Download Why is this negative reinforcement?

THE LEARNING APPROACH
How ‘nurture’ shapes us
Today’s session
You will learn how to...
You will learn about...
Describe
Behaviourism-its
the
assumptions of
psychological
approaches and
compare with biological
assumptions and
concepts
basic
“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 I
might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even
beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants,
tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.”
John B. Watson (1919)
•What claim is Watson making about human
nature?
Tabula Rasa
•
To what extent do you agree with this
statement?
We are shaped into the person we
are by our social world
What is it all about?
We are born as “blank
slates” (tabula rasa)
All we have at birth is the
capacity to learn
All behaviour is learned
from the environment
Focus of the approach:
observable behaviour
KEY WORDS
2 KEY ASSUMPTIONS
1.
•
BLANK SLATE
We are shaped by our environment by means of
reinforcements and punishments
2. SEEING IS BELIEVING
•
The only way to explain behaviour is by measuring what
you can observe.
•
Data must be scientifically gathered using scientific
principles
3 Types of
LEARNING
Methodology and PRACTICAL
• Observations (definition and strengths & weaknesses)
– Naturalistic, structured
– Non- Participant and participant,
– Covert and overt
• Chi Squared
• Lab experiments
KEY WORDS TO LEARN
• Inter-observer reliability
•Tallying
•Ecological validity
•Time sampling
STUDIES IN DETAIL
KEY ISSUE – you choose!
CONTENT
• The main features of CC,OC, SLT
• One therapy
• How OC and SLT explain gender development
and behaviour
• Comparison with biological and
psychodynamic
What is it all about?
We are born as “blank
slates” (tabula rasa)
All we have at birth is the
capacity to learn
All behaviour is learned
from the environment
Focus of the approach:
observable behaviour
Some definitions....
Stimulus :
Any change in the environment that an
organism registers.
Response : Any behaviour that the organism emits as a
consequence of a stimulus.
Reflex:
A consistent connection between a stimulus
and a response.
Classical conditioning
Learning by association
That’s a
reflex
Dog hears the
lab technician
What’s
going
on?
How does it work?
Before
conditioning
During
conditioning
After
conditioning
Bell: Neutral
stimulus (NS)
Pairing
Food: unconditioned stimulus
(UCS)
Salivation: unconditioned
Response (UCR)
Bell: Neutral stimulus (NS)
Food: unconditioned stimulus
(UCS)
Salivation: unconditioned
Response (UCR)
Bell: Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Salivation: Conditioned
response (CR)
Inducing a phobia: Little Albert
Little Albert, Watson and Rayner
1920
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Aim: to explore how classical conditioning could be used to create a phobia in humans using
CC principles.
Method: Experiment
Procedure: 11-month baby Albert, placid and emotionally stable. Banged metal bar to startle
Albert and then linked noise to Albert playing with pet rat. The NS in Watson and Rayner’s
experiment was a white rat. Trials before the experiment had shown that Albert did not mind
the rat and certainly did not object to it. The UCS in the experiment was the noise made by
hitting an iron bar with a hammer just behind Albert. This produced a loud noise that Albert
found very upsetting. On a series of occasions, Watson and Rayner presented Albert with the
rat and, when he noticed it, struck the metal bar behind his head. Predictably, this caused
Albert to become quite upset. After a few trials, they presented the rat on its own. Even
without the noise, Albert started crying. He had learned to associate the rat with the noise,
and this had produced a conditioned reflex:
Noise (UCS) = Anxiety (UCR)
Noise(UCS) + Rat (NS) = Anxiety (UCR)
Rat (CS) = Anxiety (CR)
Results and Conclusions
• Results: After a few trails Albert agitated on seeing rat. it became clear
that it wasn’t just rats that made Albert upset. His anxiety response had
generalised to some other objects – white furry ones – that were similar
to the white rat.
• Conclusion: Watson & Rayner concluded that they had succeeded in
conditioning in an infant fear of an animal the child would not ordinarily
be frightened of. Stimulus generalisation also was shown in that Albert
transferred the fear to other similar stimuli. From the fact that the
conditioned response was still present after 31 days, Watson & Rayner
concluded it might last a lifetime. Ivan Pavlov had shown that Classical
Conditioning occurs in dogs but Watson & Rayner were the first to
demonstrate it occurred in humans too.
Evaluation:
•  Supported Pavlov’s findings, good controls, The study was carefully
documented; witnesses helped to record the data and there were strict
controls. Only one variable was changed at a time. The extensive
documentation meant the study could have been replicated and,
therefore, tested for reliability but low ecological validity because it was
carried out in a lab.
