Transcript AP PSYCHOLOGY Review for the AP Exam Chapter 5-

AP PSYCHOLOGY
Review for the AP Exam
Chapter 5-
SENSATION
Chapter 5
Sensation
*a process by which our sensory receptors and nervous
system receive and represent stimulus energy
Perception
*a process of organizing and interpreting sensory
information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects
and events
Bottom-Up Processing
*analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to
the brain’s integration of sensory information
Top-Down Processing
*information processing guided by higher-level mental
processes
*as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience
and expectations
The implications of this top to bottom flow if information is that information coming into
the system (perceptually) can be influenced by what the individual already knows about
the information that is coming into the system
Sensation- Basic Principles
Psychophysics
*study of the relationship between physical characteristics
of stimuli and our psychological experience of them
*Light- brightness
*Sound- volume
*Pressure- weight
*Taste- sweetness
TRANSDUCTION: transformation of one form of
energy into another-- especially the transformation of stimulus
information into nerve signals by the sense organs. Without
transduction, ripe tomatoes would not appear red (or pinkish
gray--in the case of many tomatoes purchased in the grocery
store).
SENSORY ADAPTATION--loss of responsiveness in receptor cells
after stimulation has remained unchanged for a while, as when a
swimmer becomes adapted to the temperature of the water.
Absolute Threshold
*minimum stimulation needed to detect a
particular stimulus
*usually defined as the stimulus needed for
detection 50% of the time
Difference Threshold
*minimum difference between two stimuli
that a subject can detect 50% of the time
*just noticeable difference (JND)
*increases with magnitude
Sensation- Thresholds
Signal Detection Theory
*predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus
(signal) amid background stimulation (noise)
*assumes that there is no single absolute threshold
*detection depends partly on person’s
• experience
• expectations
• motivation
• level of fatigue
Weber’s Law- to perceive a difference between two stimuli,
they must differ by a constant proportion
– light intensity- 8%
– weight- 2%
– tone frequency- 0.3%
Vision- Stabilized Images on the Retina
Our perceptions are organized by the meanings our minds
impose.
Transduction- conversion of one form of energy to another
Wavelength- the distance from the peak of one wave to
the peak of the next
Hue- dimension of color determined by wavelength of light
Intensity- amount of energy in a wave determined by
amplitude
– brightness
– loudness
VisionSpectrum of
Electromagnetic
Energy
Vision- Physical Properties of Waves
Amplitude: greatness of
magnitude….(physics) the
maximum displacement of a
periodic wave
Wave amplitude
determines the
intensity of colors and
sounds.
Short wavelength=high frequency
(bluish colors, high-pitched sounds)
Great amplitude
(bright colors, loud sounds)
Long wavelength=low frequency
(reddish colors, low-pitched sounds)
Small amplitude
(dull colors, soft sounds)
Vision
Pupil- adjustable opening in the center of the
eye
Iris- a ring of muscle that forms the colored
portion of the eye around the pupil and
controls the size of the pupil opening
Lens- transparent structure behind pupil that
changes shape to focus images on the retina
Vision
Accommodation --the process by which the eye’s lens changes
shape to help focus near or far objects on the retina
– change in shape of lens
– focus near objects
Retina --the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing
receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the
processing of visual information
–
–
–
–
–
inner surface of eye
light sensitive
contains rods and cones
layers of neurons
beginning of visual information processing
Retina’s Reaction to Light- Receptors
Optic nerve- nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain
Blind Spot- point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, creating a “blind
spot” because there are no receptor cells located there
Fovea- central point in the retina, around which the eye’s cones cluster
Retina’s Reaction to Light- Receptors
Cones
– near center of retina
(fovea)
– fine detail and color vision
– daylight or well-lit
conditions
Rods
– peripheral retina
– detect black, white and
gray
– twilight or low light
**Nocturnal
animals such as
mice, toads, rats
and bats have
retinas made up
almost entirely of
rods.
**Rods are more sensitive to
light than the cones which is
why the world looks
colorless at night.
