psychology unit 4 area of study 1learning

8/4/2019 Psychology Unit 4 Area of Study 1learning

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Amberlee Peti

Behaviours Not Dependent on LearningLearning

Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result

of experience. Its a hypothetical construct and relatively permanent.

Learning can be:

Intentional: learning to play an instrument, a sport (e.g. tennis), how to ride abike or snowboard, speak another language etc.

Unintentional: while watching or hearing someone else play the piano,watching a TV show (e.g. Dora the Explorer) that occasionally uses words from

another language.

Active: reciting multiplication tables, repeatedly counting from 1 to 10 inSpanish.

Passive: when hearing about Australias performance in the Olympic Games,listening to a song.

Learning can be a: Learned response: a behaviour change that occurs as a result of experience

and is relatively permanent. For example, phobic response to a fear stimulus,

text messaging.

Reflex action:automatic, involuntary behaviour that does not require priorexperience and occurs in the same way each time. For example, pupillary light

reflex, salivation in response to conditioned and unconditioned stimuli or when

food enters mouth, patella (knee jerk) reflex.

Fixed-action pattern:an innate/inherited response to an environmentalstimulus that occurs in the same way and is observable amongst all members

of a species unless sex-specific. When an organism reaches the right level of

maturation, it will produce the behaviour the first time it is required without

learning it.

The behaviour is difficult to change. The behaviour is complex: it follows a fixed action pattern and appears without

the organism having learned the behaviour.

The higher order the animal is, the fewer the inborn or instinctive behavioursand the more learning influences their behaviour. Only in animals!


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For example, fighting for social or sexual supremacy amongst primates, wolves

turning in circles before lying down to sleep.

Sex specific: nesting behaviours, courtship. etc. Three spined stickleback birds: belly turns from grey to red, builds nest and

protects territory aggressively during mating season. FPA: mother finch builds nest, lays eggs, searches for food and returns. Salmon return to the rivers they were born in to spawn.

FAPS AND REFLEX ACTIONS SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

A reflex is different to a fixed action pattern (FAP) as a reflex is a simple singleresponse whereas a FAP is a more complex response, usually requiring a

sequence of responses.

They are similar as neither a FAP or reflex is a learned behaviour. Furthermore,neither a FAP or reflex can be changed as it is difficult to change both and the

behaviour is similar each time it occurs in both circumstances.

Behaviour dependent on maturation: a response dependent on a

developmental process or developmental processes involving the orderly

sequence of changes that occur in the nervous system and other bodily

structures controlled by genetic inheritance. E.g. stranger anxiety in infancy,

development of depth perception (operationalized as height awareness or fear

of heights).

Is a developmental process leading towards maturity, based on the orderlysequence of changes that occurs in the nervous system and other bodilystructures controlled by genetic inheritance.

Responses that depend on genetic influence generally appear at predictabletimes in development.

For example: most babies begin to crawl at 8 months (it occurs automaticallyand is programmed into the genes).

No amount ofpractice will fasten the onset or significantly influence thecourse ofdevelopment.

The behaviour is due to physical growth not learning.


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Mechanisms of LearningAreas of the Brain and Neural Pathways Involved in Learning

Learning is not confined to a single brain area. Some of the brain areas thought

to be involved in most types of learning are the cerebellum, frontal lobes and

the hippocampus and amygdala.

Cerebellum: Involved in simple stimulusresponse learning such as that seen in

classical conditioning

Hippocampus: Involved in spatial learning and spatial awareness

Amygdala (Limbic system): Responsible for learning emotional responses,

particularly in relation to anger and fear

Frontal lobe: Responsible for learning new tasks


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When neurons communicate with one another, they do so by sending aneurotransmitter, comprising electrochemical messages across the tiny space

between the axon ending of one neuron (which sends the neurotransmitter)

and the dendrite of another (which receives the neurotransmitter).

Neurotransmittersare therefore chemicals released from the pre-synapticneuron, which cross the synaptic gap and attach to receptor sites on the post-

synaptic neuron.

