Exam 5: Section 3: Learning

Motivation is not a factor in Albert Bandura's model of observational learning.

Only humans have the mental ability to develop the cognitive expectation that their behavior will have no effect on the environment. Thus, only humans can develop learned helplessness.

Robert Rescorla views classical conditioning as a process that involves the active processing of information about stimuli.

In one study, orangutans imitated the behavior of both humans and other orangutans, but they were more likely to imitate high-status or dominant models than low-status models. The orangutans were also more likely to imitate models with whom they had close relationships, such as biological parents, siblings, or their human caregivers. Human strangers were virtually never imitated. This study illustrates that positive punishment factors seem to play a role in observational learning in primates, just as with humans.

Paige is paid every other Friday at her job. In operant conditioning terms, Paige is on a fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement.

The conditioned response (CR) in the "Little Albert" study was the fear response to the loud clang.

Bandura found that observed actions were most likely to be imitated when the model was punished for his or her actions, and when the model was an unattractive, low status member of the viewer's social group.

Although there are exceptions to the general laws of learning, the principles of classical and operant conditioning remain valid.

The radio program "Entrelazado," which is Spanish for "Entwined," was developed in Birmingham, Alabama, to encourage healthy behaviors, including prevention of obesity and tobacco use, among the local Hispanic population. These entertainment-education programs use the principles of discrimination and generalization.

The use of operant conditioning techniques to increase the use of seat belts, train Seeing Eye dogs, and improve social skills in schoolchildren are examples of behavior modification.

Albert Bandura's studies of observational learning demonstrated that immediate reinforcement is NOT essential for learning to take place.

On average, American youth witness 1,000 rapes, murders, and assaults on television annually.

After a series of setbacks, Evan gave up and dropped out of college. This pattern of behavior is called instinctive drift.

Research on taste aversions clearly shows that in order for classical conditioning to occur, the interval between the CS and the UCS can be no more than a few seconds.

Researchers have used a miniature shuttlebox to produce learned helplessness in cockroaches.

Phobias and other irrational fears are always the result of a prior conditioning experience with the specific feared object or situation.

Faced with an ever-changing environment, an organism's capacity to learn is critical to adaptation and survival.

B. F. Skinner asserted that the general laws of operant conditioning applied to all animal species. However, psychologists studying operant conditioning, like those studying classical conditioning, found that an animal's natural behavior patterns could influence the learning of new behaviors.

A major contribution of B. F. Skinner to the psychology of learning was his demonstration of the effects on behavior of different schedules of reinforcement.

Partial reinforcement is one of the most effective ways to maintain a high level of responding.