Vision- Receptors
Receptors in the Human Eye
Cones
Rods
Number
6 million
120 million
Location in
retina
Center
Periphery
Sensitivity in
dim light
Low
High
Color sensitive?
Yes
No
Vision
Acuity- the sharpness of vision
Nearsightedness --condition in which nearby objects are seen
more clearly than distant objects because distant objects in
front of retina
– nearby objects seen more clearly
– lens focuses image of distant objects in front of retina
Farsightedness --condition in which faraway objects are seen
more clearly than near objects because the image of near
objects is focused behind retina
– faraway objects seen more clearly
– lens focuses near objects behind retina
Vision
Farsighted
Vision
Light rays from near objects
focus behind the retina
creating a blur.
Nearsighted
Vision
Normal
Vision
Light rays from distant objects focus
in front…when image reaches the
back, the rays spread out creating a
blur.
Visual Information Processing
Feature Detectors
– neurons in the visual
cortex
respond
to specific features
– shape
– angle
– movement
Cell’s
responses
Stimulus
Illusory Contours
Subjective Contours
Visual Information Processing
Parallel Processing
– simultaneous processing
of several dimensions
through multiple
pathways (color, motion,
form, depth)
Trichromatic (three color) Theory
– Young (1802) and Helmholtz (1850)
– three different retinal color receptors
• red
You see colors according to their
• green
response to the wavelengths of light
• blue
striking the retina---short-preferring
(blue), middle-preferring (green), and
long-preferring (red).
Visual Information Processing
Opponent-Process Theoryopposing retinal processes enable
color vision
“ON”
“OFF”
red
green
green
red
blue
yellow
yellow blue
black
white
white
black
Visual Information Processing
Color Constancy
Perceiving familiar objects as having consistent color, even if
changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the
object
Audition
Audition
• the sense of
hearing
Frequency
• the number of
complete
wavelengths that
pass a point in a
given time
Pitch
• a tone’s highness or
lowness
• depends on
frequency
Outer Ear
– Auditory Canal
– Eardrum
Middle Ear --chamber
between eardrum and
cochlea containing
three tiny bones
(hammer, anvil,
stirrup) that
concentrate the
vibrations of the
eardrum on the
cochlea’s oval window
Inner Ear --innermost
part of the ear,
containing the
cochlea, semicircular
canals, and vestibular
sacs
– oval window
– Cochlea-- coiled,
bony, fluid-filled
tube in the inner
ear
– basilar
membrane
– hair cells
Audition- The Ear
Audition
Place Theory
– the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place
where the cochlea’s membrane is stimulated
Frequency Theory
– the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up
the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone,
thus enabling us to sense its pitch
How We Locate Sounds
Conduction Hearing Loss
– hearing loss caused by damage to the mechanical system that
conducts sound waves to the cochlea
Nerve Hearing Loss
– hearing loss caused by damage to the cochlea’s receptor cells or
to the auditory nerve
Amplitude required for
perception relative to
20-29 year-old group
Older people tend to hear low frequencies well but
suffer hearing loss for high frequencies
20-29 years
1
time
30-39 years
40-49 years
10
times
100
times
1000
times
50-59 years
Over 60 years
32
64
128 256 512 1024 2048 4096 8192 16384
Frequency of tone in waves per second
Low
Pitch
High
Touch
Skin Sensations
– pressure
• only skin
sensation with
identifiable
receptors
– warmth
– cold
– pain
Pain
Gate-Control Theory
– theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological “gate” that blocks
pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain
– “gate” opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve
fibers
– “gate” closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from
the brain
Sometimes a child can be afflicted with a disorder known
as CIPA -- congenital insensitivity to pain with
anhidrosis, She can feel touch, her brain doesn't
receive signals that she's experiencing pain, and she
hardly sweats.
When Gabby was 4 months old, she was biting her fingers until they bled. By
the time she was 2, her teeth had to be removed so she wouldn't hurt herself.