These enable chemical messages to travel between neurons and, therefore,throughout the nervous system to the brain and back again.

Some neurotransmitters have an excitatory effect, and others may have aninhibitory effect. For example, a neurotransmitter may excite a target cell, or

fire an action potential; or it may inhibit a target cell, or make the action

potential less likely to fire.

Synaptogenesis has occurred to produce the synapse between these two cells,to enable them to communicate.Synaptogenesis is the process by which synapses

are formed between neurons.

Once neurons have migrated to their appropriatepositions within the body, axons and dendrites

begin to grow from them. At the tips of the axons

and dendrites, structures called growth cones

extend out finger-like extensions called filopodia.These filopodia appear to search for the correct

route to the target cell and synaptogenesis occurs:

the axons and dendrites project out and link with a

target cell, or form a synapse.


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Synapse formation is growth of new/additional synapses between neurons.

Role in learning includes:

learning inducing synapse formation in the brain and/or strengthening existingsynapses

synapse formation strengthening existing neural pathways and/or building newneural pathways

The neural pathways representing the learning (and memory storage).Long-term potentiation (LTP)is the long-lasting strengthening of the synaptic

connections ofneurons, resulting in more effective functioning of the neurons

wheneverthey are activated. Strengthening specifically results in post-synaptic

neurons being more easily activated.

LTP is a crucial biological process for learning to occur because:

learning is associated with an increase in the efficiency of communicationbetween neurons

AND LTP plays a role in this increased efficiency through establishment of more

effective and enduring synaptic connections between neurons. For example,

easier/better communication between pre- and post-synaptic neurons that

lasts for a relatively long time (and therefore also within the network of

neurons/neural pathway forming the learning and its memory storage).

Plasticity of the BrainPlasticityis the ability of the brains neural structure or function to be changed

by experience throughout the lifespan.

Structural plasticity: physical changes occurring in the brain as a result of

experience (e.g. in neurons, at synapses or nerve pathways).

Functional plasticity: reassignment of function from one brain area to another

as a result of experience (e.g. from a damaged area to an undamaged area).

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF PLASTICITY:

Developmental plasticityrefers to changes in the brains neural structure inresponse to experience during its growth and development.

Developmental plasticity is influenced by the genes we inherit but is alsosubject to influence by experience.

Synaptogenesis occurs most rapidly within the first few years of life, so muchso that the total number of synapses increases tenfold.

Synaptic pruning: the process of eliminating synaptic connections.

The connections that are frequently used are retained and those that are notare pruned. The entire process occurs as if the rule use it or lose it is being

followed.


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A sensitive (or critical) periodis a

specific period of time in

development when an organism is

more sensitive to certain

environmental stimuli or experiences.Example: language acquisition.

Evidence: biological processes such asthe production of synapses during

synaptogenesis early in development

(which may reflect a genetically

directed preparation by the brain to

respond to certain types of

experiences during sensitive periods).

Adaptive plasticityrefers to changes occurring in the brains neural structure to

enable adjustment to experience, to compensate for lost function and/or to

maximise remaining functions in the event of brain damage.

Adaptive plasticity can take place at any time in the lifespan. However, it istypically quicker and more substantial and extensive in the earlier years,

particularly in infancy and early childhood.

At the neuronal level, the two processes for recovery are re-routing andsprouting.

Both of these processes involve forming new connections betweenundamaged neurons, however they do so in different ways.

Neural processes that indicate and enable adaptive plasticity: Re-routing: an undamaged neuron that has lost a connection with an active

neuron may seek a new active neuron and connect with it instead.

Sprouting: the growth of new bushier nerve fibres with more branches tomake new connections.

Thus, sprouting involves not only nerve growth, but re-routing as well.DEVELOPMENTAL VS ADAPTIVE

Similarities include:

both involve change in neural structure due to experience Both involve synaptogenesis. For example, sprouting for adaptive plasticity

enables new synaptic connections Both can occur at any time throughout the lifespan.


