Learning & Reward Part 2- Punishment: weakening or reducing the probability of a behavioro An averse stimulus is not always a punisher (e.g. if there is a class clown the teacher maytry to punish him by not letting him go outdoors for recess, but he may actually enjoy staying inside during recess)o Punishment is not always effective (e.g. not everyone who speeds gets a speeding ticket)- Examples of reinforcemento A parent giving in to a whining child and buys it candy (giving in is negatively reinforced for the parent, and whining is positively reinforced for the child)o When someone has a phobia of germs, their phobia is negatively reinforced if they washtheir hands after touching a doorknobo Staying at home to avoid overwhelming social anxiety negatively reinforces staying at homeo Taking drugs to remove boredom from your life negatively reinforces taking drugs- The overjustification effecto When someone is rewarded for something that is already rewardingo It changes the meaning of the behavioro The reward provides unneeded justification for the behavioro E.g. getting a trophy for winning a soccer game- soccer is already funo E.g. giving a student money for getting an A- getting good grades is already satisfying and giving them money makes them want to get good grades so they can get more money, not to feel good- Social learningo Learning in a social context; learning from observing other peopleo Social learning theory Focuses on the importance of observing & modeling behaviors attitudes and emotions Learning involves cognitive, behavioral, and environmental influences Bandura and the bobo doll experiment (video)- Children were divided into 2 groups: a control group that watched a model play normally with the bobo doll, and a group that watched a model play violently and beat up the bobo doll- The children who watched the violent model also played violently with the model while the control group played normally with it- This implies that aggression is learned- if children are hit by their parents when they are younger they are more likely to grow up to be aggressive and violent as well- Two more groups were created: a group that watched the model be rewarded for playing violently with the bobo doll, and a group that watched the model be punished for violently playing with the bobo doll.The group that watched the model be rewarded had the highest rate of children that played aggressively with the doll.- *Direct reinforcement/punishment is not necessary for learning Bandura’s social learning with phobias- Research showed that a child who is afraid of a dog but is able to observe a child repeatedly playing with a dog will significantly reduce the fear of the dog.- Implication: phobias respond to social learning as well- Learning and the biology of rewardo Brain function Dopamine is involved in motivation & emotion It is crucial for positive reinforcement The absence of dopamine reduces drive and motor control The experience of pleasure results from the activation of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens (in the limbic system) Amphetamines & cocaine increase dopamine Secondary reinforcers (such as money, good grades, etc.) may activate dopamine systemso Self-stimulation is a model of reward Inter-cranial self-stimulation (ICSS) activates dopamine receptors In an experiment a rat could press a bar and its accumbens were stimulated. It didn’t eat or drink, it just kept pressing the bar until it died. An addiction to gambling, almost like an addiction to drugs, activates dopamine receptors Fun fact: oreos are almost as stimulating as cocaineDevelopmental Psychology- The study of the psychological growth of individuals- Focus on the psychological responses that characterize the different stages of life- Stages of life: prenatal, infancy, childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, lateadulthood- Nature vs. nurtureo Nature argument: we unfold (maturation process) according to genetically predetermined processeso Nurture argument: we are a blank slate at birth and the environment determines who we areo In reality, both nature and nurture factor into who we develop into (both genetics and environment matter)- Critical periods: nature concepto A critical period in which an experience must occur for normal developmento E.g. learning language, visual information (if a child has cataracts at birth and they are removed later on, they still will not be able to see because there is no path to the visual cortex), and attachment (if babies don’t receive physical comfort when they are young they will have long term attachment problems)o “Sensitive periods” also exist- periods in which certain things are easier to learn than in other periods of life (e.g. learning a second language is easier as a child than when you are older)- Important developmental theorieso Piaget- 4 stages of cognitive development (how children think and progress)o Kohlberg- 3 levels of moral development o Erikson- 8 levels of psychosocial development- Jean Piaget (1896-1980)o 4 stages of cognitive development: Sensorimotor stage: from birth to 2 years old- involves sense of touch and motor skills- develop schemas through sense & motor skills- object permanence develops (realizing that even if you can’t see an object it still exists)- Video: “who is that in the mirror?”- young children think they see another child when they look in the mirror, but as they get older they realize it is their reflection Preoperational: 2-6 years old- involves cognition- learning language skills- thinking symbolically (“this object is called a pencil”- a word represents an object)- can’t perform “operations” yet (e.g. when asked when a child’s brother had a brother, the child would say no)- egocentric thinking (e.g. a child asking over the phone if a parent liked a picture they just drew (the parent can’t see the picture))- Theory of mind (video)o Learning that different people have different thoughts and knowledgeo Learning to manipulate others’ minds by lyingo Children were told a story that Mary has money in a box, she leaves, and John takes that money and puts it in his tin. Thechildren are asked where Mary will look for the money upon herreturn. Those that have not developed theory of mind will say the tin, while those that have will say the box. Concrete operational: 6-11 years- Can perform concrete operations- Understand conservationo Things