When she was a toddler, Gabby scratched her cornea and was given eye gel,
The thick gel had a reflux reaction to rub your eye, Because one eye became
so infected, it had to be removed
Taste
Taste Sensations
– sweet
– sour
– salty
– bitter
Sensory Interaction
– the principle that one sense may influence another
– as when the smell of food influences its taste
Age, Sex and Sense of Smell
Number
of correct
answers
Women and young adults
have best sense of smell
4
Women
3
Men
2
0
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-69
Age Group
70-79
80-89 90-99
Body Position and Movement
Kinesthesis
– the system for sensing the position and movement of
individual body parts
Vestibular Sense
– the sense of body movement and position
– including the sense of balance
PERCEPTION
Chapter 6
Perception
Selective Attention
focus of conscious
awareness on a
particular stimulus
….means that
at any moment
we focus our
awareness on
only a limited
aspect of all
that we are
capable of
experiencing.
Change
Blindness
Perceptual Illusions
Perceptual Illusions
Perceptual Illusions
Perceptual Illusions
Picture or
a word?
Perceptual Organization- Gestalt
Visual Capture
 tendency for vision to dominate the other senses
Gestalt--an organized whole
 tendency to integrate pieces of information into
meaningful wholes
Escher
Perceptual Organization- Gestalt
Grouping
 the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups
–
–
–
–
–
Grouping Principles
proximity- group nearby figures together
similarity- group figures that are similar
continuity- perceive continuous patterns
closure- fill in gaps
connectedness- spots, lines and areas are seen as unit when
connected
___ ___ ___ - ___ ___ - ___ ___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___ - ___ ___ ___ - ___ ___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ - ___ ___ ___ ___
Perceptual Organization- Grouping Principles
Closure
Illusory
Contours
Perceptual Organization
 Figure and Ground-organization of the
visual field into objects
(figures) that stand
out from their
surroundings (ground)
Perceptual Organization- Grouping Principles
Gestalt
grouping
principles
are at work
here.
Perceptual Organization-Depth Perception
Depth Perception
– ability to see objects in
three dimensions
– allows us to judge distance
Binocular cues
– retinal disparity
• images from the two
eyes differ
• closer the object, the
larger the disparity
– convergence
• neuromuscular cue
• two eyes move inward
for near objects
Visual Cliff
Perceptual Organization-Depth Perception
Monocular Cues
– relative size **
• smaller image is more distant
– interposition
• closer object blocks distant object
– relative clarity
• hazy object seen as more distant
– texture coarse --> close
fine --> distant
– relative height **
• higher objects seen as more distant
– relative motion
• closer objects seem to move faster
– linear perspective
• parallel lines converge with distance
– relative brightness
• closer objects appear brighter
Interposition
Light &
Shadow
Perceptual Organization-Depth Perception
Perspective Techniques
Perceptual Organization:
Depth Perception
Illusory Depth
Photographer Walter Wick cut out
pieces of paper shaped to imitate
stair positions and colored them to
simulate light and shadow.
Perceptual Constancy
Perceptual Constancy
perceiving objects as unchanging despite changes in retinal
image
• color
• shape
• size
Ponzo Illusion
Perceptual Organization-Muller-Lyer Illusion
Perceptual Organization-Brightness Contrast
Perceptual OrganizationBrightness Contrast
Perceptual
Constancy: We
know that the
shadow doesn’t
change the color of
tile B to the same as
tile A, even when it
looks that way.
Sensory RestrictionBlakemore & Cooper, 1970
Kittens raised without
exposure to
horizontal lines later
had difficulty
perceiving horizontal
bars.
Perceptual Interpretation
Perceptual Adaptation
– (vision) ability to adjust to an
artificially displaced visual field
• prism glasses
Perceptual Set
– a mental predisposition to perceive
one thing and not another
Perceptual SetSchemas
What you see in the center is
influenced by perceptual set
Perception and the Human Factor
Human Factors Psychology
 explores how people and machines interact
 explores how machine and physical environments can be
adapted to human behaviors
Perceptual Set- Human Factors
10
Altitude
(thousands
of feet)
Pilot’s perceived
descent path
8
6
Altitude looks
this much higher
4
2
0
Actual
descent
path
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
Distance from runway (miles)
2
CONSCIOUSNESS
Chapter 7
Consciousness
*our awareness of ourselves and our environments
*the process by which the brain creates a model of internal and
external experience.
