting to flee the shocks in vain - Learning - Edward Throndike - makes law of effect - behaviors followed by favorable consequences became more likely, unfavorable, less likely - Rovert Rescorla - researched on contingency, as well as the concept that the likelihood of an event occurring will determine how well or quickly classicalconditioning works - Motivation - Edward Tolman - theorized that behavior is based on more than just stimuli, but rather, often driven by purpose and goals