Unit 3
Development and Learning
Conditioning, observational learning, Piaget, attachment, and lifespan development.
Pavlov
Classical conditioning
A neutral place like a cafeteria can become a conditioned stimulus for anxiety after repeated overload. The body starts reacting before anything even happens.
Operant Conditioning
Negative reinforcement
Repeating a checking question removes uncertainty for a moment, which reinforces asking again. Last-minute panic removes the 'jam' in task initiation, reinforcing the all-nighter loop.
Operant Conditioning
Punishment & masking
Years of being corrected for stimming or social mistakes can teach masking. It looks like 'learning', but it costs huge energy and is linked to burnout.
Reinforcement Schedules
Variable-ratio reinforcement
Unpredictable responses (like a text that might get a reply) are the most resistant to extinction, which helps explain why rejection-related checking is so hard to stop.
Bandura
Observational learning & mirror neurons
Older theories claimed 'broken mirror neurons' in autism. Evidence for that is weak. The double empathy problem reframes it as a two-way communication mismatch.
Piaget, Preoperational stage
Theory of mind
Autism was long described as a theory-of-mind deficit. Newer work shows non-autistic people also struggle to read autistic people, so it's a shared problem.
Ainsworth's Strange Situation
Attachment styles
Attachment patterns shape later relationships and how safe someone feels with a partner, including the private comfort language some couples use.
Lifespan Development
Erikson: identity vs. role confusion
Teen years are about identity. Masking during that stage can make it hard to know who you really are, which feeds loneliness and burnout.
These connections are study aids, not medical advice. Some ideas (like the excitation/inhibition theory) are still being researched.