Psychology Chapter 4: States of Consciousness PDF

Chapter 4: States of Consciousness What is Consciousness? Consciousness: A person’s awareness of mental processes and everything going on around them at any given moment ○ Internal stimuli: pain, hunger, thirst, and being aware of our thoughts and emotions...

Chapter 4: States of Consciousness What is Consciousness? Consciousness: A person’s awareness of mental processes and everything going on around them at any given moment ○ Internal stimuli: pain, hunger, thirst, and being aware of our thoughts and emotions ○ External stimuli: seeing the light from the sun, feeling warmth in the room, hearing the voice of a friend States of Consciousness Wakefulness: high levels of sensory awareness. Thought, and behavior; alert Sleep: as state marked by relatively low levels of physical activity and reduced scenery awareness that is distinct from periods of rest that occur during wakefulness Altered States of Consciousness: State in which there is a shift in the quality or pattern of mental activity as compared to wakefulness ○ Daydreaming, intoxication, meditation Biological Rhythms A biological rhythm is an internal cycle of biological activity Circadian rhythm: biological rhythm that occurs over approximately 24 hours ○ The sleep-wake cycle is one of our main circadian rhythms ○ The sleep-wake cycle is linked to our environment’s natural light-dark cycle Circadian Rhythm Hypothalamus: homeostasis center ○ Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN): the brain’s clock mechanism Pineal gland: releases melatonin and maintains various biological rhythms ○ Melatonin hormone that regulates sleep wake cycle Stimulated by darkness (sleepy) INhibited by light (wakeful) Hypothalamus/Suprachiasmatic Nucleus —> perceive darkness —> Pineal Gland —> Melatonin What is Sleep? A state marked by relatively low levels of physical activity and reduced sensory awareness Sleep Every species sleeps (everyones is different) Only humans will deprive themselves of sleep One of the last biological mysteries to be solved Sleep Regulation Sleep regulation: the brain’s control of switching between sleep and wakefulness and coordinating this cycle with the outside world ○ Can be disrupted by jet lag, sleep disorders, rotating shifts  Insufficient sleep: ○ Sleep debt/insufficiency: not enough sleep on a chronic basis ○ Sleep rebound: tendency to fall asleep faster during subsequent opportunities for sleep (when in sleep debt or deprivation) How Much Sleep Do We Need Average of 7-9 hours each night for adults Sleep quality matters too! Why Do We Sleep? Adaptive Theory (evolutionary) ○ Sleep is essential to restore resources expended during day ○ Avoid Predators in darkness ○ When we sleep ○ Our sleep patterns evolved as an adaptive response to predatory risks, which are higher during periods of darkness Restorative Theory (cognitive) ○ Physical health restoration Replenish chemicals and repair cellular damage ○ Mental health functioning Attention decision making, emotions WHY we sleep Stages of Sleep Rapid-Eye Movement (REM) Sleep ○ Stages of sleep in which the eyes move rapidly under the eyelid ○ Brainwaves appear similar to those during wakefulness ○ Dreaming Non-REM (NREM) sleep ○ All the other stages of sleep, distinguished by brainwave activity Brainwaves During Sleep Brainwave activity changes dramatically across different stages of sleep NREM Stage 1 Transitional phase occurring between wakefulness and sleep Rates of respiration and heartbeat slow down Overall muscle tension and core body temperature decrease “Light sleep” ○ Mostly alpha waves ○ Easy to wake someone up NREM Stage 2 The body goes into deep relaxation Theta waves Characterized by the appearance of  ○ Sleep spindles: rapid burst of high frequency brainwaves Learning and memory ○ K-complexes: very high amplitudes of brain activity NREM Stage 3 Known as slow-wave sleep Respiration and heart rate slowdown further Deep Sleep ○ Delta waves ○ difficult to wake someone up Important for learning and memory REM Sleep REM: rapid eye movements Paralysis of voluntary muscles Brain waves are similar to those seen during wakefulness Dreams Important for emotion regulation, creating new synapses in the brain (critical for learning and memory) ○ Infants spend HALF of their sleep time REM stage Stages of Sleep 4-6 cycles per night ○ 90-110 minutes each The depth of our sleep alternates up and down many times Dreams 6 years of your life are spent dreaming 10,00 dreams in a lifetime Most reflect real-life worries, hopes, and desires Theories of Why We Dream Wish Fulfillment Theory ○ Freud ○ Dreams preserve our sanity by allowing us to gratify