QCAA Psychology Learning

A fear response can be learnt when it is paired with a fear-evoking stimulus.
In the investigation, a white rat was paired with a loud noise multiple times, so that the fear of the rat was paired with the noise.

In stimulus generalisation, the behaviour is shown for similar stimuli, whereas in stimulus discrimination, the behaviour is only shown for the specific stimuli.
Stimulus generalisation occurred when little Albert displayed the same reaction when presented with a white rabbit as he did to the white rat that he had been conditioned to fear.

The infants are likely to show a fear response to the rat.
Participants are likely to have experienced vicarious conditioning, whereby they have learnt to fear the rat through observing the infant’s reactions to it.

Extinction is the process where an associated response is weakened when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus.
For example, to extinguish a fear response a participant could be presented with a rat multiple times without the unconditioned stimulus, until the rat no longer causes the conditioned fear response.

Classical conditioning is a process of learning through association or pairing of an innate response (unconditioned response) with a neutral stimulus to eventually create a conditioned response.

Pavlov aimed to determine whether he could make dogs salivate when hearing different sounds not previously associated with food. Pavlov inserted tubes into dogs' cheeks to monitor the amount of saliva they produced. A neutral stimulus (e.g. bell) was paired with giving the dogs food (unconditioned stimulus), producing the unconditioned response of salivation. This was repeated multiple times. Pavlov found that eventually the bell (conditioned stimulus) would produce the conditioned response of salivation without the presence of the food.

Pavlov's work is the foundation of behaviourism, and inspired the work of future researchers such as Watson and Rayner who were able to apply his principles to a human child. Pavlov's work alsoshowed that a normally instinctual or reflexive response could be learnt, that learning could be generalised to similar stimuli, and that a learnt response could be removed by no longer presenting the unconditioned stimulus (extinction).

Three ethical guidelines for the use of animals in research are replacement, reduction, and refinement. Gladys is unable to replace the dogs with an insentient option, so replacement cannot be used to make the study more ethical. Gladys can use reduction by reducing the number of dogs required, conducting the study on one or two dogs rather than a large number of dogs. Gladys can use refinement to minimise the harm caused to the dogs; she can implement a different technique of measuring saliva that does not require the dogs to be operated on.

The advertisement uses classical conditioning principles because the drink acts as a neutral stimulus that is repeatedly paired with unconditioned stimuli (images of people having fun) that promote a positive emotional response. With repetition, the drink becomes a conditioned stimulus that can produce positive feelings on its own.

Process 1: Attention

Justification: The viewer is more likely to actively focus on the drink and encode information about it if it is associated with someone famous.

Process 2: Retention

Justification: Viewers are more likely to remember the product and the pleasant feelings associated with it because it is linked in memory with someone they admire.

Social learning theory is a theory of learning where behaviours are learnt through observation of others' interaction with the environment.

The process of observational learning described by Bandura involves attention, which must be paid to the behaviour and the features of it recognised. Retention of a memory of the behaviour must occur. Reproduction of the behaviour relies on the capacity of the individual to be able to replicate it. Motivation is also needed in order to enhance the likelihood of a behaviour being reproduced, which is where they believe the behaviour will have a desirable result. Reinforcement increases motivation; this can be vicarious, by seeing someone else rewarded for the behaviour.

The aim of Bandura, Ross and Ross' (1961) study was to determine whether children could learn aggressive behaviours through observation. The participants were split into three conditions: one group observed adults attacking a Bobo doll, the second group observed adults playing in a calm way and ignoring the Bobo doll, and the third group were not exposed to a model. All the children were exposed to a mild aggression arousal stage where they were taken individually into a room with toys but were told that they were reserved for other children. The children were finally individually taken into a room with a choice of aggressive and non-aggressive toys and left for 20 minutes, with their behaviour observed and recorded. The findings were that children in the aggressive condition engaged in more aggressive behaviour than those in the non-aggressive or control conditions, and that children were more likely to imitate the behaviour when the model had been of the same gender.

Applying this to Nick, he paid attention to the behaviour of Nicholas the Destroyer in his video game. Nick remembered the behaviours in the game, retaining the memory. Nick had the physical capacity to replicate the behaviours. Nick was motivated by seeing the behaviour as positive in the game. Nick may have experienced reinforcement vicariously by seeing the character rewarded in the game.

