Chapter 15- exam 4

Question 1

behaviorism

Answer 1

• study of how a persons behavior is a direct result of his environment, particularly the rewards and punishments in the environment
• belief that the causes of behavior can be directly observed because they are in the environment

Question 2

functional analysis

Answer 2

the goal of behaviorism is to determine how behavior is a function of one environment

Question 3

empiricism

Answer 3

• idea that all knowledge comes from experience
• experience is the direct product of reality
• implies that at birth the mind is essentially empty = blank slate

Question 4

associationism

Answer 4

• idea that any two things become mentally associated as one if they are repeatedly experienced close together in time
• lightning flashes then thunder
• many things are associated because one causes the other
• not all things are cause and effect

Question 5

hedonism

Answer 5

• organisms learn for two reasons: to seek pleasure and to avoid pain
• explains the motivation for learning and behaving
• implications for values and morality

Question 6

classical conditioning

Answer 6

• the kind of learning in which an unconditioned response that is naturally elicited by one stimulus becomes elicited also by a new, conditioned stimulus
• physiology: classical conditioning affects involuntary processes
• pavlov’s dogs
• learned helplessness
• involuntary

Question 7

learned helplessness

Answer 7

cant escape the stimulus so just give up

Question 8

operant conditioning

Answer 8

• an organisms behavior is shaped by the effect of the behavior on the environment
• Thorndike’s law of effect: responses followed by a rewarding state of affairs will be strengthened, and responses followed by an aversive state of affairs will be weekened
• voluntary

Question 9

punishment

Answer 9

• an unpleasant consequence that follows an act in order to stop it and prevent it from happening again

Question 10

steps of punishment

Answer 10

1. availability of alternative responses
2. behavioral and situational specificity
3. apply punishment immediately after the behavior and every time it occurs
4. condition secondary punishing stimuli
5. avoid mixed messages

Question 11

habit hierarchy

Answer 11

all of the behaviors an individual might do, ranked in order from most to least probable

Question 12

primary drive

Answer 12

a drive that is innate to an organism; food, water, physical comfort, avoidance of physical pain, sexual gratification

Question 13

secondary drive

Answer 13

a drive that is learned through its association with a primary drive; love, prestige, money, power, and avoidance of fear and humiliation; learned during socialization

Question 14

drive reduction theory

Answer 14

for a reward to have the power to encourage the target behavior, the reward must satisfy a need

Question 15

approach-avoidance conflict

Answer 15

1. an increase in drive strength increase the tendency for approach or avoidance
2. when there are two competing responses, the stronger response wins
3. the tendency to approach increases as the positive goal gets closer
4. the tendency to avoid increases as the negative goal gets closer
5. the tendency to avoid is stronger than the tendency to approach
   - avoidance gradient: as the events gets closer in time, the negative elements become more important than the positive elements

Question 16

expectancy value theory

Answer 16

• decisions are determined by the presence or size of reinforcements and beliefs about the likely results of behavior
• even if a reinforcement is very attractive, you are not likely to pursue it if your chances of success seem slim
• even something that is not particularly desirable might motivate behavior, if the chances of getting it are high

Question 17

social learning theory

Answer 17

• reaction to shortcomings of behaviorism
• based in animal research
• ignores the social dimension of learning, yet we often learn by watching others
• organisms are treated as essentially passive
• suspicion that behaviorism did not tell the whole story
• Kohler’s chimpanzees did more than learn from rewards, they developed insights

Question 18

locus of control / generalized expectancy

Answer 18

• people with high generalized expectancy have an internal locus of control
• people with low generalized expectancy have an external locus of control

Question 19

efficacy expectation

Answer 19

• one’s belief that one can perform a given goal-directed behavior
• bandura’s interpretation of Rotter’s expectancy
• difference is rotter focused on the expectation of success if something is done and bandura focused on the expectation of being able to do something in the first place

Question 20

reciprocal deerminism

Answer 20

people affect their environments while their environments affect them

Question 21

habituation

Answer 21

• a decrease in responsiveness with each repeated exposure to something
• simplest form of behavior change
• stimulus must change or continually increase in order to maintain the intensity of the original response
• it is possible to habituate to violence portrayed in the media and video games, winning the lottery and being paralyzed