ACTIVITY

Explain the following.

1. Classic Conditioning
a. Unconditioned Stimulus vs. Conditioned Stimulus
- An unconditioned stimulus causes a response without any prior learning on the part of
the subject. The response is automatic and occurs without thought. In contrast, a
conditioned stimulus produces a reaction only after the subject has learned to associate
it with a given outcome.
- Example:
Unconditioned Stimulus - in Pavlov's experiment, the food was the
unconditioned stimulus. An unconditioned response is an automatic response to a
stimulus. The dogs salivating for food is the unconditioned response in Pavlov's
experiment.
Conditioned Stimulus - you are out riding your bike one day and are attacked by
a dog. Now, the place where you were attacked has become a conditioned stimulus and
you experience fear every time you pass that spot.

b. Unconditioned Response vs. Conditioned Response

- The unconditioned response is innate and requires no prior learning. The conditioned
response will occur only after an association has been made between the UCS and the
CS. The conditioned response is a learned response.
- Example:
Unconditioned Response - if the smell of food is the unconditioned stimulus,
the feeling of hunger in response to the smell of food is the unconditioned response.
Conditioned Response - is a learned response or a response that is created
where no response existed before. Going back to the example of being attack by a dog,
the fear you experience after the attack is a conditioned response.

c. Explain the Dog Salivation Experiment

- Classical conditioning is learning through association and was first demonstrated by Ivan
Pavlov. Pavlov showed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell
if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time that they were given food.
First the dogs were presented with the food, they salivated. The food was the
unconditioned stimulus and salivation was an unconditioned (innate) response. Then
Pavlov sounded the bell (neutral stimulus) before giving the food. After a few pairings
the dogs salivated when they heard the bell even when no food was given. The bell had
become the conditioned stimulus and salivation had become the conditioned response.
The dogs had learnt to associate the bell with the food and the sound of the bell and
salivation was triggered by the sound of the bell. Pavlov showed that classical
conditioning leads to learning by association.
2. Operant Conditioning

a. Reinforcement vs. Punishment

- Reinforcement means you are increasing a behavior while punishment means you are
decreasing a behavior. Reinforcement can be positive or negative, and punishment can
also be positive or negative. All reinforcers (positive or negative) increase the likelihood
of a behavioral response.
Examples:
- Reinforcement might include giving praise, letting students out of unwanted work, or
providing token rewards, candy, extra playtime, or fun activities.
- Punishment is spanking a child when he throws a tantrum is an example of positive
punishment. Something is added to the mix (spanking) to discourage a bad behavior
(throwing a tantrum).

b. Positive Reinforcement vs. Negative Reinforcement

- Positive reinforcement refers to the introduction of a desirable or pleasant stimulus
after a behavior. The desirable stimulus reinforces the behavior, making it more likely
that the behavior will reoccur. While, negative reinforcement aims to increase specific
behaviors by removing negative consequences or stimuli. It is part of the operant
conditioning theory of learning. This theory also includes positive reinforcement, which
increases behaviors through rewards.
Examples:
- Positive reinforcement is like giving food after that rat pushes a lever or giving the child
a cookie when he/she says “please.”
- Negative Reinforcement is like when you ride a car that has a loud sound as a reminder
for wearing the seatbelt, the sound will only disappear if you were the seatbelt.

c. Escape vs Active Avoidance

- In escape conditioning, there is no warning signal before the aversive stimulus, while in
avoidance conditioning, there is a warning signal before the aversive stimulus.
Examples:
- Escape conditioning - the jumping of rat when it gets shocked is an escape behavior, and
if every time the rat jumps off the platform when given a mild shock (while resting) is an
example of escape conditioning.
- Avoidance conditioning - a buzzer is sounded, then a shock is applied to the subject
(e.g., a dog) until it performs a particular act (e.g., jumping over a fence). After several
trials, the dog jumps as soon as the buzzer sounds, avoiding the shock. Also called
avoidance learning; avoidance training.

d. Positive Punishment vs. Negative Punishment

 - Both methods are employed to influence behavior, but positive punishment looks to
remove or decrease a “bad” behavior while negative reinforcement seeks to encourage
or increase a “good” behavior.
Examples:
- Positive punishment example, teachers may assign extra school works to students who
misbehave. A teacher may also add a “black star” on the behavior chart if a student uses
his cell phone in class.
- Negative punishment example, losing access to a toy, being grounded, and losing
reward tokens are all examples of negative punishment. In each case, something good is
being taken away as a result of the individual's undesirable.

e. Extinction - occurs when the conditioned stimulus is applied repeatedly without being
paired with the unconditioned stimulus. Over time, the learned behavior occurs less often
and eventually stops altogether, and conditioned stimulus returns to neural. Example,
imagine that you taught your dog to shake hands. Over time, the trick became less
interesting. You stop rewarding the behavior and eventually stop asking your dog to shake.
Eventually, the response becomes extinct, and your dog no longer displays the behavior.

