Chapter 7 Flashcards
Define learning
the acquisition, from experience, of new knowledge, skills, or responses that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner
Define habituation
a general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in responding
Define sensitization
presentation of a stimulus results in an increased response to a later stimulus
What is classical conditioning?
when a neural stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response
What is an unconditioned stimulus? example from pavlov
something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism i.e. presentation of food
What is an unconditioned response? example from pavlov
a reflexive reaction that is reliably produced by an unconditioned stimulus i.e. dog salivation
What is acquisition?
the phase of classical conditioning when the CS and the US are presented together
What is a conditioned stimulus? example from pavlov
a previously neutral stimulus that produces a reliable response in an organism after being paired with a US i.e. sound of bell
What is the conditioned response? example from pavlov
a reaction that resembles an unconditioned response but is produced b a conditioned stimulus i.e. dog salivation to bell alone
What is second-order conditioning?
a type of learning where a CS is paired with a stimulus that became associated with the US in an earlier procedure i.e. money–> new car –> joy
What is extinction?
the gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the CS is repeatedly presented without the US
What is spontaneous recovery?
the tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period
What is generalization?
The CR is observed even though the CS is slightly different from the CS used during acquisition
What is discrimination?
the capacity to distinguish between similar, but distinct stimuli
What are the cognitive elements of classical conditioning?
the CS sets up an expectation, leading to many behaviors associated with presence of CS; explains why dogs didn’t salivate at Pavlov (he was unreliable)
What are neural elements of classical conditioning?
- cerebellum (motor skills and learning) in eye-blink experiment
- amygdala in fear conditioning
What are the evolutionary elements of classical conditioning?
mechanism to avoid any food that once made organism ill:
- rapid learning
- conditioning over long intervals (food could take longer to make ppl sick)
- aversion based on smell or taste rather than ingestion
- learned aversion to novel, not familiar, foods
What is biological preparedness?
a propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others
Why are generalization and discrimination two sides of the same coin?
the more organisms show one, the less they show the other; discrimination shows diminished response
How has cancer patients’ discomfort been eased by understanding of food aversions?
give odd flavored candy before nausea-inducing chemo so patients dont hate common foods
What is operant conditioning?
a type of learning in which the consequences of an organisms behavior determine whether it will repeat that behavior in the future
What is difference between operant and classical conditioning?
classical conditioning studies reactive behaviors, whereas operant conditioning explores active behaviors
What did Thorndike state in the law of effect?
behaviors that are followed by a “satisfying state of affairs” tend to be repeated, and those that produce an “unpleasant state of affairs” are less likely to be repeated
Briefly describe Thorndikes findings
cat with lever to get out of cage and get food; first did usual, ineffective behaviors then did less and less of these behaviors and instead focused on lever
What is operant behavior?
behavior that an organism performs that has some impact on the environment
What is a reinforcer?
any stimulus or event that increases the likelihood of the behavior that led to it
What is a punisher?
any stimulus or event that decreases the likelihood of the behavior that led to it
What are primary reinforcers?
food, comfort, shelter, warmth; satisfy basic biological needs
What are secondary reinforcers?
derive effectiveness from associations with primary reinforcers through classical conditioning
The more time elapses, the ___ effective the reinforcer; examples?
less; smoker quitting difficult b/c benefits far in future; short vs long term reinforcement
What is Skinner’s three term contingency?
in the presence of a discriminative stimulus, a response produces a reinforcer
What are interval and ratio schedules?
interval schedules- based on the time intervals between reinforcements
ratio schedules- based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements
What is a fixed-interval schedule?
recinforcers are presented at fixed time periods, provided that the appropriate response is made
What is a variable-interval schedule?
a behavior is reinforced on the basis of an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement
What is a fixed-ratio schedule?
reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been made
What is a variable-ratio schedule?
the delivery of reinforcement is based on a particular average number of responses
What is intermittent reinforcement?
whereby only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement
What is the intermittent reinforcement effect?
the fact that operant behaviors are maintained under intermittent reinforcement schedules resist extinction better than those maintained under continuous reinforcement
What is shaping? Skinner rat ex
learning that results from the reinforcement of successive steps to a final desired behavior i.e. giving rat food every time he performs behavior related to the lever like turning towards it or walking towards it
Discuss Skinners findings on superstition
pigeons on fixed-interval feeding performed strange behaviors like spinning; b/c they happened to be doing behavior when food first arrived, they inferred causation from the correlation
What is latent learning?
something is learned, but it is not manifested as a behavioral change until sometime in the future
What is a cognitive map? example
a mental representation of the physical features of an environment i.e. rat maze
Describe Tolman’s first rat maze experiment and conclusion
3 groups ran maze, 1 control with no food, 1 food after 10 days, and 1 food whole time; the second group showed evidence of latent learning that occurred w/out presence of reinforcement; they made cognitive map of maze
Describe Tolman’s second rat maze experiment and conclusion
2 mazes: 1) one path to food, which was diagonally up and right to starting point
2) this path is blocked, but instead of going to nearest path like theory of stimulus generalization would dictate, rat goes diagonally up and right, demonstrating cognitive map
Pleasure centers include neurons in the _____ _______ _____, a pathway that meanders from the midbrain through the ______ into the _____ _____
medial forebrain bundle; hypothalamus; nucleus accumbens
Describe evolutionary elements of operant conditioning using rats
In T maze, rats that find food in right arm will go to left arm the next day; contradicts behaviorist idea that going to right arm was reinforced; rats evolved to be foragers and look for food in their environment
What do positive and negative mean in operant conditioning?
positive- stimulus presented
negative- stimulus removed
What is observational learning?
an organism learns by watching the actions of others
Describe experiment with observational learning
children shown adults performing specific aggressive actions towards bobo doll more likely performed similar actions; if adult punished, they were less likely, but if adult were rewarded, they were much more likely
What is a diffusion chain?
individuals initially learn a behavior by watching other individuals perform that behavior, and then become models from which other individuals learn the behavior
Regions in the _____ ____ and _____ ____ are thought to be part of the mirror neuron system in humans
frontal lobe; parietal lobe
What do mirror neurons do?
they fire when an animal performs an action and also when that animal watches someone else perform the same task
What is implicit learning?
learning that takes place largely independent of awareness of both the process and the products of info acquisition
When asked to carry out implicit tasks, people…? but on explicit tasks, people..?
differ relatively little from each other; show large individual differences
Describe artificial grammar and implicit learning
in experiments, ppl can follow and detect errors in artificial grammar rules without being able to articulate those rules
Name three brain structures used in explicit learning
left temporal lobe, right temporal lobe, parietal lobe
What area of the brain showed decreased activity in implicit learners?
occipital lobe
When students cram, they are forfeiting _______ _______ for _____ _____
distributed practice; massed practice
What is interleaved practice?
a practice schedule that mixes different kinds of problems or materials within a single study session; effective w/math
