Psychology Part 1 and 2 Lecture Note

Part 1 1. a. Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning, also known as Pavlovian conditioning, refers to what was once a neutral stimulus interacting with an unconditioned stimulus, soon eliciting a conditioned response. Pavlov is most famous for his experiment with salivating dogs where he utilized an unconditioned stimulus (UCS; food) to evoke an unconditioned response (UR), rang a neutral stimulus (NS) until it became conditioned, and soon elicited a conditioned response (CR) once tinged with the UCS. b. Operant conditioning utilizes the same ideals of conditioning, however, there is a behavior-consequence relationship. It is a form of learning that occurs based on the consequences of behavior. With operant conditioning, there are reinforcements and punishments that result from a kind of behavior elicited. Unlike classical conditioning, it takes on a role that directly controls the desired action. B.F Skinner is known for his contributions to this form of learning. A Skinner box (operant chamber) is a structure made by Skinner that is big enough to fit a rodent or bird and that contains a bar or key that the organism can press or peck to release food or water. It also contains a device to record the animal’s responses and either reward or punish corresponding to its behavior. c. Social learning theory is similar to cognitive learning theory in the sense that learning can take on different roles deeming the environment. Most famously, Albert Bandura is known for experimenting on children (within the psychological codes of ethics) to see if acts of aggression could be elicited by exposure to aggressive environmental factors. 2. a. In this instance, the unconditioned stimulus is the hot stove, and the unconditioned response is the child pulling their hand away. However, they do not know the severity of moving their hand away, they just do it because of some sort of instinctual drift. Furthermore, because they are children, they get curious and will touch the stove on occasion. By telling the child “No, HOT!” as a neutral stimulus every time they go to touch the stove, it will eventually become a CS and the CR would be them remembering those words every time before going to touch the stove, not touching it anymore when it is hot. b. Sit the child on the toilet. If they make a fuss or insist they do not want to, I would use positive reinforcement to reward them to elicit the desired outcome. This would strengthen their behavior and make them more likely to go to the toilet, expecting positive reinforcement and rewards. Using a negative punishment (“if you do this, then [insert something negative like getting spanked”) is typically useless, especially in situations like these, considering it will not evoke the desired outcome for a long period of time, only in front of the person who wants to see a certain behavior. c. Teaching a child good manners at the dinner table is most effective on younger, impressionable audiences by acting a certain way and hoping they will mimic the environmental factors. Part 2 1. There are many factors going into why a child may develop a fear of the dark. Classical conditioning may suggest that UCS (the dark) interacted with the once NS (the setting of the light switch), becoming a CS when it was on or off. However, Cognitive learning may suggest that these learned processes could be developed from insight, expectations, or mental processes. Social learning may suggest a fear of the dark was established through environmental factors such as siblings or media. 2. Unless the situation becomes concerning, I would place a night light in the room until they are confident enough to take it off, read fictional stories about children their age overcoming said fear (association), or sleep with them until comfortable.