3. Thorndike’s Theories of Learning

Erick Erickson’s 8 stages of Psychosocial Development

Stage 1: Trust vs. Mistrust (Infancy from birth to 18 months)

- The trust versus mistrust stage is the first stage of psychologist Erik Erikson’s theory of
psychosocial development. This stage begins at birth and lasts until your child is around
18 months old. According to Erikson, it is the most important period of your child's life,
as it shapes their view of the world as well as their overall personality.
- Babies are almost entirely dependent on their caregivers. So it should come as no
surprise that how parents interact with their babies has a profound effect on both their
physical and mental health.
- Erikson believed that early patterns of trust help children build a strong base of trust
that's crucial for their social and emotional development. If a child successfully develops
trust, they will feel safe and secure in the world. You're essentially shaping their
personality and determining how they will view the world.
- The primary way you can build trust with your baby is to respond when they try to
communicate with you. Because babies can't use words to express themselves, they use
nonverbal strategies to communicate what they're thinking and feeling at all times.
- Crying is one of the most common strategies babies use to communicate with their
caregivers, and it carries different meanings. Usually, babies cry to let you know that
they need one of the following: Affection, Comfort, Food.
- Every baby communicates differently, so becoming familiar with your baby's
communication style is the key to success at this stage. Noticing and responding to these
 signals, whether they are cries, body movements, coos, or even words, helps them learn
to trust you and the world around them.

Stage 2: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (Toddler years from 18 months to three years)
- autonomy versus shame and doubt, builds upon that earlier stage and lays the
foundation for the future stages to come.
- If you are a parent or if you have ever interacted with a child between the ages of 18
months and 3 years, then you have probably witnessed many of the hallmarks of the
autonomy versus shame and doubt stage. It is at this point in development that young
children begin to express a greater need for independence and control over themselves
and the world around them.
- During the previous stage of development, trust versus mistrust, children are almost
entirely dependent upon others for their care and safety. It is during this stage that
children build the foundations of trust in the world. As they progress into the second
stage, however, it is important for young children to begin developing a sense of
personal independence and control. As they learn to do things for themselves, they
establish a sense of control over themselves as well as some basic confidence in their
own abilities.

Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt (Preschool years from three to five)

- Within the context of Erikson's theory, initiative is "a truly free sense of enterprise,
manifested at the societal level in a society’s economic structure and endeavor.
- In practice, this looks like the enthusiastic desire to attempt new tasks, join or come up
with activities with friends, and use new skills in play. The child begins to learn that they
can exert power over themselves and the world.
- At this stage, play and imagination take on an important role. Being given the freedom
and encouragement to play helps a child feel excited about exercising some control over
what they're doing.
- Guilt is shame over failing to complete a task successfully, provoking irritation in adults,
and/or otherwise feeling embarrassed over attempting something. Children who
experience guilt interpret mistakes as a sign of personal failure and feel that they are
somehow "bad." A child who feels more guilt than initiative at this stage learns to resist
trying new things for fear of failing.

Stage 4: Industry vs. Inferiority (Middle school years from six to 11)
- According to Erikson’s theory, people progress through a series of stages as they
develop and grow. Unlike many other developmental theories, Erikson’s addresses
changes that occur across the entire lifespan, from birth to death.
- Psychosocial theory does not focus on the obvious physical changes that occur as
children grow up, but rather on the socioemotional factors that influence an individual's
psychological growth.2 At each point in development, people cope with a psychosocial
crisis. In order to resolve this crisis, children and adults are faced with mastering the
developmental task primarily to that stage.
 - If this skill is successfully achieved, it leads to an ability that contributes to lifelong well-
being. For example, achieving trust is the primary task of the very first stage of
development. It is an ability that contributes to emotional health throughout life during
both childhood and adulthood. Failing to master these critical tasks, however, can result
in social and emotional struggles that last a lifetime.

