Attitude and Behavior Change

Habituation and Dishabituation (PSY)

  • Habituation: become so used to something (prolonged/repeated exposure) that you don't notice it anymore (learned to ignore it)
  • Dishabituation: the reversal of habituation
  • Example
    • Habituation: zoning out all the background noise when you're reading/working something in the student union.
    • Dishabituation: someone walks up to you and says excuse me

Associative Learning (PSY)

  • Classical conditioning (PSY, BIO): stimulus -> biological response
    • Neutral, conditioned, and unconditioned stimuli
      • neutral stimuli -> no response. Eg: Bell sound prior to Pavlov's dog's training
      • conditioned stimuli -> acquired response. Eg: Kitchen bell sound triggers Pavlov's dog to salivate
      • unconditioned stimuli -> natural response, no need for conditioning. Eg: Smell of steak triggers salivation
    • Conditioned and unconditioned response
      • conditioned response = the response to conditioned stimuli
      • unconditioned response = the response to unconditioned stimuli
    • Processes: acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, discrimination
      • acquisition: learning the association. Eg: dog learns to salivate because Pavlov always gives them food after ringing the bell
      • extinction: losing the association. Eg: if Pavlov stops giving dog food after ringing the bell.
      • spontaneous recovery: association returns after extinction, but never as strong as before.
      • generalization: Eg. Dog salivates to anyone ringing a bell
      • discrimination: Eg. Dog salivates only to Pavlov ringing the bell
  • Operant conditioning (PSY, BIO): behavior -> consequences
    • Processes of shaping and extinction: reinforcement shapes a behavior. When the reinforcement no longer happens, the behavior relapses, it's called extinction.
    • Types of reinforcement: positive, negative, primary, conditional
      • positive reinforcement: behavior -> reward -> more of that behavior. Eg: study for your exam, and I'll reward you with a good grade
      • negative reinforcement: behavior -> less punishment -> more of that behavior. Eg: study for your exam, and I'll stop giving you bad grades
      • primary reinforcer = natural rewards = food, drink, pleasure
      • secondary reinforcer = unnatural rewards = money, grades
    • Reinforcement schedules: fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, variable-interval
      • fixed-ratio: behavior is rewarded every time or every nth time
      • variable ratio: instead of rewarding exactly every nth time, it's rewarded maybe the 1st time, then 4th time, then 2nd time, etc
      • fixed interval: behavior is rewarded again only after a fixed time interval, like 60 seconds
      • variable interval: instead of waiting exactly 60 seconds, the time interval may be 90 seconds, then 20 seconds, etc
    • Punishment: opposite of reinforcement, a deterrent to behavior.
    • Escape and avoidance learning
      • Escape: you touch a caterpillar, it stings you, you jerk away
      • Avoidance: you learn to not touch a caterpillar
  • The role of cognitive processes in associative learning
    • Latent learning: passively soaking up knowledge
    • Problem solving: step back, think, and come up with a solution
    • Instincts: mother goose will protect her eggs. If you try to teach a goose to abandon eggs, it won't work because it goes against their instinct, this process is called instinctive drift.
  • Biological processes that affect associative learning (e.g., biological predispositions, instinctive drift) (PSY, BIO)

Observational Learning (PSY)

  • Modeling: copying others
  • Biological processes that affect observational learning
    • Mirror neurons: a neuron that fires both when you perform an action and when you see another perform the same action. Thus, it's also responsible for empathy: if you see someone else hurting, you hurt also
    • Role of the brain in experiencing vicarious emotions: vicarious emotion = feeling what other feel. Empathy = feeling an emotion that you share. Vicarious = feeling an emotion even if you don't share it. Eg: seeing someone skateboard, you're like wow that must be so fun, even though you never skateboarded before.
  • Applications of observational learning to explain individual behavior: loving family makes someone a loving person. Abusive family makes someone an abusive person.

Theories of Attitude and Behavior Change (PSY)

  • Elaboration likelihood model: two extremes on how individuals respond to persuasion, most are somewhere in the middle
    • central route processing: think, analyze, then draw conclusions
    • peripheral route processing: superficial details like how likable the speaker is, catchphrases, slogans
  • Social cognitive theory: we learn how to behave by observing others in society instead of trial and error
  • Factors that affect attitude change (e.g., changing behavior, characteristics of the message and target, social factors)
    • Changes in your behavior -> observed by others -> Changes attitude
    • Message -> influences target -> affects attitude
    • Social = environment -> influences individual attitudes