Psych 111-Exam 2 Part 2

Conditioning

is a form of associative learning in which behaviors are triggered by associations with events in the environment.

Classical Conditioning

learning in which an organism comes to ASSOCIATE one stimulus with another — INVOLUNTARY

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

an unlearned response to an unconditioned stimulus

Pavlov’s study

Question: Could an organism be trained by association to respond to a completely neutral stimulus — one that does NOT normally elicit a response? Pioneering discovery. Pavlov discovered that the dogs had formed an association of a recurring noise to receiving food. Using bells and repetition, Pavlov was able to prove the dogs had formed a conditioned response.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

a stimulus that triggers an unconditional response

Ex of UCS and UCR

Food in mouth (UCS) –> salivation (UCR)

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

an initially neutral stimulus that, through learning and association, comes to evoke a conditioned response

Conditioned Response (CR)

a learned response to a conditioned stimulus

Examples of responses

Bell (NS) –< Food (UCS) –> Salivation (UCR) After repeated pairings of food and bell… Bell (CS) –> salivation (CR)

Examples using Food Aversion

Orange juice (NS) OJ (NS) –> Vodka (UCS) –> nausea (UCR) OJ (CS) –> Nausea (CR)

forward conditioning

a neutral stimulus (a bell) is presented just before the UCS.

simultaneous conditioning

a neutral stimulus (a bell) is presented simultaneously with the UCS; It doesn’t work.

backward conditioning

neutral stimulus follows the UCS. Less Successful. i.e. Sound of bell presented after food is given.

generalization

after an animal is conditioned to respond to a particular CS, other similar stimuli will often evoke the same response Doberman (NS) –> Bite (UCS) –> fear (UCR) All dogs (CS) –> Fear (CR)

extinction

if the CS is presented often enough without the UCS, it eventually loses response-eliciting power

contiguity

UCS needs to follow CS closely in time in order for organic to learn association

spontaneous recovery

if there is a pause following extinction, rebound effect, occurs: CS again elicits CR

discrimination

organisms can learn to discriminate between similar stimuli Doberman (NS) –> Bite (UCS) –> Fear (UCR) All dogs (CS) –> Fear (CR) Lab –> affectionate (UCS) –> relaxed (UCR) Lab (CS) –> relaxed (CR)

Learning

a relatively permanent change in knowledge that comes as a result of experience

Acquisition

a CS will become associated with a CR to the extent that it SIGNALS or PROVIDES INFORMATION about the occurrence of the UNCS

Forward Conditioning Works

Bell (NS) –> Food (UCS) –> Salivation (UCR) Bell (CS) –> Salivation (CR) The bell alone WILL elicit salivation.

Simultaneous Conditioning Works Like

Bell (NS)/Food (UCS) –> Salivation (UCR) The bell alone will NOT elicit salivation.

Backward Conditioning Works Like

Food (UCS) –> Bell (NS)–> Salivation (UCR) The bell alone will NOT elicit salvation

Operant Conditioning

process by which organisms learn to behave in ways that produce DESIRABLE OUTCOMES — VOLUNTARY

Law of effect (Puzzle Box and Thorndike)

responses followed by positive outcomes are repeated while those followed by negative outcomes are not

Reinforcer

any stimulus that INCREASES the likelihood of a prior response

positive reinforcement

strengthens a prior response through the presentation of a positive stimulus (ex: reward, raise, pat on the back)

negative reinforcement

strengthens a prior response by removing an aversive stimulus

Punishment

decreases the likelihood of a prior response

positive punishment

weakening a response through the presentation of an aversive stimulus

negative punishment

weakening a response through the removal of a positive stimulus

continuous reinforcement

the desired response is reinforced EVERY time it occurs

partial reinforcement

a response is sometimes rewarded, sometimes not (partial reinforcement produces greater persistence than continuous reinforcement — more resistant to extinction)

schedules of reinforcement

patterns of reinforcement distinguished by whether reinforcement occurs after a set number of responses or after a certain amount of time has passed since the last reinforcement.

