3RD LE Notes: Learning, Personality, Social, & Abnormal

LEARNING
What is Learning?
Relatively permanent change in behaviour resulting from experience

3 Types of Learning
Habituation
Simplest form of learning
Learning to ignore a stimulus that has become familiar
Repeated exposure will make you not respond to it anymore
e.g. if you go to a classroom, it smells really bad but as you stay, the smell isnt that bad
opposite: dishabituation
Observational Learning
Learning through watching what other people do
e.g. wanting to be good role models to your children
Associative Learning
Learning through the connection of two events
e.g. studying means youll most likely pass

Behavioural Theories on Learning; focuses on how behavioural responses are learned through
classical or operant conditioning
1. Classical Conditioning
2. Operant Conditioning

Classical Conditioning
Definition: Learning by which a neutral stimulus (bell) becomes associated with a meaningful
stimulus (i.e. UCS, e.g. food) and acquire the capacity to elicit a similar response (salivation)
non-conscious remembering, involuntary
Ivan Pavlovs Experiment pg. 176
experiment on dogs and salivary glands
Pavlov observed that the presence of lab assistant went near the dog, and the dog salivated
(when the dog saw the lab assistant without the food and meat, it still salivated)
This shows associative learning> dog was able to associate presence of lab assistant to
what is coming, which is food
DIAGRAM FOR THIS EXPERIMENT
meat > dog salivates
lab assistant + meat > dog salivates
lab assistant > dog salivates
This shows that repeated pairings reinforce association between two stimuli
Repeated pairings strengthens the associate between the two stimuli (for sure knowing it
wasnt by chance)
Ivan Pavlovs Experiment Diagram

1 (NS) > (No Response)

Bell > No Response

2 (UCS) > (UCR)

Meat > Salavation

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 3 (CS + UCS) > (UCR)
Bell + Meat > Salivation

4 (CS) > (CR)

Bell > Salivation

Prior to Conditioning
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
a stimulus that naturally elicits a response without prior learning (usually a biological
response) e.g. food/meat
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
A response that is naturally elicited by the UCS e.g. salivation
UCS > UCR
e.g. Food > Salivation
After Conditioning
Neutral Stimulus (NS)
stimulus that does not naturally elicit any response
Conditioned Stimulus (CS) e.g. lab assistant, which used to be a natural stimulus
a previously neutral stimulus that elicits a response after being associated with the UCS
it elicits a response even in the absence of UCS
Conditioned Response (CR)
A learned response to the CS that occurs after the CS-UCS pairing
Difference between Conditioned and Unconditioned:
1. More salivation in CR or UCR? in UCR because nothing beats the original
The Case of Little Albert
Presented a mouse, theres a loud noise (repeatedly, which is the UCS) and of course Baby
Albert got afraid

The Case of Little Albert Diagram

1 (NS) > (No Response)

White Mouse > No Response
2 (UCS) > (UCR)
Loud noise > Fear

3 (CS + UCS) > (UCR)

White Mouse + Loud Noise > Fear
4 (CS) > (CR)
White Mouse > Fear

Extinction of CR
known as unlearning
repeatedly present CS without UCS and CR will be extinguished
CS + NO UCS > NO CR
e.g. bell + no food > no salivation (ring the bell without presenting food, the dog will stop
salivating to the sound of the bell)
e.g. mouse + no loud noise > no fear
If this doesnt work, do counter conditioning
Counter Conditioning
Weaken CR by pairing the aversive CS with a new pleasant response
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 e.g. pair the bell with a toy
mouse > hug the child; give candies
Spontaneous Recovery
A (previously) extinguished CR may appear
e.g. Helen has overcome her fear of toy snakes. However, on one occasion her fear returned
when she found a toy snake in the cushions of her couch.
Stimulus Generalization
CR is associated with other similar stimuli that evoke the same response
The tendency to respond to a stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus (dog
would also salivate to the sound of a SIMILAR tone of a bell)
e.g. a person who reacts with anxiety to the sound of a dentists drill might react with some
slight anxiety to a similar- sounding machine, such as an electric coffee grinder.
Stimulus Discrimination
CR is associated only to some stimuli and not others
e.g. Although the sound of the coffee grinder might produce a little anxiety in the dental-drill-
hating person, after a few uses that sound will no longer produce anxiety because it isnt
associated with dental pain.
Stimulus discrimination in everyday life could be observed when someone has a fear of large
dogs, but doesn't flinch at the sight of a poodle, cat or other four legged, furry animal.

