Chapitre 3

Question 1

Elicited behavior

Answer 1

To elicit means to ‘‘draw out of bring forth’’. Thus, an elicited behavior (or respondent behavior) is a behavior that is drawn out by a preceding stimulus.

Question 2

Reflexes

Answer 2

Most basic form of elicited bahavior. It’s relatively simple, automatic response to a stimulus. It can also be defined as the relationship between such a response and the stimulus that elicits it.

Question 3

Startle response

Answer 3

Defensive reaction to a sudden, unexepected stimulus, involves the automatic tightening of skeletal muscles as well as various hormonal and visceral changes.

Question 4

Orienting response

Answer 4

We automatically position ourselves to facilitate attending to a stimulus, can involve a relatively major body movement, such as when we automatically turn in response to an unfamiliar noise behind us.

Question 5

Flexion response

Answer 5

Automatically jerk our hand or foot away from a hot or sharp object that we have inadvertently contacted, and the aforementioned startled reaction, designed to ready us to fight or flight if an unexpected stimulus should prove dangerous.

Question 6

Reflex arc

Answer 6

Neural structure underlying some reflexes that consists of a sensory neuron, an interneuron, and a motor neuron.

Question 7

Fixed action patterns

Answer 7

Fixed sequences of responses elicited by a specific stimulus. Can be unique to some species and sometime called species-specific behaviors. Fixed action patterns are adaptive responses that have evolved to help animals cope with consistent aspects of their environment.

Question 8

Sign stimulus

Answer 8

The specific stimulus that elicits a fixed action pattern

Question 9

Habituation

Answer 9

Decrease in the strength of an elicited behavior following repeated presentation of the eliciting stimulusIt tends to be more stimulus specific, such that even small changes in the stimulus may result in the reappearance of the response.

Question 10

Sensitization

Answer 10

Increase in the strength of an elicited behavior following repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus. It’s often generalized to other stimuli.

The effects of habituation and sensitization usually disappear when the stimulus is not presented for a period, meaning that the strength of the behavior returns to its original level.

Question 11

Short-term habituation

Answer 11

The response quickly decreases because of repeated stimulation and the ability to respond then quickly recovers in the absence of stimulation. . A short-term habituation tends to occur when presentations of the stimulus are narrowly spaced and continuous. Repeated sessions of short-term habituations, spread out over time, can eventually lead to long-term habituation.

Question 12

Long-term habituation

Answer 12

The response slowly decreases as a result of repeated stimulation, and the ability to respond slowly recovers in the absence of stimulation. A long-term habituation tends to occur when presentations of the stimulus are widely spaced.

Question 13

Dishabituation

Answer 13

Habituated responses can also reappear following the presentation of a seemingly irrelevant novel stimulus.

Question 14

Intensity

Answer 14

Low- intensity stimulus, typically result in a habituation. High-intensity stimulus typically result in sensitizations. Stimulus of intermediate intensity often result in an initial period of sensitization, followed by habituation.

Question 15

Evolutionary (adaptive) significance of the stimulus

Answer 15

Habituation and sensitization are processes that we see across species even in simple organisms. From an evolutionary perspective, this suggests that these processes have tremendous survival advantages. They enable us to categorize stimuli into those that are currently irrelevant, which we tend to habituate to, and those that are currently relevant, which we tend not to habituate to and may even become sensitized.

Question 16

The opponent-process theory

Answer 16

Proposes that an emotional event elicits two competing processes: (1) an a-process (or primary process) that is directly elicited by the event, and (2) a b-process (or opponent process) that is elicited by the a-process and serves to counteract the a-process. The purpose of this compensatory b-process is to counter the sudden increase or decrease brought by the stimuli in the body, and the body is trying to retake it’s balance back by the process of homeostasis.

Question 17

Important characteristics of the opponent-process

Answer 17

1- The a-process correlates closly with the presence of the emotional event.
2- The b-process is slow to increase and slow to decrease.
3- With repeated presentations of the emotional event, the b-process increases in both strength and duration.
4- The a-process and b-process tend to be hedonically opposite from each other.

Question 18

Classical conditioning

Answer 18

A stimulus comes to elicit a response because it has been paired (or associated) with another stimulus

Question 19

Basic procedure and definitions of classical conditioning

Answer 19

Before conditioning, the dogs automatically salivated in response to the taste of food. Because salivation to food occurs naturally and does not require prior conditioning, it is called unconditioned response (UR), and the food is called unconditioned stimulus (US). The sound of a metronome does not elicit salivation and is therefore said to be a neutral stimulus (NS) with respect to salivation. During conditioning, the sound of the metronome is presented just before the food, which of course continues to elicit salivation. After conditioning, as a result of having been paired with the food, the metronome itself now elicits salivation. Because salivating to the metronome requires prior conditioning, it is called a conditioned response (CR), and the sound of the metronome is called conditioned stimulus (CS). Each pairing of the NS and the US during conditioning is called a conditioning trial. Several conditioning trials are often needed before the NS becomes established as a CS. In general, conditioning is more effective when the trials are spaced far apart.

Question 20

Appetitive conditioning

Answer 20

The US is an appetitive event (one that the organism approaches or seeks out); in mentalistic terms, it is something usually regarded as pleasant.

Question 21

Aversive conditioning

Answer 21

the US is an aversive event (one that the organism avoids); in mentalistic terms, it is something usually regarded as unpleasant.

Question 22

Excitatory conditioning

Answer 22

Conditioning in which the NS is associated with the presentation of a US. The result of excitatory conditioning is that the CS comes to elicit a certain response, such as salivation or fear.

Question 23

Inhibitory conditioning

Answer 23

Conditioning in which the NS is associated with the absence or removal of a US. The result of the inhibitory conditioning is that the CS comes to inhibit the occurrence of a certain response- that is, the response is less likely to occur when that stimulus is present.

Question 24

Delayed conditioning

Answer 24

The onset of the NS precedes the onset of the US, and the two stimuli overlap. A delayed conditioning procedure is often the best arrangement for conditioning, especially if the time between the onset of the NS and the onset of the US (interstimulus interval or ISI) is relatively brief. The NS serves as a predictor of the US.

Question 25

Trace conditioning

Answer 25

The onset and offset of the NS precede the onset of the US. The NS occurs before the US, and the two stimuli do not overlap. The time between the offset of the NS and the onset of the US is called the trace interval. Because the stimulus is no longer present during the response, you might say that the organism has to ‘’remember’’ the occurrence of the stimulus to be able to associate the two. Almost as effective as the delayed conditioning if the trace interval is relatively short (no more than a few second).

Question 26

Simultaneous conditioning

Answer 26

The onset of the NS and the onset of the US occur simultaneously. Although it involves the closest contiguity between the NS and the US, this procedure usually results in poor conditioning. The reason is that if the NS occurs at the same time as the US, the NS is no longer a good predictor of the US.

Question 27

Backward Conditioning:

Answer 27

The onset of the NS follows the onset of the US. The US is presented first, and the NS is presented later. Backward conditioning has traditionally been regarded as the least effective procedure for conditioning, especially with the respect to conditioning of an excitatory response. Backward conditioning can, however, sometimes result in the conditioning of an inhibitory response.

Question 28

Temporal conditioning

Answer 28

A form of classical conditioning in which the CS is the passage of time. The various cues that we use that we use to estimate time, some of which are internal, are sufficient to elicit the feelings of anxiety.

Question 29

Pseudo conditioning

Answer 29

An elicited response that appears to be a CR is actually the result of sensitization rather than conditioning.