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Differences include: Developmental plasticity is genetically predetermined, whereas adaptive

plasticity may be environmentally determined. For example, due to acquired

brain injury Adaptive plasticity results in change in function. For example,

relocation/reassignment Not necessarily a sensitive period for adaptive plasticity change.

Brain Imaging Techniques

Brain imaging techniques can be useful to researchers studying learningbecause they show how specific areas of the brain are involved in different

types of activities. Therefore, they allow researchers to identify localized

changes in the brain due to learning specific tasks. For example, when a

person reads, writes or attends to different stimuli, the activity in specific brain

areas changes.

New functional brain imaging techniques allow us to further evaluate brainchanges in response to learning, development, disease and also recovery

following injury. The ability to capture images of the brain in action as it is

learning is particularly useful in the diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries.

Because these technologies provide a clear picture of brain structures at work,

doctors can use these brain imaging techniques to determine if a brain-

damaged person is aware and engaged in learning. When studying whether or not learning is taking place in the brain, a

functional scan would be preferable, as it will enable the viewer to see

changes as they take place. Functional scans include an fMRI, SPECT or PET

scan.


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Learning Theories (Applications and Comparisons of)

Classical Conditioning (Ivan Pavlov)Also known as respondent conditioning. A type of learning that occurs through

the repeated association of two (or more) different stimuli. Pavlovs research provided evidence of a simple type of learning based on the

repeated association of two different stimuli

Stimulus: an event that elicits a response from an organism Response: a reaction of an organism to a stimulus

After being paired with the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that produced the

unconditioned response (UCR), the neutral stimulus (NS) becomes the

conditioned stimulus (CS), producing the conditioned response (CR).

Learning is said to have occurred when a particular stimulus consistentlyproduces a response that it did not previously produce.

Learning occurs from combining the stimulus that does not normally producea response, over a number of trials, with a stimulus that would normally

produce the response.

The automatically produced response becomes associated with the newstimulus.

Neutral Stimulus (NS) - The stimulus that in the beginning of the conditioningprocess does not elicit the unconditioned response (UCR) when presented

alone. Its known at this stage as the NS because it does nothing.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) - Any stimulus that consistently produces a

particular, naturally occurring automatic response (UCR).

Conditioned Stimulus (CS) - The stimulus that is neutral at the start of the

conditioning process and does not normally produce the unconditioned

response (UCR). However, through repeated association with the

unconditioned stimulus (UCS), the CS triggers a similar response to the UCS

alone.


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Unconditioned Response (UCR) - The response that occurs automatically when

the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is presented. It is a reflexive, involuntary

response.

Conditioned Response (CR) - The learned response that is produced by the

conditioned stimulus (CS). It occurs after the CS has been associated with theunconditioned stimulus (UCS).

Conditioned Reflex- An automatic response that occurs as a result of previous

experience (learned). Involves little conscious thought or awareness of the

learner.


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Graduated Exposure

The steps in graduated exposure are:

Step 1: teach the person a relaxation strategy

Step 2: break down the CS into a sequence arranged from least to most

anxiety-producing (a fear hierarchy)

Step 3: gradually begin to extinguish the CR by pairing items in the hierarchy

with relaxation by working upward through items in the hierarchy.

Note: in systematic sensitisation, fear hierarchies usually have 10 to 15 items.

Graduated exposure can be done by using:

imaginal exposure: imagining a fear-producing situation using visual imagery. In vivo exposure: real-life exposure to a fear-producing situation. Virtual reality technology:use of technology to create a real-life effect of the

fear-producing situation.

The best results appear to occur using in vivo graduated exposures.

Flooding involves bringing the client into direct contact with the fear

producing stimulus (CS) and keeping them in contact with it until the CR is

extinguished.

Little Albert Ethics

Breaches of ethical guidelines in the Little Albert experiment may include:

Participant wellbeing (Beneficence and Respect for the persons): despite theexperiment testing a conditioned fear response, subjecting an infant to a

procedure designed to induce severe anxiety and distress and to potential

long-term psychological harm. Furthermore, not concluding the experiment

when it became apparent the infant was experiencing severe anxiety and

distress.