Fixed Ratio (FR) Schedule

reinforcer appears after a fixed number of responses

variable ratio (VR) schedule

reinforcer appears after some average number of responses

fixed interval (FI) schedule

reinforcer appears after a fixed interval of time has elapsed

variable interval (VI) schedule

reinforcement interval is varied around an average

Magic Marker Study (Can reward ever be a bad thing?)

-identified children who liked playing with markers -conditions: no reward, unexpected reward, expected reward -which children would continue to play with markers? Which children would play with the markers least?

Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation

The children’s intrinsic motivation to play with the markers (playing with them for sheer enjoyment of doing so) was replaced by an extrinsic motivation (an external goal) — receiving a reward

Observational learning: Bobo Doll Study (Bandura 1961)

Beyond direct rewards and punishments, behaviors can be shaped through simply observing and modeling the behavior of others (The adults would present themselves hitting or kicking the doll, not very violently, to children and then the children are put into a room with the doll and objects. The children use violent actions against the dolls and even use toy guns or a hammer to hit the doll, even though that was not shown to them)

Sensory memory

representations of the physical features of a stimulus that are stored for a very brief time

Short-term (working) memory

immediate memory for stimuli that have just been perceived

long-term memory

memory in which information is represented on a near-permanent basis

The capacity (limits) of STM

content of STM corresponds to "magical number 7", +/- 2 Peterson and Peterson (1959)

Peterson and Peterson (1959)

presented subjects with consonants (ex: "JRG") and prevented subjects from rehearsing them by forcing them to count backwards by 3’s — when rehearsal is impossible, stimuli remain in STM for 15-20 seconds

chunking

process by which information is broken down into smaller, meaningful components (XIBMCIAFBICBSMTV – X IBM CIA FBI CBS MTV)

encoding

process of putting stimulus information into a form that can be used by our memory system

Schemas

cognitive frameworks representing our knowledge and assumptions about specific aspects of the world

explicit memory

conscious, willful (voluntary) remembering

implicit memory

remembering that occurs in the absence of conscious awareness

Anterograde amnesia

can still remember events that occurred before the onset of their amnesia, but they can’t remember what’s happened to them since (Patient "H.M.": damage to hippocampus (in limbic system), center for explicit memory)

primacy effect

the tendency to preferentially recall items at the beginning of a list

recency effect

recall for items at the end of a list

The Clive Wearing story (video seen in class)

…

Chinese ideograph study

Chinese symbols are flashed in front of people so fast that they are un recognizable. However, when asked to pick their favorite out of 4 symbols, most people chose the symbol that was flashed in front of them without recognizing what it was.

Two major types of explicit memory:

Episodic and Semantic

Episodic

memories of particular events or episodes that happened to you personally

Semantic

memories stored as knowledge about the world that makes little or no reference to personal experiences

Major type of implicit memory

procedural

procedural

knowledge about how to do things/perform certain tasks

encoding specificity

memory will be enhanced to the extent that a retrieval cue present at encoding is also present at retrieval

scuba diver study

memorize on land/memorize under water retrieve on land/retrieve under water

retroactive interference

when RECENTLY learned information interferes with the ability to real PREVIOUSLY learned information

proactive interference

when PREVIOUSLY learned information interferes with the ability to recall RECENTLY learned information

Retrieval cues

cues associated with information stored in memory that can aid in its retrieval (as new memories are encoded, old retrieval cues become less effective because these cues are now associated with new things)

Reconstructive memory

Loftus and Palmer’s (1975) study: demonstrates the memory-distorting power of leading question "How fast were the two cars going when they contacted/bumped/hit/smashed into each other?"

Loftus and False memory syndrome

memories of traumatic experiences that are objectively FALSE, but in which a person strongly believes

Source monitoring errors

misidentifying the origins of specific memories — "Do I remember this happening to me?", or "Did you tell me that this happened to me?"

