Chapter 7a Flashcards
What is the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors?
learning
What is learning that certain events occur together?
associative learning
What is any event or situation that evokes a response?
stimulus
What is behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus?
respondent behavior
What is behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences?
operant behavior
What is the acquisition of mental information through observing events, watching others, or language?
cognitive learning
What type of learning links two or more stimuli, such as in Pavlov’s experiment?
classical conditioning
What is the view that psychology should study behavior without reference to mental processes?
behaviorism
What is a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning?
neutral stimulus
What is an unlearned, naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus?
unconditioned response
What is a stimulus that unconditionally triggers an unconditioned response?
unconditioned stimulus
What is a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus?
conditioned response
What is an originally neutral stimulus that triggers a conditioned response after association?
conditioned stimulus
What is the initial stage when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus?
acquisition
What is a procedure where the conditioned stimulus in one experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus?
higher order conditioning
What is the diminishing of a conditioned response?
extinction
What is the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a pause?
spontaneous recovery
What is the tendency for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses?
generalization
What is the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli?
discrimination
What type of learning involves behavior becoming more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer?
operant conditioning
What is Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely?
law of effect
What is the name of the chamber used in operant conditioning research that records an animal’s behavior?
operant chamber
What is any event that strengthens the behavior it follows in operant conditioning?
reinforcement
What operant conditioning procedure guides behavior toward closer approximations of the desired behavior?
shaping
What is the term for increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers?
positive reinforcement
What is the term for increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli?
negative reinforcement
What type of reinforcer is innately reinforcing and satisfies a biological need?
primary reinforcer
What is a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through association with a primary reinforcer?
conditioned reinforcer
What defines how often a desired response will be reinforced in operant conditioning?
reinforcement schedule
What type of reinforcement schedule reinforces the desired response every time it occurs?
continuous reinforcement schedule
What type of reinforcement schedule reinforces a response only part of the time?
partial intermittent reinforcement schedule
What reinforcement schedule reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses?
fixed ratio schedule
What reinforcement schedule reinforces after an unpredictable number of responses?
variable ratio schedule
What reinforcement schedule reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed?
fixed interval schedule
What reinforcement schedule reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals?
variable interval schedule
What is an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows?
punishment
What is a biological predisposition to learn associations with survival value?
preparedness
What is the tendency of learned behavior to revert to biologically predisposed patterns?
instinctive drift
What is a mental representation of the layout of one’s environment?
cognitive map
For example, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it.
What type of learning occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it?
latent learning
What is the desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake?
intrinsic motivation
What is the desire to perform a behavior to receive rewards or avoid punishment?
extrinsic motivation
What is learning by observing others called?
observational learning
What is the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior?
modeling
What are frontal lobe neurons that fire when we perform actions or observe others doing so?
mirror neurons
The brain’s mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation and empathy.
What is positive constructive, helpful behavior called?
prosocial behavior
