Chapter 6 Flashcards
Learning
change in an organism’s behaviour or thought as a result of experience
Habituation
-process of responding less strongly over time to repeated stimuli
-a highly adaptive process
-reduces focus on “safe” things
Sensitization
-responding more strongly over time, from repeated stimulus presentation
-occurs during dangerous and irritating stimuli
-ie. people whispering while you’re trying to study
Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning
form of learning in which animals come to respond to a previously neutral stimulus that had been paired with another stimulus that elicits an automatic response
What did Pavlov find?
-studied digestion in dogs
-dogs salivated not only in the presence of food, but also those who fed them and their footsteps
-the dogs anticipated the arrival of food
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
-stimulus that elicits an automatic response without prior conditioning
-reflexive
-ie. meat powder
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
-automatic response to a non-neutral stimulus that does not need to be learned
-response to UCS
-ie. salivation (nature)
Neutral Stimulus (NS)
-a stimulus that does not naturally or normally elicit a response
-ie. metronome
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
-a previously neutral stimulus that now elicits a response due to pairings with the UCS
-ie. what the metronome becomes
Conditioned Response (CR)
-response elicited by the CS
-previously associated with a non-neutral stimulus, elicited by a neutral stimulus through conditioning
-ie. the salivating response to the metronome
Classical Conditioning Procedure Example
- NS and UCS to get a UCR (x1)
- NS = no response
- NS then UCS get a UCR (x40)
- CS gets a CR
Acquisition
-learning phase during which a conditioned response is established
-CS grows in strength when repeated (= learning!)
The closer in time the CS and UCS are paired, the ______ learning occurs.
faster
Asymptote
-when the CR occurs with every presentation of the CS
-CR is in similar magnitude to the UCR
-no further learning occurs
Extinction
-gradual reduction and eventual elimination of the CR after the CS is presented repeatedly without the UCS present
Extinction Example
-the metronome is played without meat powder
-dogs stopped salivating to the sound of the NS
Extinction is an _______ process
active
Spontaneous Recovery
-sudden reemergence of an extinct conditioned response after a delay after extinction
-usually a weaker response
Renewal Effect
-sudden reemergence of a conditioned response
-following the extinction, when the subject is returned to the environment where the CR occurred
What does the renewal effect help explain?
-phobias
Stimulus Generalization
-process by which conditioned stimuli that are similar, but not identical, elicit a conditioned response
-magnitude depends on similarity
Stimulus Discrimination
-process by which a less pronounced conditioned response is displayed in response to a CS that differs from the original CS
-without it we would respond similarly to everything (ie. explosion on the TV)
Higher-Order Conditioning
-developing a conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus by virtue of its association with another conditioned stimulus
-UCS not needed
-just pair a NS with a CS
-weaker response
Second-Order Conditioning
-new CS is paired with the original CS
-weaker response
Applying Classical Conditioning: Advertising
-getting people to associate their product with an emotion
-ie. pairing product (NS) with attractive people (UCS)
Latent Inhibition
-difficulty in establishing classical conditioning to a conditioned experience we repeatedly experience alone (without the UCS)
Applying Classical Conditioning: Fetishism
-sexual attraction to non-living things
-ie. pairing shoes (NS) with sex cues, like naked people (UCS) leading to sexual excitement (UCR)
Applying Classical Conditioning: Drug Tolerance
-people who used drugs in a particular setting developed an enhanced tolerance to the drug, in that setting
Conditioned Compensatory Response
-helps counteract the effects of the drugs
-a CR that is the opposite of the UCR and compensates for the UCR
-ie. drinking at a bar vs at home
Conditioned Phobias: Little Albert
-11mo baby was afraid of noise but liked white rats
-shown rat and exposed to loud noise, evoked fear response
-any white fur stimulus produced a fear reaction