Samenvatting Inleiding in de Psychologie
H5 – Learning
Learning about stimuli
Adaptation: adjustment to changes in the environment
Learning: the modification of preexisting behavior and understanding
Novel stimuli: things we have not experienced before
Habituation: reduced responsiveness to a repeated stimulus
- Dishabituation: the reappearance of your original response when a stimulus
changes
Sensitization: increase in responsiveness to a stimulus
Habituation and sensitization are referred to as nonassociative learning. These kinds
of learning result from exposure to a single stimulus. Neither kind involves
associating one stimulus with another. These nonassociative processes cannot, by
themselves, explain many of the behaviors and mental processes that are the focus
of psychology. We have to consider forms of learning that involve noticing the
associations between various stimuli, as well as between stimuli and responses. One
major type of associative learning is called classical conditioning.
Classical conditioning: a procedure in which a neutral stimulus is paired with a
stimulus that triggers an automatic response until the neutral stimulus alone comes to
trigger a similar response
- Pavlov’s discovery →
- Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that triggers a response without
conditioning (food)
- Unconditioned response (UCR): the automatic unlearned, reaction to a
stimulus (salivation)
- Conditioned stimulus (CS): an originally neutral stimulus that now triggers a
conditioned response (bell)
- Conditioned response (CR): the response triggered by the conditioned
stimulus (salivation after bell)
Extinction: the gradual disappearance of a conditioned response → suppresses it,
not completely destroys it
,Reconditioning: the relearning of a conditioned response following extinction
Spontaneous recovery: the temporary reappearance of a conditioned response after
extinction → the longer the time between extinction and the reappearance of the CS,
the stronger the recovered conditioned response
Stimulus generalization: a process in which a conditioned response is triggered by
stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus
- Stimulus discrimination: a process through which people learn to differentiate
among similar stimuli and respond appropriately to each one
Classical conditioning provides a way for organisms to build mental representations
of the relationship between events in their environment and expectancies about when
such events will occur → conditioned responses develop when one event signals the
appearance of another. Other factors are:
- Timing: classical conditioning works best when the CS comes before the UCS
(forward conditioning), rather than when the CS comes after the UCS
(backward conditioning)
- Predictability: classical conditioning proceeds most rapidly when the CS
always signals the UCS and only the UCS
- Intensity: a CR will be learned more rapidly if the UCS is strong
- Attention: an association between a pair of stimuli is most predictably learned
when there are no other potentially distracting stimuli present → the stimulus
you most closely attended to is most likely to become a CS
- Biopreparedness: the apparently natural tendency for certain events to
become linked suggests that organisms are “biologically prepared” to develop
certain conditioned associations
Higher order conditioning: a process through which a CS comes to signal another CS
that is already associated with an UCS
Phobias can be caused by classical conditioning. Classically conditioned fears can
be very long lasting, especially when based on experiences with strong UCS
- Joseph Wolpe: irrational fears can be relieved through systematic
desensitization, a procedure that associates a new response, such as
relaxation, with a feared stimulus
,Law of effect (Thorndike): a law stating that if a response made in the presence of a
particular stimulus is rewarded, the same response is more likely to occur when that
stimulus is encountered again → instrumental conditioning
Operant conditioning (Skinner): a process in which responses are learned on the
basis of their rewarding or punishing consequences
- Operant: a response that has some effect on the world
- Reinforcer: a stimulus event that increases the probability that the response
immediately preceding it will occur again
• Positive reinforcers: stimuli that strengthens a response if they follow that
response → positive reinforcement
• Negative reinforcers: the removal of unpleasant stimuli → negative
reinforcement
• Reinforcement: the process through which a particular response is made
more likely to recur
Escape conditioning: the process of learning responses that stop an aversive
stimulus
Avoidance conditioning: the process of learning particular responses that avoid an
aversive stimulus
Discriminative conditioned stimuli: stimuli that signal whether reinforcement is
available if a certain response is made
- Stimulus discrimination and stimulus generalization also occur in operant
conditioning
Shaping: the reinforcement of responses that come successively closer to some
desired response
Primary reinforcers: events or stimuli that satisfy physiological needs basic to survival
Secondary reinforcers: rewards that people or animals learn to like → also called
conditioned reinforcers
Operant conditioning is stronger when reinforcers appear soon after a response
occurs. Under some conditions, delaying a positive reinforcer for even a few seconds
can decrease the effectiveness of positive reinforcement. Size of the reinforcer is
also important.
