Chapter 6: The Adaptive Mind [Exam 2] Flashcards
Reflexes
Type of behavior
Automatic response to some stimulus.
Inevitable, involuntary responses to some stimuli.
Most are controlled by the nervous system circuits located in the spinal chord and brain stem.
Don’t need prior experience.
Not learning.
Instincts
Type of behavior.
Inborn patterns of behavior elicited by environmental stimuli/ a fixed action pattern.
EX: Contagious yawn.
Not learning.
Learning
Type of behavior.
Relatively permanent change in behavior or the capacity for behavior due to experience.
“Changes in behavior.”
Associative Learning
The formation of associations or connections among stimuli and behaviors.
It helps us to predict the future based on prior experiences.
Anticipate change.
Classical Conditioning
A type of associative learning.
When associations are formed between two stimuli that occur sequentially in time.
UCS > UCR.
NS > CS > CR.
Operant Conditioning
A type of associative learning.
When associations are formed between behaviors and their outcomes.
Non-associative Learning
Learning that involved changed in the magnitude of responses to a stimulus.
Habituation
A part of non-associative learning.
A simple form of learning in which reactions to repeated stimuli that are unchanging and harmless.
Sensitization
A part of non-associative learning.
An increased reaction to many stimuli following exposure to one very strong stimulus.
Observational Learning
Learning that occurs when an organism watches the actions of another.
Conditioned Stimulus
An environmental event whose significance is learned for classical conditioning.
Unconditioned Stimulus
A stimulus that elicits a response without any prior experience/already has an innate meaning.
Conditioned Responses
Learned reactions/a response learned through classical conditioning.
Unconditioned Responses
A response to an unconditioned stimulus that requires no previous experiences.
Acquisition
The development of a conditioned/learned response.
It requires close proximity in time between the CS and the UCS ( contiguity), and requires a correlation between the CS and the UCS (contingency).
Extinction
The reduction of a learned response. Occurs when the UCS no longer follows the CS in classical conditioning, and occurs when the consequence no longer follows the learned behavior in operant conditioning.
Spontaneous Recovery
During extinction training, the reappearance of CR’s.
Inhibition
When a CS actually predicts the nonoccurrence of an UCS.
Establishes excitatory conditioning be pairing a signal.
Generalization
The tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the original CS.
Can be positive or negative.
Discrimination
A learned ability to distinguish between stimuli.
Higher Order Conditioning
Learning which stimuli associated with a CS also elicits a conditioned response.
Allow us to make even more distant predictions about the occurrence of significant events.
Latent Inhibition
The slower learning that occurs when a CS is already familiar compared to when the CS is unfamiliar.
EX: I like pizza > I eat one bad slice that makes me sick > don’t create a CR.
Counterconditioning
The substitution of one CR for another, opposite response.
Systematic Desensitization
Where people relax while being exposed to stimuli that elicit fear.
Positive Reinforcement
Method for increasing the frequency of it’s associated behavior by providing a desired outcome reinforcers
Primary Reinforcers
Positive reinforcement.
Effective due to their natural roles in survival.
Conditioned Reinforcers
Positive reinforcement.
Gains value and ability to influence behavior from being associated with other things we value.
Negative Reinforcment
Method for increasing behaviors that allow an organism to escape or avoid an unpleasant consequence.
Punishment
A consequence that eliminates or reduces the frequency of a behavior.
Controls behavior.
Must be significant, immediate, and consistent.
Positive Punishment
Consequence that eliminates or reduces the frequency of a behavior by applying an aversive stimulus.
Negative Punishment
Reducing behavior by removing something desirable whenever the target behavior occurs.
Partial Reinforcement
The reinforcement of the desired behavior on some occasions but not all.
Ratio schedules and interval schedules.
Fixed Ratio Schedules
Requires that a behavior occurs a set number of times for each reinforcement.
Variable Ratio Schedules
Reinforcement occurs following some variable number of behaviors.
Fixed Interval Schedules
The time that must pass before reinforcement becomes available following a single response is set at a certain amount.
Variable Interval Schedules
The interval is allowed to fluctuate around some variable amount of time before the reinforcement is given.
Chaining
Breaking down of complex behavior into manageable steps.
Latent Inhibition
Learning that occurs in the absence of reinforcement.
Edward Tolman and the rats with no food in the maze.
Observational Learning
The ability to learn by watching others.
Learning occurs without personally experiencing negative consequences.
Imitation
The copying of a behavior that is unlikely to occur naturally and spontaneously.
Vicarious Reinforcement
Witnessing somebody else getting reinforced for a behavior raises the likelihood that we will imitate the behavior.
Mirror Neurons
Brain cells that aid imitation.
In humans and monkeys.
Help us predict the actions of others, allowing us to understand intentions.
Forms the basis for empathy.