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Withdrawal rights: not informing the mother of the right to withdraw herinfant prior to or during the experiments (e.g. when Albert experienced

distress), but unclear whether or not this occurred;

Voluntary participation: because she knew Watson and because she was anemployee of the clinic where the experiments were conducted, the mothermay have felt obliged and/or been pressured to permit Alberts participation,

but there is no evidence of either.

Debriefing: not taking steps to extinguish the fear response as soon aspracticable after the experiments concluded;

Informed consent: but its unclear whether or not obtained from a parent socannot be legitimately raised as a breach.

Operant Conditioning (B.F. Skinner)

Operant conditioning is a type of learning where the likelihood of a response

or behaviour occurring is determined by its consequences.

Therefore, an organism will tend to repeat a behaviour that has a desirableconsequence (or that will enable it to avoid an undesirable consequence) and

will tend notto repeat a behaviour that has an undesirable consequence.

Operant: a response or set of responses that occurs and acts on the

environment to produce some kind ofeffect/generate consequences.

The Skinner box is a small soundproof chamber in which the animal learns tomake a particular response for which the consequences are controlled by the

researcher.

Inside the box, there is a lever that delivers food into a dish when pressed.Some boxes may also have buzzers, lights and a floor that delivers a mild

electric shock.

The lever is usually wired to a recorder which records each time the correctresponse is made.

Skinner used this box to operantly condition a rat to produce a particularresponse.


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SKINNERS 3 PHASE MODEL OF OPERANT CONDITIONING (S.R.C.)

Reinforcement is applying a positive stimulus or removing a negative stimulus

to strengthen or increase the likelihood of a particular response that follows it.

Reinforcer: is any object or event (stimulus) that increases/strengthens thelikelihood that an operant behaviour will occur again.

Note: Reinforcement is the process of providing a reinforcer and a reinforcer is

the actual stimulus.

Positive reinforcement involves using a positive reinforcer/satisfying

consequence after the desired behaviour has occurred to subsequently

increase the likelihood of the behaviour occurring again. For example, getting

an A+ in the psychology exam would be a positive reinforcer for all the

studying (behaviour) you have undertaken.


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Negative reinforcement: involves the removal of a negative

reinforcer/unpleasant consequence after the desired behaviour has occurred

to subsequently increase the likelihood of the behaviour occurring again.

Punishment is the delivery of an unpleasant consequencefollowing a

response or the removal of a pleasant consequence following a response.

Punishment weakens/decreases the response from occurring again when itfollows closely after.

Example: until the 1960 or so, teachers in Victorian schools were permitted touse corporal punishment (e.g. the strap) to suppress or weaken student

behaviours such as inattentiveness, lateness, use of disrespectful expressions.

Give a bad thing or take a good thing.

Positive punishment:the presentation or introduction of a stimulus to

decrease (or weaken) the likelihood of a response occurring again. For

example, Principal Skinner requires Bart Simpson to write lines on theblackboard: 'I will not waste chalk.

Negative punishment (response cost): the removal of a stimulus to decrease

(or weaken) the likelihood of a response occurring again. For example, when

Principal Skinner sets up detention for Bart Simpson after school, he removes a

positive behaviour (free time).

Give a bad thing or take a good thing.

KEY PROCESSES OF OPERANT CONDITIONING

Acquisition is the establishment of a response through reinforcement.


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The speed of acquisition is affected by the schedule of reinforcement. The continuous schedule will cause the response to be learned the fastest. Some behaviours that are operantly conditioned are too complex to be

performed completely at the beginning of the acquisition process so shaping is

used to speed up this process.Extinction is the gradual decrease in the strength or rate of a conditioned

response initially established by reinforcement following consistent non-

reinforcement.

It is said to have occurred when a response is no longer present. For example, Skinners animals stopped performing the behaviours once

reinforcement ceased.

There is often reluctance to cease a response that an organism learns hassatisfying consequences.

