Download Learning Key Figures: Ivan Pavlov Theorist who

Learning Key Figures: Ivan Pavlov Theorist who defined Classical conditioning with his dog­salivation experiment. He devised the concept of the conditioned reflex. He conducted an experiment in which he provided training to a hungry dog to drool at the sound of a bell, something which was related to the sight of food. John Watson Founded behaviorism, emphasizing the study of observable behavior and rejecting the study of mental processes. Conducted the "Little Albert" experiment. Accomplished this by repeatedly pairing the white rat with a loud, frightening clanging noise. They were also able to demonstrate that this fear could be generalized to other white, furry objects. B.F Skinner Best­known for his influence on behaviorism. Skinner referred to his own philosophy as 'radical behaviorism' and suggested that the concept of free will was simply an illusion. All human action, he instead believed, was the direct result of conditioning. In this operant conditioning process, actions that are followed by good consequences are reinforced and therefore those behaviors are more likely to occur again in the future. Albert Bandura Defined Observational Learning with his preschool Bobo doll demonstration. He states behavior is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning. Believes that humans are active information processors and think about the relationship between their behavior and its consequences. Observational learning could not occur unless cognitive processes were at work. Edward Thorndike Defined the Law of Effect, which was validated by B.F Skinner’ experiments. According to the law of effect, responses that are immediately followed by a satisfactory outcome become more strongly associated with the situation and are therefore more likely to occur again in the future. Conversely, responses followed by negative outcomes become more weakly associated and less likely to re­occur in the future John Garcia Defined the term 'Conditioned taste aversion.' Conditioned taste aversion can be viewed as a survival mechanism due to the fact that people/animals can decipher whether the food about to be eaten are poisonous or not; which essentially can avoid sickness or death. He started doing tests on rats for taste experiments, and how rats react to toxic tastes/smells Robert Rescorla Argued that when two significant events occur close together in time, an animal learns the predictability of the second event. Experimentally demonstrated the involvement of cognitive processes in classical conditioning. In classical conditioning, pairing two stimuli doesn’t always produce the same level of conditioning. Key Terms: Learning A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that comes from experience or training. as we learn, we alter the way we perceive our environment, the way we interpret the incoming stimuli, and therefore the way we interact, or behave Associative Learning This is a "learning" or "conditioning" term that refers to learning that two different events occur or happen together. For example, will a rat learn to press a lever if it never makes the association between pressing the lever and getting the reward? Or why would a dog salivate to a bell if it never makes the connection between the bell and getting food? Classical Conditioning A form of learning in which an organism "learns" through establishing associations between different events and stimuli. For example, when a neutral stimulus (such as a bell) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (such as food) which produces some involuntary bodily response all on its own (such as salivating), the neutral stimulus begins to trigger a response by the organism similar (some salivation) to that produced by the unconditioned stimulus. Behaviorism Psychology should be a science based on observable (and only observable) events, not the unconscious or conscious mind. Conditioned Response (CR) In classical conditioning, the conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. For example, let's suppose that the smell of food is an unconditioned stimulus, a feeling of hunger in response the the smell is a unconditioned response, and a the sound of a whistle is the conditioned stimulus. The conditioned response would be feeling hungry when you heard the sound of the whistle. Conditioned Stimulus (CS) In classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus is a previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response. For example, suppose that the smell of food is an unconditioned stimulus and a feeling of hunger is the unconditioned response. Now, imagine that when you smelled your favorite food, you also heard the sound of a whistle. While the whistle is unrelated to the smell of the food, if the sound of the whistle was paired multiple times with the smell, the sound alone would eventually trigger the conditioned response. In this case, the sound of the whistle is the conditioned stimulus. Unconditioned Response (UR) In classical conditioning, the unconditioned response is the unlearned response that occurs naturally in reaction to the unconditioned stimulus. For example, if the smell of food is the unconditioned stimulus, the feeling of hunger in response to the smell of food is the unconditioned response. Another example: Gasping in pain after you are stung by a bee is an example of an unconditioned response Unconditioned Stimulus In classical conditioning, the unconditioned stimulus (US) is one that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers a response. For example, when you smell one of your favorite foods, you may immediately feel very hungry. In this example, the smell of the food is the unconditioned stimulus. A feather tickling your nose causes you to sneeze. The feather tickling your nose is the unconditioned stimulus In this example, the US naturally triggers an unconditioned response. You don't have to learn to respond to the US. Acquisition The initial stage of the learning or conditioning process. In this stage, some response is being associated with some stimulus to the point where we can say the organism has "acquired" the response. During this stage the response is strengthened (reinforced) so that it is truly "learned". Ex: If you are trying to condition the rat to press the lever when and only when you ring the bell then once the rat presses the lever in only response to