Psychology Chapter on Learning Types

Podcast

Play an AI-generated podcast conversation about this lesson

Questions and Answers

What is the main purpose of positive reinforcement?

To increase the likelihood of a behavior reoccurring (correct)

To decrease the likelihood of a behavior reoccurring

To provide a punishment for unwanted behavior

To take away unpleasant stimuli to reinforce a behavior

What does negative punishment entail?

Ignoring a behavior to eliminate it from occurring

Providing a reward to reinforce a behavior

Adding an unpleasant stimulus to discourage a behavior

Taking away a pleasant stimulus to discourage a behavior (correct)

What is a common effect of using punishment, according to numerous studies?

It creates anxiety and may encourage subversive behavior (correct)

It tends to decrease aggressive behavior in children

It solely corrects behavior without any negative impacts

It consistently leads to positive learning outcomes

How do schedules of reinforcement impact behavior?

Partial reinforcement makes behaviors more resistant to extinction Signup and view all the answers

What role does a discriminative stimulus play in operant conditioning?

It signals the presence of reinforcement Signup and view all the answers

What occurs during the process of extinction in classical conditioning?

The conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus. Signup and view all the answers

What is an example of stimulus generalization in classical conditioning?

A child responding fearfully to a rabbit after being conditioned to fear a rat. Signup and view all the answers

Which principle states that responses that produce discomfort are less likely to be repeated?

Law of Effect Signup and view all the answers

In Ivan Pavlov's experiment, what was the unconditioned stimulus?

The food presented to the dogs Signup and view all the answers

What concept explains why some fears develop more easily than others?

Equipotentiality Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best defines 'habituation'?

A decreased response to a stimulus over time. Signup and view all the answers

What is a real-world application of conditioned taste aversions?

Helping chemotherapy patients avoid nausea triggers. Signup and view all the answers

In operant conditioning, what are reinforcements?

Positive outcomes that strengthen the likelihood of a response. Signup and view all the answers

How does stimulus discrimination differ from stimulus generalization?

Generalization involves a conditioned response to multiple similar stimuli. Signup and view all the answers

What did Watson and Rayner's Little Albert experiment illustrate about fears?

People can learn to have specific fears towards stimuli with no prior negative experience. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Types of Learning

Habituation: Responding less strongly to a stimulus over time (e.g., itchy sweater, subway noise, uncomfortable chair).
Sensitization: Responding more strongly and intensely to a stimulus over time.

Classical Conditioning (CC)

Ivan Pavlov: Russian psychologist famous for his work on digestion in dogs, leading to the discovery of classical conditioning.
Acquisition: The initial stage where a conditioned response (CR) is established (e.g., drooling to a bell) through repeated pairings of a conditioned stimulus (CS) with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS).
Extinction: The reduction and eventual disappearance of the CR after the CS is presented repeatedly without the UCS.
Stimulus Generalization: When similar CSs elicit CRs (e.g., response to wind chimes or church bells similar to a bell).
Stimulus Discrimination: Exhibiting a CR only to specific stimuli, not similar ones.
Second-order conditioning: A NS becomes a CS through association with a previous CS (e.g., light switch + bell = salivation; light switch = salivation).
Applications of CC: Advertisers pair products with positive stimuli to create positive associations.
CC & Taste Aversions: Learned aversions to specific tastes after a single pairing with illness (long delay possible), showing little generalization. Useful in treating patients undergoing chemotherapy (scapegoat food). This contradicts the idea of equipotentiality (not all CSs are equally likely to be conditioned).
CC and Fears: Explains acquisition of fears and phobias, like the Little Albert experiment, demonstrating stimulus generation to similar stimuli (rabbit, dog, coat, masks) and stimulus discrimination to other stimuli (cotton balls). Also applicable in treating phobias through methods like counter-conditioning (Mary Cover Jones, Little Peter).

Operant Conditioning

Definition: Learning controlled by the consequences of an organism's behavior.
Instrumental Conditioning: Another name for operant conditioning.
Thorndike's Law of Effect: Responses followed by positive outcomes are more likely to be repeated; those followed by unpleasant outcomes are less likely to be repeated. This was demonstrated using the "puzzle box" experiment with cats.
Reinforcement: Outcomes that strengthen the probability of a response.
- Positive Reinforcement: Adding a pleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior.
- Negative Reinforcement: Removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior.
Punishment: Outcomes that weaken the probability of a response.
- Positive Punishment: Adding an unpleasant stimulus to decrease the likelihood of a behavior.
- Negative Punishment: Removing a pleasant stimulus to decrease the likelihood of a behavior.
Discriminative Stimulus: Signals the presence of reinforcement (e.g., snapping fingers for attention or treats).
Schedules of Reinforcement: Patterns of delivering reinforcers.
- Continuous reinforcement: Reinforcing a response every time it occurs.
- Partial reinforcement: Reinforcing a response only some of the time (leads to greater resistance to extinction).

Effectiveness of Punishment

Punishment is generally less effective than reinforcement.
It has disadvantages, including:
- Focusing on what not to do, rather than what to do.
- Creating anxiety.
- Potentially encouraging subversive behavior.
- Modeling aggressive behavior.
Studies often show a positive correlation between parental physical punishment and child aggression.

Studying That Suits You

Use AI to generate personalized quizzes and flashcards to suit your learning preferences.

Description

Explore the different types of learning including habituation and sensitization. Dive into classical conditioning concepts pioneered by Ivan Pavlov, and understand how acquisition, extinction, and stimulus responses interact. Test your knowledge on fundamental psychological learning principles.