CORE CONCEPT: Consciousness can take many forms, while other mental
processes occur simultaneously outside our awareness.
STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Some occur
spontaneously
Some are
physiologically
induced
Some are
psychologically
induced
Daydreaming
Drowsiness
Dreaming
Hallucinations
Orgasm
Food or oxygen
starvation
Sensory
deprivation
Hypnosis
Meditation
Consciousness is not good at multitasking: So, if you try to drive while
talking on the cell phone, you have to shift your attention back and forth
between tasks.
The NONCONSCIOUS MIND
*Preconscious: defined as memories of events (i.e. a wedding)
and facts (i.e. Lansing is the capital of Michigan) that have once
been the focus of attention
*Unconscious: defined as many levels of processing that occur
without awareness, including brain systems and others that can
have subtle influences on behavior.
PRIMING: a technique that has an influence on answers people give
without their being conscious that they were influenced.
There are many possible answers to this question, but I increased the
probability that you would chose the word, DEFINE, by using it twice in
the previous slide.
Sleep and Dreams
Biological Rhythms
 periodic physiological fluctuations
Circadian Rhythm
 the biological clock
 regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle, such as of
wakefulness and body temperature
Daydreaming
 *mildly, altered state of consciousness
*attention inward to memories, expectations, and desires
often with vivid mental imagery
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep
 *recurring sleep stage
 *vivid dreams
 “paradoxical sleep”
 muscles are generally relaxed, but other body systems are active
Brain Waves and Sleep Stages
Alpha Waves
 slow waves of a
relaxed, awake
brain
Delta Waves
 large, slow waves
of deep sleep
Hallucinations
 false sensory
experiences
Stages in a Typical Night’s Sleep
Awake
Sleep
stages
1
2
3
REM
4
0
1
2
3
4
Hours of sleep
5
6
7
Sleep Across the Lifespan
How much sleep we need depend on several factors:
*genetics--different for each species
*circadian rhythms
*personal characteristics and habits
*exercise influences the need for sleep (however, strenuous
physical activity increase the amount of slow-wave stage 4 sleep)
What interferes with sleep?
*Exercise increases endorphins and activity in your system.
It is best to exercise in the early morning or late afternoon.
*Eating activates the digestive system. It is best to eat prior
to 6 or 7:00 pm.
*Alcohol depresses activity in the brain that control our selfmonitoring behaviors. While it will initially induce relaxation,
overuse will interfere with REM sleep and cause insomnia
and infrequent sleep patterns.
Dreams
*sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing
through a sleeping person’s mind
*hallucinatory imagery
*discontinuities
*incongruities
*delusional acceptance of the content
*difficulties remembering
Sigmund Freud--The Interpretation of Dreams (1900)
 wish fulfillment
 discharge otherwise unacceptable feelings
Manifest Content
 remembered story line
Latent Content
 underlying meaning
As Information Processing
 helps facilitate memories
REM Rebound
 REM sleep increases following REM sleep
deprivation
ACTIVATION-SYNTHESIS THEORY
Dreams result when the sleeping brain tries to make sense
of its own spontaneous bursts of activity.
