Learning Perspective

Question 1

What is behaviourism?

Answer 1

only valid way to know about somebody is to observe the person’s behaviour

• cause of behaviour can be found in the individual’s environment
• b-data
• unobservable structures aren’t important.

Question 2

3 fundamental ideas of behaviourism?

Answer 2

1. empiricism
2. associationism
3. hedonism

Question 3

what is empiricism?

Answer 3

all knowledge comes from experience.

• structure of reality determines structure of the mind
• at birth mind is empty; tabula rasa by john locke.

Question 4

john watson on topic of empiricism?

Answer 4

only as a person encounters reality does he or she begin to accumulate experiences and thereby build a characteristic was of reacting to the world.

Question 5

what is associationism?

Answer 5

the claim that any two things, including ideas, become mentally associated into one if they are repeatedly experienced close together in time.
- cause and effect

Question 6

what is hedonism?

Answer 6

people learn to seek pleasure and avoid pain

• explains why rewards+ punishments shape behaviour
• *MOTIVATION**

Question 7

What is habituation

Answer 7

repeated presentations of a stimulus results in a dimished response with each repetition, until it almost disappears
- response nearly as strong as original can be maintained, but only if sitmulus changes/increases with every rep.

Question 8

what does habituation explain?

Answer 8

AFFECTIVE FORECASTING

- why people tend to overestimate the emotional impact of future events, both good + bad

Question 9

what is classical conditioning

Answer 9

ivan pavlov (originally interested in studying the physiology of digestion)
- demonstrated associationism is slightly wrong.

Question 10

why did Pavlov say associationism is slightly wrong?

Answer 10

concepts become associated not merely because they occurred together, but because the meaning of one concept has changed the meaning of another

Question 11

why does anxiety arise?

Answer 11

experiencing unpredictable negative events without an associated stimulus results in anxiety.
- unpredictability = stress

Question 12

what is learned helplessness

Answer 12

receiving random rewards + punishments, independent of what one does, can lead to belief that nothing one does really matters.
- stop doing anything bc nothing they do helps them control their lives.
“why-bother’ syndrome: depression in humans. everything is too much effort.

Question 13

behaviourism + Personality?

Answer 13

individuals personality consists of repertoire of learned S-R associations

• essential activity of life was to learn a vast array of responses to specific environmental stimuli.
• each person’s pattern will be idiosyncratic

Question 14

what is operant conditioning?

Answer 14

animal learns to operate on its world in such a way as to change it to it’s advantage.
- behaviour => good (reinforcement) = more likely to occur again

Question 15

pavlov’s dogs was what kind of conditioning?

Answer 15

respondent, passive, no impact of its own.

Question 16

what is reinforcement?

Answer 16

increases likelihood of a response

• positive: occurrence of positive, PLEASURABLE OUTCOME after the behaviour has been expressed
• negative: behaviour results in TERMINATION of aversive, unpleasurable event

Question 17

what is punishment?

Answer 17

aversive consequence that follows an act in order to stop it + prevent its repetition

Question 18

difference between negative reinforcement vs negative punishment

Answer 18

• both involve aversive events
• punishment decrease likelihood of behaviours.
• reinforcers, increase likelihood of behaviours

Question 19

5 steps in how to punish

Answer 19

1. availability of alternatives (alternative to punishment that is rewarding)
2. behavioural and situational specificity (clear + specific, know what, when and how will be punished)
3. timing and consistency (apply punishment immediately after behaviour)
4. conditioning secondary punishing stimuli (use 2-ary stimuli in addition to punishment; will condition 2-ary stimuli as punishment)
5. avoid mixed messages (dont coddle kid after punishment)

Question 20

5 dangers of punishment

Answer 20

1. punishment arouses emotion
2. difficult to be consistent
3. difficult to gauge severity of punishment
4. teaches misuse of power
5. motivates concealment

Question 21

danger: punishment arouses emotion

Answer 21

• punisher gets carried away (satisfying to be angry, aggressive)
• emotions in punishee may interfere with learning (pain, discomfort, humiliation_

Question 22

danger: difficult to be consistent

Answer 22

• punishment tends to vary with punisher’s mood.

- good day vs bad day = diff punishment

Question 23

danger: difficult to gauge the severity of punishment

Answer 23

• cause more distress than the punisher imagines and can make the situation worse

Question 24

danger: teaches misuse of power

Answer 24

big + powerful hurt smaller, less powerful

- kid may want to be punisher = cycle of abuse

Question 25

danger: motivates concealment

Answer 25

aversive, punishee hides behaviour to avoid consequences.

