Chapter 6

Question 1

What is learning?

Answer 1

A systematic, relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs through experience.

Question 2

What is behaviorism?

Answer 2

Theory of learning that focuses solely on obserable behaviors, discounting the importance of mental activity such as thinking, wishing, and hoping. Learning is relatively stable, observable changes in behavior.

Question 3

Associative Learning

Answer 3

Learning that occurs when an organism makes a connection, or an association, between two events.

Question 4

What is conditioning in relation to associative learning?

Answer 4

The process of learning the association between two events in associative learning. There are 2 types of conditioning. Classical conditioning and Operant conditioning.

Question 5

What is Classical Conditioning?

Answer 5

To learn the relationship or association between two stimuli. If one thing happens, something will follow it. Humans learn to anticipate that. There is a neutral stimuli with become associated with a meaningful stimulus which elicits a response.

Question 6

What is Operant conditioning?

Answer 6

Conditioning when there is a reward or punishment for actions. Good actions will result in a reward and punishment for something bad. As a person learns, they will do more of a good thing for a reward and less of something bad in order to avoid punishment.

Question 7

What is Observational learning?

Answer 7

Learning that occurs through observing and imitating another’s behavior.

Question 8

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

Answer 8

A stimulus that produces a response without prior learning.

Question 9

Unconditioned Response (UR)

Answer 9

An unlearned reaction that is automatically elicited by the unconditioned stimulus.

Question 10

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

Answer 10

A previously neutral stimulus that eventually elicits a conditioned response after being paird with the unconditioned stimulus

Question 11

Conditioned Response (CR)

Answer 11

The learned response to the conditioned stimulus that occurs after a conditioned stimulus - unconditioned stimulus pairing.

Question 12

What is Acquisition?

Answer 12

The initial learning or association between and unconditioned stimulus and conditioned stimulus when they are paired.

Question 13

What two factors must be present for Acquisition to be successful?

Answer 13

Contiguity and Contingency. Contiguity means that the CS and US must be presented one right after the other. In a short span of time. Contingency must not only precede the US closely in time, but it must serve as a reliable indicator that the US is on its way.

Question 14

What is Generalization in Classical Conditioning?

Answer 14

The tendency of a new stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus to elicit a response that is similar to the conditioned response.

Question 15

What is Discrimination as it relates to Classical Conditioning?

Answer 15

The process of learning to distinguish between two stimuli in order to ilicit a response from one but not another.

Question 16

What is Extinction in Classical Conditioning?

Answer 16

It’s the weakening of a Conditioned Response when the unconditioned stimulus is absent. When there is a disconnect and lack of association, the Conditioned Stimulus no long produces a Conditioned Response.

Question 17

What is Spontaneous Recovery?

Answer 17

The process in classical conditioning by which a conditioned response can recur after a time delay, without further conditioning. It’s like “hope”. I may happen this time?type of feeling.

Question 18

What is Counterconditioning?

Answer 18

A Classical Conditioning procedure for changing the relationship between a conditioned stimulus and its conditioned response.

Question 19

Aversive Conditioning

Answer 19

A form of treatment that consists of repeated pairings of a stimulus with a very unpleasant stimulus.

Question 20

What is Taste Aversion?

Answer 20

Associating food or a taste with an unpleasant stimulus.

Question 21

What is Drug Habituation?

Answer 21

Decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations.

Question 22

Classical conditioning is to involuntary responses and Operant conditioning is to:

Answer 22

voluntary responses.

Question 23

Law of Effect. Who proposed that law and what is it?

Answer 23

E.L. Thorndike created the law and it states that behaviors followed by positive outcomes are strengthened and that behaviors followed by negative outcomes are weakened.

Question 24

What did B.F. Skinner create to condition animals towards a behavior?

Answer 24

Skinner Box. It was to control experimental conditions. Animals were put into it, and randomly food was dropped in. The after a food lever was installed. At first, animals would mistakenly press the lever, and food would drop. Eventually the animal would learn that if it stepped on the lever, food would come out.

Question 25

What is Reinforcement?

Answer 25

Process by which a stimulus or event following a particular behavior increases the probability that the behavior will happen again.

Question 26

Avoidance learning

Answer 26

An organism’s learning that it can altogether avoid a negative stimulus by making a particular response.

Question 27

What is Learned Helplessness?

Answer 27

An organism’s learning through experience with negative stimuli that it has no control over negative outcomes.

Question 28

Primary Reinforcer

Answer 28

A reinforcer that is innately satisfying; a primary reinforcer does not require any learning on the organism’s part to make it pleasureable.

Question 29

Secondary Reinforcer

Answer 29

A reinforcer that acquires its positive value through an organism’s experience; a secondary reinforcer is a learned or conditioned reinforcer.

Question 30

Schedules of Reinforcement

Answer 30

Specific patterns that determine when a behavior will be reinforced.

Question 31

Encoding Specificity Principle

Answer 31

Information at the time of encoding or learning tends to be effective as a retrieval cue. Surroundings, time of day, etc. can be cues when encoding.

Question 32

Context-Dependent Memory

Answer 32

To better remember things when they attempt to recall information in the same context in which they learned it. To create a similar environment/scenarios. This helps to cue the brain to retrieve information.

Question 33

Interference Theory

Answer 33

The theory that people forget not because memories are lost from storage but becasue other information gets in the way of what they want to remember.

Question 34

Proactive Interference

Answer 34

Situation in which material that was learned earlier disrupts the recall of material that was learned later.

Question 35

Retroactive Interference

Answer 35

Situation in which material that was learned later disrupts the retrieval of information that was learned earlier.