Chapter 6 - Learning Flashcards
any relatively durable change in behavior or knowledge that is due to experience
learning
irrational fears of specific objects or situation
phobias
intense fear of being in public places where it may be difficult to escape from or in which it might be difficult to obtain help
agoraphobia
involves learning connections b/t events that occur in an organism’s environment
conditioing
type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus
classical conditioning (Pavlov)
a stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response without previous conditioning
unconditioned stimulus
unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning
unconditioned response
previously neutral stimulus that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a conditioned response
conditioned stimulus
learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning
conditioned response
consists of any presentation of a stimulus or pair of stimuli
trial in classical conditoning
changes in the liking of a stimulus that result from pairing that stimulus with other positive and negative stimuli
evaluative conditioning
the initial stage of learning something
acquisition
the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency
extinction
reappearance of an extinguished response after a period of nonexposure to the conditioned stimulus
spontaneous recovery
a response is extinguished in a diff environment than it was acquired, the extinguished response will reappear if the animal is returned to the original environment where acquisition took place
renewal effect
when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus responds in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus
stimulus generalization
occurs when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus does not respond in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus
stimulus discrimination
which a conditioned stimulus functions as if it were an unconditioned stimulus
higher-order conditioning
involves a species-specific predispostion to be conditioned in certain ways and not others
preparedness
form of learning in which responses come to be controlled by their consequences
operant conditioning
if a response in the presence of a stimulus leads to satisfying effects, the association b/t the stimulus and the response is strengthened
law of effect
occurs when an event following a response increases an organism’s tendency to make that response
reinforcement
circumstances or rules that determine whether response lead to the presentation of reinforcers
reinforcement contingencies
events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs
primary reinforcers
events that acquire reinforcing qualities by being associated with primary reinforcers
secondary reinforcers
consists of the reinforcement of closer and closer approximations of a desired response
shaping
cues that influence operant behaviour by indicating the probable consequences of a response
discriminative stimuli
occurs when every instance of a designated response is reinforced
continous reinforcement
occurs when a designated response is reinforced only some of the time
intermittent reinforcement
reinforcer is given after a fixed number of non reinforced responses
fixed-ratio schedule
the reinforcer is given after a variable number of non reinforced responses
variable-ratio schedule
the reinforcer is given for the first response that occurs after a fixed time interval has elapsed
fixed-interval schedule
the reinforcer is given for the first response after a variable time interval has elapsed
variable-interval schedule
occurs when a response is strengthened b/c it is followed by the presentation of a rewarding stimulus
postive reinforcement
occurs when a response is strengthened b/c it is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus
negative reinforcemnt
an organism acquires a response that decreases or ends some aversive stimulation
escape learning
an organism acquires a response that prevents some aversive stimulation from occuring
avoidance learning
learning that is not apparent from behaviour when it first occurs
latent learning
occurs when an animal’s innate response tendencies interfere with conditioning processes
instinctive drift
organism’s responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models
observational learning