Question 26

danger: motivates concealment

Answer 26

aversive, punishee hides behaviour to avoid consequences.

Question 27

shortcomings of behaviourism

Answer 27

1. ignores motivation, thought, cognition 2. based on animals 3. ignores the social dimension of learning 4. treats organism as essentially passive

Question 28

shortcoming: ignores motivation, thought, cognition

Answer 28

- social learning theorists claim thought, plan, perceive is v important to learning

Question 29

shortcoming: based on animals

Answer 29

may have led behaviourists to concentrate too much on elements of learning that are important for animals, not enough on uniquely human aspects - wanted to ID universal laws

Question 30

shortcoming: ignores social dimensions of learning

Answer 30

ordinary human learning tends to be social. not in isolation, learn by observation, dont need direct experience

Question 31

shortcoming: treats organism as essentially passive

Answer 31

humans choose environment + change these environments as a result of what we do in them.

Question 32

social learning theory 3 ways

Answer 32

1. dollard+ miller's: habit hierarchy 2. rotter's: role of expectancies 3. bandura's: efficacy expectation

Question 33

what is dollard + miller's social learning theory

Answer 33

HABIT HIERARCHY - behaviour most likely to perform at the top of your habit hierarchy. - rewards, punishments, learning rearrange the habit hierarchy - habit hierarchy = personality.

Question 34

what is rotter's social learning theory?

Answer 34

DECISION MAKING AND ROLE OF EXPECTANCIES - expectancy value theory: behavioural decisions determined by reinforcement AND beliefs about likely results of behaviour - if 50% likely , lowers value..

Question 35

what is an expectancy

Answer 35

individual's belief, or subjective probability, about how likely it seems that the behaviour will attain its goal

Question 36

what is the difference between Rotter's theory and classic behaviourism

Answer 36

classic: focuses on actual rewards + punishment rotter: focus about reward + punishment

Question 37

2 types of expectancies

Answer 37

specific: belief that certain behaviour, at certain time + place, will lead to a specific outcome generalized: general beliefs about whether anything you do is likely to make a difference (broad personality variable)

Question 38

high vs low generalized expectancy

Answer 38

low: belief that u have low control of things that happen.

Question 39

what is locus of control?

Answer 39

AKA generalized expectancy - internal: My actions affect my outcome - external: nothing I do changes my experience - locus of control can vary across domains

Question 40

define internal locus of control?

Answer 40

those with high generalized expectancies | - think that what they do affects what happens to them

Question 41

define external locus of control?

Answer 41

low generalized expectancies | - think that what they do will not make much difference

Question 42

Bandura's Social Learning Theory - how is it different than Rotter's

Answer 42

bandura gives less emphasis to stable differences between people - reinterpreted expectancies as efficacy expectations.

Question 43

bandura's efficacy expectation?

Answer 43

belief about the self; perceived probability that you can PERFORM THE BEHAVIOUR (Rotter is whether you will succeed/get desired outcome)

Question 44

efficacy expectations + self-judgement?

Answer 44

belief about oneself changes whether you expect to accomplish something. - if think ur hot, ull try to date someone hot.

Question 45

bandura's therapy?

Answer 45

efficacy expectations are key target - better match btw what you THINK and what you ARE = more SUCCESS. - efficacy can create capacity

Question 46

efficacy + self-judgement study

Answer 46

W+M vs 1. bum knee 2. olympic runner performed better in 1 vs 2. altho M are stronger on average, average W performed better in 1 than average M in 2.

Question 47

what is observational learning?

Answer 47

learning a behaviour by seeing someone else do it - animals can do it - can learn for violence (Bobo doll) - can learn for pro-social interactions.

Question 48

what is reciprocal determinism?

Answer 48

how ppl influence their enviro. 1. ppl choose enviro that influence them 2. social situations change because you are there 3. self system develops that has its own effects on behaviour, independent of environment

Question 49

what is the self-system

Answer 49

self, enviro and behavioural influences all interact with each other. bandura suggests enviro comes first!

Question 50

3 main contributions of learning approach

Answer 50

1. research established psychology as objective science (strong empirical research) 2. behaviour depends on environment + specific immediate situation. 3. contributed a technology of behaviour change (enviro affects us. change behaviour to be more adaptive.)

Question 51

2 limitations of learning approach?

Answer 51

1. people are more complicated than behaviourist's acknowledge. - understand AND learn 2. underappreciate degree to which the way ppl think can cause them to respond differently to the same situation. Overall, too simple.