In this view, dreams originate when their own periodic neural discharges
emitted by the brain stem. When the energy sweeps over the cerebral cortex,
the sleeper experiences impressions of sensation, memory, motivation,
emotion and movement. (Hobson, McCarley 1977)
Sleep Disorders
Insomnia
*persistent problems in falling or staying asleep
Narcolepsy
*uncontrollable sleep attacks
Sleep Apnea
*temporary cessation of breathing, as much as several hundred
times a night …..(it’s normal to cease breathing a few times
an hour during the night)
*momentary reawakenings
Nightmares
Occur in REM sleep during the early morning hours
Night Terrors
 occur within 2 or 3 hours of falling asleep, usually during
Stage 4
 high arousal-- appearance of being terrified
Hypnosis
Hypnosis
 a social interaction in which one person (the hypnotist) suggests to
another (the subject) that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or
behaviors will spontaneously occur
Posthypnotic Amnesia
 supposed inability to recall what one experienced during hypnosis
 induced by the hypnotist’s suggestion
Dissociation
 a split in consciousness
 allows some thoughts and behaviors to occur simultaneously with others
Hidden Observer
 Hilgard’s term describing a hypnotized subject’s awareness of
experiences, such as pain, that go unreported during hypnosis
Explaining Hypnosis
Uses of hypnosis:
*Research--can induce temporary mental conditions
(anxiety, hallucinations, depression)
*Treatment--phobias, eliminating unwanted behaviors
(smoking, eating)
*Anesthesia--medical & dental practices (not everyone
can do this)
Drugs and Consciousness
Psychoactive Drug
 a chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood
Physical Dependence
 physiological need for a drug
 marked by unpleasant withdrawal symptoms
Psychological Dependence
Tolerance
 a psychological need to use a drug
 for example, to relieve negative emotions
 diminishing effect
with regular use
Withdrawal
 discomfort and
distress that follow
discontinued use
Depressants
 drugs that reduce neural activity, inhibits the
transmission of messages in CNS
 slow body functions
 alcohol, barbiturates, opiates, benzodiazepines
Stimulants
 drugs that excite neural activity in CNS
 Dangers include frightening hallucinations, paranoid
delusions; children born to users at at increased risk for
cognitive problems, emotional difficulties and behaviorcontrol disorders.
 speed up body functions, increase concentration, reduce
behavior in ADHD.
 caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, cocaine, methamphetamine,
MDMA (ecstacy),
Psychoactive Drugs
Hallucinogens
 psychedelic (mind-manifesting) drugs that distort
perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of
sensory input
 Most hallucinogens work at the receptor sites for the
neurotransmitter serotonin
 LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, PCP, cannabis
Opiates
 opium and its derivatives (morphine and heroin)
 opiates depress neural activity, temporarily lessening
pain and anxiety
 Similar to body’s pain relieving chemicals, the
endorphines
 Opium, morphine, heroin, codeine, methadone
Psychoactive Drugs
Barbiturates
 drugs that depress the activity of the CNS, reducing
anxiety but impairing memory and judgement
 Side effect of reducing REM sleep time; withdrawal from
barbituates results in REM rebound and unpleasant
dreams
 Sedatives, sleep, anesthetic, anticonvulsant
Amphetamines
 drugs that stimulate neural activity, causing speeded-up
body functions and associated energy and mood changes
 Weight control, counteract anesthesia
Cocaine Euphoria and Crash
Psychoactive Drugs
Ecstasy (MDMA)
 synthetic stimulant and mild hallucinogen
 both short-term and long-term health risks
LSD
 lysergic acid diethylamide
 a powerful hallucinogenic drug
 also known as acid
THC
 the major active ingredient in marijuana
 triggers a variety of effects, including mild hallucinations
Psychoactive Drugs
LEARNING
Chapter 8
•
Learning
– relatively
permanent
change in an
organism’s
behavior due to
experience
– experience
(nurture) is the
key to learning
• John B. Watson
viewed psychology as
objective science
• generally agreed-upon
consensus today
recommended study
of behavior without
reference to
unobservable
mental processes
not universally
accepted by all
schools of
thought today
It is widely known that
human beings are born
with only two natural
fears. One is the fear of
falling and the second is
the fear of loud noises.
Where, then, do all of our
other fears come from?
Overgeneralization
John B. Watson in his experiment with Little Albert,
an 11 month old baby, studied how emotions are
learned. He presented (A) a white rat (CS) and (B) a
loud noise (US) to Little Albert. After several
pairings, Albert showed fear (CR) of the white rat.
Later, Albert generalized the fear to stimuli that were
simular to CS, such as (C) a beard.
Association
• We learn by association
– Our minds naturally connect events that occur in
sequence
– Aristotle 2000 years ago
– John Locke and David Hume 200 yrs ago
• Associative Learning
– learning that two events occur together
• two stimuli
• a response and its consequences
CLASSICAL
CONDITIONING
Vs.