Reality monitoring erros

misidentifying whether specific memories are based on external (real) sources or on internal (imagined) sources — "Did this happen?", or "Did I only imagine that this happened?"

Classical and operant conditioning involve learning through ______, whereas observational learning involves learning through ______.

association observation and imitation

Organisms learn about the consequences of behavior through _____.

Operant conditioning

Lightning is associated with thunder and regularly precedes it. Thus, when we see lightning, we often anticipate that we will hear thunder soon afterward. This is an example of _____.

classical conditioning

Organisms learn the association between two stimuli through _____. Organisms learn the association between a behavior and a consequence through ______.

classical conditioning operant conditioning

Miranda is learning how to play tennis. For her first lesson, her instructor models serving and backhand returns while Miranda patiently watches. Miranda then tries to imitate the sequence of swings and motions made by her instructor. Which of the following concepts best describes how Miranda is learning to play tennis?

observational learning

The cliché "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" best reflects which of the following types of learning?

Observational learning

In classical conditioning situations, the _____ connection is unlearned, but the _____ connection is learned.

UCS-UCR CS-CR

You feel fine at the picnic until a spider very similar to the one that bit you last year and made you sick starts to walk onto your picnic blanket. This reaction is most likely a(n) _____.

CR

Dr. Meyer is known for his difficult pop quizzes. Immediately before he springs a pop quiz on his students, he typically goes to the classroom door and closes it. Students soon learn to anticipate a pop quiz whenever Dr. Meyer closes the classroom door. Closing the door has become a(n) _____.

CS

Pavlov’s dog automatically salivated to food because food is a(n) _____.

UCS

A father takes his baby out for a walk. The baby reaches over to touch a pink flower and is stung by a bumblebee sitting on the petals. The next day, the baby’s mother brings home some pink flowers. She removes a flower from the arrangement and takes it over for her baby to smell. The baby cries loudly as soon as she sees it. According to the principles of classical conditioning, what is the conditioned stimulus in this example?

The pink flower

Before the bell was ever presented, Pavlov’s dog salivated each time food was presented. The ______ in this situation is salivation.

unconditioned response

Pavlov’s dog salivated to the sound of a bell because _____.

The bell had become associated with food

The first phase of classical conditioning in which the UCS and CS are paired repeatedly until the CS alone generates a CR is called _____.

acquisition

The extent to which the CS and UCS occur close together in time reflects

contiguity

______ involves teaching a person to distinguish the difference between the original conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus.

Discrimination

Little Albert was conditioned by John Watson to fear a white rat. Eventually, however, Albert became fearful of any stimulus that looked white and furry. He became scared not only of rats, but also of rabbits, and even Santa Claus’s beard. This phenomenon is called _____.

generalization

Pavlov’s dog salivates each time he hears a bell. Now, however, after several trials of salivating to the bell and NOT receiving any food, the dog stops salivating. What happened?

extinction has occurred

Mark’s dog, Gus, sits whenever he says, "Sit." Mark now wants to teach Gus a new trick. He wants to teach him to bark each time he says, "Speak," but whenever Mark says, "Speak," Gus sits. The dog’s behavior is an example of ______.

generalization

_____ occurs when the conditioned response dissipates after the anticipated reward is withheld.

extinction

Robert drank too much tequila last night. He spent much of this morning vomiting and nauseated. According to the principles of classical conditioning, how will Robert likely react today when he tastes or smells the tequila bottle that he drank out of last night?