Response rate can actually increase in the initial stages of extinction. Ifpartial reinforcement is used, the response is resistant to extinction and will

be less likely to extinguish.

Spontaneous recoveryis when the organism once again displays the

conditioned response in the absence of reinforcement after apparent

extinction.

Schedule of Reinforcement- a program for giving reinforcement, specifically

the frequency and manner in which a desired response is reinforced.Two types:

Continuous reinforcementinvolves reinforcing every correct response after itoccurs. For example: a rat in a Skinner box receives a food pellet every time it

presses the lever with sufficient intensity.

Learning is most rapid if this procedure is applied early in the conditioningprocess.

Once the correct response occurs consistently then a different schedule can beused.

Maintenance of the response is stronger if a partial reinforcement schedule isused.

Partial reinforcementinvolves reinforcing some correct responses but not all ofthem. For example: a rat in a Skinner box receives a food pellet after every

three presses of the lever with sufficient intensity.

It is now widely established that responses maintained through a program ofpartial reinforcement are stronger (take longer to extinguish) and less likely to

weaken than those maintained by continuous reinforcement.

Ratio: reinforcement after a certain number of correct responses.Interval: reinforcement after a certain time following the last correct response.


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Fixed ratio schedule: reinforcement is delivered after a set (fixed) number ofcorrect responses. (E.g. every 5

thresponse).

Since this schedule is so predictable, its generally very effective whilst learningis taking place (the acquisition phase).

Although, the frequency needs to be relatively high so that the learner doesnot get frustrated waiting.

Once the acquisition phase is complete, the frequency can be reducedsomewhat as the organism feels confident that the reinforcer will come after a

certain number of correct responses.

Variable ratio schedule: reinforcement is delivered after an unpredictable(variable) number of correct responses. There is however a constant mean

number of correct responses for giving reinforcement (e.g. on an average of

every 10th

response but with variations from the 2nd

to the 18th

response). E.g.

Poker machines: Payouts are set to occur on average once in every 6 turns but

they vary markedly in frequency.

This schedule produces a quickly acquired response and one that is generallydifficult to extinguish.

The unpredictability of the positive reinforcer (money in the poker machinesexample) seems to lure participants more strongly than a fixed ratio schedule.

Fixed interval schedule: reinforcement is delivered after a specific period oftime has elapsed since the previous reinforcer, provided the correct response

has been made (e.g. every 10 seconds). This schedule generally produces a moderate response rate that is often

erratic or irregular.

Normally, once the organism realises that time is the key factor, the responserate drops soon after the reinforcer has been delivered and then increases the

rate of the response as the time for accessing the next reinforcer approaches

(e.g. traffic lights).

Variable interval schedule: reinforcement is delivered after irregular (variable)periods of time have passed provided the correct response has been made.

There is a mean period oftime available for reinforcement (e.g. on an averageof every 10 seconds but with variations from 4-16 seconds).

Correct responses made before the time period has elapsed will not bereinforced.

This schedule generally produces a low but stable rate of response sincereinforcement cannot be predicted.

The behaviour is extinguished more slowly than under fixed interval schedule.SCHEDULE RESPONSE RATE

A ratio schedule produces the fastest and strongest response rate.


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Fixed ratio is the most effective for acquiring a desired response or forlearning a new behaviour as the responses are relatively stable between

reinforcements (due to the predictable nature of fixed-ratio reinforcement)

with a delay or pause after each reinforcer is delivered.

Variable ratio is best for maintaining a desired response or behaviourfollowing acquisition as it produces a response rate that is quickly acquired

and resists extinction. The unpredictable nature of variable ratio produces a

fast/high and steady response rate.

Fixed interval has a moderate rate of responding compared to ratio schedules. Variable interval is least effective for response acquisition as it produces a low

but stable response rate since reinforcement cannot be predicted.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PUNISHMENT:

Order of presentation Timing Appropriateness

Research shows that to eliminate an undesirable behaviour it is better to

positively reinforce an alternative desirable behaviour.

