Learning Theories

Question 1

Pavlovian Conditioning

Answer 1

-aka classical or respondent conditioning
-controlled by antecedents (before the behavior)
-unconditioned- hardwired
-conditioned- learned in environment
-example: Dog with bell and food…
neutral-bell, unconditioned stimulus- food, unconditioned response- salivation; turns into bell-conditioned stimulus when paired with steak, salivation is the conditioned response to the bell

Question 2

Details of Classical Conditioning

Answer 2

• greater number of pairings= more likely to have a CR
• most likely to occur if the CS precedes the UCS by 0.5 seconds
• often unconscious!
• conditioned responses can happen after one experience (PTSD)

Question 3

Counterconditioning

Answer 3

• eliminating a CR by pairing a CS to a US that elicits a new response that is incompatible with the old one
• teaching another association
• Mary Cover Jones- treated boy terrified of rabbits
• Wolpe- systematic desensitization to treat phobias

Question 4

Extinction

Answer 4

• occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS
• bell, bell, bell with no meat
• Bouton- proposed that this is not extinction but rather learning a new association
• simply doing something enough and having a safe experience can extinct something

Question 5

Higher-order conditioning

Answer 5

when a CS is paired with a second CS, so that the second CS produces a similar CR to the one elicited by the first CS

• ex. with a bell, buzzer, and salivation
• higher-order responses are not as strong because the natural response is not there

Question 6

Operant Conditioning

Answer 6

• controlled by its consequences
• paying attention to what happens after the behavior
• reinforcements or punishers
• operants serve functions

Question 7

Reinforcement

Answer 7

• a consequence that increases the probability of a behavior recurring
• positive: something is added (get paid money)
• negative: something is removed (anxiety is reduced)
• ** both lead to increases in behavior!

Question 8

Punishment

Answer 8

• a consequence that decreases the probability of a behavior recurring
• positive: adds something (spanking)
• negative: taking something away (time out- taking away play time)

Question 9

Examples of punishment and reinforcement

Answer 9

• fastening a seat belt (negative reinforcement-likelyhood of gettin hurt is reduced)
• mother stops nagging when the child cleans their room (negative reinforcement- annoyance is reduced)
• a child gets candy when they pick up their toys (positive reinforcement)
• putting ointment on a bug bite (negative reinforcement- the itch is decreasing)
• a parent takes away the use of a car when a teen comes home late (negative punishment)
• a parent gives a child extra attention when they misbehave in a store (positive reinforcement)
• a woman goes to work early so she doesn’t arrive late (negative reinforcement- taking away the punishment for being late)

Question 10

Principles of Operant Conditioning

Answer 10

• Consequences exert more control when they occur immediately
• Shaping is developing a new behavior by rewarding successive approximations to that behavior; doesn’t happen all at once (ex. Class paying more attention when the teacher was on the right side of the room)
• punishment is most effective when combined with a reinforcement

Question 11

Observational learning

Answer 11

• watching a model’s behavior be rewarded or punished
• ex. Bandura with Bobo dolls
• more likely when you identify with the model or when the model is admired

Question 12

Mowrer’s Two-Factor Theory

Answer 12

• respondent and operant stages
• explains avoidance behavior (*anxiety disorders!)
  ex. -For someone who is avoiding driving on bridges:
• stage 1, driving on a bridge is pared with a spontaneous panic attack
• stage 2- avoidance behavior- not driving over a bridge- is negatively reinforced

Question 13

Avoidance Behavior Theory

Answer 13

• Seligman and Johnston
• Dogs learned to jump over a barrier to escape an electric shock. Next, a bell (CS) was paired with the shock (UCS) and the dogs learned to jump after the bell to avoid the shock
• BUT when the shock stopped the dogs still jumped
• Explained by…
• Avoidance behavior strengthens the first belief. They had to teach the dog using a harness to avoid the avoidance behavior
• exposure and response prevention