Chapter 6 - learning Flashcards
What is learning?
any relatively
permanent change in
behavior brought about by
experience or practice
How do reflexes and instincts differ from learning?
Both reflexes and instincts help an
organism to adapt to its environment and
do not have to be learned.
What is classical conditioning, how did it develop,
and by whom was it developed?
Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning through his
work on digestion in dogs
Classical conditioning – learning that involves
the association of two stimuli
What are important concepts in classical
conditioning?
Stimulus
Response
Unconditioned
Conditioned
Neutral
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
Unconditioned response (UCR)
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Conditioned response (CR)
What was Pavlov’s classic experiment in
conditioning?
Pavlov taught a dog that when he rings a bell there’s food. the dog learned this and his mouth would water when the bell rang (conditioned stimulus)
How did John B. Watson, the founder of behaviorism,
contribute to the study of classical conditioning?
He performed the experiment called “Little albert” which was proving that emotions can be conditioned. he taught a kid to fear a rat.
What is operant conditioning and Thorndike’s Law of
Effect?
Operant conditioning - when one learns a behavior through consequences
Thorndike’s law of effect- positive consequences-behavior more likely to be repeated. negative consequences-more likely to not occur again
What was Skinner’s contribution to operant
conditioning?
He created the “skinner box” aka “operant conditioning chamber”
What are important concepts in operant
conditioning?
Reinforcement
Primary reinforcer- uses a basic need as a reward
Secondary reinforcer- paired with primary reinforcer. praise, gold stars, stickers etc.
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
How does punishment affect behavior?
It causes the behavior to be less likely to reoccur
What is shaping?
the reinforcement of
simple steps in behavior that
lead to a desired, more complex
behavior.
How do continuous and partial reinforcement differ,
and what are schedules of reinforcement?
Continuous reinforcement – when an organism
receives a reinforcer each time it displays a
behavior
Partial reinforcement – an organism does not get
reinforced every time it displays a behavior
Schedules of reinforcement
Fixed—determined
(known)
Variable— undetermined
(unknown)
Ratio—number of responses
Interval—passage of time
What is behavior modification?
the use of operant
conditioning techniques to bring about desired
changes in behavior
What is learned helplessness?
the tendency to fail
to act to escape from a situation because
of a history of repeated failures in the past
What is insight?
the sudden perception of
relationships among various parts of a
problem, allowing the solution to the
problem to come quickly
