Chapter 6 - Learning Flashcards
What is stimulus discrimination?
The process by which organisms display a less pronounced CR to CS that differs from the original CS
What is higher-order conditioning?
Developing a CR to a CS by virtue of its association with another CS
What is operant conditioning?
learning controlled by the consequences of the organism’s behaviour
What are the three main differences between classical and operant conditioning?
classical conditioning -
1. the organism’s response is elicited
2. the animal’s reward is independent of what it does
3. organism’s response depends primarily on the autonomic nervous system
What is insight?
grasping the underlying nature of a problem
What is a Skinner box?
A small animal chamber constructed by Skinner to allow sustained periods of conditioning to be administered and behaviours to be recorded unsupervised
What is reinforcement?
outcome or consequence of a behaviour that strengthens the probability of the behaviour
What is positive reinforcement?
The presentation of a stimulus following a behaviour that strengthens the probability of the behaviour
What is negative reinforcement?
Removal of a stimulus following a behaviour that strengthens the probability of the behaviour
What is punishment?
An outcome or consequence of a behaviour that weakens the probability of the behaviour
What is schedule of reinforcement?
pattern of reinforcing a behaviour
What is continuous reinforcement?
Reinforcing a behaviour every time it occurs, resulting in faster learning but faster extinction then only occasional reinforcement
What is partial reinforcement?
only occasional reinforcement of a behaviour, resulting in slower extinction then if the behaviour had been reinforced continually
What is a fixed ratio schedule?
pattern in which we provide reinforcement following a regular number of responses
What is a variable ratio schedule?
A way to reinforce behavior where rewards are given after a certain number of times a behavior is performed, but that number changes randomly each time
What is a fixed interval schedule?
Pattern in which we provide reinforcement for a response at least once following a specified time interval
What is a variable interval schedule?
Pattern in which we provide reinforcement for producing the response after an average time interval, with the actual interval varying randomly.
What is a secondary reinforcer?
Neutral object that becomes associated with a primary reinforcer
What is a primary reinforcer?
Item or outcome that naturally increases the target behaviour
What is two-process theory?
We need both classical and operant conditioning to explain the persistence of anxiety disorders
What is Latent learning?
Learning that’s not directly observable
What are cognitive maps?
mental representation of how a physical space is organzied
What is observational learning?
learning by watching others