Unit 7: Learning AP Psychology Mr. Ng

» Classical conditioning involves respondent behavior (automatic response to stimuli). » Operant Conditioning: learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher. (B.F. Skinner)

» B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990) » Behaviorist, author, inventor, etc. » Harvard professor.

» E.L. Thorndike experimented with hungry cats. » He put them in “puzzle boxes” and placed a fish outside. » To get the fish, the cats stepped on a pedal, which opened the door. » The cats clawed at the door at first until they accidently stepped on the pedal.

» The time it took the cats to escape gradually fell. Thorndike’s Puzzle Box

» Instrumental learning: learning in which a behavior becomes more or less probable depending on its consequences. » Law of Effect: behaviors followed by positive consequences are strengthened while behaviors followed by negative consequences are weakened.

» Skinner designed an Operant Chamber (Skinner Box). » The box had a bar that an animal presses to release a reward (food).

» Other variables were often used: electric grid, lights, images, sound… as part of the experiment. » He experimented with pigeons, rats, and other animals.

» Shaping: the use of rewards to guide behavior toward the desired behavior. » Sometimes we reinforce behavior unintentionally.

» Jim hates school, so he acts out. » He gets suspended. » He continues to act out to get out of going to school. » Jim is reinforced because he doesn’t have to go to school. » Teachers are reinforced because Jim isn’t causing them problems. » Suspensions aren’t always the answer.

» Reinforcement: any event that strengthens a preceding response. » Positive reinforcement: using positive stimuli to strengthen a response. » Occurs after a desired response. » Ex. Give candy for correct answer. » Ex. Give money for work done. » Ex. Rub belly of obedient dog.

» Negative reinforcement: removing a negative stimuli to strengthen a response. » This is NOT punishment. » Ex. Turning off alarm clock. » Ex. Taking aspirin to relieve pain. » Ex. Putting on seat belt to stop annoying buzzer.

» Primary Reinforcers: an innately (inborn) reinforcing stimulus. » Ex. Food, sleep, oxygen, etc. » Conditioned Reinforcers: learned reinforcers. » Ex. Money, grades, points, etc.

» Token Economy: an operant training system where tokens are given to positively reinforce desired behavior and can be spent later. » Ex. Titan Bucks » Used extensively in mental hospitals and jails.

» Continuous Reinforcement: reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs. » Ex. If I gave you a Starburst everyday for wearing your ID. » Learning happens quickly if continuously reinforced. » Extinction also happens quickly if when reinforcement stops.

» Partial (intermittent) reinforcement: responses are sometimes reinforced and sometimes not. » Learning is slower, but extinction is also slower. » Ex. Playing a slot machine.

» Fixed-ratio schedule: reinforce behavior after a set number of responses. » Ex. Get a piece of candy for every 5 correct answer. » Variable-ratio schedule: reinforce after an unpredictable number of responses. » Ex. Slot machines

» Fixed-interval schedule: reinforce the first response after a fixed time period. » Ex. Checking for mail at same time every day. » Variable-interval schedule: reinforce the first response after an unpredictable amount of time. » Ex. Checking for ACT scores online.

» Punishment: an event that decreases the behavior it follows. » Opposite of reinforcement. » Reinforcement increases a behavior, punishment decreases it. » Ex. Suspension, jail, parking ticket, etc.

» Critics of punishment: ˃ Behavior is suppressed, not eliminated. Do it again when safe. ˃ May breed aggressiveness. ˃ Creates fear of punisher & behavior. ˃ Does not guide to correct behavior. » Punishment along with reinforcement is more effective!

» Cognitive Map: a mental representation of one’s environment. » Ex. After exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a map of it. » Latent Learning: demonstrate learning only when there is incentive to demonstrate it. » Ex. Don’t do homework, but pass all tests.

» Intrinsic Motivation: a desire to perform a behavior for its own sake. » Ex. Getting good grades for yourself, not your parents. » Extrinsic Motivation: a desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or punishment. » Ex. Money for good grades or spanking for poor grades.

» Learned Helplessness: the feeling of futility and passive resignation that results from the inability to avoid repeated aversive events. » Meaning: you give up and accept the results because you feel you can’t control it. » Ex. Dog being shocked no matter what it does and just lays there. » Ex. Not studying for Psych tests because you accept failing them.

» Similarities: » Both forms of associative learning. » Both include acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination. » Differences: » Classical – automatic responses. » Operant – rewards & punishments to “train” responses.

Unit 7: Learning AP Psychology Mr. Ng

» Observational Learning: learning by watching others. » Ex. Copying dance moves. » Modeling: observing and imitating a specific behavior. » Ex. “I do, you do”, Math examples » We imitate so much in modern society, we gave it a name: memes. » Fashion, music, foods, technology…

» Albert Bandura: psychologist responsible for famous “Bobo Doll” experiment. » Recent survey ranked him 4 th most frequently cited psychologist behind Skinner, Freud, and Piaget. » Considered the greatest living psychologist and one of most influential psychologists of all time.

» Bobo Doll Experiments » Bandura studied children’s behavior after watching an adult model aggression (beat up) towards a Bobo doll. » Results were that children exposed to aggressive models were more likely to act in physically aggressive ways.

» Children observing adult behavior are influenced to think their behavior is acceptable, good or bad. » Conclusion: we are especially likely to imitate people we perceive as similar to ourselves, as successful, or as admirable. » Unfortunately, people copy bad behavior…do you????

» Extending Bandura’s research… » Just like imitating bad behavior, we imitate good behavior. » Prosocial (positive) models can have huge effects as well. » Ex. Dr. King, Gandhi, Mandela, etc. » Are you going to be a prosocial model for your child? What about your peers?

Bandura and Television » Most children in developed countries spend more time watching TV than in school. » In US, 9 in 10 teens watch TV daily. » 2/3 of US homes have 3+ TVs. » Over 1,000,000,000 TVs sets in the world. » TV reaches almost all people!

» In the real world, 87% of crimes are nonviolent. » On TV, 13% of crime is nonviolent. » 74% of TV crimes went unpunished » 58% did not show victim’s pain » Does watching TV violence translate to real world violence?

Results of studies: » Correlational studies do link viewing violence with violent behavior. » Kids: More hours of TV violence = more fights. » Homicide rates doubled with the introduction of TV in US, Canada, and South Africa.

» APA says no doubt it that watching violence on TV leads to acceptance of violent behaviors. » Violence stems from imitation (Bandura experiment) of acts seen on TV. » Prolonged exposure to violence desensitizes viewers to real life violence and it becomes more accepted.