He will find the scent and taste of tequila aversive

Taste aversion is a real-life example of which of the following types of learning?

classical conditioning

Watching TV, you can see how advertisers cunningly apply classical conditioning principles to consumers by showing ads that pair something pleasant with a product in hopes that you, the viewer, will experience those positive feelings toward the product. In this situation the product is the _____.

conditioned stimulus

in operant conditioning _____.

the consequences of behavior produce change in the probability of the occurrence of the behavior

According to Thorndike’s law of effect _____.

behaviors followed by desirable outcomes are strengthened and behaviors followed by undesirable outcomes are weakened

Reinforcement increases the frequency of a behavioral response. ______ involves the presentation of a desired stimulus, whereas _____ involves the removal of an undesired stimulus.

positive reinforcement negative reinforcement

Whenever Baby Nimo cries, his mother picks him up. From a behaviorist perspective, picking up Baby Nimo whenever he cries _____.

is a positive reinforcer for Nimo for crying

Waking up a few seconds BEFORE your alarm clock goes off in order to avoid the obnoxious alarm sound is an example of ______

negative reinforcement

In ______, the frequency of a behavior increases because it is followed by the removal of something unpleasant.

negative reinforcement

Abby’s dad kept nagging her to clean her room. She eventually complied and did what her father wanted in order get her dad to stop nagging is an example of _____

negative reinforcement

Positive punishment _____. Negative reinforcement _____.

Weakens behaviors strengthens behaviors

Kim is surprised and frustrated to find that her son’s misbehavior actually increases when she yells at him. In operant terms, _____.

yelling is reinforcing the misbehaviors

Positive and negative reinforcement _____ the likelihood of the behavior occurring again. Positive and negative punishment _____ the likelihood of the behavior occurring again.

increase decrease

Bubba, a very smart German shepherd, has learned that if he barks at the neighbors while they’re grilling, they will throw him a treat. However, his owner, Paul, does not want Bubba to eat "people" food so does not allow Bubba to eat treats from the neighbor. When Paul is in the yard, Bubba never barks at the neighbors. According to operant conditioning principles, Bubba is demonstrating that he can _____.

Discriminate

Matt wants to train his dog, Buster, to sit on command. He gives Buster a doggie biscuit each time Buster sits when commanded, but only for the first 10 trials. He then changes the rules. Buster now has to sit on command three times before he gets a biscuit. Matt used _____ schedule first, and then _____ schedule to train Buster.

a continuous-reinforcement fixed-ratio

A hitchhiker most likely gets rides on a _____ schedule of reinforcement.

variable-ratio

Carol gives her dog, Cutie Pie, a treat each time Cutie Pie sits on command. Carol is using a _____ schedule to train her dog to sit on command.

continuous reinforcement

Fred’s parents are very inconsistent with their childrearing rules. Most of the time Fred can climb on the furniture but sometimes he is punished. Fred’s parents can’t understand why he isn’t a better-behaved child. Fred’s parents are reinforcing his negative behaviors on a _____.

partial-reinforcement schedule

A worker is paid $25 for every 20 wind chimes that she builds. On which schedule of reinforcement is she being paid?

fixed-ratio

The ______ schedule of reinforcement is the most resistant to extinction.

variable-ratio

Slot machines reward an average number of times, but on an unpredictable basis. This is an example of a ______ schedule of reinforcement.

variable-ratio

Random pop quizzes occur on a _____ schedule.

variable-interval

Jose’s employer pays him every other Friday. This is an example of which of the following schedules of reinforcement?

Fixed interval

Kelley is scolded each time she teases her little brother. Her mother notices that the frequency of teasing has decreased. Scolding Kelley is an effective _____.

positive punisher

Spanking is a form of _____; time out is a form of _____.

positive punishment negative punishment

Larry is grounded each time he hits his little brother. After a few times of being grounded, Larry’s misbehavior toward his little brother decreases. Grounding Larry is an example of _____.

negative punishment

Applied behavior analysis is based on the concept of _____.

operant conditioning

Your psychology professor wants to help students learn how to write a high-quality research paper, so she posts an example of an A paper on the course website. You use this example as a model when writing your own paper. Which of the following concepts best describes how you learned to write your research paper?

observational learning

A reduction in chores is given for coming home on time is an example of _____

negative reinforcement

A hug is given for coming home on time is an example of ____

positive reinforcement

A cookie is taken away for coming home late is and example of _______

negative punishment

a slap on the hand for coming home late is an example of _____

positive punishment