Introduction to Psychology

• Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior brought about by experience.
• Classical Conditioning is a kind of learning in which a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to produce a response that was originally produced by a different stimulus.
• unconditioned is a term which indicates that there is an unlearned, or inborn connection between the stimulus and response (unconditioned stimulus=unconditioned response)
• neutral stimulus does not initially produce any response but when presented repeatedly with the unconditioned stimulus it will then become the conditioned stimulus and the response in now a conditioned response
• Operant Conditioning refers to a kind of learning in which the consequences that follow some behaviour increase or decrease the likelihood of that behaviour’s occurrence in the future
• E.L. Thorndike’s Law of Effect states that behaviors followed by positive consequences are strengthened,while behaviors followed by negative consequences are weakened
• Skinner’s Operant Conditioning Skinner analysed animal’s ongoing behaviours during learning through operant conditioning. This focuses on how consequences (rewards and punishments)affect behaviour
• Positive reinforcement - it occurs when the behavior is followed by a favorable stimulus.
• Negative reinforcement - it occurs when the behavior is followed by the removal of aversive/unfavorable stimulus
• Positive punishment - it occurs when the behavior is followed by unfavorable/ aversive stimulus
• Negative punishment - it occurs when the behavior is followed by the removal of favorable stimulus.
• A reinforcement schedule is simply a rule that states under what conditions a reinforcer will be delivered
• Continuous (CRF) - occurs when reinforcement is given after every single desired behavior
• Intermittent (INT) - occurs when reinforcement is given after some behavior but never after each one. The following are the schedules of reinforcement under INT
• Fixed Ratio - in this schedule, a fixed number of responses must be made before the reward is administered
• Variable Ratio - the number of responses determines the delivery of reinforcement; but the ratio changes from reinforcement to reinforcement
• Fixed Interval - in this schedule, the reinforcement will be delivered after a specified passage of time
• Variable Interval - in this schedule, the length of time is varied or unspecified before the delivery of the reinforcement
• Shaping is one of the problems encountered when working with operant conditioning is that the desired behaviormust be emitted before it can be reinforced
• Cognitive Learning is a kind of learning that involves mental processes, such as attention and memory; may be learned through observation or imitation; and may not involve any external rewards or require the person to perform any observable behaviour
• Latent Learning –Hidden or concealed
• Contingency Learning –the view that learning occurs when stimuli provide information about the likelihood of the occurrence of other stimuli
• Observational Learning -Learning through Watching
• Observational learning is sometimes called as modelling because it involves watching a model and later imitating the behaviour
• Bandura's SociaL Cognitive Theory emphasizes the importance of observation, imitation and self-reward in the development and learning of social skills, personal interactions, and many other behaviors. This theory says that it is not necessary to perform any observable behaviors or receive any external rewards to learn
• Attention- the observer must pay attention to what the model says or does
• Memory- the observer must store or remember the information so that it can be retrieved and used later
• Imitation- the observer must be able to use the remembered information to guide his/her own actions and thus imitate the model’s behaviour
• Motivation- the observer must have reason or incentive to imitate the model’s behaviour
• Memory is the ability to retain information over time through three processes: encoding (forming),storing, and retrieving. Memories are not copies but representations of the world that vary in accuracy and are subject to error and bias
• Psychologists have found that memory includes three important categories:sensory, short-term, and long-term
• Sensory Memory refers to an initial process that receives and holds environmental information in its raw form for a brief period of time, from an instant to several seconds
• Memory is the ability to retain information over time through three processes: encoding, storing, and retrieving.
• Memories are not copies but representations of the world that vary in accuracy and are subject to error and bias.
• Memory is defined in psychology as the faculty of encoding, storing, and retrieving information.
• Psychologists have found that memory includes three important categories: sensory, short-term, and long-term.
• Each of these kinds of memory have different attributes, for example, sensory memory is not consciously controlled, short-term memory can only hold limited information, and long-term memory can store an indefinite amount of information.
• We also have here explicit and implicit memory, declarative and procedural memory, episodic and semantic memory.
• Sensory memory refers to an initial process that receives and holds environmental information in its raw form for a brief period of time, from an instant to several seconds.
• Short-term memory is the process that can hold only a limited amount of information - an average of seven items - for only a short period of time - 2 or 30 seconds.