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
Classical Condition (Pavlovian)
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
Unconditioned Stimulus
Stimulus that elicits an automatic response without prior conditioning
Unconditioned Response
Automatic response to a nonneutral stimulus that does not neet to be learned
Conditioned Response
Response previously assiciated with a nonneutral stimulus that is elicited by a neutral stimulus through conditioning
Conditioned Stimulus
Initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a response due to association with an unconditioned stimulus
Acquisition
Learning phase during which a conditioned response is established
Extinction
Gradual reduction and eventual elimination of the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus
Spontaneous Recovery
Sudden reemergence of an extinct conditioned response after a delay following an extinction procedure
Renewal Effect
Sudden reemergence of a conditioned response following extinction when an animal is returned to the environment in which the conditioned response was acquired
Stimulus Generalization
Process by which conditioned stimuli similar, but not identical, to the original conditioned sticumulus elicit a conditioned response
Stimulus Discrimination
Process by which orgasnisms display a less pronounced conditioned response to conditioned stimuli that differ from the originao conditioned stimulus
Higher-Order Conditioning
Developing a conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus by virtue of its association with another conditioned stimulus
Latent Inhibition
Difficulty in establishing classical conditioning to a conditioned stimuulus we’ve repeatedly experienced alone, that it, without the unconditioned stimulus
Conditioned Compensatory Response
A CR that is the opposite of the UCR and serves to compensate for the UCR
Fetishism
Sexual Attraction to nonliving things
Operant Conditioning
Learning controlled by the consequenses of an organism’s behaviour
Law of Effect
Principle asserting that if a stimulus followed by a behaviour results in a reward, the stimulus is more likely to give rise to the behaviour in the future
Insight
Grasping the underlying nature of a problem
Skinner Box
Small animal chamber constructed by Skinner to allow sustained periods of conditioning to be administered and behaviours to be recorded unsupervised
Reinforcement
Outcome or consequence of a behaviour that strengthens the probability of a behaviour
Positive Reinforcement
The presentation of a stimulus following a behaviour that strengthens the probability of the behaviour
Negative Reinforcement
The remobal of a stimulus following a behaviour that strengthens the probability of the behaviour
Punishment
Outcome or consequence of a behaviour that weakens the probability of the behaviour
Discriminative Stimulus
Stimulus associated with the presence of reinforcement
Schedule of Reinforcement
Pattern of reinforcing a behaviour
Continuous Reinforcement
Reinforcing a behaviour every time it occurs, resuting in faster learning but faster extinction than only occasional reinforcement
Partial Reinforcement
Only occasional reinforcement of a behaviour, resulting in slower extinction than if behaviour had been reinforced continuously
Fixed Ratio Schedule
Pattern in which we provide reinforcement following a regular number of responses
Fixed interval Schedule
Pattern in which we provide reinforcement for the first response following a specified time interval
Variable Ratio Schedule
Pattern in which we provide reinforcement after a variable number of responses, with the number varying randomly around some average
Variable Interval Schedule
Patter in which we provide reinforcement for the first response following a variable time interval, with the actual intervals varying randomly around some average
Shaping by successive approximations
Conditioning a target behaviour by progressively reinforcing behaviours that come closer and closer to the target
Secondary Reinforcer
Neutral object that becomes associated with a primary reinforcer
Primary Reinforcer
Item of outcome that naturally increases the target behaviour
Latent Learning
Learning that’s not directly observable
Cognitive Map
Mental representation of how a physical space is organised
Observable Learning
Learning by watching others
Mirror Neuron
Cell in the prefrontal cortex that becomes activated by specific motions when an animal both performs and observes that action
Preparedness
Evolutionary predisposition to learn some pairings of feared stimuli over others owing to their survival value
Instinctive Drift
Tendency for animals to return to innate behaviours following repeated reinforcement
Learning Style
An individual’s prefered or optimal method of acquiring new information
