Learning: Types and Processes PDF

LEARNING WAIT! DOGS CAN READ? WHAT IS LEARNING? Learning – lasting change caused by experience; it has to be inferred from behaviour and cannot be directly observed Most of our research in learning comes from studying animals  TYPES OF LEARNING...

LEARNING WAIT! DOGS CAN READ? WHAT IS LEARNING? Learning – lasting change caused by experience; it has to be inferred from behaviour and cannot be directly observed Most of our research in learning comes from studying animals  TYPES OF LEARNING Learnin g Associative Non-Associative Learning Learning Classical Operant Dehabituation Desensitization Habituation Conditioning Conditioning  CLASSICAL CONDITIONING A form of associative learning between two previously unrelated stimuli that results in a learned response  CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Unconditioned Unconditioned Stimulus (US) Response (UR) a stimulus that on its own elicits a physical response elicited by a response (i.e., food) an unconditioned stimulus; it does not need to be learned (i.e., salivation) Conditioned Conditioned Stimulus (CS) Response (CR) a neutral stimulus that a physical response elicited by a eventually elicits the same conditioned stimulus; it is response as an unconditioned acquired through experience stimulus with which it has been and is usually the same as the paired unconditioned response  IDENTIFY THE US, UR, CS, AND CR IN THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE: Jonathan loves spicy food! Last week, he ate at Tia Mexicana three times and literally perspired from the hot spices. Yesterday, as he drove past the restaurant, Jonathan began to perspire profusely. IDENTIFY THE US, UR, CS, AND CR IN THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE: Jeremiah is six months old. His mother warms his bottles in the microwave. Whenever the bell on the microwave rings, Jeremiah begins to drool. Acquisition – the initial learning of the stimulus-response relationship The more pairings between the CS and US, the more likely the association will be learned The most rapid acquisition followed by the strongest response is a half- minute delay between the CS and US Extinction – reduction of a conditioned response after repeated presentations of the conditioned stimulus alone Spontaneous recovery – re- emergence of a conditioned response some time after extinction has occurred STIMULUS GENERALIZATION what occurs when stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus trigger the same conditioned response STIMULUS DISCRIMINATION the tendency to respond differently to stimuli that are similar but not identical. I TAUGHT MY DOG TO PLAY ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS Liam Thompson CLASSICAL CONDITIONING AND DRUG DEPENDENCY A learned compensatory response (US) can trigger drug tolerance (UR) and may be involved in some drug overdoses. The greater the compensatory response, the larger the dose required to offset it.  OPERANT CONDITIONING A form of associative learning where behaviour is modified depending on its consequences; also called instrumental conditioning POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT The Big Bang Theory  REINFORCEMENT Positive reinforcement – presentation of a pleasant consequence following a behaviour to increase the probability that the behaviour will reoccur Negative reinforcement – the removal of an unpleasant stimulus after a response to increase the probability that the behaviour will reoccur PUNISHMENT Positive punishment – presentation of an unpleasant consequence following a specific behaviour to decrease the probability of the behaviour being repeated Negative punishment – removal of a pleasant stimulus as a consequence of a behaviour to decrease the probability of the behaviour being repeated POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE? If it you are adding something (yelling, praise, etc) it is positive. If you are taking something away (a headache, privileges) it is negative.  SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT Continuous reinforcement – behaviour is reinforced every time it occurs Learning occurs more quickly Intermittent (or partial) reinforcement – behaviour is only followed by reinforcement some of the time Behaviour is acquired more slowly and is difficult to extinguish  INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT Ratio schedule Fixed ratio schedule ⚬ Behaviour is reinforced after a specific number of responses. ⚬ High rate of responding with pauses after reinforcement Variable ratio schedule ⚬ Reinforcement occurs after an unpredictable, average number of responses ⚬ High, regular rate of response  INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT Interval schedule Fixed interval schedule ⚬ Behaviour is reinforced for the first response after a specific amount of time has passed. Variable interval schedule ⚬ Behaviour is reinforced for the first response after an average, but unpredictable, amount of time has passed.  NON-ASSOCIATIVE LEARNING Habituation – weakening of response to a stimulus after repeated presentation Dishabituation – there is a recovery of attention to a novel stimulus following habitation Sensitization – a strong stimulus results in an exaggerated response to the subsequent presentation of weaker stimuli  FACTORS THAT FACILIATE LEARNING Or how to do better on your next test Timing Multiple exposures separated by time facilitate learning facts Context Studying in several different locations increases the likelihood that you will form strong memories about the information and remember it in other locations AWARENESS AND ATTENTION Some types of learning can occur without awareness Awareness and attention enhance learning Some attentional processes are automatic and occur when a particular stimulus is very different from those that surround it Other times, we must rely on an active searching method, where we examine material in search of the most relevant stimuli  SOCIAL MEDIA AND MULTITASKING Students who use Twitter and Facebook while they study get lower grades than those who don’t Students who use social media in class negatively impact their learning and that of their peers  SLEEP Sleep deprivation impairs our abilities to pay attention and learn Sleep deprivation can prevent learned information from moving into more permanent long-term memory storage