APPLICATIONS OF OPERANT CONDITIONING

Shaping is an operant conditioning procedure in which a reinforcer is given for

any response that successively approximates and ultimately leads to the

desired response or to the target behaviour. Also known as the method of successive approximations. Shaping is used to promote learning when the desired response has a low

probability of occurring naturally.

So a simpler version of the behaviour or a step toward the target behaviour isreinforced until it can be performed completely.

Shaping has been used widely in training animals because reasonably complexbehaviours can be conditioned.

Animal training often involves the same sort of shaping procedures used bySkinner to get animals to perform tricks.

Operant conditioning uses shaping to train dogs for search and rescueoperations, to detect drugs and bombs and to do guide work for the visually

impaired.

A token economy is a setting in which an individual receives tokens

(reinforcers) for desired behaviour and these tokens can then be collected and

exchanged for other reinforcers in the form of actual or real rewards.

Desirable behaviour is strengthened by positively reinforcing responses inawarding tokens.


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Undesirable behaviour is punished by removing tokens, using the principle ofnegative punishment (response cost) to weaken unwanted responses.

COMPARISON OF CLASSICAL AND OPERANT CONDITIONING

Common Features

Acquisition process Extinction can occur Extinction can be interrupted by spontaneous recovery Both have stimulus discrimination and generalisation Both are achieved by a repeated association of two events


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One Trial Learning

One-trial learning is a type of learning involving a relatively permanent change

in behaviour that occurs as a result of one experience only.

A taste aversion is a conditioned response that results from a person or animal

establishing an association between a particular food and being or feeling ill

after having consumed it at some time in the past. The association is usually

the result of a single experience, and the particular food will be avoided in thefuture.

The conditioning of a taste aversion is sometimes known as the Garcia effect,named after John Garcia, an American psychologist who conducted pioneering

research into the phenomenon. Garcia has proposed that the type of learning

that occurs in the conditioning of a taste aversion is quite different from that

of classical conditioning.

GARCIA AND ROBERT KOELLING (1966) EXPERIMENT

Using 20 thirsty 90-day-old male rats. The rats were allocated to one of twoexperimental groups.

Both groups were offered saccharine-flavoured water to drink from a tube.Whenever the rats in either group licked the tube, a bright light flashed and an

unfamiliar clicking noise sounded. Later, rats in one group received a painful

shock to their feet, while those in the other group received a dose of illness

inducing radiation via X-rays.

When they were offered saccharine-flavoured water on a subsequentoccasion, all rats refused it after just smelling the water tube.


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It seemed that rats in both groups had been conditioned to acquire a tasteaversion for saccharine-flavoured water. The CS for each group was a

combination of the saccharine flavour, the bright light and the clicking noise.

The results suggest that rats may tend to associate stimuli in particular waysthat foster survival. For one group of rats, illness was associated with thesaccharine taste. For the other group of rats, pain was associated with lights

and noise.

Trial-and-Error Learning (Thorndike)

Trial and error learning describes an organisms attempts to learn by trying out

different possibilities until the correct solution or desired outcome has been

achieved.

Involves a number of attempts and errors before the behaviour is learned. Also referred to as instrumental learning (conditioning) which is the process

through which an organism learns the association between behaviour and its

consequences through repeated association/experience.

THORNDIKES EXPERIMENT

Thorndike was studying animal intelligence and used cats in a puzzle box. The cats were hungry (their motivation) and they were rewarded for acquiring

the correct behaviour (fish meal when they escaped the puzzle box).

The experiment demonstrated:

When the cat was placed into the puzzle box, it tried much different behaviourto reach the fish as the cat could see and smell it. For example, it attempted to

squeeze through the bars, stretch out its paw.

Eventually the cat learns to associate its action of pressing the lever withgetting out of the box to get the food and pushes the lever immediately

(straight away).

Law of Effect- Predicts that a behaviour that is closely followed by satisfying

consequences is strengthened and therefore more likely to occur again and a

behaviour that is closely followed by unpleasant consequences is weakened

and therefore less likely to occur.

To describe the process of an organism learning to associate its behaviour withthe consequences of it, Thorndike coined the term instrumental learning.