Principles of Classical Conditioning

1. CS must come before the UCS
2. CS and UCS must come very close together in time
3. CS must be paired with the UCS many times
4. CS must be distinct from other competing stimuli

Second Order Conditioning

NS2 is associated with CS1 and this eventually becomes CS2
CS2 elicits CR also
But CR elicited by CS2 is less stronger
a first order already happened

E.g. Children with Cancer and being treated with chemotherapy

If in the clinic, child will vomit (CS1)
When child gets to clinic, he or she will be given candies
However when they see candies, they start to see vomiting, thus candies became CS2

Second Order Conditioning / Higher Order Conditioning

1 (NS) > (No Response)

Doctors Clinic > No Response

2 (UCS) > (UCR)

Chemotherapy > Vomiting
3 (CS1 + UCS) > (UCR)
Doctors Clinic + Chemotherapy > Vomiting
4 (CS1) > (CR)
Doctors Clinic > Vomiting
5 (NS2) > (No Response)
Candies > No Response
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 6 (NS2/CS2) + CS1 > (CR)
Candies + Doctors Clinic > Vomiting

7 (CS2) > (CR)

Candies > Vomiting

Operant Conditioning
Proponent is B.F. Skinner, and this is the most practical
Responses are learned because they operate on or affect the environment
voluntary behaviour that people and animals do to operate in the world
Consequences lead to change in voluntary behaviour
Increase likelihood by reinforcement
Decrease by giving punishment

Classical Conditioning vs Operant Conditioning

Classical Conditioning S > R (involuntary)

Operant Conditoninig R (voluntary) > S (Reinforcer / Punisher)

If you respond a certain way, you will get something

that you like

E.g. Preschool Stickers and Stamps

E.g. Getting money from parents for doing well in school

Skinner Experiment: The Skinner Box

He tested operant conditioning on rats
The rat eventually learns to push the lever
Rat realises that if he presses the lever, he will get food (thus pressing the lever will increase)

Lever pressing > Food > Increase in Lever pressing behaviour

Response > SR (reinforcing stimulus) > thus increase R

Response > SP (reinforcing punishment ) > thus decrease R

Shaping
This is so that it doesnt become a bribery
Reinforce responses that are similar to the desired behaviour
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 Used in animal training
e.g. anything gearing towards the lever will be reinforced
e.g. desired behaviour for dog is to GET slippers, thus reinforce responses would be getting
near the slippers or smelling the slippers

successively reinforce behaviours that approximate or come close to the target behaviour

Reinforcement pg. 125

The act of giving a pleasant or removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase likelihood that a
behaviour will be repeated
Negative Reinforcement
Removal of unpleasant stimuli to increase behaviour (take away what they dont like)
e.g. putting on seatbelt means no annoying sound (thus increase in behaviour of
putting seatbelt on)
Positive Reinforcement
Use of pleasant/desirable reinforcers to increase behaviour
Primary reinforcers (food, water, warmth, love) or secondary reinforcers (money, gifts,
activities, or basically any material thing)
E.g. come on time since its something you like so you increase coming to class early

Difference between Negative Reinforcement & Positive Punishment

Negative Reinforcement Response > Negative Reinforcer (stop giving something unpleasant) >
Increase Response

e.g. Come on time in class > You don't get locked out > Increase Coming
in Time

Positive Punishment Response > Punishment (giving something unpleasant) > Decrease
Response

e.g. Coming to class late > You get locked out > You decrease being late

Types of Punishment
Positive Punishment - give an unpleasant stimulus
give something they dont like
Negative Punishment - remove a pleasant stimulus
remove something they do like

Extinction
Non-reinforcement
Do not follow a response with a reinforcement
e.g. tantrum > DO NOT give in > no tantrums
This is easier said than done
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 Other option: give punishment
In order to distinguish the behaviour you either 1) not reinforce it or 2) give a punishment

Discrimination
Prior to responding, there is a stimulus that is presented (e.g. in Skinner, its a light)
Respond to stimuli that signals whether a behaviour will or will not be reinforced
Tendency for a response to happen only when a particular stimulus is present
The use of discriminative stimuli (SD)
a stimulus that sets the mood on what kind of response to exhibit
Diagram
(SD): R > SR> Increase in Response
e.g. In the end of class, SD = teacher saying next meeting in class we will discuss, response
is that students are sad

Schedules of Reinforcement (focuses on WHEN to give reinforcement)

This is a timetable that determines when a behaviour will be reinforced
Reinforce all the time or not all the time?
Continuous Reinforcement
Behaviour is reinforced every time it occurs
Used to establish a behaviour
Intermittent Reinforcement
Behaviour is reinforced not all the time
Used to maintain a behaviour
e.g. passing the quiz because we dont know when it will come

