1. Learning Theories<br />Assignment #1: Questions: Learning Theories<br />What is classical conditioning? A type of learning by association. This means that two stimuli appear together in such a consistent way that one stimulus gains the power to predict the response that the other stimulus already produces. Stimulus is anything one can respond to. Response – is any behavior or action. <br /> John Watson was the father of behaviorism. <br />List the components of classical conditioning. The five basic components of classical conditioning are the:<br /> UCS – stimulus that automatically triggers a response<br />CS – formerly a neural stimulus hat after repeated pairings with the UCS – <br />has gained the power to trigger the same response that the UCS triggers. <br />UCR – reflexive unlearned response.<br />The CR does not differ from the UCR in content. The CR is the same as a UCR.<br />The CR is a learned response<br />Explain Pavlov’s theory where a neutral stimulus becomes capable of evoking a response through pairing with an unconditioned stimulus. Give two (2) examples to demonstrate your understanding.<br />Describe how consequences influence behavior. What is the law of effect? (Edward Thorndike)The statement that behaviors followed by favorable consequences will occur more frequently and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences will decrease.<br />What are the consequences of punishment in controlling behavior? Punishment decreases the chance of a behavior will appear in the future. Punishment should be limited to occasions that protect the learner from immediate dangerous consequences. Punishment takes two forms: an undesirable event that follows a behavior (pain from touching a stove) or the end of a desirable state or event following a havior. (losing phone use because you ran up the phone bill). Punishment can suppress behavior temporarily. In the long run punishment may teach the person o avoid displaying he behavior when the person who delivered the punishment is present. Physical punishment can also teach violent behavior. <br />How can the use of shaping help to correct behavior? Reward the behavior. As they become more similar to the one you want to teach. (ride a bike)<br />Discuss Skinner’s contributions to popularizing behaviorism. Introducing the funemental principle of reinforcement and punishment. <br />Describe learning by observation (observational learning) like Bandura’s bobo doll study. Learning by observing models and imitating their behavior. Children can learn to behave aggressively by observing others behavior aggressively.<br />How do cognitive approaches of learning differ from classical and operant learning?<br />Cognitive Classical Operant<br />Identify biological constraints on learning. Our inborn tendencies make us less likely o do<br />Things that might threaten our lives.<br />Identify factors affecting academic performance that may differ for males and females.<br />Generalization vs. Discrimination<br />Instructions: Below are 4 everyday situations in which some form of operant behavior is occurring. After reading each scenario, indicate whether it is an instance of generalization or discrimination.<br />Situation 1:<br />We stop our vehicles when the traffic light is red, but continue through the light when it is green.<br />Situation 2:<br />We sit quietly in our seats during class examinations, church services, theatrical presentations, and funerals.<br />Situation 3:<br />We raise our hands before speaking in class but not while talking to a friend or while at a party.<br />Situation 4:<br />We put our feet up on our desk and coffee table at home, but not on our grandparents' coffee table.<br />Situation 5:<br />We mistake a stranger for a friend of ours.<br />Situation 6:<br />We answer the doorbell when it was really the phone that was ringing.<br />Correct Answers:<br />Situation 1: DiscriminationSituation 2: GeneralizationSituation 3: DiscriminationSituation 4: DiscriminationSituation 5: GeneralizationSituation 6: Generalization<br />Operant Conditioning<br />This module introduces some principles of behavior control through the manipulation of reinforcement.<br />What is the distinction between operant and classical conditioning?<br />Reinforcement and Common Schedules of Reinforcement<br />Define and give an example of the following.<br />Positive reinforcement<br />Negative reinforcement<br />What is intermittent, or partial, reinforcement?<br />Define the following schedules of reinforcement and give an everyday example of each.<br />Fixed ratio<br />Fixed interval<br />Variable ratio<br />Variable interval<br />The Effects of Different Schedules of Reinforcement on Rat Behavior<br />5. Which schedules of reinforcement are most resistant to extinction? Why do you think this is so?<br />Reinforcement vs. Punishment<br />Reinforcement = any event that increases the frequency of a desired behavior.<br />Punishment = any event that decreases the frequency of an undesired behavior.<br />Positive = presenting a stimulus<br />Negative = removing a stimulus<br />Put them together to make definitions. I did the first one:<br />Positive reinforcement = presenting a pleasant stimulus to increase the frequency of a desired behavior.