Chapter 6 Learning

Question 1

acquisition

Answer 1

period of initial learning in classical conditioning in which a human or an animal begins to
connect a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus will begin to elicit the conditioned response

Question 2

associative learning

Answer 2

form of learning that involves connecting certain stimuli or events that occur together in
the environment (classical and operant conditioning)

Question 3

classical conditioning

Answer 3

learning in which the stimulus or experience occurs before the behavior and then gets
paired or associated with the behavior

Question 4

cognitive map

Answer 4

mental picture of the layout of the environment

Question 5

conditioned response (CR)

Answer 5

response caused by the conditioned stimulus

Question 6

conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 6

stimulus that elicits a response due to its being paired with an unconditioned
stimulus

Question 7

continuous reinforcement

Answer 7

rewarding a behavior every time it occurs

Question 8

fixed interval reinforcement schedule

Answer 8

behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time

Question 9

fixed ratio reinforcement schedule

Answer 9

set number of responses must occur before a behavior is rewarded

Question 10

higher-order conditioning

Answer 10

(also, second-order conditioning) using a conditioned stimulus to condition a
neutral stimulus

Question 11

latent learning

Answer 11

learning that occurs, but it may not be evident until there is a reason to demonstrate it

Question 12

law of effect

Answer 12

behavior that is followed by consequences satisfying to the organism will be repeated and
behaviors that are followed by unpleasant consequences will be discouraged

Question 13

negative punishment

Answer 13

taking away a pleasant stimulus to decrease or stop a behavior

Question 14

negative reinforcement

Answer 14

taking away an undesirable stimulus to increase a behavior

Question 15

neutral stimulus (NS)

Answer 15

stimulus that does not initially elicit a response

Question 16

observational learning

Answer 16

type of learning that occurs by watching others

Question 17

operant conditioning

Answer 17

form of learning in which the stimulus/experience happens after the behavior is
demonstrated

Question 18

partial reinforcement

Answer 18

rewarding behavior only some of the time

Question 19

positive punishment

Answer 19

adding an undesirable stimulus to stop or decrease a behavior

Question 20

positive reinforcement

Answer 20

adding a desirable stimulus to increase a behavior

Question 21

primary reinforcer

Answer 21

has innate reinforcing qualities (e.g., food, water, shelter, sex)

Question 22

radical behaviorism

Answer 22

staunch form of behaviorism developed by B. F. Skinner that suggested that even
complex higher mental functions like human language are nothing more than stimulus-outcome associations

Question 23

secondary reinforcer

Answer 23

has no inherent value unto itself and only has reinforcing qualities when linked with
something else (e.g., money, gold stars, poker chips)

Question 24

spontaneous recovery

Answer 24

return of a previously extinguished conditioned response

Question 25

stimulus discrimination

Answer 25

ability to respond differently to similar stimuli

Question 26

stimulus generalization

Answer 26

demonstrating the conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the
conditioned stimulus

Question 27

unconditioned response (UCR)

Answer 27

natural (unlearned) behavior to a given stimulus

Question 28

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Answer 28

stimulus that elicits a reflexive response

Question 29

variable interval reinforcement schedule

Answer 29

behavior is rewarded after unpredictable amounts of time have
passed

Question 30

variable ratio reinforcement schedule

Answer 30

number of responses differ before a behavior is rewarded

Question 31

vicarious punishment

Answer 31

process where the observer sees the model punished, making the observer less likely
to imitate the model’s behavior

Question 32

Little Albert experiment

Answer 32

The Little Albert experiment was a controlled experiment showing empirical evidence of classical conditioning in humans. The study also provides an example of stimulus generalization. It was carried out by John B. Watson and his graduate student, Rosalie Rayner, at Johns Hopkins University

Question 33

variable interval

Answer 33

In operant conditioning, a variable-interval schedule is a schedule of reinforcement where a response is rewarded after an unpredictable amount of time has passed, which is the opposite of a fixed-interval schedule. This schedule produces a slow, steady rate of response

Question 34

variable ratio

Answer 34

In operant conditioning, a variable-ratio schedule is a partial schedule of reinforcement in which a response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses.

Question 35

Shaping.

Answer 35

Shaping. In his operant conditioning experiments, Skinner often used an approach called shaping. Instead of rewarding only the target behavior, in shaping, we reward successive approximations of a target behavior.

Question 36

Edward C. Tolman

Answer 36

Edward Chace Tolman was an American psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Through Tolman’s theories and works, he founded what is now a branch of psychology known as purposive behaviorism.

Question 37

John B. Watson

Answer 37

John Broadus Watson was an American psychologist who popularized the scientific theory of behaviorism, establishing it as a psychological school. Watson advanced this change in the psychological discipline through his 1913 address at Columbia University, titled Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It.

Question 38

B. F. Skinner

Answer 38

Burrhus Frederic Skinner was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. He was a professor of psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974

Question 39

social learning theory

Answer 39

Social learning theory, proposed by Albert Bandura, emphasizes the importance of observing, modelling, and imitating the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Social learning theory considers how both environmental and cognitive factors interact to influence human learning and behavior.

Question 40

classical conditioning

Answer 40

Classical conditioning is a behavioral procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus is paired with a previously neutral stimulus.

Question 41

unconditionaned stimules

Answer 41

An unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus that leads to an automatic response. In Pavlov’s experiment, the food was the unconditioned stimulus. An unconditioned response is an automatic response to a stimulus. The dogs salivating for food is the unconditioned response in Pavlov’s experiment.

Question 42

conditioned stimulus

Answer 42

A conditioned stimulus is a neutral cue or event that produces an involuntary response after repeatedly being paired with an unconditioned stimulus that naturally elicits that behavior. This term originated in a learning process called classical conditioning

Question 43

higher-order conditioning

Answer 43

In classical conditioning, second-order conditioning or higher-order conditioning is a form of learning in which a stimulus is first made meaningful or consequential for an organism through an initial step of learning, and then that stimulus is used as a basis for learning about some new stimulus

Question 44

variable interval reinforcement

Answer 44

Variable interval reinforcement is a schedule in which reinforcements are distributed at varying intervals of time, depending on whether or not the desired behavior has been performed

Question 45

partial reinforcement

Answer 45

In partial (or intermittent) reinforcement, the response is reinforced only part of the time.

Question 46

Albert Bandura

Answer 46

Albert Bandura’s social learning theory suggests that observation and modeling play a primary role in how and why people learn. Bandura’s theory goes beyond the perception of learning being the result of direct experience with the environment

Question 47

Rosalie Rayner

Answer 47

Rosalie Alberta Rayner was a research psychologist, and the assistant and later wife of Johns Hopkins University psychology professor John B. Watson, with whom she carried out the famous Little Albert experiment. Rayner studied at Vassar College and Johns Hopkins University