Type of Schedule of Reinforce a behaviour after Example: pigeons lever pressing

Reinforcement Give Rs after:

Fixed Ratio (its about the A fixed number of responses For every 5 presses, the rat gets a
number) food pellet

another e.g. Salesman has to sell 5

cars in order to get a bonus

Variable Ratio An average number of responses 3, 6, 5, 10 presses (avg. 4 presses)

Fixed Interval (TIME - days, A fixed (amount of) time has Every 3 minutes
weeks, etc) elapsed
e.g. salesman gets paycheck after 2
weeks

Variable Interval An average (amount of) time has 3,5, 10, 12 (a.g 7.5 minutes)
elapsed

Variable vs Fixed
All the variables are slower to extinguish, meaning intermittent reinforcement is really more
effective

PERSONALITY
What is personality?
Enduring patterns of thoughts, emotions, and behaviours that characterise the way a person
adapts to the world
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Theories of Personality
1. Psychoanalytic Perspective (Freuds Psychoanalytic Theory) pg. 504
Role of unconscious mind in understanding behaviour/personality
Likened the mind to an iceberg - conscious, preconscious, unconscious
3 Personality Structures; they govern the development of personality
1. Id - MEETING BASIC NEEDS
most primitive structure, most basic part of personality
based on our pleasure principle - obtain pleasure & avoid pain
immediate gratification for our wants and needs / pleasure-seeking
e.g. hunger, thirst, sex
2. Ego (conscience) - DEALING WITH REALITY
reality principle - delayed gratification (considers demands of society)
meeting desires of id in a way that is socially acceptable in the world
e.g. kid wanting ice cream before church but he had to wait til after
e.g. May really wanted to borrow her moms necklace, but knew her mom would be
angry if she took it without asking, so she asked her mom if she could wear it.
executive of personality (mediates between id and superego)
what clashes: id and superego
3. Superego - ADDING MORALS
morality principle
contains the conscience and judgement about what is right and wrong, based on
moral values
e.g. While away on business, Tom had many opportunities to be unfaithful to his wife.
However, he knew the damage such behavior would have on his family, so made the
decision to avoid the women who had expressed interest in him.

2. Humanistic Perspective; focuses on human potential, free will, and conscious life experiences
Rogers Approach
Believed that humans are always striving to fulfil their innate capacities and capabilities
(Maximising self potential)
Give unconditional positive regard to reach self actualisation
Focus on the self
Self perceptions and value a person puts on them
Self-concept
The closer the ideal self is to the real self, the more fulfilled and happy the person is
(congruence)

Maslows Approach
Hierarchy of Needs
Develop ones full potential (Self-actualization)
Maslow proposed that there are several levels of needs that a person must strive to
meet before achieving the highest level of personality fulfillment.
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 self-actualization; the point that is seldom reached at which people have sufficiently
satisfied the lower needs and achieve their full human potential

3. Traits Perspective; focuses on characteristics themselves

What is a trait?
Enduring personality characteristic that tends to lead to certain behaviours
Big Five Personality Factors
5 super traits to describe personality
Humans have different starting points (different levels)
O.C.E.A.N.
1. Openness
Intellectual curiosity, creativity, and a preference for novelty and variety
2. Conscientiousness
Organized and dependable, show self-discipline
This is the most emphasised trait out of all five traits
3. Extraversion
Energy, positive emotions, assertiveness, sociability, seek stimulation in the company
of others, and talkativeness
4. Agreeableness
Compassionate, cooperative
5. Neuroticism
Experience negative emotions (emotion instability)
High C, low N = positive behaviours

Big Five as Predictors of Behaviours

O Creative performance

C School and job performance

E Leadership behaviour

A Helping behaviour

N Vulnerability and depression

Low A, Low C Juvenile delinquency

High N, Low C Internalizing disorders (such as mental disorders)

4. Behavioural Theory; focus on the effect of the environment on behaviour

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 Personality is the persons observed, overt (directly observable) behaviour determined by the
environment
Skinner: Operant Conditioning
Reinforcements and punishments
Bandura Socio-cognitive Theory
Observational Learning

Defence Mechanisms
Anxiety results if a person has the urge to do what is forbidden
Use defense mechanism to reduce anxiety
These are ways of dealing with anxiety through unconsciously distorting ones perception of reality
These are all unconscious

