Chapter 6

Question 1

Rudimentary Learning

Answer 1

• learning that’s built into the organism
• habituation- repetition of a neutral stimulus causes a decreased response
• sensitization- become more sensitive after a threatening stimulus
• imprinting- attachment of younger animals to older animals. Happen with birds 12-18 hours

Question 2

Classical Conditioning

Answer 2

• learning through association. Can take place in womb

Question 3

Pavlov experiment and terminology

Answer 3

• unconditioned stimulus- meat
• unconditioned response- saliva
• conditioned stimulus- bell
• unconditioned response- saliva

Question 4

Unconditioned Stimulus

Answer 4

stimulus that provokes an unconditioned response

Question 5

Unconditioned response

Answer 5

an unlearned reaction that occurs without conditioning

Question 6

Conditioned Stimulus

Answer 6

a previously neutral stimulus that has acquired meaning through conditioning and the capacity to evoke a response

Question 7

Conditioned response

Answer 7

a learned reaction due to previous conditioning

Question 8

What makes the strongest association?

Answer 8

• contiguity- onset of conditioned stimulus (bell) before unconditioned stimulus (meat)
• novelty- newer stimuli lead to faster learning because we don’t know any other associations
• biological preparedness- we are prepared to associate certain stimuli with things

Question 9

Explain Garcia’s Rats

Answer 9

• easier to condition taste or smell with nausea than light or sounds with nausea
• more biologically prepared to pair internal threats to internal stimuli (taste, smell)

Question 10

Explain Mineka’s Monkeys

Answer 10

• example of biological preparedness
• monkey’s saw other monkeys scared of snake and flower- learned fear
• easier to teach monkey to fear snake than flower
• both stimuli neutral and novel
• we’re hardwired to be afraid of snakes

Question 11

What are 4 ways conditioned responses can change over time?

Answer 11

• spontaneous recovery
• extinction
• discrimination
• generalization

Question 12

What is extinction in classical conditioning?

Answer 12

if conditioned stimulus is repeated too many times without unconditioned stimulus, there will be no conditioned response - it will stop

Question 13

What is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 13

when the conditioned response reappears after a time of no exposure to conditioned stimulus

Question 14

What is discrimination in classical conditioning?

Answer 14

Learning becomes super specific. Not all bells signal meat, this tone does

Question 15

What is generalization in classical conditioning?

Answer 15

When a conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus generalizes to other similar objects.

Ex- Little Albert was conditioned to be afraid of a white rat. Now, he’s afraid of all white fuzzy objects

Question 16

Operant Conditioning

Answer 16

learning from consequences and association

Question 17

What is reinforcement?

Answer 17

When the consequences of a response increases an organism’s tendency to make that response
- there’s positive and negative reinforcement

Question 18

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 18

• behavior continues because you there’s a presence of something good
• ex- cleaning room and getting allowance

Question 19

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 19

• behavior continues because there’s an absence of something bad/ you remove a negative
• Ex- if you clean room, nagging stops

Question 20

What is punishment?

Answer 20

When presence of something negative decreases tendency to make that response

Question 21

Positive punishment

Answer 21

presence of something bad decreases behavior

- spank if room isn’t clean

Question 22

Negative Punishment

Answer 22

absence of something good

- take away TV if room not clean to decrease behavior

Question 23

What does Skinner believe about reinforcement and punishment?

Answer 23

Skinner believed reinforcement was preferable to punishment. Favored positive punishment. He thought it’s better to reinforce desired behaviors than to punish unwanted ones.
- If you punish too much, you can associate punisher with fear and anxiety= abuser

Question 24

In what ways does operant conditioning change over time?

Answer 24

• shaping
• chaining
• extinction

Question 25

What is shaping?

Answer 25

Reinforcing closer approximations of behavior. Praise for not leaving dishes in bathroom, then for getting dishes closer to sink, then in sink.

Question 26

What is chaining?

Answer 26

Building a chain of behaviors in a certain order through reinforcement. Happens when you want dogs to learn tricks

Question 27

What is extinction?

Answer 27

If a behavior was previously reinforced, then becomes unreinforced, behavior stops over time

Question 28

What is the over justification effect? This is one way extinction occurs.

Answer 28

If you reward behavior that was originally interesting, you reduce interest in engaging in behavior without reward.

• ex- rewarding a kid for playing piano can remove natural enjoyment
• you can also reward an unwanted behavior then decrease the reward. Ex- giving chocolate to a filthy room. Then weaning them off. They’ll want more chocolate, so they’ll clean the room.

Question 29

What are primary and secondary reinforcers?

Answer 29

• primary reinforcers- events that satisfy biological needs. Ex- food, social approval
• secondary reinforcers- events that acquire primary reinforcer qualities through association. Ex- money, grades

Question 30

What are the three schedules of reinforcement?

Answer 30

• continuous
• partial
• random

Question 31

What is continuous reinforcement?

Answer 31

every instance of desired behavior is rewarded and reinforced. Good for house training a dog because they learn fast

Question 32

What is partial reinforcement?

Answer 32

When desired behavior is only reinforced some of the time.

It could be on a fixed or unfixed schedule or a variable ratio- reinforcement after unpredictable number of times. Ex- gambling. Leads to greatest resistance in extinction

Question 33

What is random reinforcement?

Answer 33

when desired behavior is reinforced randomly. Ex- pigeon gets fed randomly, but tries to find patterns.
This leads to superstitious behavior

Question 34

Observational Learning

Answer 34

occurs when behavior is influenced by observation of others

Ex- kids are more aggressive because they’ve been desensitized to violence from gruesome video games

Question 35

How can you make the greatest impact via observational learning?

Answer 35

• by evoking strong emotions, ex from parents

- association with high status or attracted celebrities, someone who is admired

Question 36

Vicarious Reinforcement

Answer 36

We learn about an action’s consequences by watching others get rewarded or shamed for doing it

Question 37

During observational learning what neurons are activated?

Answer 37

mirror neurons

Question 38

Latent Learning

Answer 38

learning that takes place without reinforcement

Question 39

What is insight learning?

Answer 39

learning that takes place without reinforcement
Emerges after a period of inaction or contemplation
An Ah Ha! moment

Question 40

What is the Premack principle?

Answer 40

a more valued activity can be used to reinforce the performance of a less-valued activity. “Eat your spinach and then you’ll get dessert”