PSY402 Theories of Learning Chapter 9, Theories and

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PSY402Theories of Learning

• Chapter 9, Theories and Applications of Aversive
  Conditioning

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More Drawbacks

• Suppressive effects may generalize from an
  undesirable behavior to other desirable
  behaviors.
• Punishment may not generalize to similar
  undesirable behaviors.
• The person may not recognize the contingency
  between the behavior and the punishment.

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Explaining Avoidance

• The existence of avoidance behavior implies a
  cognitive process
• Behaving in order to prevent an aversive event.
• Behaviorists like Hull needed to explain this
  without cognition.
• Mowrers two-factor theory was developed to
  explain this but it has problems needing
  explanation.

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Mowrers Two-Factor Theory

• Mowrer proposed a drive-based two-factor theory
  to avoid explaining avoidance using cognitive
  (mentalistic) concepts.
• Avoidance involves two stages
• Fear is classically conditioned to the
  environmental conditions preceding an aversive
  event.
• Cues evoke fear -- an instrumental response
  occurs to terminate the fear.

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Mowrers View (Cont.)

• We are not actually avoiding an event but
  escaping from a feared object (environmental
  cue).
• Millers white/black chamber rats escaped the
  feared white chamber, not avoided an anticipated
  shock.
• Fear reduction rewards the escape behavior.

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Criticisms of Two-Factory Theory

• Avoidance behavior is extremely resistant to
  extinction.
• Should extinguish with exposure to CS without
  UCS, but does not.
• Levis Boyd found that animals do not get
  sufficient exposure duration because their
  behavior prevents it.
• Avoidance persists if long latency cues exist
  closer to the aversive event.

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Is Fear Really Present?

• When avoidance behavior is well-learned the
  animals dont seem to be afraid.
• An avoidance CS does not suppress operant
  responding (no fear).
• However, this could mean that the animals hunger
  is stronger than the fear.
• Strong fear (drive strength) is not needed if
  habit strength is large.

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Avoidance without a CS

• Sidman avoidance task an avoidance response
  delays an aversive event for a period of time.
• There is no external cue to when the aversive
  event will occur just duration. Temporal
  conditioning.
• How do animals learn to avoid shock without any
  external cues for the classical conditioning of
  fear?

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Kamins Findings

• Avoidance of the UCS, not just termination of the
  CS (and the fear) matters in avoidance learning.
• Four conditions
• Response ends CS and prevents UCS.
• Reponse ends CS but doesnt stop UCS.
• Response prevents UCS but CS stays.
• CS and UCS, response does nothing (control
  condition).

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DAmatos Acquired Motive View

• DAmato proposed that both pain and relief
  motivate avoidance.
• Anticipatory pain relief responses.
• Shock elicits unconditioned pain response RP and
  stimulus SP motivates escape.
• Classically conditioned cues sP elicit
  anticipatory pain response rP that motivates
  escape from the CS.

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Anticipatory Relief Response

• Termination of the UCS produces an unconditioned
  relief response RR with stimulus consequences SR.
• Conditioned cues elicit an anticipatory relief
  response rR with stimulus consequences sR.
• Example dog bite elicits pain response, sight of
  dog elicits anticipatory pain, house elicits
  relief

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A Discriminative Cue is Needed

• During trace conditioning no cue is present when
  UCS occurs and no avoidance learning occurs.
• A second cue presented during avoidance behavior
  slowly acquires rR-sR conditioning.
• Similarly, in a Sidman task, cues predict relief
  -- associated with avoidance behavior, not the
  UCS.

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Flooding (Response Prevention)

• Flooding -- forcing a person to experience a
  feared stimulus until they realize no UCS will
  occur.
• Also called response prevention.
• Effectiveness increases with longer exposure to
  the feared stimulus.
• Also used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder
  suppresses obsessive behaviors and fear.

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Thorndikes Negative Law of Effect

• Thorndike suggested that punishment weakens an
  S-R bond.
• Skinners finding that suppression of behavior is
  temporary contradicts this.
• The effect of punishment must be something
  different than weakening of the S-R bond.

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Guthries View of Punishment

• When a punishment occurs, the response to it is
  conditioned to the environment during the event.
• Freezing, jumping, flinching.
• The effect on behavior depends on the UCR
  elicited by the shock.
• Shock to forepaws inhibits running but a shock to
  hindpaws facilitates it.
• Monkeys struggle more when shocked.

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Guthries Competing Response Theory

• Guthrie suggested that punishment works only if
  the response elicited by the punishment is
  incompatible with the punished behavior.
• Gerbils punished for standing upright do it more,
  not less.

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Problems with Guthries Theory

• Response competition alone is insufficient to
  make punishment effective.
• When punishment is contingent instead of just
  co-occurring, it is more effective.
• Contingent means the punishment happens only when
  the behavior occurs, not independent of it,
  randomly

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Estes Motivational View

• When a behavior is rewarded, the motivational
  system becomes associated with the behavior.
• The response occurs the next time the
  motivational system is activated.
• Punishment works by changing the motives.
• Stimuli associated with punishment inhibit the
  motivational state.

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Support for Estes

• Thirsty rats were trained to lever press for
  water and dry lick for air on alternate days.
• Punishment of both behaviors had a greater effect
  on dry licking (a thirst-related behavior) than
  lever pressing.
• If the behavior rather than the motive were being
  suppressed no such difference should occur.
• Results differed with hungry rats.

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Applications of Punishment

• Widespread use of punishment (e.g., spanking)
  probably does not serious harm.
• Two applications
• Persistent vomiting decreased.
• Tree-climbing behavior suppressed.
• Use of such punishment may be preferable to
  ineffective methods.

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Ethical Use of Punishment

• Cruel and unusual punishments prohibited by 8th
  Amendment of US Constitution.
• Rights of individual must be safeguarded.
• APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists
• Least restrictive alternative
• Balance punisher pain against pain if the
  behavior is left untreated.