OPERANT
CONDITIONING
The core of classical conditioning stems from reflex
responses.
A REFLEX is an unlearned response that is naturally
elicited by specific stimuli that are biologically relevant
for the organism.
Prior to the experiment the “tone” used had no
prior meaning for the dogs. This was a NEUTRAL
STIMULUS and elicits no effect.
* The UCS naturally elicits the UCR.
Dogs were placed in a restraining harness. At
regular intervals, a tone (NS) sounded and the
dogs were given food (UCS). With repeated
pairings of the NS and UCS, the neutral stimulus
becomes the CS and dogs began salivating (CR).
• Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
– effective stimulus that unconditionally-automatically and
naturally- triggers a response
• Unconditioned Response (UCR)
– unlearned, naturally occurring automatic response to the
unconditioned stimulus
• salivation when food is in the mouth
• Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
– previously neutral stimulus that, after association with an
unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned
response
• Conditioned Response (CR)
– learned response to a previously neutral conditioned
stimulus
Pavlov’s Classic Experiment
Before Conditioning
UCS (food
in mouth)
UCR
(salivation)
During Conditioning
Neutral
stimulus
(tone)
No
salivation
After Conditioning
UCS (food
in mouth)
Neutral
stimulus
(tone)
UCR
(salivation)
CS
(tone)
CR (salivation)
Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning
SUMMARY
Classical Conditioning
– organism comes to associate two stimuli
• lightning and thunder
• tone and food
– begins with a reflex
– a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that evokes
the reflex
– neutral stimulus eventually comes to evoke the reflex
Acquisition
– the initial stage of learning, during which a response is
established and gradually strengthened
– in classical conditioning, the phase in which a stimulus comes
to evoke a conditioned response
– in operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced
response
Extinction
– diminishing of a CR
– in classical conditioning, when a UCS does not follow a CS
– in operant conditioning, when a response is no longer
reinforced
Spontaneous Recovery
-reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished CR
Generalization
tendency for a stimuli similar to CS to evoke similar responses
Discrimination
– in classical conditioning, the ability to distinguish
between a CS and other stimuli that do not signal an
UCS
– in operant conditioning, responding differently to
stimuli that signal a behavior will be reinforced or will
not be reinforced
Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning
UCS
(passionate
kiss)
UCR
(sexual
arousal)
CS
(onion
breath)
CS
(onion
breath)
UCS
(passionate
Kiss)
UCR
(sexual
arousal)
CR
(sexual
arousal)
UCS
(drug)
UCR
(nausea)
CS
(waiting
room)
UCS
(drug)
CS
(waiting
room)
CR
(nausea)
UCR
(nausea)
Operant Conditioning
B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
Harvard University
Operant Conditioning
– elaborated
– type of learning in which
Thorndike’s Law of
Effect
behavior is strengthened if
– developed
followed by reinforcement or
behavioral
diminished if followed by
technology
punishment
Law of Effect
– Thorndike’s principle that
behaviors followed by
favorable consequences
become more likely and
behaviors followed by
unfavorable consequences
become less likely
Thorndike's Puzzle Box, used a cat solving
the puzzle of how to escape from the box.
However, unlike Skinner's experiment with
rats, the cat did not show any systematic
strategies in learning. He simply scrambled
around in the box until he stepped on the
lever.
From this, Thorndike proposed the Law of
Effect which says that an animals learned
response that results in rewarding
consequences are strengthened, and the
responses with punishing consequences are
weakened.
In one experiment,
Skinner placed a rat
inside a box with two
levers, one that issued a
reward when pulled and
the other that issued a
punishment. Over time,
the rat began to stop
pulling the lever that
shocked him and just
focused on the lever that
gave him food.
As a result, Skinner was able
to show the effects of
reinforcement and punishment
in operant conditioning.
