Chapter 6 - Learning Flashcards
what is learning? what does it include?
Change in an organism’s behavior or thought as a result of experience
includes physical changes to the brain
what is habituation?
a decrease in response to repeated stimuli
adaptive
when does habituation happen?
Happens all the time (sitting in the classroom and the fan comes on to circulate the air – may notice at first but will adapt). You’ve habituated to the presence of that stimulation
what is sensitization?
increase in response to repeated stimuli
another form of simple learning
more common for intense, irritating, dangerous stimuli
what is classical conditioning
a form of learning in which animals come to reasons to a previously neutral stimulus that is paired with another stimulus that elicits an automatic response
form associations
what is Pavlov’s pioneering research?
investigating digestion
found that dogs would begin to salivate when they heard the footsteps of the feeders
The dogs began to drool in response to even hearing the footsteps of the people coming to feed them
Dogs associated the food with the stimulus which predicted the arrival
Physiology in the brain had this natural response
what is the unconditioned stimulus? (UCS)
stimulus that elicits an automatic response without prior conditioning
unconditioned response (UCR)
automatic response to a non-neutral stimulus that does not need to be learned
conditioned stimulus (CS)
initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a response due to association with an unconditoned stimulus
Conditioned response
Response previously associated with a non-neutral stimulus that is elicited by a neutral stimulus through conditioning.
what is acquisition?
learning phase during which a conditioned response is established
conditioned response (CR) increases frequency over repeated pairings
Learning is highest when controlled stimulus and uncontrolled stimulus are presented close together in time
what is extinction?
gradual reduction and eventual elimination of the conditioned response after the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus
an active process, not merely “forgetting”. A form of learning
what is spontaneous recovery?
sudden reemergence of an extinct conditioned response after a delay following an extinction procedure
CR appear, is often __ than after __ phase
often WEAKER than after ACQUISITION phase
what is stimulus generalization?
the process by which conditioned stimuli that are similar. but not identical to the original condition stimulus (CS) elicit a response
generalization gradient
the more similar the stimulus is to the original CS, the stronger the response of the condition (CR) will be.
Stimulus Discrimination
The process by which organisms display a less pronounced conditioned response (CR) to conditioned stimuli that differ from the original conditioned stimulus (CS)
what is higher-order conditioning?
developing a conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus by virtue of its association with another conditioned stimulus
Ex: Pair metronome (neutral) with food (UCS) –Metronome becomes CS that elicits salivation
what does each progressive level of association result in? (higher-order conditioning)
results in a weaker conditioning
what was the stimulus generalization in the Little Albert Study?
Fear of a rabbit, dog, furry coat
what was the stimulus discrimination in the Little Albert Study?
no fear of cotton balls
how do classical conditioning and advertising work together?
advertisers pair their product (CS) with the stimuli that elicit positive emotions (UCS)