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Modules 26-30 (Module 27: Operant Conditioning (Module 27.1-Operant…

- - - - Classical conditioning forms associations between stimuli and also involves respondent behavior
      - Operant conditioning is where organisms form associations with their behavior and consequences, operant behavior is involved as well
        
        operant conditioning- a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher
  - - - law of effect- Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely
      - Using the law of effect as a starting point, Skinner used animals such as pigeons to develop behavioral technology which revealed principles of behavior control
        
        For his studies, Skinner designed an
        
        operant chamber- in operant conditioning research, a chamber (also known as a Skinner box) containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal's rate of bar pressing or key pecking
        
        With this creation, it gave Skinner a place for animals to demonstrate his view of
        
        reinforcement- in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
        
        Operant conditioning also can be used to shape behavior (shaping)
        
        shaping- an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior
        
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  - - - positive reinforcement- increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response
      - negative reinforcement- increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (Negative reinforcement is not punishment)
      - Whether something works by either removing some aversive or providing something desirable, reinforcement is any consequence that strengthens behavior
        
        Reinforcers that are unlearned are called
        
        primary reinforcer- an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need
        
        On the other hand, reinforcers that gain power through learned association are called
        
        conditioned reinforcer- a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also known as a secondary reinforcer
  - - - reinforcement schedules- a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced
        
        The best option for mastering a behavior (although extinction also occurs rapidly)is
        
        continuous reinforcement schedule- reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs
        
        The option for having more resistance to extinction, although learning is slower, is
        
        partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule- reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement
        
        Skinner and those who worked with him also created four schedules of partial reinforcement
        
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  - - - punishment- an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows.
        
        When it comes to draw backs of physical punishment, there are four major ones
        
        Punishment teaches discrimination among situations
        
        Punishment can teach fear
        
        Punished behavior is suppressed, not forgotten. This temporary state may negatively reinforce parents' punishing behavior
        
        Physical punishment may increase aggression by modeling violence as a way to deal with problems
  - - - Skinner replied that people's actions are already controlled by outside forces, and that reinforcement is more humane than punishment
- - - - problem-focus coping- attempting to alleviate stress directly - by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor
        
        We use this aforementioned method of coping when we want to feel a sense of control over the situation and feel like we can change it, but when we feel like we have no control over a situation, we turn to
        
        emotion-focused coping- attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction
  - - - learned helplessness- the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events
        
        Perceiving a lack of control is detrimental to one's health because it makes someone become more vulnerable to stress and illness
        
        This is because there is an outpouring of stress hormones
        
        When it comes to perceptions about control, there are two main viewpoints
        
        external locus of control- the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate
        
        internal locus of control- the perception that you control your own fate
  - - - The more predictable an association is, the stronger the conditioned response
        
        Conditioned likes and dislikes are even stronger when people are aware of the associations they've learned, which means cognition matters
        
        Evidence of cognitive processes has also come from studying rats in mazes, including studies done by Edward Chase Tolman
        
        That said, when rats are given no obvious reward and are tasked with exploring a maze they seem to develop a
        
        cognitive map- a mental representation of the layout of one's environment. For example, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it
        
        There is more to learning than associating a response with a consequence, there is also cognition which is why exploring rats seemingly experienced
        
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  - - - Self control also varies overtime, but strengthening self control can lead to a better quality of life
  - - - preparedness- a biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value
        
        This preparedness then can constrain conditioning as shown with John Garcia's experiment where rats developed only a taste aversion to water (because they associated it with radiation poisoning) instead of flashing lights or different tones (since they could not taste them)
- - - - learning-the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors
        
        One way we learn is through anticipating and preparing for things that include pain or other biological needs, which connects to
        
        classical conditioning- a type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli; as a result, to illustrate with Pavlov's classic experiment, the first stimulus (a tone) comes to elicit behavior (drooling) in anticipation for the second stimulus (food)
        
