AP Psychology

1. AP Psychology Learning 12/2/13

2. Learning • Any relatively permanent change in behavior resulting from experience or training. • Associative learning: learning that certain events occur together. • Observational learning: learning from the behavior of others. • Associative learning & observational learning fit best with what subfield(s) of psychology? (not behavioral…) Why?

3. Learning • Habituation: a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure. • Classical conditioning: associating two stimuli in order to anticipate events. • Operant conditioning: associating a behavior with a consequence, thereby reinforcing certain behaviors.

4. Classical conditioning • Ivan Pavlov (pictured) & John B. Watson subscribed to behaviorism. • What is behaviorism? • How did behaviorism lead to humanistic psychology?

5. Ivan Pavlov • Studying digestion in dogs when he noticed their salivation before the presentation of food. • “Psychic secretion” • Measured the amount of saliva produced by dogs and determined they had learned when food would come based on another stimulus—classically conditioned.

6. Pavlov’s terms… • Unconditioned stimulus • Unconditioned response • Neutral stimulus • Conditioned stimulus • Conditioned response • Create a short experiment that labels each of these parts.

8. Pavlov’s other terms… • Acquisition • Extinction • Spontaneous recovery • Generalization • Discrimination • Come up with an example of each for your mini-experiment

9. Classical conditioning & cognition • Though Pavlov largely rejected the influence of cognitive psychology on behavior, the phenomenon of predictability suggests otherwise • Varying levels of utility between two conditioned stimuli

10. Classical conditioning & biology • Negative unconditioned responses, even if not immediate, lead to avoidance. • Aversions to stimuli develop particularly with senses that are ecologically relevant (taste for a rat, sight for an eagle).

11. Videos! • Little Albert (done by John B. Watson): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hBfnXACsOI • CC 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eo7jcI8fAuI • CC 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfZfMIHwSkU

12. Operant conditioning • Classical vs. Operant? • Respondent behavior vs. Operant behavior • Behavior operates based on the environment.

13. Law of Effect • Edward Thorndike put a cat in a box. • Pushing the lever once to get out leads to a much quicker recurrence next time. • Law of Effect: Behavior that is rewarded is likely to recur.

14. B.F. Skinner • Did not believe in human free will • Any behavior is the result of consequences • Designed experiment with rats in boxes that made them repeat a meaningless behavior in order to receive rewards. • Called “radical behaviorism”: all action is determined, not free. Emphasizes observable behavior over any cognitive processes.

15. Operant chamber (Skinner box) • A box with a device that produces a reward of some sort when manipulated.

16. Operant terminology • Shaping • Successive approximations • Come up with a system to get a freshman to do your psychology homework using shaping and successive approximations.

17. Reinforcement • An event that strengthens a behavior. • Positive reinforcement: positive = gain • Negative reinforcement: negative = remove • Primary reinforcers • Secondary reinforcers

18. Reinforcement • Immediate vs. delayed reinforcers • Come up with an example of you favoring immediate reinforcers, despite a cognitive realization of delayed gratification’s advantage. • Continuous reinforcement • Partial reinforcement (intermittent reinforcement) • Greater resistance to extinction?

19. Reinforcement Schedules • Fixed-ratio schedule: set # of responses • Variable-ratio schedule: unpredictable # of responses • Fixed-interval schedule: set period of time • Variable-interval schedule: unpredictable period of time

20. Punishment • A reinforcer that decreases a behavior. • Positive punishment: positive = add • Negative punishment: negative = subtract • Come up with an example of positive punishment and negative punishment for a cat that threw a hairball up on you.

21. Quick activity • Anagrams! • Take the word and write down another word using the same letters. • Raise your hand when you are finished.

22. Learned helplessness • Helpless behavior that does nothing to eliminate punishment or gain reward. • In learning, this usually occurs when punishments (or rewards) are unpredictable and inescapable, thus causing the organism to feel helpless and encourage defeatist behavior.

23. Learning & incentives • Cognitive map: a mental representation of one’s environment. • Remembering a cognitive map is an example of latent learning: learning that occurs but only manifests itself with an incentive.

24. Learning & incentives • Intrinsic motivation: “interior” desire • Extrinsic motivation: “exterior” desire • Overjustification effect: Extrinsic reinforcers -> decreased intrinsic motivation Extrinsic removed -> behavior disappears Intrinsic motivation does not return Extrinsic motivation required for behavior • Example: pizza for reading books

25. Videos! • Rats: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drnnulHw5CM • Operative conditioning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy_mIEnnlF4&feature=PlayList&p=4C9C76AA3D761AA8&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=30

26. Learning proposals… • Due on Friday, 12/6/13. • Create two examples of learning: one by classical conditioning and one by operant conditioning. Rubric on separate paper. • Need some inspiration? Come up with some tricks to teach your pet (or little sister).