<br />Negative reinforcement = ____________________________________________________________<br />__________________________________________________________________________________<br />Positive Punishment = _______________________________________________________________<br />__________________________________________________________________________________<br />Negative Punishment = _______________________________________________________________<br />__________________________________________________________________________________<br />For principle, indicate if it is positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, negative punishment, or extinction.<br />ScenarioIncrease or decrease frequency of behavior?Adding or taking away stimulus?Principle?A wife brings home flowers to her husband because of the special dinner he cooked for her.A student volunteers to answer a tough question in class, and the teacher comments favorably on the quality of the student’s contribution.A child is sent to his room with no supper after presenting a bad report card.Dad and his son enter the checkout lane of the supermarket. When the child screams for candy, Dad pops a sucker in his mouth to quiet her down.Putting up an umbrella to escape the rain.A child spills milk all over the supper table and Mom (having had a bad day) swoop the child up from the high chair and spanks him.A student has a terrible headache after an intense preparation period for a test. He takes two aspirin to make it go away.Two children, who usually spend most of their time fighting, finally play peaceably over a coloring book. Dad peeks in and sighs, “At last, they are getting along.” He returns to work without saying anything to them.Hurrying home in the winter to get out of the cold.A spoiled child is being driven by a fast-food restaurant, she begins screaming that she must have French fries or she won’t survive. The parents surrender and drive in for a large supply.A teenager whines about having nothing to do. Dad gives him a lecture about all the stuff in his room and the good old days when he, the father, didn’t have all that stuff but still managed to be happy.A terrorist applies an electric current to the feet of a spy to make her confess. She tells him everything she knows.<br />Learning Review Questions<br />2 – Name two scientists famous for their studies of classical conditioning<br />3 – What scientist first studied operant condition by examining the behavior of rats in a box with levers that gave them rewards?<br />4 – As a child, you were playing in the yard one day when a neighbor’s cat wandered over. Your mother (whose has a terrible fear of animals) screamed and snatched you into her arms. Her behavior caused you to cry. You now have a fear of rats. What is the UCS?<br />5 – In Pavlov’s original experiment with dogs, the meat served as the (UCS, UCR, CS or CR)?<br />6 – During extinction, the _________ (UCS, UCR, CS, or CR) must be omitted.<br />7 – Bill once had a blue car that was in the shop more than it was out. Since then he will not even consider owning blur or green cars. Bill’s aversion to green cars is an example of ___________.<br />8 – In Garcia and Koelling’s studies of taste-aversion learning, rats learned to associate taste with sickness, but not the shape of food. Why?<br />9 – Give an example of operant conditioning.<br />10 – What is one difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning?<br />Jack – What do we call the type of operant conditioning in which the subject is rewarded for behaviors that are ever closer to the desired behavior?<br />Queen – What type of response is the following: Putting your coat on when it is cold outside.<br />King – Jack finally takes out the garbage in order to get his father to stop pestering him. This is an example of _________________.<br />Ace – Give an example of positive reinforcement.<br />Black <br />2 – Which will lead to faster learning – immediate or delayed reinforcement?<br />3 – What is secondary (or conditioned) reinforcement?<br />4 – Gambling on a slot machine is an example of what type of reinforcement schedule?<br />5 – Lars, a shoe salesman, is paid every two weeks. He is paid on what type of reinforcement schedule?<br />6 – Tom receives a commission for every 5 pairs of shoes he sells. He is paid on what type of reinforcement schedule?<br />7 – Why is punishment considered to be less effective than reinforcement in many cases?<br />8 – Kim’s mother decides to reward her daughter’s enjoyment of karate by paying her 75 cents for each hour that she practices. Eventually, Kim stops enjoying karate. What is this called?<br />9 – After watching coverage of the Olympics on TV recently, Lynn and Susan have been staging their own “summer games”. What does this behavior represent?<br />10 – Modeling another’s desirable behavior is called ____________.<br />Jack – What is latent learning?<br />Queen – What is a cognitive map?<br />King – What scientist studied observational learning with the famous “Bobo doll” experiment?<br />Ace – In order to obtain a reward, a monkey learns to press a lever when a 1000-Hz tone is on but not when a 1200-Hz tone is on. What kind of training is this?<br />