What implications does this understanding of the learning process have on our ability  to make changes in our lifestyle?

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COLLAPSE

Every Monday morning, a friend would bring Lauren her favorite latte and a doughnut from a coffee shop by her house. And every Monday morning, her stomach would growl right before her friend rang the doorbell and handed her the weekly treat. She noticed a month later that her stomach growled each time the doorbell rang in the morning even if it was not Monday.

Given what you have learned about learning processes, which type of learning has Lauren experienced? What do you think is the best way to get her to “unlearn” her behavior?  What implications does this understanding of the learning process have on our ability  to make changes in our lifestyle? Support your reasoning with information from the text and other course materials.

Reply to 2 people:

#1 Samantha: Hello Everyone,

I think the type of learning process that Lauren experienced is latent learning because it is something learned and how she could unlearn her behavior is to maybe get up earlier and going to the donut shop on her own.  This learning process can help us to realize that things in life happen because we get so wrapped up in everyday life and everyone has their own routine but changes can be made if we chose to because this is just something that we do normally.  Just like the dogs in the videos and the rats in our text books.

#2 Dana :

Lauren has learned Classical Conditioning because, as mentioned in our 3rd week lecture video, Lauren has two unrelated stimuli; the doorbell and the her favorite latte and doughnut. These unrelated stimuli when paired together formed a trial.  I think the best method for Lauren to “unlearn” her behavior would be through extinction.  When we have an understanding of our learning processes we will be better equipped to handle our behaviors through positive and negative reinforcers. Positive reinforcer is a stimulus added to an environment that brings an increase in a preceding response.  Negative reinforcer is an undesirable stimulus when removed leads to the increase in the probability that a preceding response will be repeated in the future (Feldman, 2017)When a person is positively or negatively affected by their behaviors, the results of those effects will direct them in their future behaviors.

Feldman, Robert S. (2017). Understanding Psychology 13th edition. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Education.