Psych I - Unit II

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Unit II: Learning


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I. ConditioningA. Classical conditioning

B. Operant conditioning

II. Cognitive factors in learning

A. Latent learningB. Observational learning

C. PQ4R Method

III. MemoryA. Three Kinds of Memory

B. Three Processes of MemoryC. Three Stages of Memory

D. Improving Memory


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I. A. Classical Conditioning


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Clip from NBCs The


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Stimulus a feature in the environment that isdetected by an organism or that leads to a changein behavior

Response an observable reaction to a stimulus

Conditioning a type of learning that involvesstimulus-response connections, in which theresponse is conditional on the stimulus


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It is a simple form of learning in which one stimulus (thethought of food) calls forth a response (mouth watering)that is usually called forth by another stimulus (theactual food)

Classical Conditioning Notation UCS UCR (Unconditioned Reflex)

CS + UCS UCR (Conditioning)

CS CR (Conditioned Reflex)

NS (neutral stimulus)

UCS is also labeled US UCR is also labeled UR


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Russian psychologist, Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) discoveredthat dogs, too, learn to associate one thing with anotherwhen food is involved.

He was trying to learn about digestion and the nervoussystem.

He thought that dogs salivate when meat is on the tongueto assist digestion. Meat is the stimulus for theproduction of saliva.

He discovered that dogs started salivating when theyheard sound of food dropping in their bowl. They alsosalivated when assistants entered the room.

What does this mean? Dogs learned that certain events meant that food was

coming.

Pavlov hypothesized that he could condition dogs tosalivate in response to any stimulus he chose a bell


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An involuntary response(UCR) is preceded by astimuli (UCS), or

A stimulus (UCS)automatically triggers an

involuntary response (UCR) A neutral stimulus (NS)

associated with UCSautomatically triggers aconditioned response.

The NS becomes aconditioned stimulus (CS)

Casualhats.net


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US Unconditioned Stimulus : a stimulus that causes aresponse that is automatic, not learned

UR Unconditioned Response : the automatic responsefrom an unconditioned stimulus

CR Conditioned Response : a learned response to astimulus that was previously neutral, or meaningless

CS Conditioned Stimulus : a previous neutral stimulusthat, because of pairing with a an unconditionedstimulus, now causes a conditioned response

NS Neutral Stimulus : a stimulus that causes noresponse before conditioning


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Taste aversion avoiding a certain food that haspreviously made you ill

Feeling nauseated after eating ice cream Chocolate ice cream = unconditioned stimulus (US) Nausea = unconditioned response (UR) Chocolate ice cream now becomes a conditioned stimulus

(CS) and the nausea is a conditioned response (CR)

Extinction/Extinguish when a conditioned stimulus

(CS) no longer triggers the conditioned response (CR)

Pavlovs dogs eventually extinguished the salivation (CR) tothe bell (CS) when food did not follow the bell many times.


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Spontaneous Recovery the reappearance of anextinguished conditioned response after some time haspassed A song (US) is played on the radio that you really enjoy, it makes

your head bop (UR). After some time the song is overplayed andno longer makes your head bop. The UR becomes extinguished.

6 months later the song reappears on the radio and you bop yourhead once again. The song has spontaneously recovered theresponse

Generalization responding the same way to a similarstimulusThe ice cream that made you sick was chocolate. You generalize

and avoid all types of ice cream.

Discrimination the act of responding differently to stimulithat are not similar to each other Chocolate ice cream made you sick. You can still eat chocolate

pudding because it is not similar enough to ice cream.


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Many fears such the fear of heights, snakes, publicspeaking are out of proportion to the harm that canhappen from them.

Reducing fear can happen from conditioning

Flooding a person is exposed to harmless stimulus until fearresponses to that stimulus are extinguished (looking out asixth-story window until heights are no longer upsetting)

Systematic desensitization people are taught relaxationtechniques to deal with fear (showing pictures of snakes whilea person is relaxed. Eventually they are shown real snakes at adistance, then closer, then touch them.)

Counterconditioning a pleasant stimulus is paired with afearful one, counteracting the fear (eating candy while beingshown a snake, may reduce the unconditioned response ofanxiety)


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Take out your word list from yesterday

Write up the experiment identifying the following classicalconditioning concepts in the context of this experiment:- acquisition- unconditioned stimulus

- unconditioned response- conditioned stimulus- conditioned response- stimulus generalization- stimulus discrimination

- extinction- spontaneous recoveryWhat did you learn from this experiment?


