Do we need social interaction?

1. Do we need social interaction? • Harry Harlow’s ‘Surrogate Mothers’ and other experiments • Group 1: Terrycloth mother did not provide food. • Group 2: Wire mother provided food.

2. Isolation Chambers • Pit of Despair

3. Isolation of Monkeys • Partially and Fully isolated monkeys • Partially isolated (occasional social contact) – • Repetitive circling of cages, blank staring, and occasional self mutilation • Total social deprivation (6, 12, 24 months) • 6 months = emotional shock when reintroduced: rocking and clenching, rare anorexia • 12, 24 months = “obliterated the monkeys socially” • All isolated monkeys exhibited little to no recovery

4. Social Learning • Process of altering behavior observing and imitating the behavior of others. • Observational Learning and Cognitive Learning • “Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do.” • Albert Bandura (1977)

5. Observational Learning • Observational Learning • Learning by observing others. • Modeling • The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior. • Vicarious Reinforcement • You first engage in a behavior because you saw someone else get rewarded • Directly tied to Operant Conditioning

6. Mirror Neurons • Fire both when performing actions and when observing another doing so. • NOVA – Mirror Neurons

7. Modeling • Follow the Leader: The behavior of others increases the chances that we will do the same thing • Clapping, looking out the window, copying the styles and verbal expressions of our peers

8. Observational Learning • Watch someone else perform a behavior, then be able to perform the behavior yourself • Learning a game, dance move, sport

9. Role Models • Role Models • Do we chose to be a role model? • How important are older siblings? parents? peers? • "I don't believe professional athletes should be role models. I believe parents should be role models.... It's not like it was when I was growing up. My mom and my grandmother told me how it was going to be. If I didn't like it, they said, "Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out." Parents have to take better control." • Sir Charles Barkley

10. Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment • Children were exposed to adults displaying aggression toward a bobo doll, and were then observed in a room filled with toys • What happened? • Bobo Clip

11. The beating of Bobo…

12. TV and Violence • Before you turn 18, you will see approx. 18,000 simulated murders on TV & movies • Since the 1960s, more than 3,000 studies have linked television violence to real violence • Results: viewers become • desensitized to violence, • become more fearful • behave more violently

13. Bandura’s Social-Cognitive Theory • Social-Cognitive Theory applies fundamentals of social learning to personality and behavior choices. • Social-Cognitive Theory Clip

14. Extinction of Phobias / Disinhibition • Learning that seemingly threatening experiences can be safe • Phobia treatment (counter-conditioning) • Safety of new environment

15. Application of Social Learning • Bad news – antisocial models may have antisocial effects on children • Good news – prosocial (positive, helpful) models can have prosocial effects • Consistency of words and actions. • Social learning plays a large role • Parents are extremely powerful models • Children See, Children Do

16. Latent (Incidental) Learning • Learning that occurs without knowledge being immediately expressed • Accidental learning that occurs in the process of another behavior • Setting the table, putting in a light bulb • Knowledge is there, but does not come out until a reinforcer appears

17. Cognitive Maps • E.C. Tolman studied in 1930s • Taught rats a maze through repetition, without providing reinforcement (food) • Once a reinforcer was presented for completion of the maze, the rats were just as quick to complete as rats which received food upon every completion • A mental picture of a place which allows you to navigate to an unseen destination

18. Formation of Insight • An insight is a new way to organize stimuli or a new approach to solving a problem • Once insight has occurred, no further training is necessary • Wolfgang Kohler • Chimps with insight • Pigeon shows insight

19. Learned Helplessness • Condition in which a person gives up due to repeated failure • Seligman’s electric shock dog studies • Hiroto’s study of college students (1974) • People feel they have no control over environment; success seems more a matter of luck than skill • Learned Laziness - Condition that occurs if rewards come without effort, a person never learns to work.

20. Martin Seligman on Depression • Learned helplessness is a leading cause of depression • Stability • Temporary vs. Stable • Globality • Specific vs. Global • Internality • External vs. Internal

21. Behavior Modification • Systematic application of learning principles to change people’s actions and feelings • Involves a series of well-defined steps to change behavior. • The success of each step is carefully evaluated to find the best solution for a given situation. • Common in sports training and drug treatment – involves intense drive to become an ideal product • Modeling, classical conditioning, operant conditioning

22. Self Control • Changing your own behavior 1. Define the problem specifically • This can often lead to a change in behavior 2. Behavioral contract • Study Habits • Considerations: negative emotions, environment, conditioning

23. Bad Habits • How are bad habits formed? • Procrastination • Favoring immediate reinforcement and accepting delayed punishment

24. Token Economies • Desirable behavior is reinforced with valueless objects, which can be accumulated and exchanged for valued rewards • Used most commonly in prisons, mental hospitals • Combats attention as reinforcement drawback • Does this result in long term learning?