Chapter 3 - Three Approaches to learning

Question 1

Learning

Answer 1

The acquisition of new knowledge or skills.

Question 2

Comparative approach

Answer 2

The study of different species of animal in order to establish general and specific features of behaviour.

Question 3

Behaviourism

Answer 3

The tradition that advocates that psychology should be a science of behaviour, without reference to mental states that cannot be observed.

Question 4

Physiologist

Answer 4

A scientist who studies the structure and function of the body.

Question 5

Reflex

Answer 5

An automatic response to a stimulus.

Question 6

Conditional stimulus (CS)

Answer 6

A stimulus, the power of which depends upon its pairing with an unconditional stimulus.

Question 7

Classical conditioning

Answer 7

Learning arising from a pairing of two events outside the control of the animal.

Question 8

Conditional response (CR)

Answer 8

A response that is triggered by a conditional stimulus.

Question 9

Conditional reflex

Answer 9

A reflex triggered by a conditional stimulus.

Question 10

Unconditional stimulus (UCS)

Answer 10

A stimulus that evokes a response without the necessity for a history of conditioning.

Question 11

Unconditional response (UCR)

Answer 11

A response that does not require learning.

Question 12

Stimulus-response association

Answer 12

The link assumed to be formed by an animal whereby a stimulus triggers a response.

Question 13

Expectancy

Answer 13

Knowledge about a sequence of events (anticipation).

Question 14

Instrumental conditioning

Answer 14

A form of conditioning in which the outcome depends on the animal’s behaviour.

Question 15

Operant conditioning

Answer 15

A variety of instrumental conditioning that traditionally has been studied in a Skinner box.

Question 16

Operant

Answer 16

A behaviour freely emitted by an animal which can be reinforced (e.g. lever-pressing).

Question 17

Positive reinforcement

Answer 17

Something that follows a behaviour and increases the probability that the behaviour will occur in the future.

Question 18

Shaping

Answer 18

The reinforcement of successive approximations to a desired behaviour.

Question 19

Law of effect

Answer 19

A law that states that responses having favourable consequences will be learned.

Question 20

Discrimination

Answer 20

A response made in the presence of one stimulus and a lack of response made in the presence of another.

Question 21

Negative reinforcement

Answer 21

Something that is terminated by behaviour and where the frequency of this behaviour increases.

Question 22

Punishment

Answer 22

Something normally described as aversive which follows a behaviour and lowers the probability that the behaviour will occur again.

Question 23

Behaviour modification

Answer 23

A technique of changing behaviour by means of positive reinforcement.

Question 24

Concepts

Answer 24

Ideas that are structured in terms of attributes and refer to categories in the world.

Question 25

Information processing

Answer 25

Information is assumed to be received via the senses, further processed or transformed, and then used to guide action and behaviour.

Question 26

Category learning

Answer 26

The learning that occurs when people come to understand that certain objects or entities belong together in particular categories.

Question 27

Hypothesis

Answer 27

A suggested explanation for a set of observations that may or may not turn out to be supported.

Question 28

Artificial stimuli

Answer 28

Stimuli devised by the experimenter in order to have no intrinsic meaning.

Question 29

Ecological validity

Answer 29

The extent to which a study reflects naturally occurring or everyday situations.

Question 30

Natural categories

Answer 30

Categories that occur naturally and are not invented or devised by the experimenter.

Question 31

Attributes

Answer 31

Properties of things that are reflected in the structure of concepts.

Question 32

Nativism

Answer 32

The belief that knowledge is mainly or exclusively innate.

Question 33

Empiricism

Answer 33

The belief that knowledge should be mainly or exclusively based on evidence about the world received via our senses. Empirical research therefore relies on gathering facts using techniques such as observation and experimentation.

Question 34

Empirical studies

Answer 34

Studies that aim to generate data based on experiences; for example, by conducting observations and experiments.

Question 35

Induction problem

Answer 35

The problem that arises because our past experiences do not serve as a totally reliable guide to our future experiences.

Question 36

Sociocultural perspective

Answer 36

A perspective on learning which stresses that learning involves the use of tools and artefacts and is embedded within the context of interpersonal relationships, which in turn are embedded in social and cultural systems.

Question 37

Appropriation

Answer 37

To make something one’s own.

Question 38

Enculturation

Answer 38

A process through which people adopt specific cultural practices and act in accordance with cultural norms.