Topic 7c: associative and non-associative learning

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Non associative learning: occurs when an organism is repeatedly exposed to one type of stimulus

Habituation: The behavioral version of sensory adaptation, when a person learns to “tune out” a stimulus that occurs repeatedly

Dehabituation: the previously habituated stimulus is removed, and a person is no longer accustomed to the stimulus. If that stimulus is presented again, that person will react as if it were a new stimulus and will likely respond even more strongly to it than before.

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Classical conditioning: a process of learning where a conditioned stimulus becomes associated with an unrelated unconditioned stimulus, which then produces a behavioral response which is the conditioned response.

unconditioned response: a behavior arising from an unconditioned stimulus

conditioned response: a behavior that arises from the previously neutral stimulus

Unconditioned stimulus: usually a biologically significant stimulus (such as food or pain) that elicits an unconditioned response from the start

Conditioned stimulus: usually neutral, but does not produce any response until conditioning; produces the conditioned response

Pavlov proposed the theory of classical conditioning, and one of his most known experiments was one about the study of salvation of dogs--->

He noticed dogs would associate his entrance into the room with being fed, even if he did not have food in his hand. He then ran a series of experiments where he used various sound producing objects to condition the salvation response in dogs.

many behavior therapies to treat fear and anxiety have been developed from Pavlov’s work.

Overall, 4 factors of classical conditioning were seen in Pavlov’s experiment:

The unconditioned response was the dogs’ natural salvation in response to sensing their food

The unconditioned stimulus was the sight or smell of food itself

The conditioned stimulus was the various sounds (such as a ringing bell) which previously had no association with food

The conditioned response was the salvation of the dogs in response to the sound, even when no food was sensed.

Timing is important for classical conditioning to occur

Acquisition: the initial period of learning, during which the neutral stimulus becomes the conditioned stimulus capable of eliciting the conditioned response by itself.

The organism connects the neutral stimulus to an unconditioned stimulus, and the neutral stimulus begins to elicit the conditioned response.

Extinction: the decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus

Spontaneous recovery: the return of a previously extinguished conditioned response following a rest period

Stimulus discrimination and stimulus generate generalization are involved in distinguishing which stimuli will trigger the learned association.

Stimulus discrimination: when an organism learns to respond differently to various stimuli that are similar; In terms of classical conditioning, this is when an organism demonstrates the conditioned response only to the conditioned stimulus.

Stimulus generalization: the opposite of stimulus discrimination, when an organism responds in the same way to similar stimuli; In terms of classical conditioning, this is when an organism demonstrates the conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus.

Distinguishing between stimuli and then responding with the appropriate behavior is essential to organisms’ survival.

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Operant conditioning: a theory of learning that focuses on changes in an individual's observable behaviors

founded on the results of B.F. Skinner's experiments

Skinner would use “Skinner boxes,” in which he would conduct reinforcement experiments that demonstrated basic principles of operant conditioning.

He would present animals with positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, or aversive stimuli in various timing intervals that were designed to produce or inhibit specific target behaviors.

rats would be placed in a Skinner box, which would have a lever attached to a feeding tube.

When a rat pressed the lever, food would be released.

After several trials, the rats learned there was an association between the lever and food, and then began to spend most of their time getting food by pressing the lever, as opposed to doing any other activities.

Shaping: the reinforcement of successive approximations of the target behavior

the test subject performs behaviors first, which resemble the target behavior, and through reinforcement these behaviors are gradually changed or shaped to encourage the target behavior or discourage a behavior.

Extinction: after reinforcement stops, a reinforced behavior is entirely extinguished.

Reinforcement: any consequences or outcome that encourages a behavioral response, via either higher frequency, longer duration, greater magnitude, or short- latency of response

Positive reinforcers: add a desired stimulus to increase or maintain the frequency of a behavior

Negative reinforcers: remove an undesirable stimulus to increase or maintain the frequency of a behavior

primary reinforcers: linked unconditionally to a behavior; ex: biological drives or stimuli such as pleasure, sleep, touch, water when thirsty, etc.

secondary reinforcers: requiring conditioned linkage to a specific behavior; ex: verbal praise associated with food

Punishment: any consequence or outcome that discourages a behavioral response

positive punishments: add an undesirable stimulus to decrease a behavior or response

Negative punishment: remove a desirable stimulus to decrease a behavior or response

Reinforcement schedules: determines how and when an operant response is learned and maintained; Different schedules have different advantages and respond differently to extinction.

Fixed- interval schedule: a behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time

Variable-interval schedule: reinforcement is given based on varying and unpredictable amounts of time

Fixed- ratio schedule: a set number of responses must occur before the behavior is rewarded

Variable- ratio schedule: the number of responses needed for a reward varies

Discriminating stimulus: this is presented before the subject responds and signals the availability of a reinforcement or punishment and increases the probability of a response

Avoidance learning: the process by which an individual learns a behavior or response to avoid a undesirable situation; The reinforcement for the behavior is the absence of punishment.

The principles of operant conditioning are used experimentally, in cognitive behavioral therapy, and in applied behavioral analysis.

Token economy: a form of contingency management that uses a token reinforcer that can be exchanged for a positive stimulus

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Behaviorism: all psychological phenomena are explained by describing observable behavior and its consequences

Learning new behaviors is possible up to a point through both classical conditioning and operant conditioning but the activities are always prone to biological constraints

Appropriate cognitive processes are necessary for the associate learning of non-instinctual behaviors

Cognitive psychology: researchers began to focus on the brain, cognitions, and their effects on how people navigate the world, as opposed to focusing solely on behaviorism

cognitive psychologists do not believe that all learning can be explained simply with stimulus pairing and reinforcement

Insight learning: previously learned behaviors are suddenly combined in unique ways; ex: a sudden epiphany while in the shower, thinking of a tanz in reply to someone after the fact

Latent learning: something is learned but not expressed by an observable behavior until it is required

Ex: rats wandered in a maze for 10 days without any reinforcement or punishment; On the 11th day, food was placed at the end of the maze and the rats were quickly able to find the quickest path to the food, showing that they had learned how to escape the knees while wandering the first ten days however did not display that behavior until it was required.

Learning is a change in behavior because of experience; Biological processes can affect associative learning.

For example: chimpanzees can learn to communicate using sign language, but they cannot learn to speak because they lack specialized vocal cords that would enable them to do so.

Not all reinforcers are equally effective. Associative learning is most easily achieved using stimuli relevant to survival; Organisms have a biological predisposition two more easily learn behaviors or knowledge that will provide them with a survival advantage.

Food aversions are a strong example; if an organism consumes something that tastes of a certain flavor and becomes nauseous a few hours later, even if the nausea was not caused by that flavored food, that organism will develop a strong aversion to both the taste and smell of that flavor or that food, even though the nausea occurred hours after consumption. This aversion can last indefinitely long.

If an organism were to try to overcome this aversion through operant conditioning, they might experience instinctive drift----> a tendency to revert to unconscious and automatic behavior that could interfere with learned behaviors from operant conditioning.

Learning and memory work together to shape behavior

Short- term memory lasts for seconds to hours and is converted into long- term memory via consolidation

Knowledge that a reward follows a certain behavior, which is newly acquired information, is temporarily stored in short- term memory and can be transferred into long- term memory under the right conditions.