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I. B. Operant Conditioning


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What is the :1.Unconditioned stimulus2.Unconditioned response3.Conditioned stimulus

4.Conditioned response


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A voluntary response (R) is followed by areinforcing stimulus (SRF)

The voluntary response is more likely to be emitted by theorganism.

A reinforcer is any stimulus that increases the frequencyof a behavior

To be a reinforcer stimuli must immediately follow theresponse and must be perceived as contingent upon theresponse


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From CBSs Big Bang


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In this form of learning behavior is strengthenedbecause of a reinforcement.

Linda and Janet learned that studying would result in goodgrades

Studying is the behavior Good grades is the positive reinforcement

Reinforcement - The process by which a stimulusincreases the chances that the preceding

behavior will occur again. A dog will likely sit again, when given a treat after

performing the trick.


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Primary reinforcers reinforcers that function dueto the biological makeup of the organism

Food

Water

Warmth

Secondary reinforcers reinforcers that functiononce the value of which is learned

Money

Attention Social approval


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Positive reinforcers reinforcers that increase thefrequency of the behavior the follow when theyare applied

Food

Fun activities Social approval

Negative reinforcers reinforcers that increasethe frequency of a behavior when they are

removed Discomfort

Fear

Social disapproval


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Behavior Result Change

Positivereinforcement

Studying Enjoyment of thematerial

Student studiesmore (increase)

Negativereinforcement

Studying Decreases thefear of doing

poorly on a test

Student studiesmore (increase)

Punishment Littering Person has to paya fine

Person stopslittering(decrease)

Negative reinforcement is not the same as punishment Negative reinforcement may also be unpleasant, but it encourages

a behavior to be removed, whereas punishment discourages abehavior from being applied.


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It does not in itself teach alternate acceptable behavior A child may learn what not to do in a particular situation but does not

learn what to do instead.

It tends to work only when it is guaranteed. If a behavior is punished some of the time but goes unnoticed the rest

of the time, the behavior probably will continue

Severely punished people or animals may try to leave thesituation rather than change their behavior. Children may run away from home.

Punishment can create anger and hostility. Children who are severely punished may take out their anger on others

Punishment may be imitated as a way of solving problems

If a parent hits a child when they are upset, the child may learn thatthey should hit people when they are also upset


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In operant conditioning, extinction can occur justas it does with classical conditioning.

If a behavior is continually not reinforced, thebehavior may be extinguished.

Michael may have studied for hours on a Calculusexam, but still done poorly. He may choose to notstudy next time because he was not reinforced to

do so.


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A timetable for when and how often reinforcement fora particular behavior occurs.

Continuous reinforcement reinforcement every time

Partial reinforcement when reinforcement sometimes

Fixed-interval schedule a fixed amount of time mustpass (5 minutes) between reinforcements

Variable-interval schedule a varying amount of time

can pass between reinforcements, the unpredictabilitycreates a steadier response rate In a Skinner Box, a rat may have to press a lever 5 times to

receive the food; at other times they may have to press thelever 8 times to receive the food.


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Operant conditioning is a very common form of influence in everydaylife. Your boss may reward high performing employees with bonuses

Parents may offer money or gifts to their children for good grades

Shaping is a way that psychologists teaching complex behaviors byreinforcing small steps in the right direction. Riding a bike reinforce the sitting, grabbing the handle bars, stepping on the

pedals, riding with training wheels, off training wheels

Programmed learning is a educational method developed by B. F.Skinner which breaks learning down into small steps and latercombined into a more complicated whole. It is based on shaping. This method does not punish students for making errors, it helps students

correct answers.

In the classroom, some teachers reinforce poorly behaving students

only. This may trigger other students to begin acting out to also seekthe same reinforcement for acting properly. (Wentzel, 1994)


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From FOXs The


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II. Cognitive Factors in Learning


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Behaviorists, like BF Skinner, are only interested instudying what people do and not what they think.

Cognitive Psychologists are willing to speak aboutwhat people and animals know because of learning

not just what they do. Learning is purposeful

Learning is not mechanical

People can learn by thinking or observing others

Two kinds of learning that involve cognitive factors

are: Latent learning

Observational learning


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Many psychologists today, especially cognitivepsychologists, believe that people do much oftheir learning without reinforcement

E.C. Tolman showed that rats perform as well in

mazes when they are not reinforced. Theylearned the mazes and were able to recall thelayout after very little reinforcement.