Nick's behaviour changed but Stacy's did not because a behaviour is more likely to be repeated when the learner identifies with the model. Nick had the same gender and name as the character, making him more likely to identify with the character than Stacy.

The ethical guidelines and practices related to human participants in research include protection from harm, where researchers must protect participants from experiencing any physiological or psychological harm as a result of the research. Informed consent requires that participants must be made aware of the procedure and purpose of the research and give their consent to this. Withdrawal rights mean participants have the right to remove themselves from research at any time. Deception dictates that participants in research should not be misled about the purpose of an experiment unless absolutely necessary. Confidentiality requires that researchers should not supply any information gathered from participants to anyone else without the consent of the participants and must take steps to ensure this information is kept secure. Privacy means researchers must ensure that they refrain from unnecessary intrusion into the private lives of participants and collect only information that directly relates to the research. Voluntary participation ensures participants should only engage in the research of their own will and be free from any pressure or coercion. Debriefing means participants have the right to be fully informed about what has occurred in the research at its conclusion, including the results.

Ethical concerns associated with Bandura, Ross and Ross' experiment are that

• researchers failed to protect the children from harm, as the aim of the experiment was for the children to learn aggressive behaviours and the children were exposed to aggression in the experiment.
• researchers failed to maintain the participants' confidentiality, as the research was filmed and has been made publicly available.
• voluntary participation may also have been undermined by using students from a nursery school, as in a school setting it is likely that participants would feel pressured to participate.

An example of stimulus generalisation is the pressing of various structures in a ‘Skinner box’, not just the lever.

In operant conditioning, negative reinforcement increases the frequency of the target behaviour by removing an unpleasant stimulus in response to the behaviour. An example is a shock turning off when a rat in a Skinner box presses a lever.

Positive reinforcement increases the frequency of the target behaviour by providing a pleasant stimulus in response to the behaviour. An example is a food reward given to a rat when a lever is pressed.

Punishments decrease the frequency of the target behaviour by introducing negative stimuli or by removing positive stimuli. An example is a rat receiving a shock when a lever is pressed, thereby reducing the frequency of lever pressing.

Bandura

The individual has to observe the behaviour (to copy) and cognitive processes need to determine if the person is motivated to copy it

Uncle

Vicarious reinforcement occurred when Ade’s aunt praised Ade’s uncle on the delicious food.

Ade learned the consequences: if you make delicious food, you get praised.

Ade will be more likely to choose a model who is more similar to the observer.

Ade is a male, and his uncle is a male.

Any 2 of the following:

• Attention: While Noor has watched her uncle cook, she has not paid attention to her uncle cook.

• Retention: Noor might not have retained a memory of her uncle cooking. This might be because she hasn’t seen it closely enough.

• Reproduction/motor: Noor might not be able to reproduce the skill as she does not have the physical ability to do so.

• Motivation: Noor might not be motivated to cook. This might be because she might not consider the rewards worthwhile.

Antecedent: Kris cries

Behaviour: Achara ignores child's crying

Consequence: Kris stops crying

negative reinforcement.

Response cost could be used by Achara by taking Kris’s IPAD away from him if he continues to cry for chocolate during their shop, by removing a pleasant/positive stimulus from Kris, this will decrease the likelihood of him crying in the future as he doesn’t want to lose the use of his IPAD.

During conditioning the NS/white rat would have to be repeatedly presented just before the UCS/loud noise to form an association between the rat and the loud noise.

Withdrawal rights: if Little Albert was able to leave the experiment when he wanted or when he was feeling distressed, this may have reduced the likelihood of harm/distress.

HERE ARE TWO SAMPLE RESPONSES:

(1). Glutamate is involved as it makes the postsynaptic neuron more likely to fire (an action potential), which strengthens the neural pathways (LTP) and thus increases the likelihood of Little Albert learning the fear response to the white rat.

(2). Adrenaline is involved as when it is released it activates the amygdala in the brain, signalling a fear response (fight/flight/arousal) and thus increasing the likelihood of Little Albert forming a memory of the fear response to the white rat.