the bell, you can say the response is "acquired". You would then continue to gradually reinforce the lever pressing in response to the bell to make sure the response is strengthened. Reinforcer A term used in operant condition to describe any event (stimulus, object...anything) that strengthens the frequency of the behavior that precedes it. For example, if I paid you one dollar every time you said hello to me (and we're assuming you like getting the dollar) we may expect the frequency of you saying hello to me to increase. This is because you were being reinforced for saying hello (by getting the dollar). In this case the the dollar works as a reinforcer. Primary Reinforcer Refers to anything that provides reinforcement without the need for learning to an organism. This means that the reinforcer is naturally reinforcing to the organism. For example, water is naturally reinforcing because organisms don't need to learn to be reinforced by it, they naturally get reinforced especially in times of being thirsty. Naturally Occurring. Examples of primary reinforcers include things that satisfy basic survival needs such as water, food, sleep, Conditioned Reinforcer A secondary reinforcer, also called a conditioned reinforcer, is a stimulus that requires pairing with another stimulus to function as a reinforcer. The paired stimulus can be either a primary reinforcer, or another already­acquired secondary reinforcer. Money can be used to reinforce behaviors because it can be used to acquire primary reinforcers such as food, clothing, shelter and other such things. Continuous Reinforcement Operant conditioning principle in which an organism is reinforced every single time that organism provides the appropriate operant response. For example, you, as a researcher, might present a food pellet every time the rat presses the lever. One of the biggest dangers when using this type of reinforcement is saturation (the organism basically gets full ­ you keep feeding it and it no longer wants the reinforcement because it is stuffed) Partial Reinforcement Reinforcing an organism only sometimes and not everytime the desired behavior occurs. Think of trying to teach your dog to sit. Will he learn to sit faster if you reward the dog every single time he sits when you tell him to or if you reward him only sometimes. There are four schedules of partial reinforcement: Fixed ratio, Variable Ratio, Fixed Interval, Variable Interval Fixed­Ratio Schedule Are those where a response is reinforced only after a specified number of responses. This schedule produces a high, steady rate of responding with only a brief pause after the delivery of the reinforcer. An example of a fixed­ratio schedule would be delivering a food pellet to a rat after it presses a bar five times. This type of schedule is called fixed because the number of operant responses required remains constant. Variable­Ratio Schedule Occur when a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses. This schedule creates a high steady rate of responding. Gambling and lottery games are good examples of a reward based on a variable ratio schedule. In a lab setting, this might involved delivering food pellets to a rat after one bar press, again after four bar presses, and a third pellet after two bar presses. Fixed­Interval Schedule Are those where the first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has elapsed. This schedule causes high amounts of responding near the end of the interval, but much slower responding immediately after the delivery of the reinforcer. An example of this in a lab setting would be reinforcing a rat with a lab pellet for the first bar press after a 30 second interval has elapsed. This type of schedule is called fixed because the amount time the organism must wait remains constant. Variable­Interval Schedule Occur when a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed. This schedule produces a slow, steady rate of response. An example of this would be delivering a food pellet to a rat after the first bar press following a one minute interval, another pellet for the first response following a five minute interval, and a third food pellet for the first response following a three minute interval. Punishment Used in operant conditioning to refer to any change that occurs after a behavior that reduces the likelihood that that behavior will occur again in the future. While positive and negative reinforcement are used to increase behaviors, punishment is focused on reducing or eliminating unwanted behaviors. Extinction The gradual weakening of a conditioned response that results in the behavior decreasing or disappearing. In classical conditioning, this happens when a conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with an unconditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, extinction can occur if the trained behavior is no longer reinforced or if the type of reinforcement used is no longer rewarding. Spontaneous Recovery Associated with learning and conditioning. Specifically, spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of a response (a Conditioned Response; CR) that had been extinguished. The recovery can occur after a period of non­exposure to the Conditioned Stimulus (CS). It is called spontaneous because the response seems to reappear out of nowhere. Generalizations A process within operant and classical conditioning, where a conditioned response (CR) starts occurring in response to the presentation of other, similar stimuli, not just the conditioned stimulus (CS). For example, a dog is trained to sit (CR) when you give the command, "sit" (CS). Soon after that, the dog might sit when you say "hit", "bit", and "kick". In this case, the CR (sitting) is not only done to the CS (the command, "sit") but also to commands that are similar. Discrimination In classical conditioning, discrimination is the ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus. For example, if a bell tone were the conditioned stimulus, discrimination would involve being able to tell the difference between the bell tone and other similar sounds. Ability to perceive and respond to differences among stimuli. Operant Conditioning A method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior and a consequence for that behavior. For example, when a lab rat presses a blue button, he receives a food pellet as a reward, but when he presses the red button he receives a mild electric