•  Ethical issues – Albert frightened. Albert’s mother appears not to have
given fully-informed consent - though there clearly was some degree of
consent and an understanding of when he would be taken back by his
mother
• The researchers deliberately exposed Albert to psychological harm causing him distress. They allowed him to rest in between exposures to
frightening stimuli but continued even when it was clear he was
distressed. Hard to generalize to others.
•
Operant conditioning
Learning by consequences
Ratatouille
Ratatouille is
hungry and
perform various
exploratory
behaviours
By chance he
presses the
I’ll do that lever
again
A pellet of food
appears!
Some definitions....
Reinforcement :
Anything which has the effect of increasing
the likelihood of the behaviour being
repeated
Positive
reinforcement :
Anything which has the effect of increasing the
likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using
consequences that are pleasant when they happen
i.e. food for Ratatouille
Negative
reinforcement :
Anything which has the effect of increasing the
likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using
consequences that are pleasant when they stop
Punishment :
Anything which has the effect of decreasing the
likelihood of the behaviour being repeated by using
consequences that are unpleasant when happen
Schedules of reinforcement
• When and how often we reinforce a behaviour
can have a significant impact on the strength
and rate of the response.
2 types of schedules
• Continuous reinforcement: the desired behaviour is
reinforced every single time it occurs.
• Partial reinforcement: the response is reinforced
only part of the time.
1. Fixed ratio schedules: the response is reinforced only
after a specified number of responses.
2. Variable-ratio schedules occur when a response is
reinforced after an unpredictable number of
responses.
3. Fixed-interval schedules the first response is
rewarded only after a specified amount of time has
elapsed
4. Variable-interval schedules occur when a response is
rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has
passed.
Which schedule of reinforcement produces
the fastest learning?
Negative reinforcement
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Crying.
John and Michelle decide to go to a party with their son Adam. Adam doesn’t want to be
there so when they get to the party he starts to cry loudly. John and Michelle don’t like to see
their son upset and so make the decision to leave the party and go home. His parents are
noticing that he has started to cry every time he is in a situation he doesn’t want to be in and
they have been allowing him to leave.
Getting out of an aversive situation by crying is an example of negative reinforcement.
Why is this negative reinforcement? Adam didn’t want to be at the party – it was an aversive
situation for him. He began crying and got to leave the party. As his parents are noticing this
behaviour has been happening more frequently when he wants to leave situations it can be
said that negative reinforcement is occurring.
Before: aversive situation.
Behaviour: cries.
After: aversive situation is gone.
Future behaviour: Adam will cry when he doesn’t want to be in an aversive situation.
What is the ‘negative reinforcer’ in
each scenario?
• Before heading out for a day at the beach, you
slather on sunscreen in order to avoid getting
sunburned.
•
You decide to clean up your mess in the kitchen in
order to avoid getting in a fight with your roommate.
•
On Monday morning, you leave the house early in
order to avoid getting stuck in traffic and being late
for class.
Operant conditioning is a theory from the Learning Approach.
Define the following terms:
Positive reinforcement. 2
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Max 1 mark for an elaborated example.
E.g.
• Showing the desired behaviour gains a reward/eq;
• A desired behaviour is rewarded with something pleasant/eq;
• So the desired behaviour is likely to be repeated/eq;
• The child gets something they like for behaving in the desired way/eq;
• E.g. a child tidies their room and gets some extra pocket money/eq;
• Look for other reasonable ways of expressing this answer.
(AO1)
Negative reinforcement. 2
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Max 1 mark for an elaborated example.
e.g.
• Something unpleasant is taken away for the desired behaviour/eq;
• So they are more likely to repeat the behaviour/eq;
• When a child behaves something they dislike is removed/eq;
• E.g. if they tidy their bedroom they are no longer grounded/eq;
• Look for other reasonable ways of expressing this answer.
Punishment. 2
• Max 1 mark for an elaborated example.
• e.g.
• • This is when something pleasant is taken away because someone has
shown undesired behaviour/eq;
• • Therefore, they are less likely to repeat the behaviour/eq;
• • It can be when a child is given something unpleasant for bad
behaviour/eq;
• • E.g. A child bites their little sister so they are not allowed to stay up
late/eq;
• Look for other reasonable ways of expressing this answer.
• Sally has just started school. Her teacher is
concerned about her behaviour. Sally finds it
hard to sit still and concentrate on her work,
and she is constantly shouting out and
wanting the teacher’s attention all the time.
• Using the principles of operant conditioning,
explain how the teacher could change Sally’s
behaviour. (4)
• If the scenario is not referred to explicitly at least once max 3 marks.
• e.g.
