LEARNING AND CONDITIONING

LEARNING AND CONDITIONING

1. OPERANT CONDITIONING

   • Thorndike = puzzle box
   • Skinner = skinner box
   • Principles of operant conditioning. Contingency. Positive reinforcement. Negative reinforcement. Primary reinforcement. Secondary reinforcement. Extinction. Generalisation. Discrimintion.

2. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING = associative learning - pairing a neutral stimulus with one that naturally elicits a desired response.

   • Pavlov's dogs
   • Principles of classical conditioning.
     • ACQUISITION
     • EXTINCTION

3. PUNISHMENT

   • Contingent
   • TImeouts
   • Response cost
   • Considerations of using punishment. 1. Punishment must immediately follow behaviour. 2. Punishment can cause problem behaviours. 3. Effects of punishment do not necessarily generalise. 4. Punishment might result in conditioned emotional response. 5. Certain punishments may not always be punitive. 6. Punishment must not be used prematurely as reinforcement for the administrator.

4. REINFORCEMENTS

   • SHAPING = procedure rewarding successive approximations of a desirable behaviour.
   • Schedules of reinforcement
     • Fixed ratio (FR). Variable ratio (VR). Fixed interval (FI). Variable interval (VI)
   • Tiiming of reinforcers = crucial in operant conditioning. Coincidental timing= superstitious behaviour
     • Barriers for self-control. Small but immediate reinforcers > strong but delayed punishment. Small but immediate reinforces > strong but delayed reinforcers. Weak but immediate punishers > strong but delayed reinforcers. Weak but immediate punishers > strong but delayed punishers.

5. LEARNING = A relativly permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience.

6. Spontaneous recovery - the reappearance of CR following brief period of extinction.

7. Stimulus generalisation - tendency to respond with a CR to a stimulus similar to the CS. Allows learning to become extended.

8. Stimulus discrimination - learning to respond differently to stimuli resembling the CS. Allows learning to be refined.

9. Higher-order conditioning - when a NS is paired with a established CS to produce a CR. Allows learning to be extended. Responses are neither strong nor long lasting.

10. TRADIONAL & MODERN EXPLANATIONS.

    • Stimulus substitution
    • Contiguity hypothesis
    • Information theory
    • HUMAN APPLICATIONS.
      • Phobia
      • Counter conditioning
      • Systematic desensitisation