Unit 6 | Learning

• What is Learning?

  The process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behavior
• Associative Learning


  Learn that certain events occur together
• Classical Conditioning 


  Learn to associate two or more stimuli
• Stimuli


  Any event or situation that evokes a reaponse
• Operant Conditioning 


  Learn to associate a response and it's consequences
• Cognitive Learning


  We acquire mental information that guides our behavior
• Neutral Stimulus (NS)


  Elicits no response before conditioning
• Unconditioned Response (UR)


  An event that occurs naturally in response to some stimulus.
• Unconditioned Stimulus (US)


  A stimulus that naturally elicits a response without conditioning.
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS)


  A neutral stimulus that becomes associated with a response after pairing with the US
• Conditioned Response (CR)

  A behavior learned from a neutral stimulus being associated with a US, triggering a response.
• High-Order Conditioning


  Using a pre-conditioned stimulus to condition a new one

  • weaker than the initial CS
• Generalization 


  The tendency to respond in the same way to similar stimuli
• Extinction


  The gradual weakening of behavior resulting in it disappearing
• Discrimination 


  The learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other irrelevant stimuli.
• Spontaneous Recovery


  The sudden reoccurrence of a behavior after extinction.
• Habituation


  Decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations
• Behaviorism


  People learn through their interactions with their environment
• Acquisition 


  The first stages of learning when a response is established
• Ivan Pavlov 


  • Discovered classical conditioning
• John B. Watson


  • Founded classical behaviorism
  • "Little Albert" experiment
• Law Of Effect 


  Behaviors with satisfying outcomes are more likely to occur again than behaviors with unsatisfying outcomes.
• Operant Chamber (Skinner's Box)


  Laboratory device used to study operant behavior; learned behavior in animals.
• Reinforcement 


  A stimulus that increases behavior

  • Negative Reinforcement increases behavior through the removal of a bad stimulus
  • Positive reinforcement increase behavior through the addition of a positive stimulus
• Shaping


  Technique that uses positive reinforcement to gradually teach a desired behavior by breaking it down into steps.
• Primary Reinforcer


  Biologically reoccurring stimulus that motivates behavior by satisfying a basic survival need
• Secondary Reinforcer 


  Stimulus that becomes reinforcing after being associated with a primary reinforcer
• Reinforcement Schedule


  A specific pattern or rule that determines how often a behavior is reinforced
• Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement

  Reinforcement is provided after a behavior but not everytime
• Fixed Ratio


  A reinforcement is provided after a specific number of responses
• Fixed Interval


  Reinforcement is provided after a specific amount of time
• Variable Ratio

  Reinforcement is provided after a random number of responses
• Variable Interval


  Reinforcement is provided after a random amount of time
• Punishment


  Decreases an unwanted behavior

  • Negative = taking away a positive stimulus
  • Positive = Adding an aversive stimulus
• Four Drawbacks of Physical Punishment


  1. Punished behavior is suppressed, not forgotten.
  2. Punishment teaches discrimination among situations.
  3. Punishment can teach fear.
  4. Physical punishment may increase aggression by modeling aggression as a way to cope.
• Biofeedback


  A process that enables an individual to learn how to change physiological activity for the purposes of improving health and performance.
• Respondent Behavior


  Behavior that is automatic and involuntary
• Operant Behavior


  Voluntary behavior and is associated with operant conditioning
• Latent learning


  Learning that is not immediately expressed in a response, but is still learned.
• Insight


  A sudden understanding of a solution.