Chapter 6 Flashcards
What are phobias?
irrational fears of specific objects or situations
What is classical conditioning?
a type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus
What is Pavlovian conditioning?
another name for classical conditioning
a type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus
What is a US?
an unconditioned stimulus
a stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response without previous conditioning. Provokes a natural response
What is a UR?
an unconditioned response
an unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning. A natural response.
What is a CS?
a conditioned stimulus
a previously neutral stimulus (NS) that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a conditioned response
What is a CR?
a conditioned response
a learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning
What is a trial in classical conditioning?
any presentation of a stimulus or pair of stimuli
What is evaluative conditioning?
changes in the liking of a stimulus that result from pairing that stimulus with other positive or negative stimuli. In other words, evaluative conditioning involves the acquisition of likes and dislikes, or preferences, through classical conditioning
When talking about classical conditioning, what is acquisition?
the initial stage of learning a new response tendency
When talking about classical conditioning, what is extinction?
the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency
What is spontaneous recovery?
the reappearance of an extinguished response after a period of nonexposure to the conditioned stimulus
What is the renewal effect?
if a response is extinguished in a different environment than it was acquired, the extinguished response will reappear if the animal is returned to the original environment where acquisition took place
What is stimulus generalization?
when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus responds in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus
What is stimulus discrimination?
when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus does not respond in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus
What is higher-order conditioning?
When a conditioned stimulus functions as if it were an unconditioned stimulus.
Example
First, you condition a dog to salivate in response to the sound of a tone by pairing the tone with meat powder. Once the tone is firmly established as a CS, you pair the tone with a new stimulus—let’s say a red light—for 15 trials. You then present the red light alone, without the tone. Will the dog salivate in response to the red light? The answer is “yes.”
What is operant conditioning?
a form of learning in which VOLUNTARY responses come to be controlled by their consequences, like positive and negative reinforcement
What is reinforcement?
a response is strengthened because it leads to rewarding consequences
What is a Skinner box?
a small enclosure in which an animal can make a specific response that is systematically recorded while the consequences of the response are controlled
What are reinforcement contingencies?
the circumstances or rules that determine whether responses lead to the presentation of reinforcers
Example
The consequences given in a Skinner box
What is a cumulative recorder?
A device that creates a graphic record of responding and reinforcement in a Skinner box as a function of time
What is shaping?
the reinforcement of closer and closer approximations of a desired response
What is resistance to extinction?
when an organism continues to make a response after delivery of the reinforcer for it has been terminated
What is discriminative stimuli?
cues that influence operant behavior by indicating the probable consequences (reinforcement or nonreinforcement) of a response
What are primary reinforcers?
events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs
What are secondary reinforcers or conditioned reinforcers?
events that acquire reinforcing qualities by being associated with primary reinforcers
What is a schedule of reinforcement?
a specific pattern of presentation of reinforcers over time
What is continuous reinforcement?
when every instance of a designated response is reinforced
What is intermittent reinforcement?
when a designated response is reinforced only some of the time
What is a FR schedule?
a fixed-ratio schedule
the reinforcer is given after a fixed number of nonreinforced responses
What is a VR schedule?
a variable-ratio schedule
the reinforcer is given after a variable number of nonreinforced responses
What is an FI schedule?
a fixed-interval schedule
the reinforcer is given for the first response that occurs after a fixed time interval has elapsed
What is a VI schedule?
a variable-interval schedule
the reinforcer is given for the first response after a variable time interval has elapsed
What is escape learning?
When an organism acquires a response that decreases or ends some aversive stimulation
What is avoidance learning?
When an organism acquires a response that prevents some aversive stimulation from occurring
What is punishment?
when an event following a response weakens the tendency to make that response
What is preparedness?
involves species-specific predispositions to be conditioned in certain ways and not others
What are the four elements of the evolved module for fear learning?
(1) preferentially activated by stimuli related to survival threats in evolutionary history,
(2) automatically activated by these stimuli,
(3) relatively resistant to conscious efforts to suppress the resulting fears, and
(4) dependent on neural circuitry running through the amygdala.
What is latent learning?
learning that is not apparent from behavior when it first occurs
Who discovered latent learning?
Edward C. Tolman
What is noncontingent reinforcement?
when a response is accidentally strengthened by a reinforcer that follows it, even though delivery of the reinforcer was not a result of the response
Often results in superstitions
What is observational learning?
when an organism’s responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models
What are the four key principles in observational learning?
Attention: To learn through observation, you must pay attention to another person’s behavior and its consequences.
Retention: You must store a mental representation of what you have witnessed in your memory.
Reproduction: Enacting a modeled response depends on your ability to reproduce the response by converting your stored mental images into overt behavior.
Motivation: Finally, you are unlikely to reproduce an observed response unless you are motivated to do so. Your motivation depends on whether you encounter a situation in which you believe the response is likely to pay off for you.
Who organized an experiment with Little Albert?
John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner
What is the fundemental principle of operant conditioning?
Reinforcement
What happens in negative reinforcement?
Removal of an aversive stimulus. NOT punishment.
What is the difference between negative reinforcement and punishment?
Negative is the removal of a negative stimulus. Punishment is giving a negative stimulus or removing a positive stimulus
What is punishment?
Event following a response weakens the tendency to make that response
