Psy190 General Psychology

PSY190 General Psychology

Introduction Learning is an important activity in our live. Learning is the modification through

experience of pre-existing behavior and understanding.

Nonassociative learning Learning that results from exposure to a single

stimulus. Habituation: the process of adapting to stimuli that do not change. Ex: fail to notice wearing watch

Sensitization: an increase in responsiveness to

a stimulus. It cannot explain many of the behaviors and mental processes

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: LEARNING SIGNALS AND ASSOCIATIONS A learning process in which a previously neutral stimulus

becomes associated with another stimulus through repeated pairing with that stimulus. Ivan Pavlov’s experiment: first phase: a natural reflex (salivation) and a neutral

stimulus (musical tone) were established. second phase: the neutral stimulus and the stimulus causing the natural reflex were repeatedly paired. third phase: the neutral stimulus alone caused some form of the natural reflex to occur.

Pavlov’s Experiments: Key Terms and Concepts Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)-meat powder Unconditioned Response (UCR)-salivation Conditioned Stimulus (CS)-tone / ring Conditioned Response (CR)- salivation

Conditioned responses over time Extinction- gradual disappearance of a CR when a

CS is no longer followed by an UCS Ex: tone can’t elicit salivation without meat powder

Reconditioning- quick relearning of a CR after

extinction Ex: tone elicit salivation when pair with meat powder

again.

Spontaneous recovery- reappearance of the CR

after extinction and without CS-UCS pairings Ex: hear the same tone again elicits salivation

Associations may not be entirely forgotten

Stimulus Generalization and Discrimination Stimulus generalization occurs when a stimulus similar

but not identical to the original stimulus also elicits a response (lesser degree). Ex: sour-smelling milk – sick –> avoid products with

similar odor It brings advantages and problems

Stimulus discrimination is a complementary process

through which organisms learn to differentiate between stimuli that are similar but not identical to the CS.

The signaling of Significant Events Timing- CS should precede UCS and interval

shouldn’t too long

Predictability-CS should reliably predict UCS Signal Strength- a strong CS or UCS is better Attention- only perceived stimuli can form

association

Bioprepardness- certain signals or events are

especially likely to form association  Ex: more fear of snake than knives

Second-order conditioning A phenomenon in which a conditioned

stimulus acts like an unconditioned stimulus, creating conditioned stimuli out of events associated with it. Example of cancer patients: pill (CS) - chemotherapy (UCS) – nausea (UCR) Red box (CS) – pill (UCS) Red box - nausea

Applications of Classical Conditioning Phobias are extreme fears of objects or

situations that are not harmful. Classical conditioning can produce phobias(via stimulus generalization) 

Ex: white coat – doctor - painful injection-> extreme fear of white coat

eliminate phobias(through systematic

desensitization) 

Ex: relaxation – white coat

OPERANT CONDITIONING: LEARNING THE CONSEQUENCES OF BEHAVIOR Law of effect:

if a response made in the presence of a particular stimulus is followed by a reward, that response is more likely to be made the next time the stimulus is encountered.  Ex: hungry cat press pedal and get food-> tend to press pedal

Thorndike called this learning as instrumental conditioning. Skinner’s emphasis on how an organism learns to “operate on”

its environment to produce a positive effect

 Rename to operant conditioning.  Skinner box- measures how often an animal responds

Reinforcers / Reinforcement A reinforcer is a consequence that increases the

probability that a behavioral response will occur again. Two types of reinforcer: Positive reinforcer are positive stimuli that act like

rewards. 

Positive reinforcement

Negative reinforcer are the removal of unpleasant

stimuli. 

Negative reinforcement- a response is strengthened by the removal of an unpleasant stimuli

Escape and Avoidance Conditioning Negative reinforcements are used in escape and

avoidance conditioning.

Escape conditioning- learns behaviors that lead to an

escape from an unpleasant situation.

 Ex: dogs learn jump over barrier to get away from a shock  Ex: scolding- crying –> stop scolding

Avoidance conditioning- learns behaviors that allow it

to completely avoid an unpleasant situation.

 Ex: buzzer sound-electric shock(classical)-> jump over

barrier when warning buzzer sound (operant)  Ex: studying – stop scolding  Avoidance is a difficult habit to break- never find out the consequence

Punishment

Punishment presents an aversive stimulus or

removes a pleasant stimulus to decrease the frequency of a behavior. Two types of punishment: Positive- present an unpleasant stimulus 

Ex: scolding, tuition

Negative- remove a pleasant stimulus 

Ex: Stop giving pocket money

Punishment (con’t) Punishment has several disadvantages. 1) it does not eliminate learning; it merely suppresses a behavior. 2) punishment is not effective unless it immediately follows the undesired behavior. 3) punishment may be associated with the punisher so that eventually the punisher is feared. 4) the organism being punished may learn to relate to others in an aggressive manner. 5) it doesn’t provide any demonstration of desired behaviors

Summary of operant conditioning Type of conditioning Action

Type of stimulus

Positive reinforcement Give (+)

Pleasant stimulus (+)

Negative reinforcement Remove (-)

Unpleasant stimulus (-)

Positive punishment

Give (+)

Unpleasant stimulus (-)

Negative punishment

Remove (-)

Pleasant stimulus (+)

COGNITIVE PROCESSES IN LEARNING

Cognitive processes, how people represent, store and

use information, is important in learning. (ex: expectation, meaning) Learned Helplessness

 a tendency to give up any effort to control the

environment when believe effort has no effect.  Ex: dog does not try to run away from electric shock

Insight- Kohler and his chimpanzees’ studies Observational Learning: Learning by Imitation  people learn by watching others (social learning).  Albert Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment  

Vicarious conditioning- individual is influenced by seeing or hearing about the consequences of others’ behavior a person learns new behaviors by observing the consequences (reinforcement or punishment) of someone else’s behavior.

Tutorial Question 4 Daisy is a high school teacher. How does she

apply the operant conditioning to: a) increase the students’ interest in study b) prevent students come late to class