        Conditioning, as with operant and classical conditioning, is dependent upon the ability to engage in
        
        associative learning- learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence (as in operant conditioning)
        
        stimulus- any event or situation that evokes a response
        
        If there is repeated exposure to a stimulus, then an animal may habituate to it
        
        habituation- decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus
        
        Like when you pull your hand away when you put it on something hot, stimuli that we can not control can also make us respond automatically, which then illustrates
        
        respondent behavior- behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus
        
        We also can learn to repeat acts that benefit us, and to avoid acts which are detrimental to our wellbeing, which then describes
        
        operant conditioning, which also involves operant behavior- behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences
        
        Another way of learning is through observation of people and different events, along with language which connects to
        
        cognitive learning- the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language
  - - - Instead, he thought the science of psychology should focus on how organisms respond to stimuli in their envionment
        
        This perspective came to be known as behaviorism- the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2)
  - - - This led to experimentation where they put a dog strapped to a harness with a device to measure its saliva in an isolated room, where they then introduced food to the dog in different ways (with a food bowl, then later with meat powder)
        
        After that, they paired neutral stimuli (NS) with the food in the dog's mouth, which led to the discovery of the dogs salivating over things like a certain tone, (since it was associated with the food)
        
        neutral stimulus (NS)- in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning
        
        Because dogs do not learn to salivate in response to food in its mouth, rather its body does it automatically, Pavlov called the drooling in his experiments unconditioned response (UR) and the food unconditioned stimulus (US)
        
        unconditioned response (UR)- in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US), (such as food in the mouth)
        
        unconditioned stimulus (US)- in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally - naturally and automatically - triggers a response (UR)
        
        Since salivation in response to a tone is learned, not automatic, it is conditional with the dog association food with a tone, therefore it is a conditioned response (CR)
        
        conditioned response (CR)- in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).
        
        The tone used to be neutral because it was not associated with food, but now it triggers salivation so it is a conditioned stimulus (CS)
        
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  - - - In order to become conditioned however, an animal must go through
        
        acquisition- in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.
        
        That being said, elements of conditioning can be changed like how a new NS can become a new CS without a US being present (as long as it becomes associated with a stimulus that had been previously conditioned)
        
        The process that allows this to happen is called
        
        higher-order conditioning- a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone. (Also called second-order conditioning).
        
        Pavlov also had questions like would the dogs still salivate if a tone sounded multiple times but no food appeared
        
        After experimentation, the result was
        
        extinction-
        the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when a unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced
        
        However, when Pavlov allowed a couple hours to pass before playing the tone again, the dogs would begin to drool over the tone demonstrating
        
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  - - - His findings illustrated that many other responses to many other stimuli can be classically conditioned in numerous organisms and therefore classical conditioning is one way that most animals can learn to adapt to their environment
        
        Pavlov demonstrated that a process like learning can be studied objectively, which gave other psychologists a model to follow for future research
    - - Immune Responses
      - Food Cravings
      - Drug Cravings
- - - - prosocial behavior- positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior.
        
        Prosocial behavior may have prosocial effects
        
        This can in part be because of modeling, and models are most effective when actions and words are consistent with each other
  - - - Imitation and desensitization can prompt the violence viewing effect
        
        Studies show that participants react more aggressively and with less compassion when they have viewed violence
- - - - Work- Reward specific, achievable behaviors, not vaguely defined "merit"
      - Parenting- Notice people doing something right and affirm them for it
      - Sports- Reinforce small success, like with batting, and then move on to bigger challenges (ball is thrown from longer and longer distances)
      - Self Improvement- Reinforce own desired behaviors and extinguish undesired ones
      - School- "Students must be told immediately whether what they do is right or wrong and when right, they must be directed to the step to be taken next", adaptive quizzes gives immediate feedback and allow students to go at their own pace
      - Stress Management- Neal Miller found that rats could modify their heartbeats if given pleasurable brain stimulation when their heartbeat increased or decreased
        
        Miller was experimenting with
        
        biofeedback- a system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension
  - - - They differ with how in classical conditioning we associate different stimuli we don't control and respond automatically, while in operant conditioning we associate our own behavior with their consequences