forbidden or unrealistic wishes ○ Dream content may be so threatening or disgusting that it was disguised in dreams Manifest Content: Dream Content Latent Content: Dream’s true meaning Information Processing Theory ○ Rosalind Cartwright ○ Dreams reflect daily life events that are important to us Help us sift through our everyday experiences and thoughts Help us regulate emotions  Activation Synthesis Hypothesis ○ Alan Hobson ○ Dreams are a result of our brains imposing narrative explanations to explain random brain activation Synthesize: make sense of Activation: neural activity during REM ○ Cerebral cortex tries to make sense of this random brain stimulation (in pons; brainstem) Sleep Disorders Insomnia ○ Difficulty falling or staying asleep Sleep Apnea ○ Multiple bursts of not breathing (GENETIC) Narcolepsy ○ Sudden slip into REM sleep Night Terrors ○ Extreme fear, panic, screaming REM Behavior Disorder ○ Mechanism that blocks the movement of the voluntary muscles fails ○ Acting out dream (e.g. kickin, punching, yelling) Sleep Walking (Somnambulism) ○ Complex behaviors with eyes open but still asleep ○ NREM Stage 3 (slow-wave) Behaviors to Improve Sleep Aim to 7-9 hrs of sleep Maintain COnsistency Relaxing bedtime routine Cool, dry, dark, quiet, comfortable Exercise regularly Natural light Manage Stress Track your sleep Behaviors to Avoid Go to bed and wake up at different times Use electronics in bed or near bedtime Alcohol, nicotine, afternoon or excessive caffeine Strenuous exercise close to bedtime Stay in bed if you can’t sleep Hit the snooze button Altered States of Consciousness Substance Abuse Substance Use Disorder is a compulsive pattern of drug use despite negative consequences (DSM-5 definition) Involves physical and psychological dependence. ○ Physiological dependence: involves changes in normal bodily functions and withdrawal upon cessation of use ○ Psychological dependence: emotional need for the drug Tolerance: occurs when a person requires more and more of a drug to achieve effects previously experienced at lower doses ○ Influences physical dependence Withdrawal: adverse symptoms experienced when drug use is discontinued Drugs and Their Effects Stimulants: Increased heart rate, blood pressure, body temperatures Sedative=Hypnotics (Depressants): Deceased heart rate, blood pressure Opiates: Decreased pain, pupil construction, decreased gut motility, decreased respiratory function Hallucinogens: Increased heart rate and blood pressure that may dissipate over time Stimulants Drugs that increase levels of neural activity ○ Dopamine agonists (prevent reuptake of dopamine) ○ Associated with reward and pleasure (highly addictive) Include ○ Caffeine - most commonly used drug in the world ○ Nicotine ○ Cocaine ○ Amphetamines (meth, ADHD meds) ○ MDMA (ecstasy, Molly) ○ Cathinones (bath salts) Depressants Drugs that suppress the central nervous system activity ○ Act as agonists of GABA neurotransmitters, which have a “quieting effect” on the brain Include ○ Alcohol ○ Barbiturates (anticonvulsant meds) ○ Benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety meds) Alcohol:  ○ Decreases reaction time and visual acuity ○ Lowers levels of alertness ○ Reduces behavioral control ○ Can result in complete loss of consciousness ○ Disrupts sleep Opioids Serve as analgesics (decrease pain) through their effects on the endogenous opioid neurotransmitter system Highly addictive Include: ○ Heroin ○ Morphine ○ Methadone ○ Codeine Hallucinogens Cause changes in sensory and perceptual experiences Can involve vivid hallucinations Vary regarding the specific neurotransmitter systems they affect ○ Mescaline and LSD (serotonin agonists) ○ PCP and ketamine (NMDA glutamate receptor antagonists) ○ Cannabis* Hypnosis Hypnosis: extreme focus on the self that involves suggested changes of behavior and experience ○ Bringing people into a “state of suggestibility” ○ Clinicians may use relaxation and suggestion in attempts to alter the thoughts and perceptions of a patient ○ Uses include pain management, treatment of depression and anxiety, and quitting smoking Unlike portrayals in the media, individuals undergoing hypnosis are in control of their own behaviors and will have clear memories of a hypnotic experience People vary in their ability to be hypnotized How do you bring someone into a state of hypnosis? ○ Guided to focus on one thing ○ Made comfortable and directed to be relaxed or sleepy ○ Encouraged to be open to the process, trusting and to use imagination Theories of Hypnosis Dissociation Theory ○ Divided consciousness ○ One stream of mental activity occurs outside of awareness and control  ○ Example: Not remember act of