PSY 150 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5-10 : Conditioned Taste Aversion, Critical Period, Magical Thinking
Chapter 5: Learning
What is learning ?
• an enduring ( continuing or long lasting change in are behavior or thinking.
- Results from experiences
• Habituation – “Get used to it” concept (actively ignoring)
- Similar to sensory adaptation (physiological level)(passively ignoring)
• Stimulus – event occurrence that usually leads to response.
• Insight learning – process of mentally working through a problem until the sudden
realization of a solution occurs .
Ivan Pavlov & classical conditioning
• Neutral stimulus (NS) - – A Stimulus that does not cause a relevant automatic or reflexive
response.
• Classical conditioning
- Learning process in which 2 stimuli associated w/ each other
- The Stimuli triggers involuntary response
• Studies suggest that learning can begin before we are even born-fetuses can hear voice
from inside the womb and it appears they learn basic speech sounds and are able to
distinguish among vowels used in their native language.
Three major types of learning : classical conditioning, operant
conditioning, observational learning.
• Through classical conditioning we associate 2 different stimuli : for example, the sound of
a buzzer and the arrival of food.
• In operant conditioning we make connections between our behaviors and their
consequences for example rewards and punishments.
- People animals associate their voluntary actions with consequences.
- Voluntary actions = Behaviors
- B.F. Skinner – shaping and successive approximations
• With observational learning we learn my watching and imitating other people, establishing
a closer link between our behavior and the behavior of others.
- Learning that occurs as a result of watching the behaviors of others.
- Models: individual/character whose behavior is being imitated.
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Albert Bandura : social learning, bobo doll experiment
• Neutral Stimulus (NS) : A stimulus that does not cause a relevant automatic or reflexive
response.
Ivan Pavlov
• Many of his experiments involved how much dogs salivate in response to food.
Experiments :
Initially the dogs began salivating to other stimuli as well, after repeated trials instead of salivating
the moment food was served, the dog began to salivate at the mere sight or sound of the lab
assisting arriving to feed it.
- Pavlov realized that the dogs “psyche”, or personality, and their thoughts about
food were interfering with the collection of objective data on their digestion.
Classical conditioning – learning process in which two stimuli become associated with each other;
when an originally neutral stimulus is conditioned to elicit an involuntary response.
Unconditioned stimulus (US) : A stimulus that automatically triggers an involuntary response
without any learning needed.
Unconditioned response (UR) : A reflexive, involuntary response to an unconditioned stimulus.
Conditioned stimulus (CS) : A previously neutral stimulus that an organism than an organism
learns to associate with an unconditioned stimulus.
Conditioned response (CR) : A learned response to a conditioned stimulus.
Acquisition : The initial learning phase in both classical and operant conditioning.
Stimulus generalization : The tendency for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit the
conditioned response.
Stimulus discrimination : The ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other
stimuli sufficiently different from it.
Extinction : In classical conditioning, the process by which the conditioned response decreases
after repeated exposure to the conditioned stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus;
in operant conditioning, the disappearance of a learned behavior through the removal of its
reinforce.
Spontaneous recovery : The reappearance of a conditioned response following its extinction.
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Higher order conditioning : With repeated pairings of a conditioned stimulus and a second neutral
stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus as well.
Conditioned taste aversion : A form of classical conditioning that occurs when an organism learns
to associate the taste of a particular food or drink with illness.
- Example : Have you ever experienced food poisoning ? After falling ill from
something you ate, whether it was sushi, uncooked chicken, or tainted peanut
butter, you probably steered clear of that particular food for a while.
Adaptive value : the degree to which a trait or behavior helps an organism survive.
- Example - Avoiding foods that induce sickness has adaptive value, meaning it
helps organisms survive, upping the odds they will reproduce and pass their genes
along to the next generation.
Biological preparedness : The tendency for animals to be predisposed or inclined to form certain
kinds of associations through classical conditioning.
Conditioned emotional response : An emotional reaction acquired through classical conditioning;
process by which an emotional reactional becomes associated with a previously neutral stimulus.
Operant conditioning : learning that occurs when voluntary actions become associated with their
consequences.
law of effect : Thorndike’s principle stating that behaviors are more likely to be repeated when
followed by pleasurable outcomes, and less likely to be repeated when followed by unpleasant
outcomes.
- The behavior is more likely to happen again when followed by a pleasureable
outcome.
- Behavior → Pleasurable results → Repeated
- Behavior→ unpleasable results → not repeated
Reinforcers : consequences, such as events or objects, that increase the likelihood of a behavior of
a behavior reoccurring.
- Reinforces increase the likelihood of a behavior of reoccurring.
Reinforcement : Process by which an organism learns to associate a voluntary behavior with its
consequences.
Successive approximations : A method that uses reinforces to condition a series of small steps that
gradually approach the target behavior.
Shaping : Process by which a person observes the behaviors of another organism, providing
reinforcers if the organism performs at a required level.
Instinctive drift : The tendency for animals to revert to instinctual behaviors after a behavior pattern
has been learned.
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Document Summary
What is learning : an enduring ( continuing or long lasting change in are behavior or thinking. Results from experiences: habituation get used to it concept (actively ignoring) Similar to sensory adaptation (physiological level)(passively ignoring: stimulus event occurrence that usually leads to response. Insight learning process of mentally working through a problem until the sudden realization of a solution occurs . Ivan pavlov & classical conditioning: neutral stimulus (ns) - a stimulus that does not cause a relevant automatic or reflexive response, classical conditioning. Learning process in which 2 stimuli associated w/ each other. Three major types of learning : classical conditioning, operant conditioning, observational learning: through classical conditioning we associate 2 different stimuli : for example, the sound of a buzzer and the arrival of food. In operant conditioning we make connections between our behaviors and their consequences for example rewards and punishments. People animals associate their voluntary actions with consequences.
