6.1 Classical conditioning Flashcards
Learning
a process by which behaviour or knowledge changes as a result of experience
Classical conditioning
a form of associative learning in which an organism learns to associate a neutral stimulus with a biologically relevant stimulus, which results in a change in the response to the previously neutral stimulus (aka one event causes another)
Unconditioned stimulus
a stimulus that elicits a reflexive response without learning
Unconditioned response
a reflexive unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus
Conditioned stimulus
a once-neutral stimulus that later elicits a conditioned response because it has a history of being paired with an unconditioned stimulus
Conditioned response
the learned response that occurs to the conditioned stimulus
Acquisition
the initial phase of learning in which a response is established
Extinction
the reduction of a conditioned response when a conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus no longer occur together (can return after extinction)
Spontaneous recovery
the reoccurrence of a previously extinguished conditioned response, typically after some time has passed since extinction
Generalization
a process in which a response that originally occurred for a specific stimulus also occurs for different, though similar, stimuli
Discrimination
occurs when an organism learns to respond to one original conditioned stimulus but not to new stimuli that may be similar to the original stimulus
Conditioned emotional responses
consists of emotional and physiological responses that develop to a specific object or situation
Psychopathy
disorder marked by deficient emotional responses, lack of empathy, and poor behavioral controls
Conditioned taste aversion
acquired dislike or disgust for a food or drink because it was paired with illness
Latent inhibition
occurs when frequent experience with a stimulus before it is paired with a US makes it less likely that conditioning will occur after a single episode of illness