driving Social-Cognitive Theory ○ People are playing the role expected of them in the situation ○ Not an altered or dissociative state, but fulfilling social expectations Meditation Focusing on one “target” to increase awareness and mindfulness of the present moment Achieve a state of relaxed awareness and focus Meditative techniques have roots in religious practices Beneficial for stress management, sleep, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, pain management  Chapter 8: Memory What is Memory? Memory: a set of processes used to encode, store and retrieve information over different periods of time An memory system ○ Receives information ○ Organizes and alters that information ○ Retrieves the information There are multiple types of memory, it is not one thing in one place in the brain. Three Basic Functions of Memory Encoding: (Getting info in) ○ Converting sensory information into a form that is usable in the brain’s storage systems Storage: (Keeping info in) ○ Holding onto information over time ○ Retention Retrieval: (Getting info out) ○ Using information in storage ○ Getting information out of memory and into awareness Encoding: We get information into our brains through a process called encoding, which is the input of information into the memory system ○ Label/code information ○ Organize it with other similar information ○ Connect new concepts to existing concepts Encoding occurs through 2 types of processing: ○ Automatic Processing: encoding of details like time, space, frequency, and the meaning of words Usually done without conscious awareness ○ Effortful Processing: encoding of details that takes time and effort Learning new skills ○ Make it meaningful! It is easier to encode and recall information when it is meaningful “The haystack was important because the cloth ripped” Types of Encoding Semantic Encoding - encoding of words and their meanings ○ Most effective form of encoding ○ Attaching meaning to information makes it easier to recall later ○ Involves a deeper level of processing ○ Especially effective if there is personal relevance; self-reference effect  Visual encoding - encoding of images ○ Words that create a mental image, such as car, dog and book (concrete words) are easier to recall than words such as level, truth and value (abstract words) Acoustic encoding - encoding of sounds Serial Position Effect The order of information during encoding can play a role in how well you remember when retrieving it More likely to remember the first (primacy effect) and last (recency effect) information on a list ○ Forget info in middle How might you use this information to help you study? State-Dependent Learning State-Dependent Learning: easier to retrieve memories that were created in similar states of consciousness ○ State of consciousness ○ Mood/Emotion Context-Dependent Learning Context-Dependent Learning: Easier to retrieve memories that were created in similar context ○ External Environment ○ Location Storage Once the information has been encoded, we need a way to retain it Our brains take the encoded information and place it in storage ○ Sensory Memory ○ Short-term memory ○ Long-Term Memory Atkinson-Shiffrin (AS) Model of Memory ○ Information passes through three distinct stages in order for it to be stored in long-term memory: ○ Sensory memory → short-term/working memory → long-term memory ○ Based on the belief that memories are processed the same way that a computer processes information Sensory Memory Sensory memory: storage of brief sensory events, such as sights, sounds, and tastes ○ Stored for up to a couple of seconds First step of processing stimuli from the environment ○ If the information is not important, it is discarded ○ If the information is valuable then it moves into our short-term memory Short-Term Memory Also known as: “Working Memory” A temporary storage system that processes incoming sensory memory ○ Lasts about 15-30 seconds ○ Memory consolidation: Transfer of short-term memory to long-term memory ○ Rehearsal: the conscious repetition of information to be remembered How Much info can our short-term memory handle? In 1956, George Miller’s research found that people can retain between 5 and 9 items, so he reported the capacity of short-term memory was the “magic number” 7 +/- 2 ○ Recent research suggests STM capacity is 4 +/- 1 Long-Term Memory LTM is the continuous storage of information ○ No limit ○ “Permanent” Explicit/Declarative Memory Explicit Memory: memories of facts and events we can consciously remember and recall Explicit memories include two types: ○ Semantic: knowledge about words, concepts and language; facts (Example: who was the first Black President of