Continuous reinforcement schedule: a reinforcer is delivered every time a particular
response occurs → in most cases, reinforcement is given only some of the time, on a
partial, or intermittent, reinforcement schedule
Reinforcement schedules: in operant conditioning, rules that determine how and
when certain responses will be reinforced
1. Fixed-ratio (FR) schedules provide reinforcement following a fixed number of
responses
2. Variable-ratio (VR) schedules also call for reinforcement after a certain number
of responses, but that number varies
3. Fixed-interval (FI) schedules provide reinforcement for the first response that
occurs after some fixed time has passed since the last reward (a period of
time, instead of a number of responses)
4. Variable-interval (VI) schedules reinforce the first response after some period
of time, but the amount of time varies unpredictably
, Partial reinforcement effect: a phenomenon in which behaviors learned under a
partial reinforcement schedule are more difficult to extinguish than those learned on a
continuous reinforcement schedule
Punishment: the presentation of an aversive stimulus or the removal of a pleasant
one following some behavior → frequency of a behavior decreases
- Not the same as negative reinforcement, punishment weakens behavior,
whereas reinforcement strengthens it
- Positive punishment: presenting an unpleasant stimulus
- Negative punishment: removing a pleasant stimulus
Cognitive processes in learning
Learned helplessness: a process in which a person or animal stops trying to exert
control after experience suggests that no control is possible
Latent learning: learning that is not demonstrated at the time it occurs
Cognitive map: a mental representation of the environment → develops naturally
through experience
Insight: a sudden understanding of what is required to solve a problem
Observational learning: learning how to perform new behaviors by watching others
- Vicarious conditioning: a kind of social observational learning through which a
person is influenced by watching or hearing about the consequences of
other’s behavior
Using research on learning to help people learn
The importance of cognitive processes in learning is apparent in instructional
methods that emphasize active learning → better for students and result in better
school performances
Skills that people learn to perform in everyday life develop through learning
processes that include feedback and lots of practice → practice is critical to mastery
H5 – Learning
Learning about stimuli
Adaptation: adjustment to changes in the environment
Learning: the modification of preexisting behavior and understanding
Novel stimuli: things we have not experienced before
Habituation: reduced responsiveness to a repeated stimulus
- Dishabituation: the reappearance of your original response when a stimulus
changes
Sensitization: increase in responsiveness to a stimulus
Habituation and sensitization are referred to as nonassociative learning. These kinds
of learning result from exposure to a single stimulus. Neither kind involves
associating one stimulus with another. These nonassociative processes cannot, by
themselves, explain many of the behaviors and mental processes that are the focus
of psychology. We have to consider forms of learning that involve noticing the
associations between various stimuli, as well as between stimuli and responses. One
major type of associative learning is called classical conditioning.
Classical conditioning: a procedure in which a neutral stimulus is paired with a
stimulus that triggers an automatic response until the neutral stimulus alone comes to
trigger a similar response
- Pavlov’s discovery →
- Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that triggers a response without
conditioning (food)
- Unconditioned response (UCR): the automatic unlearned, reaction to a
stimulus (salivation)
- Conditioned stimulus (CS): an originally neutral stimulus that now triggers a
conditioned response (bell)
- Conditioned response (CR): the response triggered by the conditioned
stimulus (salivation after bell)
Extinction: the gradual disappearance of a conditioned response → suppresses it,
not completely destroys it
,Reconditioning: the relearning of a conditioned response following extinction
Spontaneous recovery: the temporary reappearance of a conditioned response after
extinction → the longer the time between extinction and the reappearance of the CS,
the stronger the recovered conditioned response
Stimulus generalization: a process in which a conditioned response is triggered by
stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus
- Stimulus discrimination: a process through which people learn to differentiate
among similar stimuli and respond appropriately to each one
Classical conditioning provides a way for organisms to build mental representations
of the relationship between events in their environment and expectancies about when
such events will occur → conditioned responses develop when one event signals the
appearance of another. Other factors are:
- Timing: classical conditioning works best when the CS comes before the UCS
(forward conditioning), rather than when the CS comes after the UCS
(backward conditioning)
- Predictability: classical conditioning proceeds most rapidly when the CS