Types of Defense Mechanisms

1. Repression
Pushes threatening, forbidden desires out of awareness into the unconscious
Pushing threatening or conflicting events or situations out of conscious memory
e.g. Regan, who was sexually abused as a child, cannot remember the abuse at all
2. Reaction Formation
Replacing anxiety-producing feelings with the opposite
e.g. Charley is unconsciously attracted to Sean but outwardly voices an extreme hatred of
homosexuals
3. Rationalization
Assign local, socially desirable motivates to what a person does
Making up acceptable excuses for unacceptable behaviour
e.g. If I dont have breakfast, I can have that piece of cake later on without hurting my diet
Types of Rationalization
Sour-graping: Negative Rationalization
Sweet-lemoning: Positive Rationalisation
4. Projection
Attributing ones own unacceptable thoughts to other people
You disown the undesirable qualities you have
e.g. Britni is attracted to her sisters husband, but denies this and believes it is the husband
that is attracted to her
5. Displacement
Person gratifies an urge indirectly be substituting a safer/more available element
Expressing feelings that would be threatening if directed at the real target onto a less
threatening substitute
e.g. Sandra gets reprimanded by her boss and goes home to angrily pick a fight with her
husband
6. Sublimation
rechanneling unacceptable feelings into socially acceptable activities
more socially valued than displacement
e.g. you fight with your wife but but you decide to go jogging, since it is a more socially valued
activity but you were able to vent out anger
e.g. Ryder, who is very aggressive, becomes a mixed martial arts fighter
7. Regression
returning to a behaviour of an earlier time in ones life to recapture remembered security
Falling back on childlike patterns as a way of coping with stressful situations
e.g. Four-year-old Blaine starts wetting his bed after his parents bring home a new baby
8. Denial
A person may deny/not accept a too unpleasant situation
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 Refusal to recognize or acknowledge a threatening situation
e.g. Pat is an alcoholic who denies being an alcoholic

Nature of Personality
Personality is unconscious = Psychoanalytic Theory
Personality is learned = Behavioural Approach
Personality is innate = Trait Perspective / Approach
Personality is stable = Trait Perspective / Approach
Combination of innate + learned = Humanistic Approach

Personality Assessment pg. 525

Self-report tests
Assumption: youre being honest (and not being socially-desirable)
Behavioural & Cognitive Assessment
Direct observation or interview
Projective tests
A trained psychologist is needed so this is very rare
It describes or tell a story about an ambiguous stimuli
Tell me what you see or tell me a story but they have corresponding scores
Examples of Projective Tests
Rorschach Inkblog Test
Thematic Apperception Test (tell me a story about this picture)

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Outline of Discussion
1. Social Thinking
Attribution

2. Social Influence
Conformity
Obedience
Group Influence

3. Relationships
Attraction
Love

Social Thinking
There is the concept of social cognition (under social thinking)
How people select, interpret, remember, and use social information
The way people process information in a social situation (i.e. attribution)
Attribution Theory
Views people as motivated to discover the underlying causes of behaviour to make sense of
that behaviour
3 dimensions of Causality - possible explanations of how we attribute behaviour pg. 473
1. Internal/External Causes
Internal attribution (dispositional); cause of behaviour is assumed to come from
within the individual e.g. not being good at math if you fail a math test
External attributions (situational); cause of behaviour is assumed to come from
external sources e.g. being sick if you fail a math test
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 2. Stable/Unstable Causes
Permanent e.g. not being good at math if you fail a test
Temporary e.g. being sick if you fail a math test,
3. Controllable/Uncontrollable Causes
Controllable e.g. not able to study for a test because you went to a concert
Uncontrollable e.g. getting REALLY sick
Attributional Errors & Biases
Fundamental Attribution Error
Overestimating the importance of traits (internal characteristics) and underestimating
the importance of situations (external characteristics) to explain someone elses
behaviour
Basically, we give credit / attribute our behaviour more to internal more than external
Self-Serving Attribution
Ones own successes is due to internal factors
Ones own failures are blamed on external factors

