Chapter 3: Learning and Memory Flashcards
Stimulus (Define)
Anything an organism can respond to.
Habituation
Repeated exposure to the same stimulus which causes a decrease in response.
Dishabituation:
The recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occurred. A second stimulus (new) interrupts habituation and causes an increase in response.
Associative Learning
The creation of pairing, or association, either between two stimuli or between a behavior and a response.
What are the two types of associative learning?
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
What was Ivan Pavlov responsible for?
Explaining Classical conditioning with his dog experiment
Unconditioned Stimulus
Any stimulus that brings results in a reflexive response
Unconditioned Response
The innate or reflexive response to an unconditioned stimulus.
Neutal Stimuli
Stimuli that do not produce a reflexive response.
Neutral stimuli can be referred to as ____ if they have the potential to be used as a ____.
Signaling Stimuli
Conditioning Stimulus
Pavlovs Experiment (Classical Conditioning) Unconditioned Stimulus: Unconditioned Response: Neutral Stimulus: After a while Conditioned Stimulus: Conditioned Response:
Unconditioned Stimulus: Meat
Unconditioned Response: Dog Salivating
Neutral Stimulus: Bell Ringing
After a while
Conditioned Stimulus: BELL (neutral stimulus -> Signaling Stimulus) started to make the dogs salivate even if there was no meat around.
Conditioned Response: Dogs salivating by hearing the bell.
Discrimination (Classical Conditioning Definition)
Organism learns to distinguish between two similar stimuli.
Generalization (Classical Conditioning Definition)
broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to the conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response.
Generalization (Classical Conditioning Example)
Evan is afraid of white rats. Therefore, he now hates things that are white such as a white rabbit, doctors in white coats.
Discrimination (Classical Conditioning Definition)
Pavlov’s soms could have been conditioned to discriminate between bells of different tones by having one paired with meat and the other one without.
Who is responsible for Operant Conditioning?
B.F. Skinner
What is Operant conditioning about?
Reinforcement and Punishment
Reinforcement (Define)
the process of increasing the likelihood that an individual will perform a behavior.
Positive Reinforcement (Define) Example
increases behavior by adding a positive consequence or incentive following the desired behavior.
Money: employees will continue to work if they are paid.
Negative Reinforcement (Define) Example
increase the frequency of a behavior, but they do so by removing something unpleasant.
Taking an aspirin reduces a headache, so the next time you have an headache, you are more likely to take an aspirin.
Reinforcement always ____ behavior.
Continues/increases
Taking an aspirin is an example of what type of learning?
Escape Learning.
You are escaping that headache.
Studying hard for the MCAT so you won’t get a bad scores is what type of learning>
Avoidance learning
Punishment (Define)
conditioned to reduce behavior.
Positive Punishment (Define) Example
Adds an unpleasant consequence in response to a behavior to reduce that behavior.
In some countries a thief may be beaten for stealing, which is intended to stop him from stealing again
Negative Punishment (Define) Example
The reduction of a behavior when a stimulus is removed.
A parent may forbid her child from watching television as a consequence for bad behavior, with the goal of preventing the behavior from happening again.
Fixed-ratio (FR) Schedules (Define)
Example
Reinforce a behavior after a specific number of performances of that behavior.
In a typical operant conditioning experiment, researchers might reward a rat with a food pellet every third time it presses a bar in its cage.
Variable-ratio (VR) schedules (Define)
Example
reinforce behavior after a varying number of performances of the behavior, but such that the average number of performances to receive a reward is relatively constant.
Researchers might reward a rat first after two button presses, then eight, then four, then finally six.
Fixed-interval (FI) Schedules (Define)
Example
reinforce the first instance of behavior after a specific time period has elapsed.
Once the rat gets a pellet, it has to wait 60 seconds before it can get another pellet.