In the same way, students have a very clearunderstanding of the school layout without having

to be reinforced to do so. Latent learning learning that remains hidden

until it is needed.


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Television is one of our major sources of informalobservational learning.

Violence on television can play a negative effecton children

If a child watches two to four hours of TV a day,she or he will have seen 8,000 murders andanother 100,000 acts of violence by the time sheor he has finished elementary school (Eron 1993).

G-rated movies often have 9-10 minutes ofviolence per film (Yokota & Thompson 2000)


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A joint statement from the APA and medicalassociations made the following points (Holland 2000)

Media violence supplies models of aggressive skills, whichchildren may learn by watching

Children who see a lot of violence are more likely to view

violence as an effective way to settle conflicts

Viewing violence can lead to emotional desensitization towardviolence in real life

Viewing violence may lead to real life violence

This research is a case-study comparing children whoview violence on television and those that do not.


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This is a method of learning where the learnertakes an active approach with the material.

The steps are:

Preview

Question

Read

Reflect

Recite

Review


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Previewing

Getting the generalpicture of what will be

covered before aperson beginsstudying.

Familiarity with thematerial in general will

help a learner create acognitive map of alesson or unit.

Questioning

Goals or questions thatare created by a learner tofulfill by the end of

learning. A person generally comes

up with questions about aconcept that they wish toanswer.

This will help the learnerbe an active part of thelearning process.


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1. Read for the purpose ofanswering the questionsthat were created in theprevious step. Takingnotes during this

process will help keepinformation organized.

2. Reflect on theinformation by makingconnections to everyday

life so that it canbecome more relevant.

3. Recite what hasbeen learned so thatit becomes organizedin a different way.

4. Review materialwith sufficient timeand a regularschedule.


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III. Memory A. Three Kinds of Memory


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Once people learn to ride a bicycle, they probablywill never forget how.

The best way to remember something is to repeatit many times.

People with photographic memory are rare.

There is no known limit to how much informationyou can remember.

You can remember important events from the first

two years of life.

There are certain tricks you can use to improveyour memory.


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How would you define it?

What does it include

Memory is the process by which we recollect prior

experiences and information and skills learned in the past.

One way to classify memory is according to the differentkinds of information it contains: events, general knowledge,and skills.

There are three kinds of memory that people use in their life1.Episodic memory

2.Semantic memory

3.Implicit memory


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A memory of a specific event that took place in a personspresence or experience. What you ate for dinner last night.

What was on your last test.

This can also take the form offlashbulb memories.

Flashbulb memories are important events that happen thatseem to reappear as a photograph because at the time of theevent it was like a flashbulb went off. Your recollection of September 11, 2001

Your first date

Sometimes places can be involved with this type of memory.

The event can have such an impact that a person remembersexactly what they were doing and how they were feeling atthe time People remember exactly where they were when JFK was

assassinated or the World Trade Center was attacked.


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General knowledge that people remember but didnot experience first hand. George Washington was the first president of the United

States.

In this type of memory, the person usually doesnot remember when they acquired the knowledge.Whereas in the episodic, the person remember

when it was learned.You know the alphabet, but may not remember when or

where you were when you learned it

Episodic and semantic memories are examples ofexplicit memory because they are concerningspecific information (facts).


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Implicit memory consists of the skills andprocedures one has learned.

Riding a bike

Throwing a ball

Swimming Playing an instrument

These memories usually stay with a person for along period of time.


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The 1st stage of memory is encoding or thetranslation of information into a form in which itcan be stored.

Computers encode information into storage

Memorize the following letter list, do not write itdown. YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS.

OTTFFSSENT


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Visual codes

Seeing information as a picture in your mind

Acoustic (auditory) codes

Reading to yourself or aloud and repeating

Semantic codes Representing information by giving it meaning ROY G

BIV


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The 2nd stage of memory is storage or the maintenance ofencoded information over time.

People who want to store information in their memory use avariety of different strategies

Maintenance Rehearsal

Repeating information over and over again to keep from forgetting Not effective for long term storage other than phone numbers

Elaborative Rehearsal

A memory device that creates a meaningful link between newinformation and the information already known.

For foreign language, it may be beneficial to use new vocabulary wordsin sentences rather than just repeating them.

This is a more effective and lasting way to remember new information(Woloshyn 1994).