Social Influence
How our behaviour is influenced by other people or groups
Three kinds:
1. Conformity
Change in a persons behaviour to coincide more with a group standard
Aschs Conformity Experiment
Factors that Contribute to Conformity
1. Normative Social Influence; influence that other people have on us because we
seek their approval or avoid their disapproval
the need to act in ways that we feel will let us be liked and accepted by others,
wherein we use the behaviour of people as our measuring stick of what is normal
This type of conformity usually involves compliance where a person publicly
accepts the views of a group but privately rejects them.
e.g. laughing at a joke even if you dont get it because everyone is laughing
2. Informational Social Influence; the influence other people have on us because we
want to be right and correct
we take our cues for how to behave from others when we are in a station that is not
clear or is ambiguous, thus the behaviour of people around us provides us with
information about how we should act so we conform to their actions
When we do not know how to behave, we copy other people. They act as
information sources for how to behave as we assume they know what they are
doing (perceived expertise of the group)
Aschs experiment did not work so they had to make another task
2. Obedience
Behaviour that complies to the explicit demands of an individual with authority
changing ones behaviour at the direct order of an authority figure e.g. police officer, teacher
e.g. Milgrams classic study on obedience
Aim: to study the effects of punishment on learning behaviour
Participants had to do a word task
One teacher (participant) and one learner (confederate)
If learner makes a mistake, the teacher has to give an electric shock
However, many PPs obeyed to authority even it was just very harmful and ethical
Factors for disobedience
1. Modeling
2. Authority figure perceived as illegitimate and not close by
3. Victim made to be more human
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 3. Group Influence (5)
Social Facilitation; the presence of others can help improve ones performance
Social Loafing; the presence of others can make a person exert less effort in a group
(because of reduced accountability for individual effort & less individual evaluation)
De-individuation; being with others reduces personal identity & personal responsibility
Factors: Anonymity and Group Size
characteristics: aggressive, uninhibited
e.g. online groups about presidential candidates are more open to say bad things
because theres some sort of anonymity
Bystander Effect (also known as bystander intervention, but counter intuitive)
Proponent: Bibb Latane
This means that a person is less likely to help in an emergency when someone else is
present than when he/she is alone
This refers to the finding that the likelihood of a bystander (someone observing an
event and close enough to offer help) to help someone in trouble, decreases as the
number of bystanders increases.
If only one person is standing by, that person is far more likely to help than if
there is another person, and the addition of each new bystander decreases the
possibility of helping behaviour even more.
Factors in Bystander effect/intervention
1. Defining the situation
Pluralistic ignorance: people misleading each other in defining the situation as a
non-emergency, even though it is an emergency
2. Diffusion of Responsibility
Responsibility is diffused since there are people present
When a person fails to take responsibility for either action or inaction because the
presence of other people are seen to share the responsibility
e.g. I thought the other people would do something
3. Role of Helping Models
Groupthink
Group members impaired decision making and avoidance of realistic appraisal
(considering facts realistically) in order to maintain group harmony, unanimity, and
cohesiveness
No one will contest/impulse to conform because you want harmony
You end up with an uncritical decision making

Relationships (inter-personal attraction)

1. Attraction
Factors for (inter-personal) attraction
Physical Attractiveness
initially important in romantic relationships;
men look for good looks while women look for personality traits
criteria of beauty (e.g. its good to be white)
Proximity / closeness
Forming a relationship with people who are in physical proximity
Familiarity
necessary for a close relationship to develop
Similarity
We associate with people similar to us
Consensual Validation: People are attracted to others who are similar to them
Matching hypothesis: Even if we may prefer a more attractive person, in reality we
end up choosing someone who is close to our level
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2. Love
Sternbergs Triangular Theory of Love pg. 483
He proposed the three components that are ideal to love (the presence of all three would
mark the best kind of love)
1. Passion; physical & sexual attraction
2. Intimacy; emotional feelings of warmth, closeness, & sharing
3. Commitment; intent & commitment to maintain the relationship

Intimacy Passion Commitment

Infatuated Love x
(e.g. one night stand or a fling
- its all physical)

Romantic Love x x
(e.g. extramarital affairs)

Companionate/Affectionate x x
Love
(also known as platonic love
e.g. marriage relationship,
elderly couples)

Fatuous Love x x
(e.g. whirlwind romances)

Consummate Love x x x

Psychological Disorders

What is abnormal?
No general agreement - theres a working definition
Terms in Filipino culture: baliw, loka-loka, lakuret, may sakit sa isip

3 Criteria of Abnormal Behaviour

Deviance

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 deviant; atypical
deviation from social norm or culture
standard norms for acceptable behaviours for every society
deviation from statistical norm
outliers (e.g. intelligence, height)
Maladaptiveness
interferes with a persons ability to function effectively
person finds it hard to adapt to the demands of day-to-day living.
e.g. you have a ritual for taking a shower, but when you take the exam, you refuse to change
that ritual
E.g. a woman who cuts herself to relieve anxiety does experience initial relief but is harmed by
the action.
Personal Distress
Persons subjective feeling of distress (anxiety, pain, sorrow)

Criteria of Normality
1. Efficient Perception of Reality
2. Having voluntary control over ones behaviour
e.g. you stop yourself going on Facebook since you have an exam
not normal = no self regulation (e.g. OCD)
3. Self-esteem and Acceptance
4. Ability to form affectionate relationships
Relationship with family, friends, not just romantic relationships
5. (Self-direction) and Productivity

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