always signals the UCS and only the UCS
- Intensity: a CR will be learned more rapidly if the UCS is strong
- Attention: an association between a pair of stimuli is most predictably learned
when there are no other potentially distracting stimuli present → the stimulus
you most closely attended to is most likely to become a CS
- Biopreparedness: the apparently natural tendency for certain events to
become linked suggests that organisms are “biologically prepared” to develop
certain conditioned associations
Higher order conditioning: a process through which a CS comes to signal another CS
that is already associated with an UCS
Phobias can be caused by classical conditioning. Classically conditioned fears can
be very long lasting, especially when based on experiences with strong UCS
- Joseph Wolpe: irrational fears can be relieved through systematic
desensitization, a procedure that associates a new response, such as
relaxation, with a feared stimulus
,Law of effect (Thorndike): a law stating that if a response made in the presence of a
particular stimulus is rewarded, the same response is more likely to occur when that
stimulus is encountered again → instrumental conditioning
Operant conditioning (Skinner): a process in which responses are learned on the
basis of their rewarding or punishing consequences
- Operant: a response that has some effect on the world
- Reinforcer: a stimulus event that increases the probability that the response
immediately preceding it will occur again
• Positive reinforcers: stimuli that strengthens a response if they follow that
response → positive reinforcement
• Negative reinforcers: the removal of unpleasant stimuli → negative
reinforcement
• Reinforcement: the process through which a particular response is made
more likely to recur
Escape conditioning: the process of learning responses that stop an aversive
stimulus
Avoidance conditioning: the process of learning particular responses that avoid an
aversive stimulus
Discriminative conditioned stimuli: stimuli that signal whether reinforcement is
available if a certain response is made
- Stimulus discrimination and stimulus generalization also occur in operant
conditioning
Shaping: the reinforcement of responses that come successively closer to some
desired response
Primary reinforcers: events or stimuli that satisfy physiological needs basic to survival
Secondary reinforcers: rewards that people or animals learn to like → also called
conditioned reinforcers
Operant conditioning is stronger when reinforcers appear soon after a response
occurs. Under some conditions, delaying a positive reinforcer for even a few seconds
can decrease the effectiveness of positive reinforcement. Size of the reinforcer is
also important.
Continuous reinforcement schedule: a reinforcer is delivered every time a particular
response occurs → in most cases, reinforcement is given only some of the time, on a
partial, or intermittent, reinforcement schedule
Reinforcement schedules: in operant conditioning, rules that determine how and
when certain responses will be reinforced
1. Fixed-ratio (FR) schedules provide reinforcement following a fixed number of
responses
2. Variable-ratio (VR) schedules also call for reinforcement after a certain number
of responses, but that number varies
3. Fixed-interval (FI) schedules provide reinforcement for the first response that
occurs after some fixed time has passed since the last reward (a period of
time, instead of a number of responses)
4. Variable-interval (VI) schedules reinforce the first response after some period
of time, but the amount of time varies unpredictably
, Partial reinforcement effect: a phenomenon in which behaviors learned under a
partial reinforcement schedule are more difficult to extinguish than those learned on a
continuous reinforcement schedule
Punishment: the presentation of an aversive stimulus or the removal of a pleasant
one following some behavior → frequency of a behavior decreases
- Not the same as negative reinforcement, punishment weakens behavior,
whereas reinforcement strengthens it
- Positive punishment: presenting an unpleasant stimulus
- Negative punishment: removing a pleasant stimulus
Cognitive processes in learning
Learned helplessness: a process in which a person or animal stops trying to exert
control after experience suggests that no control is possible
Latent learning: learning that is not demonstrated at the time it occurs
Cognitive map: a mental representation of the environment → develops naturally
through experience
Insight: a sudden understanding of what is required to solve a problem
Observational learning: learning how to perform new behaviors by watching others
- Vicarious conditioning: a kind of social observational learning through which a
person is influenced by watching or hearing about the consequences of
other’s behavior
Using research on learning to help people learn
The importance of cognitive processes in learning is apparent in instructional
methods that emphasize active learning → better for students and result in better
school performances
Skills that people learn to perform in everyday life develop through learning
processes that include feedback and lots of practice → practice is critical to mastery