• • The teacher should try and ignore Sally’s attention seeking behaviour if it
is possible/eq;
• • Sally could have a star system where she gets a star for not shouting
out/for concentrating on her work/eq;
• • At the end of the week she could have a small prize depending on the
number of stars she has collected/eq;
• • If Sally is attention seeking she could be made to stand outside the
classroom where she will not get any attention/eq;
• • To avoid this Sally will realise she has to behave and wait her turn/eq;
• • If a child is punished for bad behaviour they are less likely to repeat that
behaviour/eq;
• • The teacher should praise Sally for sitting quietly for a minute, and
gradually build up the amount of time before she gets praise (positive
reinforcement)/eq;
• Look for other reasonable ways to express this answer.
Evaluation
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Objective measurements
Careful controls-scientific
Can be used in therapy so has real-life applications
Mainly involves animals so hard to generalise to
humans
• Lack validity because the studies are experiments so
the concepts might not be valid if they apply only to
small parts of behaviour
Social learning
Learning by observation and imitation
Bandura (1977) believed that four
criteria need too be met for imitation
to occur
1. Attention to the role model
2. Retention of the observed
behaviour
3. Reproduction of the target
behaviour
4. Motivation to imitate the
observed behaviour
Who makes an effective role model?
Same gender
Same age
Higher status
Admired or/and respected
Why do we imitate?
Vicarious reinforcements
W?!!!!!?
Observe behaviour
being reinforced in
other people
Conditioning review
• Define the following terms:
• classical conditioning, unconditioned stimulus
(UCS), unconditioned response (UCR),
conditioned stimulus (CS), conditioned
response (CR), extinction and spontaneous
recovery,
• operant conditioning, positive and negative
reinforcement, punishment, primary and
secondary reinforcement.
Negative reinforcement
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Crying.
John and Michelle decide to go to a party with their son Adam. Adam doesn’t want to be
there so when they get to the party he starts to cry loudly. John and Michelle don’t like to see
their son upset and so make the decision to leave the party and go home. His parents are
noticing that he has started to cry every time he is in a situation he doesn’t want to be in and
they have been allowing him to leave.
Getting out of an aversive situation by crying is an example of negative reinforcement.
Why is this negative reinforcement? Adam didn’t want to be at the party – it was an aversive
situation for him. He began crying and got to leave the party. As his parents are noticing this
behaviour has been happening more frequently when he wants to leave situations it can be
said that negative reinforcement is occurring.
Before: aversive situation.
Behaviour: cries.
After: aversive situation is gone.
Future behaviour: Adam will cry when he doesn’t want to be in an aversive situation.
Punishment or Negative
Reinforcement?
• Timmy is supposed to clean his room every
Saturday morning. Last weekend, he went out
to play with his friend without cleaning his
room. As a result, his father made him spend
the rest of the weekend doing other chores
like cleaning out the garage, mowing the lawn
and weeding the garden, in addition to
cleaning his room.
Social Learning Theory (SLT)
• Social learning is learning through
observation.
• http://youtu.be/7d4gmdl3zNQ
SLT
• Read page 339-341 in Edexcel AS Psychology
and complete the gap fill sheet Social Learning
Theory.
• Go over key terms – attention, retention,
reproduction, motivation, observation,
imitation and role models.
SLT Homework
• Complete the sheet on SLT
• Ensure you can identify two strengths and two
weaknesses of SLT.
• Read pages 342-344. Answer the following exam
question:
Use social learning theory to explain why girls might
play ‘house’ and boys might prefer to play with cars.
Hint: Use the principles of social learning theory to
explain gender development and include imitation,
modelling, observational learning, vicarious
reinforcement and other concepts.
Treatments/therapy used in the learning
approach
• Summarise each of the three concepts
discussed. (Aversion therapy, systematic
desensitisation and token economy).
Aversion Therapy
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Based on…
Used to…
Paired with…
E.g.
Evaluation…(does it
work?)
• Ethical issues…
• Application to real life…
• Covert sensitisation…
Systematic desensitisation
• Based on…
• Reciprocal inhibition…
• Hierarchy of fears…
• Success?...
Token economy
• Based on…
• Tokens are…
• Exchangeable for…
• Used…
• Success?
• Problems?
Bandura (1961)
APRC
GRAVE
And now lets think!
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Does this account for the way you learn?
Does this explain gender development?
Can this be applied to everyday life?
Other points of evaluation?
Exam Questions
• Explain 2 ways in which the learning approach
differs from
– Biological approach
(4 marks)
Explain the assumptions behind the learning
approach
(4 marks)
Describe the three mechanisms of learning
that the Learning approach puts forward
(6 Marks)
Independent Learning
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Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Social Learning Theory
Bandura (1961)
Little Albert (1920)
Observations
Prepare a 5
minute
presentation on
your theory,
study or area of
methodology
for next lesson