Learning
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behaviour or behavioural potential produced by experience; the exam tests conditioning procedures, schedules and observational learning.
Classical conditioning
Pavlov paired a neutral stimulus (CS) with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that elicits an unconditioned response (UCR); the CS then elicits a conditioned response (CR). Acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalisation and discrimination are key phenomena. Watson and Rayner's Little Albert showed fear can be conditioned.
Operant conditioning
Thorndike's law of effect: rewarded responses are strengthened. Skinner distinguished positive reinforcement (add pleasant), negative reinforcement (remove unpleasant), positive punishment (add unpleasant) and negative punishment (remove pleasant). Schedules: fixed and variable ratio (based on responses) and fixed and variable interval (based on time); variable schedules produce the most persistent responding. Shaping reinforces successive approximations.
Observational and cognitive learning
Bandura: attention, retention, reproduction and motivation; the Bobo doll study. Kohler's insight learning in chimpanzees; Tolman's latent learning shows learning without performance.
Worked example
A student finishes homework to stop a parent's nagging. Reasoning: the nagging is removed after the response, so the behaviour is strengthened - negative reinforcement, not punishment, because no unpleasant event is added.
Traps
- Calling negative reinforcement 'punishment'.
- Reversing CS and UCS.
- Confusing ratio (responses) with interval (time) schedules.
- Treating spontaneous recovery as evidence that extinction failed.