KEY DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING AND INSTRUMENTAL

LEARNING

passive learner (CC) vs. active learner (IL) involuntary response (CC) vs. voluntary response (IL) consequence may be received regardless of response (CC) vs. consequence is

contingent on response (IL)


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Observational Learning Modelling (Bandura)

Observational learning occurs when someone uses observation of another

persons actions and their consequences to guide their future actions.

Also known as modelling because the person being observed is referred to as amodel.

Observational learning is a more active process than either classical or operantconditioning although it is not entirely different from conditioning.

Learning is the internal, non-directly observable process through which thereis a relatively permanent change occurring through experience.

On the other hand, performance is the observable behaviour assumed todemonstrate the learning that has or has not occurred and therefore used to

measure learning and make inferences about learning.

Essentially, learning cannot be observed until the organism physically doessomething that relates in some way to the underlying learning process.

ALBERT BANDURA

His studies have shown that we learn a great deal of behaviour by observingothers and by noting the consequences of their behaviour.

He called this vicarious learningas it involves a person observing theconsequences (reinforcement or punishment) and then changing their own

behaviour according to those consequences experienced by the model.

According to Bandura, we tend to model some people and not others becausesome people are perceived as more significant or important than others andtherefore their behaviour is more likely to be imitated.

BANDURAS EXPERIMENT

Banduras classic (1965) study involved a Bo-Bo doll and demonstrated theinfluence of observational learning on aggression in children.

Bandura demonstrated that exposure to aggressive film and cartoon modelsincreased aggressive behaviours observed in preschool children.

Results indicated that children who watched the aggressive model being eitherreinforced or receiving no consequencesimitated aggressive behaviourmore

than the children who watched the aggressive model being punished.

However, when a reward was offered to the children for imitating theaggressive behaviour of the model, even those who saw the model punished,

tended to imitate the behaviour.

That is some children did not perform what they had learnt from theirobservations until a reinforcer (reward) was offered as an incentive.

When it was offered, girls displayed almost as much aggressive behaviour asboys.

Differences in levels of aggressive behaviour displayed by children across the 3groups were almost the same when an incentive was offered.


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KEY ELEMENTS OF OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING (A.R.R.M)

Attention- Observational learner must closely watch/attend to the models

behaviour and recognise distinctive features.

Attention may be influenced by numerous factors. For example, the motivationand interest level of the observer or the personality characteristics of themodel.

Retention- Observational learner must mentally represent and remember

what has been observed.

Responses learned by modelling are often not needed until sometime afterthey have been acquired. Therefore, memory plays an active role in

observational learning.

There is a need to make a mental representation of what you have observedand the moremeaningful you make that image; the more accurately you will

be able to replicate the behaviour when necessary.

Reproduction- observational learner must be able to imitate/replicate what

has been observed.

This involves converting the mental representations into actions. The learners ability to reproduce the modeled response may be restricted by

physical limitations. For example, no matter how permanently the skills of an

AFL footballer are imprinted in an observers memory, it is unlikely that they

will be reproduced when necessary.

Motivation- Reinforcement- observational learner must want to perform whathas been observed and this will be influenced by reinforcement.

Unless the behavioural response provides a reward for the learner, it is unlikelythat they will want to learn it.

The reinforcement in this element is the key link between observationallearning and conditioning.

Insight Learning (Wolfgang Kohler)

Unlike Pavlov, Watson, Thorndike and Skinner who believed that the learningprocess was purely mechanical, several psychologists in the early twentieth

century believed that animals (and people), rather than learning specific

behaviours, learnt informationwhich they then applied in problem-solving

situations.

The school ofcognitive behaviourism is represented by Wolfgang Khler(insight learning) and Edward Tolman (latent learning).

Insight learning is a type of learning involving a period ofmental manipulation

of information associated with a problem, prior to the realization of a solutionto the problem.


