module 5

• Classical conditioning


  When a previously neutral stimulus elicits the same response as another stimulus, after repeatedly being paired together
• Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)


  Meat Powder
• Acquisition


  1. A conditioned response (CR) does not appear instantly

  2. It is gradually acquired by repeatedly pairing the UCS and CS

  3. Early learning is characterized by more rapid trial-by-trial changes in the CR

  4. Later on in learning, there is progressively less change in the CR, as it approaches an asymptote
• Acquisition


  • Both the rate and the asymptotic strength of the conditioned response depend on the relative timing of the CS and the UCS
  • Learning is most efficient when the CS is presented shortly before the UCS
  • Backward conditioning, presenting the UCS before the CS, is often ineffective
  • Potential evolutionary significance: a Cause must occur before an Effect
• Extinction


  A conditioned response will reduce in strength and eventually disappear if the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS
• Extinction is a common way of eliminating a CR. Another way is to try and pair the CS with a new CR
• Extinction is not the same as forgetting a CS-UCS pairing
• Spontaneous Recovery


  If extinction produces forgetting—it should not be possible for a CR to reappear unless the CS-CR association has been retrained
• The previously trained CS-CR association remained intact, potentially being suppressed by other more active associations
• Phobias


  • Arachnophobia – spiders
  • Acrophobia – heights
  • Aerophobia – flying
  • Trypanophobia – needles
  • Claustrophobia – enclosed spaces
  • Cynophobia – dogs
  • Mysophobia - germs
• Generalization


  • Stimuli that are similar to the CS will tend to elicit the same CR as the CS itself. When this happens, the CR has generalized to the novel stimulus
• Discrimination


  • If the stimulus is dissimilar from the CS, it will not elicit the CR. The organism is able to discriminate the CS from the new stimulus
• Advertisers pair their products (a CS) with an UCS to elicit the same feelings/thoughts as the UCS
• Examples of UCS used in advertising


  • Refreshment
  • Enjoyment
  • Attractive People
  • Freedom
  • Sophistication
  • Luxury
  • Sustainability
  • Morality
  • Comfort
  • Safety
  • Obligations
  • Fears, Phobias
• Watson (1930): 'Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.'
• Watson & Watson (1928): 'Let your behavior always be objective and kindly firm. Never hug and kiss them, never let them sit in your lap. If you must, kiss them once on the forehead when they say good night. Shake hands with them in the morning. Give them a pat on the head if they have made an extraordinarily good job of a difficult task.'
• Little Albert experiment


  1. Initial part shows the rat is a neutral stimulus, Little Albert has no innate fear response

  2. The rat becomes associated with the fear/startle response

  3. The fear response generalizes to other similar stimuli (e.g., rabbit, dog, etc.)

  4. No opportunity to de-condition Little Albert!
• Behavioral treatments for phobias

  1. Watch a video of someone playing with a dog

  2. Watch someone playing with a dog

  3. Watch someone play with a dog from progressively shorter distances

  4. Pat a dog

  5. Play with a dog
• Disgust towards certain stimuli can be viewed as a form of Classical Conditioning
• Strong "one-trial" learning after food poisoning experiences
• Biological rationale for these kinds of rapid learning
• Reinforcement


  Outcome that increases the strength/frequency/probability of a behavior
• Punishment


  Outcome that decreases the strength/frequency/probability of a behavior
• Reinforcement tends to train a target behavior more effectively than Punishment
• Punishment is uninformative and open-ended
• Reinforcement is more focused and informative
• Punishment can lead to unexpected outcomes, as the learner may learn ways to avoid it
• Extinction


  • Eliminating a previously reinforced behavior by no longer delivering reinforcement
• Spontaneous Recovery


  • Re-emergence of a previously reinforced behavior despite suspension of reinforcement
• Generalization / Discrimination


  • Whether a reinforced behavior is emitted in response to similar, but not identical stimuli
• Acquisition


  • Incrementally associating a behavior with an outcome
• Continuous Reinforcement


  • Every instance of the behavior is reinforced
• Partial Reinforcement


  • Only some instances of the behavior are reinforced
• Continuous Reinforcement produces faster learning, Partial Reinforcement produces more robust learning
• Shaping can be used to train complex behaviors by reinforcing successive approximations of the target behavior</b>
• Fears acquired through Classical Conditioning may not passively resist extinction or forgetting, as the anxiety caused by the Conditioned Stimulus can be relieved by actively avoiding the stimulus
• Reduction in anxiety provoked by avoidance behavior Negatively Reinforces the fear
• Operant Conditioning can maintain superstitious behaviors (or rituals) via Positive and Negative Reinforcement
• Multi-Store Model of Memory

  Theoretical model that proposes information is successively transferred to different memory stores with increasingly durable forms of memory, and several points where information can be lost
• Sensory Memory


  • Fleeting awareness of the presence of lots of information, but difficult to report or describe all the details
  • Suggests a very large amount of sensory information is stored, but only for a short window of time