Stage 5: Identity vs. Confusion (Teen years from 12 to 18)

- According to Erikson, people progress through a series of stages as they grow and
change throughout life. During each stage, everyone faces a developmental conflict that
must be resolved to successfully develop the primary virtue of that stage. Erikson was
interested in how social interaction and relationships affect development and growth.
- Erikson defines identity as a “fundamental organizing principal which develops
constantly throughout the lifespan.”
- Identity involves the experiences, relationships, beliefs, values, and memories that make
up a person's subjective sense of self. This helps create a continuous self-image that
remains fairly constant even as new aspects of the self are developed or strengthened
over time. Identity provides: Self-sameness, Uniqueness, Psychosocial Development
- Kids who are not allowed to explore and test out different identities might be left with
what Erikson referred to as role confusion, which can result in the following: Being
unsure of who you are and where you fit, Drifting from one job or relationship to
another, Feeling disappointed and confused about your place in life

Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation (Young adult years from 18 to 40)

- Erikson believed that it was vital to develop close, committed relationships with other
people. As people enter adulthood, these emotionally intimate relationships play a
critical role in a person's emotional well-being.
- Intimacy requires being able to share parts of yourself with others, as well as the ability
to listen to and support other people. These relationships are reciprocal—you are
sharing parts of yourself, and others are sharing with you.
- When this happens successfully, you gain the support, intimacy, and companionship of
another person. But sometimes things don't go so smoothly. You might experience
rejection or other responses that cause you to withdraw. It might harm your confidence
and self-esteem, making you warier of putting yourself out there again in the future.

Stage 7: Generativity vs. Stagnation (Middle age from 40 to 65)

- During this stage, middle-aged adults strive to create or nurture things that will outlast
them, often by parenting children or fostering positive changes that benefit others.
Contributing to society and doing things to promote future generations are important
needs at the generativity vs. stagnation stage of development.
- Generativity refers to "making your mark" on the world by caring for others, as well as
through creating and accomplishing things that make the world a better place.
- Stagnation refers to the failure to find a way to contribute. Stagnant individuals may feel
disconnected or uninvolved with their community or with society as a whole
 Stage 8: Integrity vs. Despair (Older adulthood from 65 to death)
- Integrity refers to a person's ability to look back on their life with a sense of
accomplishment and fulfillment.
- Despair refers to looking back on life with feelings of regret, shame, or disappointment.

Jean Piaget’s 4 stages of Cognitive Development

The Sensorimotor Stage (ages: birth to 2 years)

- The infant learns about the world through their senses and through their actions
(moving around and exploring its environment).
- During the sensorimotor stage a range of cognitive abilities develop. These include:
object permanence; self-recognition (the child realizes that other people are separate
from them); deferred imitation; and representational play.
- They relate to the emergence of the general symbolic function, which is the capacity to
represent the world mentally
- At about 8 months the infant will understand the permanence of objects and that they
will still exist even if they can’t see them and the infant will search for them when they
disappear.

The Preoperational Stages (ages: 2 - 7 years)

- Toddlers and young children acquire the ability to internally represent the world
through language and mental imagery.
- During this stage, young children can think about things symbolically. This is the ability
to make one thing, such as a word or an object, stand for something other than itself.
- A child’s thinking is dominated by how the world looks, not how the world is. It is not
yet capable of logical (problem solving) type of thought.
- Moreover, the child has difficulties with class inclusion; he can classify objects but
cannot include objects in sub-sets, which involves classify objects as belonging to two or
more categories simultaneously
- Infants at this stage also demonstrate animism. This is the tendency for the child to
think that non-living objects (such as toys) have life and feelings like a persons.

The Concrete Operational Stage (ages: 7 - 11 years)

- During this stage, children begin to thinking logically about concrete events.
- Children begin to understand the concept of conservation; understanding that, although
things may change in appearance, certain properties remain the same.
- During this stage, children can mentally reverse things (e.g. picture a ball of plasticine
returning to its original shape).
- During this stage, children also become less egocentric and begin to think about how
other people might think and feel.

The Formal Operational Stage (ages: 12 and over)

 - Concrete operations are carried out on things whereas formal operations are carried out
on ideas. Formal operational thought is entirely freed from physical and perceptual
constraints.
- During this stage, adolescents can deal with abstract ideas (e.g. no longer needing to
think about slicing up cakes or sharing sweets to understand division and fractions).
- They can follow the form of an argument without having to think in terms of specific
examples.
- Adolescents can deal with hypothetical problems with many possible solutions. E.g. if
asked ‘What would happen if money were abolished in one hour’s time? they could
speculate about many possible consequences.

Lawrence Kohlberge 3 stages of Moral Development

Level 1 - Preconventional morality

- Preconventional morality is the first stage of moral development, and lasts until
approximately age 9. At the preconventional level children don’t have a personal code
of morality, and instead moral decisions are shaped by the standards of adults and the
consequences of following or breaking their rules.
- For example, if an action leads to punishment is must be bad, and if it leads to a reward
is must be good.
- Authority is outside the individual and children often make moral decisions based on the
physical consequences of actions.