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This is referred to in psychology as the Aha! experience. Can you remember times when youve faced a problem, repeatedly tried to

solve it and finally given up? Then, out of the blue, an idea comes to you and

you try it and it works! You have just experienced learning by insight, a

phenomenon first described by Wolfgang Khler in 1925. Stage 1: Preparation - getting ready period by gathering information about

what needs to be done. May look for leads by attempting possible solutions.

Stage 2: Incubation - a period of mental time out during which theinformation gained in the preparation stage appears to be put aside, but

continues to be processed or reflected upon in the background (or at an

unconscious level).

Stage 3: Insightful experience - sudden realization of a solution.

Stage 4: Verification - testing the solution.CHARACTERISTICS OF INSIGHT LEARNING

The learning appears to be sudden and complete. The first time the solution is performed, it is usually done without errors. The solution is less likely to be forgotten than if it is learned by rote (repetitive

drill).

Once a problem has been solved by insight, the learning is usually permanentand when the problem arises again, the solution will be immediate.

The principle underlying the solution is easily applied to other relevantproblem-solving situations.KEY FACTORS

Whether the problem has elements that can be manipulated in such a way asto enable discovery of their relationship.

Whether the organism trying to solve the problem has the cognitive ability tomanipulate the elements of the problem in such a way as to identify their

relationship.

Whether all the tools, processes and other information necessary for thesolution are available to the problem-solver (within vision or mentally

through prior experience).

KOHLERS EXPERIMENT

Khler was experimenting with a chimpanzee called Sultan. He hung a banana from the ceiling of the room and let Sultan in. Spying the banana, Sultan ran and jumped but couldnt reach it. Unlike Thorndikes cat in the puzzle box, Sultan didnt make lots of attempts to

get the banana; he paced around the room and appeared to have forgotten

about it.

Suddenly, however, he pushed a box under the banana, climbed up, reachedthe banana and ate it happily!


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Latent Learning (Tolman)

The word latent means hidden.Latent learningis learning that occurs without any direct reinforcement but

remains unexpressed until is needed. There is a strong emphasis on the role of cognition/cognitive processes in

latent learning.

Latent learning can occur without necessarily revealing itself inperformance/observable behaviour.

It can occur without reinforcement of observable responses. Reinforcement is an essential part of observational learning or modelling

where we pay attention to the model, then retention occurs as how to do the

action is stored in our memories, reproduction refers to us having the mental

and physical ability to perform the action.

At this stage, learning has occurred but it is latent since the behaviour has notbeen shown. Next in the learning process is motivation, where a stimulus

makes us want to perform the action. We do so and the learning is no longer

latent. The final stage is reinforcementwhere a good result of the behaviour

means that we will do it again.

TOLMAN AND HONZIK (1930) EXPERIMENT

In the 1930s, Edward Tolman was experimenting with rats in mazes. In oneclassic experiment he had three groups ofhungry rats and a maze.

For group 1, the food box was always full, providing reinforcement forcompleting the maze.

For group 2, the food box was always empty. For group 3, the food box was empty for the first 10 daysbut contained food

from day 11 onwards.

Each day, the rats were allowed to explore the maze. It was hypothesized that hungry rats that are always reinforced with food

when they reach the goal box in a maze will learn to run the maze faster and

with fewer errors over a series of trials than will rats that are never reinforced

when they reach the goal box and rats that are not reinforced on any of the

first ten trials.

Results for Group 3 suggest that learning had taken place withoutreinforcement during trials 110 and that learning may remain latent until

there is sufficient motivation to perform/reveal what has been learnt.

A cognitive mapis a mental representation of the relationship between

locations (used to guide movement from one place to another).


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Tolman concluded that the rats had formed a cognitive map of the mazewhere they had learnt the layout of the maze but until there was a good

reason (motivation), they did not show the behaviour of solving the maze.

Tolman found that the reinforcer in this case motivated the rats to use thecognitions (cognitive map) to perform the behaviour.

ROLE OF LEARNER

classical conditioning: passive one-trial learning: passive operant conditioning: active observational learning: active insightful learning: active

latent learning: active


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psychology unit 4 area of study 1learning

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