shock. As a result, he learns to press the blue button but avoid the red button. Respondent Behavior A behavioral process (or behavior) that happens in response to some stimuli, and is essential to an organism’s survival. This behavior is characterized by involuntary action. For example, the pupil starts to flicker when exposed to direct sunlight. If the pupil does not flicker, the eye will be more exposed to sun rays, which may lead to blindness. Functions of respondent behavior include protecting the body against harmful stimuli, regulating the internal balance and economy of the organism Operant Behavior Goes along with operant conditioning. Refers to behavior that "operates" on the environment or is controllable by the individual. Operant behavior is done because it produces some type of consequence. For example: Pavlov's dog (classical conditioning) in which the dog salivated in response to meet powder. The dog couldn't control the salivation...that's classical conditioning. However, if the dog understood that by coming when called it would receive a treat, then it would be engaging in operant behavior. Law of Effect Suggested that responses closely followed by satisfaction will become firmly attached to the situation and therefore more likely to re­occur when the situation is repeated. Deals with what is called “stimulus­response” reaction that is exhibited by living creatures. Stimulus response means exhibiting a reaction to some kind of reward. Operant Chamber (Skinner Box) Assists with laboratory analysis of animal behavior. The chamber is a box that holds the test subject, an animal such as a rat, and is often sound and light proof, to limit responses from unintended stimuli. The box is built with a system for delivering a stimulus and can detect the response. It has an automatic system of reward or punishment delivery, simplifying the process of observation and data collection in behavioral studies. Shaping Gradually molding or training an organism to perform a specific response (behavior) by reinforcing any responses that are similar to the desired response. For example, a researcher can use shaping to train a rat to press a lever during an experiment (since rats are not born with the instinct to press a lever in a cage during an experiment). Cognitive Map A mental representation of the layout of one's environment. It seems that many animals, not just humans, are able to form a mental representation of an environment that they have been in or are currently in. For example, when a friend asks you for directions to your house, you are able to create an image in your mind of the roads, places to turn, landmarks, etc., along the way to your house from your friend's starting point. Latent Learning The type of learning that occurs, but you don't really see it (it's not exhibited) until there is some reinforcement or incentive to demonstrate it. Ex: if you are in a car going to school with a friend every day, but your friend is driving all the time, you may learn the way to get to school, but have no reason to demonstrate this knowledge. However, when you friend gets sick one day and you have to drive yourself for the first time, if you can get to school following the same route you would go if your friend was driving, then you have demonstrated latent learning. Overjustification Effect Occurs when an external incentive decreases a person's intrinsic motivation to perform a behavior or participate in an activity. Researchers have found that when extrinsic rewards (such as money and prizes) are given for actions that people already find intrinsically rewarding, they will become less internally motivated to pursue those activities in the future. Observational Learning learning that occurs through observing the behavior of others. This form of learning does not need reinforcement to occur, but instead, requires a model. A social model can be a parent, sibling, friend, or teacher, but ­ particularly in childhood ­ a model is someone of authority or higher status. A social model is significantly important in observational learning because it facilitates cognitive process behavior. Modeling The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior. Form of learning where individuals ascertain how to act or perform by observing another individual. Think of it this way, you may know how to tell a joke better because you have watched Jay Leno's standup routine on TV. Prosocial Behavior The phenomenon of people helping each other with no thought of reward or compensation. You may have thought this didn't exist, but it's been known to happen. Prosocial behaviors are actions or patterns of behavior rather than motivations. Prosocial behavior is characterized by a concern about the rights, feelings and welfare of other people. Behaviors that can be described as prosocial include feeling empathy and concern for others and behaving in ways to help or benefit other people. Mirror Neurons A type of brain cell that fires when you do an action, and also when you simply watch someone else doing the same action. For example, when you are grabbing a cup of coffee, Motor Neuron A (which also happens to be a Mirror Neuron) fires to tell your hand to reach out and grip the handle of the cup. Meme A piece of information that is passed from one entity (person, book, etc.) to another. Often memes are social or cultural in nature and are ways aspects of culture are passed from person to person so that the information is understood. They can also be ideas, parts of ideas, sounds, songs, and all sorts of other pieces of information that get passed on. Positive Reinforcement In operant conditioning, positive reinforcement involves the addition of a reinforcing stimulus following a behavior that makes it more likely that the behavior will occur again in the future. When a favorable outcome, event, or reward occurs after an action, that particular response or behavior will be strengthened. Ex: At work, you exceed this month's sales quota so your boss gives you a bonus. Negative Reinforcement In negative reinforcement, a response or behavior is strengthened by stopping, removing, or avoiding a negative outcome or aversive stimulus. Aversive stimuli tend to involve some type of discomfort, either physical or psychological. Ex: Before heading out for a day at the beach, you slather on sunscreen (the behavior) in order to avoid getting sunburned (removal of the aversive stimulus).