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Human memory is much like a filing cabinet

Put information in an organized format, files in folders

When new information enhances that folder, it can beadded

Errors can occur because of this type of system.Just like how a paper can be put into the wrongfolder, memories can be organized incorrectly.

These are called filling errors.


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The 3rd and final memory process is retrieval or locating storedinformation and returning it to conscious thought.

Some memory is so familiar that it is readily available and almostimpossible to forget.

Names of friends and family

Lyrics to songs or lines from a movie

Retrieve the list of letters that were presented to you earlier andwrite them down now.

How many did you remember?

What method of storage did you use? (visual, acoustic, semantic)

Would it have helped you to know that the letters OTTFFSSENT, were thefirst letters of the numbers 12345678910?

By knowing that the numbers 1-10 represent the letters, you will likelyremember the letters better using a semantic code


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Context-dependent memories Memories that are only retrieved when a person is in a particular

physical location. A person may recall a childhood memory when they visit their

former school for the first time in many years If a person did not return to this context, they would have not likely

retrieved this memory.

State-dependent memories Memories that are retrieved when a person is in a similar emotional

state that they were in when the memory was stored. People who are in a sad mood may remember information better

when they are in that mood later.

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon The belief that a piece of information is stored in our memory

although we cannot retrieve it easily People often try to retrieve information by saying words that are

similar in sound


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III. Memory C. Three Stages of Memory


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The first stage of memory consisting of theimmediate, initial recording of informationthrough our senses.

This memory trace does not last long.

In order to store the memory something must bedone with it quickly.

Psychologists believe that all of our senses havesensory registers.


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Iconic memory the sensory register that brieflyholds mental images (think icon)

Eidetic imagery the maintenance of a verydetailed visual memory over several months

Echoic memory the sensory register in whichtraces of sounds are held and may be retrievedwithin several seconds


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The second stage of memory that holdsinformation briefly before it is stored or forgotten.

Remembering a phone number before dialing

Remembering a name of someone you just met

It is sometimes called a working memory Information in this stage tends to fade rapidly

after several seconds.


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The third stage of memory is capable of large andrelatively permanent storage.

To maintain information in this stage severaltechniques may help

Mechanical repetition (maintenance rehearsal) is the wayof transferring information from short-term memory tolong-term memory.

Elaborative rehearsal is the way of relating newinformation to information that you already know.


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III. Memory D. Improving Memory


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This may seem like a simple issue, if you dont thinkabout something, you forget it, right?

Its more complicated than that.

Forgetting can occur at any one of the three stages of

memory sensory, short-term, long-term. Sensory memory traces can decay in less than a second

Short-term memory traces can decay in 10-12 seconds

Long-term memory traces can be lost if they are mixedwith other information and are not organized

Learning a new language can confuse other languages ifthey are alike the Roman languages Similar alphabets and roots


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Recognition A memory process in which one identifies objects or events that have

previously been encountered.

Multiple choice tests are forms of a recognition activities. Youchoose an answer that you may have seen before. They are usuallyeasier than constructing your own response

Recall Retrieval of learned information by reconstructing the idea in your

mind.

Essay tests are forms of recall activities.

Relearning Learning material a second time, usually in less time than it was

originally learned In the case of Ebbinghauss research with nonsense syllables.

Participants could remember a list of syllables more quickly than theycould before. Even though, they were unable to remember themwithout relearning.


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The most common forms of forgetting areinterference and decay.

Interference occurs when new information shoves aside ordisrupts what has been placed in a memory.

Decay is the fading away of a memory.

Repression is a theory of forgetting that was broughtup by Sigmund Freud

We forget painful memories by pushing them out of ourminds.

Some memories are so painful or unpleasant that they makeus feel anxiety, guilt, or shame.

This theory is controversial in contemporary psychology


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Amnesia is severe memory loss caused by brain injury,shock, fatigue, illness, or repression.

Dissociative amnesia is thought to be caused bypsychological trauma (an extremely upsetting experienceor series of experiences).

Other kinds of amnesia Infantile amnesia is the idea that we are unable to remember

events from birth to two years of age. This may be caused by thehippocampus in the brain being underdeveloped. Any memorythat you have of this time is likely formed by what people havetold you over and over.

Anterograde amnesia is caused by trauma to the head (blow tothe head, electric shock, or brain surgery)

Retrograde amnesia occurs to people who have had brain traumabut effects the event leading up to the event. A person in a majorcar accident may not remember they were even in the car.


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Psych I - Unit II