1. Latent & Observational Learning

2. Latent Learning (Tolman)
Latent learning: learning that occurs but doesn’t show up until there’s an incentive to do so later (stays latent, or hidden).
Cognitive Map: mental representation of the physical attributes of the environment.
Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner completely discounted cognitive explanations of behavior. However, Edward Tolman disagreed. He argued that there was more than learning than just stimulus/response and said that you have to consider a cognitive component.
Experiment: 3 groups of rats in maze. Control group allowed to run around in maze. Group 2 received regular rewards for reaching goal box. Group 3 ran around with no reward for 10 days, then rewarded for last 7 days. Once they started getting rewarded, they learned much faster than the other rats.

3. Examples of Latent Learning
Watching your friend drive to the airport and then remembering how to get there and driving yourself several weeks later. 1
Learning about diabetes in class, not thinking about it for months, and then remembering facts about it when a friend is diagnosed with it. 2

4. Implicit Learning
Learning that takes place without conscious awareness.
Related to how children learn language.
People doing a task where boxes light up, and they have to press them (like whack a mole). Lighting appears random, but actually followed a pattern. People got faster and faster over time. But, when asked, they thought the pattern was random.
Different from explicit learning
Independent of IQ
Decline more slowly with age than explicit learning
People with psychoses/amnesia don’t have problems with implicit learning
BUT dyslexia (learning disorder characterized by difficulty reading) does, indicating that implicit learning needs to be taken into account with remediation.

5. Observational Learning (Bandura)
Occurs when a behavior is learned by observing the consequences that others receive for performing.
Also called “Social Learning” or “Modeling”
Albert Bandura “discovered” this type of learning, which is different than classical and operant conditioning because it doesn’t involve the personal experience of consequences or associations between stimuli.
Diffusion Chain – when individuals learn from other individuals, then serve as models for others.

6. Questions about observational learning
Why would a child imitate a behavior if it isn’t reinforced? Because imitation aids in survival and adaptation, and it’s favored by natural selection.
Do other species use observational learning? Yes, it’s even been demonstrated in cockroaches.

7. Processes that must take place for observational learning to occur
Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation
No motivation to perform if model is punished
Pay attention to model’s action
Remember what the model did
Be able to physically reproduce the model’s actions
Be motivated to reproduce it
You may not be motivated if the model gets punished for her actions.

8. Mirror Neurons
Neurons that fire when performing an action & when watching someone else perform it
Could be involved in observational learning.
The mirror neuron system becomes active during observational learning, and many of the same brain regions are active during observation and performance of a skill. Observational learning is closely tied to parts of the brain that are involved in action.

9. Coping Strategies and Behaviorism
Problem-Focused Coping
Changing stressors or the way we interact with stressors
Emotion-Focused Coping
Alleviating stress by avoiding/ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional need instead
Rat groups – one can turn wheel to avoid shocks and can turn a wheel to stop shocks. The other group could do nothing. They got ulcers and were more susceptible to being sick. Further experiment with dogs…strapped in harness and given shocks that they couldn’t stop. Later, then they were able to escape, they did nothing…they just cowered in the cage.
Nursing home residents given no control over environment declined faster and died earlier.
People who can control work interruptions and move furniture feel better at work.(executives outlive those in clerical positions)
Losing control = stress, and then we just stop trying
Feelings of personal control (our sense of controlling our environment) are important.
Learned helplessness (Seligman) – passive behavior when feeling unable to avoid aversive event

10. Locus of Control (Personality Variable…Rotter)
Internal Locus of Control
Perception that chance determine our fate
External Locus of Control
Perception that we control our fate
Link to attribution theory
External locus of control related to higher depression rates (learned helplessness)

11. Violence in Media Imitation Desensitization
Main research question: Does exposure to violence on TV, video games, etc. increase aggression in children, teens, and adults?
General conclusion from hundreds of studies: “Research on violent television and films, video games, and music reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggression and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts” (Anderson et al., 2003)
Imitation
Desensitization