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Summary of Unit 4 Learning Psychology
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Entire notes for unit 4 learning psychology A level under Pearson Edexcel Psychology. I made this, used it to revise and got an A* :)
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The learning approach is based on behaviourism – this is the idea that all behaviour can be taught andlearnt. Behaviourist assumptions include:
Simple associations are the building blocks of all learning
Learning can be best explained by external factors (nurture)
The laws of learning are the same for all species
Behaviourist criticisms include:
Human behaviour is complex, it is not all explained by trial and error
Reinforcement is not always important to learning
There must be an internal mental process to learning as children “pick up” behaviours they have
not been specifically taught
4.1.1 Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is the association of a response due to its stimulus. Building up an association
between two stimuli is involved in classical conditioning.
Unconditioned stimulus – a trigger for a behaviour that naturally produces a response
Unconditioned response – behaviour such as a reflex that naturally occurs when a particular trigger is
present
Neutral stimulus – something that doesn’t trigger any response
A neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus can be paired together. This makes the neutral stimulus
become associated with the response that the unconditioned stimulus generates. This then becomes a
conditioned stimulus with a conditioned response.
Conditioned stimulus – a trigger for a behaviour that produces a response only after repeated pairing
with another stimulus
Conditioned response – behaviour that occurs when a particular trigger with which it has been
repeatedly paired is present
After conditioning is over, a person may be left with that response for a lifetime, but it may also disappear
over time in extinction. When a response has become extinct, it may also return very randomly, in
spontaneous recovery.
Extinction – disappearance of a response which had previously been learned, this occurs when the
conditioned stimulus is repeated many times without the unconditioned stimulus.
Spontaneous recovery – the reappearance of a previously lost conditioned response, when the
conditioned stimulus is later introduced.
, 4.1.2 Pavlov (1927)
AIM – to find out if a reflexive behaviour can be produced in new situations through learning and also to
see if associating a reflex with a neutral stimulus produces a conditional reflex
IV – whether the dogs are conditioned or not
*this is a repeated measures design*
DV – how many drops of saliva the dogs produce
SAMPLE – 35 dogs (includes a variety of breeds, raised in kennels in a laboratory)
PROCEDURE –
Dogs were sealed in a room, not allowing them to see, smell or hear other stimuli
The dogs were strapped into a harness to stop them moving
Mouth linked to tube draining saliva into a measuring bottle
A control was conducted, where the dog was presented with food through a hatch, it salivated.
When it was presented with a neutral stimulus (metronome, or electric buzzer) they did not
salivate
The sound and presentation of food were paired together about 20 times
After the conditioning occurred, the dogs were presented with the sounds but no food.
RESULTS – conditioned dogs started to salivate 9 seconds after hearing the sound, by 45 seconds on
average they had produced 9 saliva drops
CONCLUSION – classical conditioning had been discovered, a neutral stimulus had successfully become
a conditioned stimulus with a conditioned response.
Generalisability Evolution says we can generalise from dogs but humans have more complex
brains and thoughts with motives, meaning the use of dogs in the experiment
is not very generalizable
Reliability Standardised procedures and was carefully documented
Pavlov repeated the experiment many times himself over 25 years with
different stimuli and found the same results
Inter-rater reliability as others also observed and measured the saliva
Applications Aversion therapy
Conditioning fears out of people
Inspired many other studies
Validity Occurred in a controlled setting, making the results objective as we can be
sure that there were no other stimuli making the dogs salivate
Low ecological validity and not realistic
Ethics Unethical as animals were not humanely treated, nor given the space they
require etc. but there were no ethical guidelines for the treatment of animals in
the early 20th century and so these were not really relevant
This had great implications for society and was very helpful and had good
social responsibility
4.1.3 Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning is another way to shape and modify behaviour. It is the type of learning where
behaviour is determined by consequences of past behaviour, when either reinforcement or punishment
has occurred. This was put forward by Skinner
Antecedent -> Behaviour -> Consequence
Reinforcement – a consequence that strengthens a behaviour or makes it likely to be repeated. This
occurs when a desirable behaviour occurs, and so is rewarded, making it more likely to occur again.
Positive reinforcement adds something nice, whereas negative reinforcement removes something
unpleasant.
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