the United States?) ○ Episodic: information about events we have personally experienced ○ The wat, where, when of an event; Autobiographical memory (Example: Your 5th birthday party) Implicit/Nondeclarative Memory Implicit Memory: memories that are not part of out consciousness ○ Formed through behaviors, habits, and skill practice. Three Types: ○ Procedural: stores information about how to do things; Skills and actions Examples: how to ride a bike, ties your shoelaces, drive a car, swing a golf club ○ Priming: Stimulus affects response to another stimulus ○ Emotional Conditioning Examples: Fear of spiders, songs that evoke an emotional response Retrieval The act of getting information out of memory storage and back into conscious awareness 3 ways to retrieve information: ○ Recall ○ Recognition ○ Relearning Recall: being able to access information without cues ○ Used for an essay, short answer, fill-in-the-blank test  Recognition: being able to identify information that you have previously learned after encountering it again ○ Used for a multiple-choice test ○ Remembering a face and not a name Relearning: Learning information that you previously learned ○ Relearning different languages The Brain and Memory Amygdala ○ Involved in emotion-based memories ○ Encoding is deeper when an event is emotionally arousing Hippocampus ○ Associated with explicit/declarative memory Recognition memory and spatial memory ○ Involved in memory consolidation ○ Damage leads to an inability to process new declarative memories Patient HM Cerebellum ○ Plays a role in processing implicit/procedural memories (how to play the piano) ○ Damage prevents classical conditioning such as an eye-blink in response to a puff of air Prefrontal Cortex ○ Involved in remembering semantic tasks ○ Encoding is associated with left frontal lobe activity ○ Retrieval of information is associated with right frontal lobe activity Patient H.M. ○ Had hippocampus removed due to severe epilepsy Developed severe amnesia Could not form new explicit/declarative memories ○ NO damage to cerebellum (procedural, implicit memory) Could learn new procedural skills, but couldn’t remember learning them Arousal Theory Strong emotional experiences can trigger the release of neurotransmitters and hormones that strengthen memory Memories of emotional event tend to be better than non-emotional events Flashbulb memory: an exceptionally clear recollection of an important ○ Example: 97% of AMericans (who are 8+) remember the exact moment they learned about the 9/11 attacks Problems with Memory Amnesia Memory Construction and Reconstruction  Forgetting Amnesia Amnesia: the loss of long-term memory that occurs as the result of disease, physical trauma, or psychological trauma There are 2 common types of Amnesia: ○ Retrograde amnesia ○ Anterograde amnesia Common Types of Amnesia Retrograde amnesia: loss of memory for events that occurred prior to the trauma ○ Typically los episodic memory; loss of autobiographical memory Anterograde Amnesia: inability to remember new information after point of trauma ○ Commonly caused by TBI ○ Hippocampus is usually affected ○ Causes inability to transfer information from STM to LTM Memory Construction & Reconstruction Construction: formulation of new memories Reconstruction: process of bringing up old memories ○ When we retrieve memories, we tend to unintentionally alter and modify them, resulting in inaccuracies and distortions Suggestibility: the effects of misinformation from external sources that leads to the creation of false memories ○ Can cause people to claim to remember something that was only a suggestion someone made ○ Suggestibility plays a role in eyewitness testimonies Possibility of recall errors, even if an eyewitness reports being confident in their memory People are vulnerable to suggestion Eyewitness Misidentification ○ Eyewitness testimonies can lead to inaccurate and wrongful convictions Misinformation effect paradigm: after exposure to additional and possibly inaccurate information, a person may misremember the original event Eyewitness car crash study (Loftus & Palmer, 1974) ○ Participants shown films of car accidents and ask to play role of eyewitness ○ Estimated speed ○ Falsely remembered broken glass Forgetting Forgetting: loss of information from long-term memory Why do we forget? ○ Encoding Failure  Can’t remember information that wasn’t encoded and stored in the first place ○ Storage Failure: Memory Errors “Seven Sins of Memory” ○ Retrieval Failure: Interference Retroactive Interference Proactive Interference Memory is never stored in our LTM in the first place Successful encoding requires effort and attention Retrieval Failure: Interference Retroactive Interference: newer info impacts retrieval of older info Proactive Interference: older info impacts retrieval of newer info Enhancing Memory Rehearsal: conscious repetition of information to be remembered ○ Simple, repeating information again and again Elaborative Rehearsal: Transferring information from STM into LTM by making that information meaningful in some way ○ Connecting new info to knowledge already stored in memory ○ Example: putting it in your own words, connecting it to your life somehow Chunking: grouping information into units ○ 2258056739 ○ OR ○ (225) 805-6739 Mnemonics: memory aids that help us organize info for encoding ○ Like FTOP Distributed Practice ○ Memory consolidation takes time ○ Study across time and in short durations ○ Avoid cramming Minimize interference ○ Reduce distractions and interruptions Activate Retrieval Cues ○ Recreate your situation and mood Take care of Health & Sleep Chapter 6: Learning Non-Learned Behaviors Reflexes: motor or neural reaction to a specific stimulus in the environment. ○ Simpler than instincts ○ Involve the activity of specific body parts and systems (e.g., the knee-jerk reflex and the contraction of the pupil in bright light)  ○ Involve more primitive centers of the central nervous system (e.g.,) the spinal cord and the medulla) Instincts: innate behaviors that are triggered by a broader range of events, such as maturation and the change of seasons ○ More complex patterns of behavior ○ Involve movement of the organism as a whole (e.g., sexual activity and migration) ○ Involve higher brain centers What is Learning? Unlike reflexes and instincts, learning involves change and experience Learning: A relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience ○ The process involves acquiring knowledge and skills through experience Associative Learning: occurs when a organism makes connections between stimuli or events that occur together in the environment Associative Learning is central to: ○ Classical conditioning (unconscious processes) ○ Operant conditioning (conscious processes) ○ Observational learning Classical Conditioning Ivan Pavlov Russian physiologist ○ Studied digestion - research on dog’s digestive system unexpectedly led to his discovery of the learning process now known as classical conditioning A process by which we learn to associate stimuli and, consequently, to anticipate events ○ When a neutral stimulus is associated with a stimulus that produces a reflexive behavior ○ Unconscious process Organisms have 2 types of responses to its environment: ○ Unconditioned (unlearned) responses ○ Conditioned (learned) responses Pavlov’s experiment involved conditioning dos to associated a neutral stimulus with a reflex response Initially, Pavlov observed that dogs naturally salivated when presented with food This salivation is an unconditioned response (UR) because it occurs naturally in response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), which is the food  Before Conditioning ○ Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): stimulus that elicits a reflexive response (food) ○ Unconditioned response (UCR): a natural unlearned reaction to a stimulus (salivation in response to food) FOOD (UCS) → SALIVATION (UCR) During Conditioning ○ Neutral stimulus (NS): stimulus that does not naturally elicit a response (ringing a bell - does not cause salivation by itself prior to conditioning) ○ The NS and UCS are paired repeatedly. BELL (NS) → FOOD (UCS) → SALIVATION (UCR) After Conditioning ○ Conditioned stimulus (CS): stimulus that elicits a response after repeatedly being paired with an unconditioned stimulus ○ Conditioned response (CR): the behavior caused by the conditioned stimulus BELL (CS) → SALIVATION (CR) Classical Conditioning and Behaviorism John B. Watson believed that all behavior could be studied as a stimulus-response reaction Believed that the principles of classical conditioning could be used to condition human emotions Phobia (intense fears) are likely developed through classical conditioning Conducted a famous study with “Little Albert” Little Albert Watson exposed Little Albert to certain stimuli and conditioned to fear them. Presented with neutral stimuli (rabbit, dog, cotton wool, a white rate etc) Watson then paired these with loud sounds every time Little ALbert touched the stimulus that caused him to feel fear. After repeated pairing, Little ALbert became fearful of the stimulus alone, such as the white rabbit General Processes Involved in Classical Conditioning Acquisition: The initial period of learning when a organism learns to connect a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus ○ Usually this requires there to be a very short time interval between the NS and the UCS and for the parking to repeated multiple times ○ Sometimes conditioning can occur when the interval is up to several hours and the pairing occurs only once (e.g., taste aversion) Extinction: decrease in the conditioned response when the UCS is no longer presented with the CS ○ Gradual weakening and disappearance of the CS  ○ If food stops being presented with the sound of the bell, then eventually the dog will stop responding to the bell with salivation ○ Spontaneous recovery: the return of a previously extinguished conditioned response following a rest period ○ Organisms need to be able to distinguish between different stimuli in order to respond appropriately ○ Stimulus discrimination: learn to response differently to stimuli that are similar The organism demonstrates the CR only in the presence of the CS ○ Stimulus Generalization: conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus ○ The organism demonstrates the CR in the presence of the CS and similar stimuli Operant Conditioning Operant conditioning is a theory proposed by B.F. Skinner In operant conditioning, organisms learn to associate a behavior and its consequences ○ Pleasant consequence → behavior is more likely to occur again ○ Unpleasant consequence → behavior is less likely to occur again Behavior is motivated by the consequences we receive for the behavior: the reinforcements and punishments To study operant conditioning, Skinner placed animals inside an operant conditioning chamber (Skinner Box) containing a lever that when pressed caused food to be dispensed as a reward OC Terminology Positive: to add something (NOT good/pleasant) Negative: to take something away (NOT bad/unpleasant) Reinforcement: increasing a behavior Punishment: decreasing a behavior Reinforcement Any event that INCREASES the future likelihood of a behavior Positive Reinforcement: Behavior is followed by presentation of something pleasant (something is added) that increases future likelihood of behavior ○ Giving something good (+) ○ Money/paycheck, praise, stickers, hugs, food (enjoy taste) Negative reinforcement: Behavior is followed by removal of something aversive (something is subtracted) that increases future likelihood of behavior ○ Removing something bad (-) ○ Buckling seatbelt when car “dings” at you ○ Food (takes away hunger) ○ OTC Pain medication (e.g., ibuprofen) Positive Reinforcement Continuous Reinforcement: when an organism receives a reinforcer each time it displays a behavior ○ Quickest way to teach a behavior; however, behavior may go away if reinforcer goes away ○ E.g., a dog receives a treat every time they sit when told to “sit” Partial Reinforcement: the organism does not get reinforced every time they display the desired behavior (they are reinforced intermittently) ○ There are several types of partial reinforcement schedules Partial Reinforcement Schedules Fixed vs. Variable: The number of responses between reinforcements or the amount of time between reinforcements is… ○ Fixed - set and unchanging ○ Variable - varies or changes Interval vs. Ratio: The schedule is based on… ○ Interval - the time between reinforcements ○ Ratio - the number of responses between reinforcements Fixed Interval - reinforcement is delivered at predictable time intervals (weekly paycheck) Variable Interval - reinforcement is delivered at unpredictable time intervals (catching fish) Fixed Ratio - reinforcement is delivered after a predictable number of responses ($5 for every 3 products made) Variable Ratio - reinforcement is delivered after an unpredictable number of responses (gambling) ○ Unpredictable and yields high and steady response rates, with little if any pause after reinforcement Gambling - “Maybe I should stop after this turn… but the next one might be the big winner!” ○ Variable ratio is most resistant to extinction Primary Reinforcers Primary reinforcers are reinforcers that we have innate reinforcing qualities ○ These kinds of reinforcers are not learned. ○ Water, food, sleep, shelter, and touch among others, are primary reinforcers ○ Organisms do not lose their drive for these things Secondary Reinforcers A secondary reinforcer has no inherent value and only has reinforcing qualities when linked with a primary reinforcer. ○ Praise, money, tokens  Token economies: built around the use of these kinds of token reinforcers; very effective at modifying behavior in a variety of settings such as schools, prisons, and mental hospitals. ○ Only worth something when you can use it to buy, use with other things Punishment Any event that DECREASES the future likelihood of a behavior