Chapter 7 - Learning and Adaptation Flashcards
A process by which experience produces lasting change in an organism’s behaviour or capabilities is:
Learning
What are the “big three” types of learning?
1) event-alone learning (habituation)
2) event-event learning (classical conditioning)
3) behaviour-event learning (operant conditioning)
What is habituation?
The process by which we respond less strongly over time to repeated stimuli
Is habituation the same as sensory adaptation?
No
What is sensitization?
An increase in the strength of a response to a repeated stimulus
Which is highly specific: habituation or sensitization?
Habituation
The process of forming relationships between stimuli is:
Conditioning
Who discovered classical conditioning?
Ivan Pavlov
What is classical conditioning?
A form of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to signal the occurrence of another stimulus.
A stimulus that does not typically elicit a response is a:
Neutral stimulus
a biologically significant stimulus that already has a response associated with it is an:
unconditioned stimulus
what is a conditioned stimulus?
a previously neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response
what is an unconditioned response?
the response associated with an unconditioned stimulus
with enough pairings of the conditioned stimulus with a neutral stimulus, the conditioned stimulus will come to elicit the same response as the paired neutral stimulus. this is is now a:
conditioned response
a relationship between two stimuli is:
association
acquisition is:
the period during which an association is being learned
what are the two steps to producing a conditioned response?
1) make administration of the unconditioned stimulus contingent on presentation of the neutral stimulus
2) present the conditioned stimulus on its own
in classical conditioning, the neutral stimulus becomes the:
conditioned stimulus
to be effective, the ________ should evoke a strong bodily response
unconditioned stimulus
what are the two categories for an unconditioned stimulus?
appetitive (pleasant), and aversive (unpleasant)
what is forward short-delay?
the unconditioned stimulus is presented when the conditioned stimulus is still going
what is forward trace?
the conditioned stimulus starts and then “turns off”
the presentation of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus at the exact same time is a:
simultaneous pairing
the presentation of the conditioned stimulus after the unconditioned stimulus is:
backward pairing
what are four ways to enhance the acquisition of a conditioned response:
1) present multiple pairings
2) a very intense aversive unconditioned response (one-time learning)
3) use forward parings
4) use a short time interval between presentation of CS and US
the process in which a conditioned stimulus is presented in the absence of a neutral stimulus in order to weaken the conditioned response is:
extinction
what is spontaneous recovery?
if the conditioned stimulus is presented after a delay following extinction, the conditioned response may appear again
what is stimulus generalization?
the process in which, once a conditioned stimulus has been established, similar stimuli may also produce a conditioned response
the process where a less pronounced conditioned response to conditioned stimuli that differ from the original is:
stimulus discrimination
what is higher order conditioning?
a chain of events involving two conditioned response stimuli.
what are some applications of classical conditioning?
- exposure therapy
- systematic desensitization
- flooding
- VR exposure therapy
the extinction of a conditioned response through exposure to conditioned stimulus without the presence of the unconditioned stimulus is:
exposure therapy
muscular relaxation paired with gradual exposure to fear-inducing stimulus is:
systematic desensitization
what is flooding?
high exposure to fearful stimulus
fear is highly ______
generalizable
disgust makes a great _________
unconditioned stimulus
what is operant conditioning?
learning that is controlled by the consequences of the organisms behaviour
what are the three steps to operant conditioning?
1) stimulus
2) response
3) reinforcer
true or false, operant conditioning is automatic.
false, it is voluntary
in operant conditioning, behaviour is a funtion of…
consequences that follow behaviour
putting a child in time out after they have done something bad is an example of:
operant conditioning
what did Edward Thorndike discover?
the law of effect
what is the law of effect?
if a response, in the presence of a stimulus, is followed by something pleasant, there will be a strong bond between stimulus and response
what was Thorndike’s puzzle box experiment?
he put hungry cats in boxes with complex escape routes, and placed food outside the box as motivation to escape faster.
puzzle boxes showed that _______ is incremental
learning
who was B.F. Skinner? what did he create?
a guy who identified many key processes that occur during operant conditioning. created the Skinner box.
what does the skinner box do?
electronically records an animal’s activity and automatically provides reinforcements to specific actions
any outcome that strengthens the probability of a response is:
reinforcement
the two types of reinforcement are:
positive (add a stimulus) and negative (remove a stimulus)
any outcome that weakens the probability of a response is:
punishment
what is positive punishment?
presenting an unpleasant stimulus to decrease a response
what is negative punishment?
taking away a positive stimulus to decrease a response
are rewards and reinforcers the same thing?
no
any stimulus that signals the availability of reinforcement is a:
discriminative stimulus (S^D)
what is shaping?
reinforce successive approximations towards a final response (learning in increments!!)
what is chaining?
adding steps to a second stimulus. reinforcing a response with the opportunity to perform the next response.
what is continuous reinforcement?
every correct response is reinforced
the process where only some correct responses are reinforced is:
partial reinforcement
what is fixed reinforcement?
reinforcement that occurs after a fixed number of responses or fixed time interval
what is variable reinforcement?
reinforcement occurs after an average number of responses
the process where a certain percentage of responses are reinforced is:
ratio reinforcement
the process where a certain amount of time must elapse between reinforcements is:
interval reinforcement
fixed, variable, ratio, and interval reinforcement are all a part of:
partial reinforcement
what is a fixed ratio schedule?
reinforcement given after a fixed number of responses
what is a variable ratio schedule?
reinforcement given after an average number of responses
what is a fixed interval schedule?
the first correct response after a fixed time interval is reinforced
what is a variable interval schedule?
reinforcement given for the first correct response after an average amount of time
performance of a behaviour that terminates an aversive stimulus is:
escape behaviour
the performance of a behaviour that prevents the aversive stimulus from occuring is:
avoidance behaviour
avoidance is a response to __________
successful escape
what is two process theory?
combines classical conditioning and operant conditioning to learn an avoidance response
what are the steps of two-process theory?
1) classical conditioning of a fear response to a conditioned stimulus
2) operant conditioning of escape response to fear evoking discriminative stimulus