Level 2 - Conventional morality

- Conventional morality is the second stage of moral development, and is characterized

by an acceptance of social rules concerning right and wrong. At the conventional level
(most adolescents and adults), we begin to internalize the moral standards of valued
adult role models.
- Authority is internalized but not questioned, and reasoning is based on the norms of the
group to which the person belongs.
- A social system that stresses the responsibilities of relationships as well as social order is
seen as desirable and must, therefore, influence our view of what is right and wrong.

Level 3 - Postconventional morality

- Postconventional morality is the third stage of moral development, and is characterized

by an individuals’ understanding of universal ethical principles. These are abstract and
ill-defined, but might include: the preservation of life at all costs, and the importance of
human dignity.
- Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles, and moral reasoning is based on
individual rights and justice. According to Kohlberg this level of moral reasoning is as far
as most people get.
 - Only 10-15% are capable of the kind of abstract thinking necessary for stage 5 or 6
(post-conventional morality). That is to say, most people take their moral views from
those around them and only a minority think through ethical principles for themselves.

Albert Bandura’s 4 stages of Social Learning Theory

1. Attention. For a lesson or experience to have an impact on an observer, the observer must be
actively observing their surroundings. It helps if the observer identifies well with the model or
feels positive feelings about them. In addition, it helps if the observer is invested in the process
of observing or feels strong feelings about the experience that they are observing. Factors that
might affect attention include complexity, distinctiveness and functional value.
2. Retention and memory. For any learned experience to make a lasting impact, the observer
needs to be able to remember it later. Once the observer can recall the experience, it also helps
if they go over the experience, either revisiting it cognitively in their mind or even acting it out
physically. For example, a toddler may learn from an adult not to throw things and later they
may be observed teaching one of their stuffed animals that it's not okay to throw.
3. Initiation and motor capability. In order to carry out the lesson learned; the observer needs to
be able to actually reenact it. Learning the necessary skills is an important part of the process
before a behavior can be modeled. When a person has effectively paid attention to modeled
behavior and repeats or demonstrates it, they have achieved the necessary skills.
4. Motivation. Even if an observer has focused on a lesson, remembered all the details and learned
the necessary skills to do it, they still need to have the motivation to make it happen. The source
of motivation could include anything from external rewards and bribes, observations that similar
behavior is rewarded, desire to be like the model who demonstrated the behavior or internal
motivation to improve or learn. Other factors that impact motivation include personal
characteristics, past experiences, promised incentives, positive reinforcement and punishments.

Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligence

This theory suggests that traditional psychometric views of intelligence are too limited. Gardner
first outlined his theory in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, where he
suggested that all people have different kinds of "intelligences." Gardner proposed that there are eight
intelligences, and has suggested the possible addition of a ninth known as "existentialist intelligence."

1. Visual-Spatial Intelligence- people who are strong in visual-spatial intelligence are good at
visualizing things. These individuals are often good with directions as well as maps, charts,
videos, and pictures.
2. Linguistic-Verbal Intelligence - people who are strong in linguistic-verbal intelligence are
able to use words well, both when writing and speaking. These individuals are typically very
good at writing stories, memorizing information, and reading.
3. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence - people who are strong in logical-mathematical
intelligence are good at reasoning, recognizing patterns, and logically analyzing problems.
These individuals tend to think conceptually about numbers, relationships, and patterns.
4. Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence - those who have high bodily-kinesthetic intelligence are said
to be good at body movement, performing actions, and physical control. People who are
strong in this area tend to have excellent hand-eye coordination and dexterity
5. Musical Intelligence - people who have strong musical intelligence are good at thinking in
patterns, rhythms, and sounds. They have a strong appreciation for music and are often
good at musical composition and performance.
6. Interpersonal Intelligence - those who have strong interpersonal intelligence are good at
understanding and interacting with other people. These individuals are skilled at assessing
the emotions, motivations, desires, and intentions of those around them.
7. Intrapersonal Intelligence - individuals who are strong in intrapersonal intelligence are good
at being aware of their own emotional states, feelings, and motivations. They tend to enjoy
self-reflection and analysis, including daydreaming, exploring relationships with others, and
assessing their personal strengths.
8. Naturalistic Intelligence - naturalistic is the most recent addition to Gardner’s theory and has
been met with more resistance than his original seven intelligences. According to Gardner,
individuals who are high in this type of intelligence are more in tune with nature and are
often interested in nurturing, exploring the environment, and learning about other species.
These individuals are said to be highly aware of even subtle changes to their environment