Punishment =/ Negative Reinforcement!!! Positive punishment: Behavior is followed by presentation of something aversive (something is added) that decreases future likelihood of behavior ○ Giving something bad (+) Squirt bottle when puppy bites Extra homework if you show up late to class Reprimanding Negative punishment: Behavior is followed by removal of something pleasant (something is subtracted) that decreases future likelihood of behavior ○ Removing something good (-) Lose driver’s license for reckless driving Teenager has phone taken away for missing curfew Child has toy taken away Problems with Punishment Punishment may teach fear ○ Avoidance of the punisher (anxiety) ○ Continue the behavior, but hide it from punisher Punishment may cause increased aggression, antisocial behavior, and delinquency ○ May elicit strong emotional response (fear, anger) ○ Punishment may model that aversive treatment of others is acceptable ○ May lead to abuse Person being punished may learn what NOT to do, but does not necessarily learn what to do instead Punishment does not directly strengthen the adaptive behavior Punishment often has an immediate effect of stopping unwanted behavior, but may not be lasting if don’t learn what to do instead Effective Punishment Should be immediate Should be consistent Negative punishment generally preferable to positive punishment Should be accompanied with explanation Should be combined with positive reinforcement of appropriate behavior Shaping Shaping is a tool used in operant conditioning  ○ In shaping, instead of rewarding only the target behavior, we reinforce successive approximations of a target behavior Reinforce responses that are similar to the desired behavior ○ Behaviors are broken down into many small, achievable steps ○ Useful when teaching a complex chain of events 1. Reinforce any response that resembles the desired behavior 2. Then reinforce the response that more closely resembles the desired behavior (no longer reinforce previously reinforced response) 3. Then begin to reinforce the response that even more closely resembles the desired behavior 4. Continue to do this until only the desired behavior is reinforced Latent Learning Latent Learning: learning that occurs but is not observable in behavior until there is a reason to demonstrate it ○ Learning that is hidden until becomes useful ○ Children may learn behaviors from their parents that they do not demonstrate until they are older (e.g., A child may learn the route to school from watching her parent drive there but will not demonstrate this until she has to get there by bike, walking, etc.) Demonstrated in Tolman’s study of rats navigating mazes Tolman’s study of rats navigating mazes ○ Tolman found that if he put rats in a maze to learn their way through it, they would eventually form a cognitive map of it Cognitive map: a mental picture of the layout of an environment After 10 sessions in the maze without food as reinforcement, food was placed at the exit and the rats were able to very quickly exit the maze showing that they had learned the way out Observational Learning Observational learning: learning by watching others perform a behavior and then imitating that behavior Model: the individual performing the behavior that is imitated To explain how learning occurred without external reinforcement, Albert Bandura proposed social learning theory. He believed observational learning involved more than just imitation and that internal mental states must be involved Steps in the Modeling Process ○ Attention: focus on the behavior ○ Retention: remember what you observed ○ Reproduction: be able to perform the behavior ○ Motivation: must want to copy the behavior (depends on what happened to the model) Social Learning Theory: Bobo Doll Study Bandura studied modeling of aggression/violence: Children observed adults act aggressively towards a Bobo doll The adult was either punished, praised, or ignored for their behavior The children were then given the opportunity to play with the Bobo doll ○ If the child had seen the adult punished they were less likely to act aggressively towards the doll ○ If the child had seen the adult praised or ignored, they were more likely to imitate the adult Observational Learning & Violent Media Can violent television shows, movies, and video games have antisocial effects? ○ Viewing media violence may teach people to act that way in real life situations ○ Repeated exposure to violent acts may desensitize people to it Psychological researchers study this topic and suggest that there are correlations between watching violent media and violence and aggression in children ○ However, more research is needed