Operant Conditioning
Skinner Box
– soundproof chamber
with a bar or key that
an animal presses or
pecks to release a food
or water reward
– contains a device to
record responses
Reinforcer
– any event that strengthens the
behavior it follows
Shaping
– conditioning procedure in
which reinforcers guide
behavior toward closer
approximations of a desired
goal
Successive Approximations
– reward behaviors that
increasingly resemble desired
behavior
Principles of Reinforcement
Primary Reinforcer
– innately reinforcing
stimulus
– satisfies a biological need
Secondary Reinforcer
Continuous Reinforcement
– conditioned reinforcer
– reinforcing the desired response
– learned through association
each time it occurs
with primary reinforcer
– learning occurs rapidly
– extinction occurs rapidly
Partial Reinforcement
– reinforcing a response only part of
the time
– results in slower acquisition
– greater resistance to extinction
Schedules of Reinforcement
1) Fixed Ratio (FR)
– reinforces a response only after a
specified number of responses
2) Variable Ratio (VR)
– like piecework pay
reinforces a response after an
unpredictable number of
responses
like gambling, fishing
very hard to extinguish because
3) Fixed Interval (FI)
of unpredictability
– reinforces a response only after a
specified time has elapsed
– response occurs more frequently
as the anticipated time for
4) Variable Interval (VI)
reward draws near
reinforces a response at
unpredictable time intervals
produces slow steady responding
like pop quiz
In essence, if one's actions
make the thing happen it is a
ratio; if time
must pass then it is an interval.
Operant
Conditioning
We learn to associate a
response and its
consequence
• Punishment
– aversive event that decreases the behavior that it
follows
– powerful controller of unwanted behavior
Punished behavior is not forgotten, it's suppressedbehavior returns when punishment is no longer eminent
Causes increased aggression- shows that aggression is a way
to cope with problems- Explains why aggressive
delinquents and abusive parents come from abusive
homes
Creates fear that can generalize to desirable behaviors, e.g. fear of school,
learned helplessness, depression
Does not necessarily guide toward desired behavior- reinforcement tells
you what to do--punishment tells you what not to do- Combination of
punishment and reward can be more effective than punishment alone
Punishment teaches how to avoid it
Latent Learning
– learning that occurs, but is not apparent until there is
an incentive to demonstrate it
Overjustification Effect
– the effect of promising a reward for doing what one
already likes to do
– the person may now see the reward, rather than
intrinsic interest, as the motivation for performing the
task
Operant
Conditioning
Punishment
Martin Seligman’s LEARNED
HELPLESSNESS
Taught dogs that they were helpless to
escape from an electric shock by placing a
barrier in the cage to prevent dogs from
escaping when they were shocked.
Removed the barrier but the dogs made no
effort to escape.
Father of Positive
Psychology
Univ. Pennsylvania
This “learned helplessness” has been compared to people who
are depressed. They feel past/future events are out of their
control and they are helpless = depression.
Cognition and Operant Conditioning
 Intrinsic Motivation
 Desire to perform a behavior for its own sake and
to be effective
 Extrinsic Motivation
 Desire to perform a behavior due to promised
rewards or threats of punishments
Observational Learning
– learning by observing and imitating others
Modeling
– process of observing and imitating behavior
Prosocial Behavior
– positive, constructive, helpful behavior
– opposite of antisocial behavior
Observational Learning
Mirror Neurons
 frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing
certain actions or when observing another doing so
 may enable imitation, language learning, and
empathy
Albert Bandura wanted to study aggression in adolescents.
He suggested that environment causes behavior, true; but
behavior causes environment as well. He labeled this
concept reciprocal determinism: The world and a
person’s behavior cause each other.
The bobo doll studies:
*made of film of one of his students, a young woman,
essentially beating up a bobo doll.
*showed his film to groups of kindergartners who, as you
might predict, liked it a lot.
*when they were let out to play, the little kids started
beating the daylights out of the bobo doll.
He called the phenomenon observational learning or
modeling, and his theory is usually called social learning
theory.
What we’ve Discussed so Far
• History of psychology
– Modern approaches
•
•
•
•
Research Methods
The Brain
Sensation & Perception
Altered States of
Consciousness
• Learning
What We Have Today
- Thinking
- Memory
- Intelligence
- Language