Ch. 4-Learning and Human Nature

Question 1

A process through which experience produces lasting change in behavior or mental processes

Answer 1

Learning

Question 2

Motivated behaviors that have a strong innate basis

Answer 2

Instincts

Question 3

What is habituation?

Answer 3

Learning to NOT respond to repeated presentation of a stimulus

Question 4

What is the mere exposure effect?

Answer 4

Learned preference for stimuli to which we have been previously exposed

Question 5

Forms of learning that can be described in terms of stimuli and responses (ex: Classical and operant conditioning)

Answer 5

Behavioral Learning

Question 6

What sort of learning does classical conditioning explain?

Answer 6

Classical conditioning explains associative learning, in which a stimulus that produces an innate reflex becomes associated with a previously neutral stimulus, which then acquires the power to elicit essentially the same response

Question 7

Ivan Pavlov created…

Answer 7

Classical conditioning

Question 8

The initial learning stage in classical conditioning, during which the conditioned response comes to be elicited by the conditioned stimulus

Answer 8

Acquisition

Question 9

Weakening of a conditioned response in the absence of an unconditioned stimulus

Answer 9

Extinction

Question 10

Unexpected reappearances of an extinguished conditioned response after a time delay

Answer 10

Spontaneous Recovery

Question 11

What is stimulus generalization?

Answer 11

The extension of a learned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus

Question 12

Stimulus discrimination:

Answer 12

Learning to respond to a particular stimulus but not to similar stimuli

Question 13

What is counterconditioning?

Answer 13

Relaxation response to conditioned stimulus; pair CS with a positive stimulus, effective with phobias

Question 14

Why are some stimuli-consequence combinations readily learned while other combinations are highly resistant to learning?

Answer 14

What any organism can or cannot learn in a given setting is due in part to its generic preparedness

Question 15

Conditioning involves both ____ and _____, and it influences our _____, ______, and _____.

Answer 15

Nature and nurture; attitudes, preferences, behavior

Question 16

How do we learn new behaviors by operant conditioning?

Answer 16

In operant conditioning, the consequences of behavior, such as rewards and punishments, influence the probability that the behavior will occur again.

Question 17

Responses that produced desirable results would be learned or “stamped” into the organism

Answer 17

Law of Effect

Question 18

What is a reinforcer?

Answer 18

Condition (involving either the presentation or removal of a stimulus) that occurs after a response and strengthens that response

Question 19

What is an operant chamber?

Answer 19

A boxlike apparatus that delivers reinforcers and punishers continent on an animal’s behavior

Question 20

Positive reinforcers _____. Negative reinforcers _____z

Answer 20

are stimuli presented after a response (adds or applies)
Removes an unpleasant stimulus (subtracts or removes)

BOTH increase the probability of that response happening again!!!

Question 21

What is continuous reinforcement?

Answer 21

Reinforcement schedule in which all correct responses are reinforced.

Question 22

Which reinforcement is resistant to extinction and why?

Answer 22

Intermittent (Partial) Reinforcement; reinforcement schedule in which some, but not all, correct responses are reinforced

Question 23

Reinforcement depends on the number of correct responses

Answer 23

Ratio schedules

Question 24

Reinforcement depends on the time interval elapsed since the last reinforcement

Answer 24

Interval schedules

Question 25

Reinforcement is contingent on a certain, unchanging number of responses

Answer 25

Fixed ratio

Question 26

Reinforcement presented after a certain number of responses, but that number varies from trial to trial

Answer 26

Variable ratio

Question 27

Reinforcement presented after a certain fixed amount of time, regardless of number of responses

Answer 27

Fixed interval

Question 28

Reinforcement presented after a certain amount of time, but that amount varies from trial to trial

Answer 28

Variable interval

Question 29

Reinforcers that fulfill basic biological needs or desires that have an innate value to an organism

Answer 29

Primary reinforcers

Question 30

Stimuli that acquire their reinforcing power by their learned association with primary reinforcers

Answer 30

Secondary (Conditioned) Reinforcers

Question 31

What is the Premack Principle?

Answer 31

A preferred activity can reinforce a mess preferred activity

Question 32

Explain a token economy system:

Answer 32

Offers tokens for desired behavior, tokens exchanged for rewards or privileges

Question 33

What is instinctive drift?

Answer 33

Innate response tendencies interfere with learned behaviors; innate tendencies can override behaviors learned through reinforcement

Question 34

An aversive consequence that diminishes the strength of the response it follows

Answer 34

Punishment

Question 35

Positive punishment is _____, while negative punishment is _____.

Answer 35

Application of an aversive stimulus after a response, removal of an attractive stimulus after a response

Question 36

Compare classical and operant conditioning:

Answer 36

Classical: new stimulus is neutral and is before response

Operant: new stimulus after response, reward or punishment

Question 37

How does cognitive psychology explain learning?

Answer 37

According to cognitive psychology, some forms of learning must be explained as changes in mental processes rather than as changes in behavior alone.

Question 38

What is insight learning?

Answer 38

Cognitive learning, in which problem solving occurs by means of sudden reorganization of perception

Question 39

A mental representation of a physical or mental space; supports that learning was mental, not purely physical.

Answer 39

Cognitive Maps

Question 40

When learning occurs without reinforcement and without any hint that learning took place

Answer 40

Latent Learning

Question 41

A form of cognitive learning in which new responses are acquired after watching others’ behavior and the consequences of their behavior

Answer 41

Observational Learning

Question 42

What is long term potentiation?

Answer 42

Biological process involving a physical change that strengthens the synapses in groups of nerve cells; believed to be the neural basis of learning

Question 43

Forgetting unimportant associations; neurotransmitters block memories

Answer 43

Extinction