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Flashcards in Learning approaches Deck (39)
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1
Q

What are the three ways you can learn behaviour included by this approach?

A
  1. Learning by association

2. Learning by consequence

2
Q

Who documented classical conditioning for the first time, who were his research subjects and what were they conditioned to do?

A

Ivan Pavlov; dogs; salivate when they heard a bell because they associated it with food

3
Q

What are the four types of stimulus? Relate them to Pavlov’s study

A
  1. Unconditioned stimulus: Elicits a reflex response - e.g. food
  2. Neutral stimulus: Elicits no response - e.g. bell
  3. Conditioned stimulus: Elicits a conditioned response because it is associated with the unconditioned stimulus - e.g. bell
  4. Conditioned response: Previously a reflex but is provoked by the conditioned stimulus due to the association made - e.g. salivation
4
Q

What are the four types of stimulus? Relate them to Pavlov’s study

A
  1. Unconditioned stimulus: Elicits a reflex response - e.g. food
  2. Neutral stimulus: Elicits no response - e.g. bell
  3. Conditioned stimulus: Elicits a conditioned response because it is associated with the unconditioned stimulus - e.g. bell
  4. Conditioned response: Previously a reflex but is provoked by the conditioned stimulus due to the association made - e.g. salivation
5
Q

How did Pavlov classically condition his dogs?

A

Whenever the dogs were fed he rang a bell, which then became associated with the arrival of food

6
Q

How did Pavlov classically condition his dogs?

A

Whenever the dogs were fed he rang a bell, which then became associated with the arrival of food

7
Q

What is stimulus generalisation?

A

When a stimulus has characteristics similar to the conditioned stimulus the association would be generalised to this new stimulus as well - e.g. Little Albert being afraid of other white objects

8
Q

What is stimulus discrimination?

A

A cut-off point has to be made where the association will not be made and stimulus generalisation will not occur. This happens when the characteristics of the conditioned stimulus and an object become too different to be generalised

9
Q

What is stimulus discrimination?

A

A cut-off point has to be made where the association will not be made and stimulus generalisation will not occur. This happens when the characteristics of the conditioned stimulus and an object become too different to be generalised - e.g. Little Albert not being afraid of a big brown dog

10
Q

What is temporal contiguity?

A

Pavlov found that association only occurs if the unconditioned stimulus and neutral stimulus are presented at the same time or around the same time otherwise an association will not be made

11
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A

Learning by consequence; A behaviour is more or less likely to occur depending on the consequence of that behaviour

12
Q

What are the three types of consequences involved in operant conditioning? Explain them

A
  1. Positive reinforcement - Additions to an individual that are beneficial/rewarding
  2. Negative reinforcement - Removal/avoidance of a bad consequence such as a detention
  3. Punishment - A negative consequence is added to the individual’s life such as anger or detention
13
Q

Which two types of consequences in operant conditioning make behaviour more likely?

A

Positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement

14
Q

Which type of consequence in operant conditioning makes behaviour less likely?

A

Punishment

15
Q

Who created the “Law of Effect” and what did his study involve?

A

Thorndike; involved cats escaping a puzzle box, a behaviour that became more common and faster when positively rewarded

16
Q

What is Thorndike’s “Law of Effect”?

A

“responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation”

17
Q

What animal did Skinner primarily experiment on?

A

Rats and pigeons

18
Q

What were the features of Skinner’s Box?

A
  • A response lever that released a pellet
  • Loudspeakers and lights that acted as cues
  • A metal floor that could be electrified
19
Q

What features of Skinner’s Box were positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment?

A

Positive: The pellet
Negative: Avoiding the electrified floor
Punishment: The electrified floor

20
Q

What are the five types of reinforcement schedules? Order them from lowest resistance to extinction to highest

A
  1. Continuous
  2. Fixed interval - e.g. every 30 seconds
  3. Fixed ratio - e.g. one every ten responses
  4. Variable interval - e.g. on average every 30 seconds
  5. Variable ratio - e.g. on average every 10 responses
21
Q

What real-life situation shows the resistance to extinction of variable ratio reinforcement?

A

Gambling addicts - They always believe that the next gamble could be the one that lets them win big because the responses are unreliable

22
Q

What are Skinner’s ABCs of operant conditioning?

A

To analyse any behaviour it is necessary to consider:
Antecedents - What happens just prior to the behaviour
Behaviours - Skinner calls this the operant
Consequences - What happens just after the operant/behaviour

23
Q

Why is variable ratio reinforcement the most successful for response rate and continuation?

A

There is no way of predicting when the next reward is going to be given and so the response rate continues at a high level

24
Q

What are the two basic assumptions of social learning theory?

A
  1. Behaviour is learned from the environment, not genetics

2. Behaviour is learned from observing others and the reinforcement or punishment they receive

25
Q

Why is SLT not strictly a behaviourist approach?

A

It does not look solely at behaviour, it also considers cognitive processes

26
Q

What and whose ideas does Bandura challenge?

A

Challenges Skinner’s idea that reward and punishment will prompt or stop an action automatically, suggesting instead that they inform the individual of likely consequences which they then assess

27
Q

What is vicarious reinforcement?

A

We don’t receive the reward or punishment, the person modelling the behaviour does but we witness it, so individuals learn from observing the consequences of the behaviour of others

28
Q

What was the aim of Bandura’s experiment?

A

To examine the influence of role models on aggressive behaviour

29
Q

What were the results of Bandura’s experiment?

A

The children who had observed aggressive behaviour acted more aggressively. Boys acted more aggressively than girls, and there was also a greater level of imitation of behaviour if the role model was the same gender as the child

30
Q

What is imitation?

A

An individual observes a behaviour from a role model and copies it

31
Q

What is identification and why is it important for vicarious reinforcement?

A

An individual is influenced by another because they are in some way similar or wish to be like them, so they identify with them, such as gender and ethnicity

It is important for reinforcement therefore because the behaviour of someone you identify with has more impact on you than someone you don’t, and makes you more likely to imitate this behaviour

32
Q

What is modelling?

A

When someone is influential on an individual in some way

33
Q

What are mediating processes?

A

The thought and consideration prior to imitation over whether or not the behaviour should be imitated

34
Q

What are the four mediational processes discussed by Bandura?

A
  1. Attention - A behaviour has to grab our attention and be noted
  2. Retention - The behaviour must be remembered in order for it to be performed later
  3. Reproduction - We are limited by our physical ability, and therefore need to be physically able to reproduce the behaviour
  4. Motivation - The rewards and punishments are considered by the observer, making the behaviour more likely to be imitated if the rewards outweigh the costs
35
Q

How can social learning theory be criticised?

A
  • A variety of research methods are used and the approach could be criticised for being unscientific
  • Not a full explanation for behaviour, as there are instances where a role model is not apparent
36
Q

How can social learning theory be positively evaluated?

A
  • Takes thought processes into account

- Successfully explains imitation of certain behaviours

37
Q

What does Bandura acknowledge in his work and what three approaches therefore could SLT be considered a combination of?

A

Biology has a role in his work on social learning and aggression because there are biological urges to be aggressive, but SL teaches how and when to be aggressive

A combination of the biological, cognitive and learning theory

38
Q

How can you remember Bandura’s mediational processes?

A

A-attention
R-retention
R-replication
M-motivation

39
Q

What are the four types of reinforcement in behaviourist theories?

A

Positive

Negative

Positive punishment - A negative consequence is added due to an undesirable behaviour to make it more or less likely

Omission training - Taking something the subject enjoys away to make a behaviour more or less likely