Topic 6: Learning Perspective
Classical Conditioning
Stages
Before Conditioning
Conditioning
Completed conditioning
only reflex exists (stimulus that causes response)
neutral stimulus occurs along with, or slightly before the US which is followed by a UR
US ➡ UR
NS is now called CS
CS acquires ability to produce own response (CR) after frequent pairing
Characteristics
CR usually very similar to UR
Identical but with ⬇ intensity
Different but have same valence
Eg. pleasant taste (UR) and happiness (CR)
⬆ frequency of CS-US pairings => ⬆ likelihood of conditioning
Strong US (leads to strong UR) => rapid conditioning
Higher-order conditioning
can condition responses to other things
Eg. Seafood restaurant (CS) associated with vomiting (CR)
Sees friend eating at seafood restaurant and finds him repulsive
Generalisation
intensity of CR related to perceived similarity of stimulus
conditioned responses occurring when facing similar stimuli to conditioned stimulus
Discrimination
complementary to generalisation as stimuli become increasingly different from CS
differentiating between stimuli; responding only to CS and not anything similiar
Extinction
weakening of the CR when CS appears repeatedly without US
Spontaneous Recovery
unexpected reappearance of extinguished response after time delay
thought of as conditioning "no-response" responses to CS
Emotional Conditioning
"conditioning where CRs are emotional reactions"
believed to be process by which personal attitudes and preferences develop
neutral stimulus + pleasant event => like
neutral stimulus + upsetting event => dislike
hearing someone describe good or bad traits in others can lead to associating the trait with the describer
Eg. presenting political slogans to people and collecting approval ratings
Presented it paired with ➕ stimulus (free lunch), ➖ stimulus (unpleasant odors) or neutral stimulus
slogans paired with free lunch rated more positively and slogans paired with odors rated more negatively
Operant/Instrumental Conditioning
Law of Effect
Action => ➕ / ➖ Outcome => ↕ Likelihood of behaviour
deduced by Edward Thorndike
Habit Hierarchy
Reinforcers
pleasant outcome strengthens likelihood of response
Types
Primary
Secondary
diminishes biological needs (eg. food, water)
associated with a primary reinforcer (through CC) or through its ability to acquire primary reinforcers
Eg. money, social reinforcers (praise, 'pat on the back')
Positive Reinforcement
adding a pleasant stimulus (receiving a reinforcer)
Punishments
unpleasant outcome that decreases likelihood of response
Negative Reinforcement
removing of unpleasant stimulus
Positive Punishment
Negative Punishment
removing a pleasant stimulus
Time out
removing a child from a pleasant activity to place with nothing fun to do
adding an unpleasant stimulus
moves states of affairs in a ➕ direction from unpleasant to neutral
thus is reinforcing and ⬆ likelihood of behaviour
moves states of affairs in a ➖ direction from positive to neutral
Discriminative Stimulus
stimulus that is present when a behaviour is followed by reinforcer
stimulus functions as a switch to turn behaviour on and off
Generalisation
behaviour cued by discriminative stimuli said to be under stimulus control
responding similarly to new settings similar to discriminative stimuli
gives continuity to behaviour
ability to drive cars of different models
can provide basis for explaining trait formations
Extinction
gradual reduction in likelihood of behaviour when it is not followed by reinforcers
Reinforcement Schedules
Variations
Partial Reinforcement
Continuous Reinforcement
"behaviour followed by reinforcer always"
behaviour followed by reinforcer only sometimes
faster ⚡ acquisition and extinction of behaviour
slower 🐌 acquisition and extinction of behaviour
reinforcing abstract qualities of action
creativity, accuracy, focused thinking, speed
multiple abstract qualities may be reinforced simultaneously when state of affairs improved
Social Reinforcement
people respond to social reinforcers (acceptance, smiles, hugs, praise)
Self-reinforcement
1⃣ giving yourself reinforcers after completing a task
2⃣ Responding to own actions with approval or disapproval
eg. giving yourself 🍕 after studying for 3 hours
approval => reinforce self
disapproval => punish self
Vicarious Learning
involves 2 people => 1 for direct experience and 1 for learning indirectly
highlights social aspect of learning
Vicarious Emotional Arousal
observe someone feeling an emotion and experiencing the same feeling (⬇ intensely)
aka empathy
Eg. laughter being contagious, secondhand embarrassment, feeling jumpy when being around someone frightened
creates opportunity for classical conditioning
Vicarious classical conditioning
Eg. parent hates mushrooms so you feel disgusted at mushrooms
Vicarious Reinforcement
observing someone do something followed by reinforcement
more likely to perform same behaviour
observe someone do something followed by punishment
less likely to perform same behaviour
Expectancies
Outcome Expectancies
Self-Efficacy
confidence in having the ability to carry out desired action
Observational Learning
Processes
Attention
paying attention to model and behaviour occurring
⬆ attractive models and ⬆ salient behaviours more likely to be encoded
Observer concentration
Retention
representing observed behaviour in memory for later replication
Encoding
Imaginal coding
Verbal coding
creating images or mental pictures of observations
creating verbal descriptions of observations
Reproduction
click to edit
Bobo Doll
watched 5 min video where adult model acted aggressively to bobo doll and accompanied act with verbalisations
Model given candy and praise by another adult
No additional scene
Model verbally punished and spanked by second adult
Child led to room with doll and left alone for 10 minutes and secretly observed
child offered incentive to replicate as many viewed acts as could be remembered
Results
acquisition unaffected by reinforcement or punishment
model punished => ⬇ in spontaneous performance
number of aggressive acts => spontaneous perfomance
number of agressive acts => acquisition
Media Violence
observational learning occurring with symbolic models
Processes
Acquisition of aggressive acts as behavioural potentials through observational learning
Misconception that aggression is correct way to deal with conflict from observing aggression being rewarded
Desensitisation to human suffering from repeated exposure to aggression
Counterargument to bad guys getting punished
Punishment comes late in story after a lot of short-term reinforcement
Hero actions are aggressive and also highly reinforced
Therapy
Mastery Model
Coping Model
completely without fear regarding what person in therapy is afraid of
initially displays fear but overcomes it and handles the situation
seems more effective than mastery models in fear therapy
Participant Modelling
therapist models behaviour and client repeats it
involves lots of verbalisations, instruction and personalised assurance from model
operates through vicarious extinction of conditioned fear
same situation as observer but able to overcome with active effort
Therapy
Systematic Desensitisation
1⃣ Client taught to relax completely
2⃣ Anxiety hierarchy is created (list of situations involving phobia ranked by level of anxiety)
using relaxation to replace fear when presented with phobic stimulus (counter-conditioning)
3⃣ Client relaxes fully and visualises scene from lowest end of hierarchy
4⃣ Anxiety is allowed to dissipate and the cycle repeats until no anxiety felt
5⃣ Move up the next level of hierarchy and transition from visualisation to actual stimulus
Assessment of Emotional Responses
Physiological
Behavioural
observing explicit behaviour in situations of interest
Eg. assessing fear through trembling, avoidance
measuring physiological responses associated with the emotion of interest
Eg, muscle tension, heart rate, blood pressure
Therapy
believed that therapy works by restoring self-efficacy
mental models of links from action to expected outcomes :