Learning Psychology Notes PDF

LEARNING Any relatively permanent change in behavior change in behavior brought about by experience practice. Somesortn of interaction Physical change in the brain ○ Memory element Different from maturation CLASSICAL...

LEARNING Any relatively permanent change in behavior change in behavior brought about by experience practice. Somesortn of interaction Physical change in the brain ○ Memory element Different from maturation CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Learning to make a reflex response to a stimulus other than the original IVAN PAVOLOV Measured saliva in response to food Salivating in response to food is a reflex Unconditioned Stimulus (US) - Originally naturally occurring stimulus - “Unlearned” US ordinarily leads the the involuntary response Unconditioned Response (UR) - Automatic, involuntary response to the US - “unlearned”--> genetic wiring in nervous system Example: A fly buzzing by our eye we blink automatically without naturally really thinking about it UNCONDITIONED = UNLEARNED Conditioned Stimulus (CS) - Stimulus begins as a neutral stimulus- has no effect on the unconditioned response - After being paired with the unconditioned stimulus so many times, the neutral stimulus because a conditional stimulus - Acquisition CONDITIONED = LEARNED Conditioned Response (CR) - Learned reflexive response to the CS - Not as strong as UR PAVLOV EXPERIMENT *examples… CLASSICAL CONDITIONING LITTLE ALBERT EXPERIMENT US UR Loud Noise —---> Startle CS US UR White rat —-> Loud Noise —---> Startle CS CR White Rat —--------------------------------------> Startle Little Albert is now scared of his pet rat because of the startling noise that was presented to him when he saw his rat CLASSICAL CONDITIONING (continued) Constantly associating things together Pavlov’s basic principles - CS must come before US  - Can’t sound metronome after presenting food, because the metronome what have anything to do with the food - CS and US must come very close together in time - The shorter the better in time We learn things quicker if things are right next to each other very soon - Neutral stimulus must be paired with US several times - CS is usually distinctive - Couldn’t use everyday sounds Stimulus Generalization: Tendency to respond to a stimulus that is only similar to the original stimulus with the conditioned response - Response is closer to original response the closer the new stimulus is to the original stimulus - Dogs salivate to similar sounds Eventually able to distinguish between stimuli - Stimulus discrimination: can really only happened after generalization - Dogs can tell the difference between CS and “fake” stimulus Can you unlearn it? Extinction: Gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response (response goes extinction) - Tone presented without food —--> eventually the salvation will ‘die out’ ^Pavlov's dog experiment^ EX: If little Albert heard the loud noise without the rat over and over again; he will soon be okay with the rat still Spontaneous recovery: The reappearance of an extinguished response after a period of non-exposure to the CS - Learning is relatively permanent - Usually weak response Conditioned emotional response (CER): Emotional response that has become classically conditioned to occur to learned stimuli Example: the little albert study, advertising, etc. Vicarious conditioning: Classical conditioning of a reflex response or emotion by watching the reaction of another person - Conditioning that is evolutionarily advantageous is learned quicker EX: Nausea (mammals associate taste with illness) - Truly’s and doritos WHY DOES CLASSICAL CONDITION HAPPEN? Stimulus Substitution: Original theory in which pavlov stated that classical conditioning occurred because the conditioned stimulus become a substitute for the unconditioned stimulus by being paired closely together - Activate same area in the brain “If association is all that matters then why does the CS have to come before the US?” HIGH-ORDER CONDITIONING 1. Strong conditioned stimulus is paired with neutral stimulus 2. Neutral stimulus becomes a second conditioned stimulus Learning of voluntary behavior based on the consequences of the behavior - CC focused on antecedents; OC on consequences Thorndike’s law of effect: If an action is followed by a pleasurable consequence, it will tend to be repeated. If an action is followed by an unpleasant consequence, it will tend to not be repeated. EXAMPLE Putting cats in puzzle boxes experiment B.F. SKINNER Behaviorist leader after Watson Made the term “operant conditioning” Major contributions on reinforcement and punishment Reinforcement: Any event or stimulus, that when following a response, increases the probability that the response will occur again Makes behavior more likely Punishment: Any event or stimulus that, when following a response, makes that response less likely to happen again Positive The addition or experience of a stimulus Negative The removal or escape from a stimulus Extra Credit is added Increases Decreases Positive Positive punishment reinforcement Negative Negative punishment reinforcement Homework is taken Away EXAMPLE OF NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE A mother praises her son for doing his homework Positive Reinforcement A high school teacher takes away a students cell phone for disrupting the class Negative punishment A mother makes her daughter do extra chores for missing curfew. Positive punishment A father buys his son a toy at the store when the boy throws a temper tantrum. The boy is pleased and stops throwing a tantrum. Positive reinforcement for the son; negative reinforcement for the father REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULES Continuous: reinforcement after every response Learn quicker Partial: reinforcement after some, but not all, responses More resistant to extinction Fixed - ratio: (same number of behaviors before reinforcement happens) Reinforcer given after a fixed number of non-reinforced response Variable - Ratio Reinforcer given after a variable number of non-reinforced responses Fixed - interval: (Time has to escape before getting reinforced) Reinforcer given for the first response after a specific time interval has passed Variable - interval: Reinforcer given for the first response after a variable time interval has passed BASIC OPERANT CONDITIONING PROCESS Extinction - Gradual weakening of a response tendency because the response is no longer followed by a reinforcer Generalization - Response can be generalized to stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus Discrimination - After not racing reinforcement for behavior, we learn to discriminate stimuli Spontaneous recovery - Performing a once- extinguished response OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING Learning new behavior by watching a model perform that behavior COGNITIVE LIMITS TO BEHAVIORISM Learning without reinforcement Insight: The sudden perception of relationships among various parts of a problem, allowing the solution to the problem to come quickly Cannot be gained through trial-and-error learning alone “Aha” moment MEMORY An active system that receives information from the senses, organizes and althers that information as it stores it away, and then retrieves the information from storage Encoding: Getting information in Storage: Holding information there Retrieval: Getting it back out First Stage of Memory SENSORY MEMORY Point at which information enters the nervous system through sensory receptors Iconic (visual) & Echoic (auditory) Iconic: Sensory Memory for visual stimuli New information replaces old information every.25 seconds Capacity is slightly larger than echoic memory ECHOIC MEMORY Sensory memory for auditory stimuli Capacity is small; but last about 2-4 seconds Allows us to remember what someone said just enough to recognize the mean of the phrase Someone: “talking talking talking” You: “what?” 2 seconds later You: “Actually nevermind I got it”  SHORT-TERM MEMORY (STM) Some sensory information enters conscious awareness Stored in STM Selective attention: Ability to filter out “unimportant” sensory inputs to focus on one stimulus Duration: 15-20 seconds ??? without rehearsal Not so simple Interference over decay Capacity: Magic number 7+/-2 Depends on task ○ EX: digit span vs. change blindness WORKING MEMORY Active system that processes information in STM STM is just storage Working memory is storage plus manipulation “One relies on working memory to retain the partial results while solving an arithmetic problem without paper, to combine the premises in a lengthy rhetorical argument, or to bake a cake without making the unfortunate mistake of adding the same ingredient twice” (Cowan, 2008, p. 171). Three components: Phonological loop Holds verbal and auditory info Visuospatial Sketchpad Holds visual and spatial information Central Executive Directs the flow, decides what to process and how, deals with the allocation of cognitive resources LONG-TERM MEMORY Long term storage; unlimited capacity Information stored in networks: Spreading information ○ Length nodes proportional to relatedness LTM Encoding: Elaborative rehearsal: a method of transferring information from STM into LTM by making that information meaningful in some way Can make connections between new information to old information Consolidation: Process that solidifies new memories New memories are initially fragile but consolidation makes them more permanent “Hitting the save document; hitting the save button and losing power, you still get that information” Retrieval: Stimulus that helps us to remember; something related to the target that is related to the target Don't have to be aware of it Does Not have to be obvious The more the better EX: When you were gonna talk to someone about a specific topic while they were talking but when it was your turn you forgot what it was but your friend will go back to what they were talking about to remember it Retrieval: Recall Remembering information with very few external cues Essay test Recognition: Matching a piece of information with information in memory Multiple choice test ○ Recognition is generally easier Matching Encoding With Retrieval Encoding specificity: Memory is improved if conditions during recall are similar to conditions during encoding Context-dependent learning: Physical surroundings ○ Taking test in the same classroom State- dependent learning: Physiological or psychological state ○ mood RETRIEVAL ERRORS Serial position effect More likely to remember information early in a list (primary effect) and late in a list (recency effect) Memory is NOT instant replay Retrieval is a constructive process Each time a memory is retrieved we have to reconstruct it based on multiple pieces of information Each time we access a memory we have a chance to edit it False memory We’re good at remembering the main points ○ Have to fill in other details - these detail may not be right FORGETTING Encoding error: Not really “forgetting” information never made it in Proactive interference: Old information interferes with new information Example: Can’t learn new students names because old students names get in the way Retroactive interference: New information interferes with old information Example: Can’t remember old students names because new students names get in the wat IMPROVING YOUR MEMORY Distributed practice: Spacing out your studying; exposure of material in a few days at a time Elaborative rehearsal: Make connections, visualize Sleep -> memories are consolidated Exercise -> release of neurotransmitters may help testing Testing -> testing yourself instead of just re-reading and re-reading What WON'T work with studying Reading and rereading: Re-reading the textbook is not a strong study strategy; fluency and familiarity are ofter confused with mastery of the material Highlighting Not as active as you’ think Listening to music/watching TV Attentional limits-> music with lyrics No music will be played during the test THINKING (JUDGMENT AND DECISION MAKING) System 1 Fast; automatic; intuitive; emotional; effortless System 2 Slow; controlled; Reflective; neutral; effortful DUAL SYSTEM Without sufficient effort and motivation we’ll rely on system 1 Prefer to use shortcuts These work MOST of the time Example: you won’t take everything out of your closet to pick out an outfit and make a million combinations… you take a shortcut Heuristics: Rules of thumb; shortcut that is more efficient Answering a different question Representativeness can lead to base rate neglect: People will use base rate information if that is all that is available Ignore base rate information when descriptive info is given-should use both Availability Heuristics: How easily does an event come to mind Example: Not taking a certain road because you always get a red light… but do you always get a red light? No, you just point out all the times it makes you mad Representativeness Heuristics: How closely does an event resemble the properties of a category? An event is “likely” if it represents typical features of its category which sequence of coin flips is more likely? Which is likely? That man is under 55 and has a heart attack That a man has a heart attack —-> Most likely That man smokes and has a heart attack Anchoring and adjustment We make estimates by deviating from an anchor Start with some value and change based on new information Anchor doesn’t have to be meaningful Loss Aversion Utility for losses and gains are not symmetrical Losses hurt worse than gains feel good Framing effect: Change in preference based on how options are presented