Chapter 8 Key Terms

Question 1

Animal Misbehavior

Answer 1

Operant behavior that deteriorates, rather than improves, with continued reinforcement due to the elicitation of an instinctive behavior that reduces the effectiveness of the operant response

Question 2

Anxious Relationship

Answer 2

The relationship developed between a mother and her infant when the mother is indifferent to her infant

Question 3

Associative Learning View of Imprinting

Answer 3

The idea that attraction to the imprinting object develops because of its arousal-reducing properties

Question 4

Behavior Systems Approach

Answer 4

The idea that learning evolved as a modifier of innate behavior systems and functions to change the integration, tuning, instigation, or linkages within a particular system

Question 5

Concurrent Interference

Answer 5

The prevention of learning when a stimulus intervenes between the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli or when a behavior occurs between the operant response and reinforcement

Question 6

Constraint

Answer 6

When learning occurs less rapidly or less completely than expected

Question 7

Dorsal Amygdala

Answer 7

The section of the amygdala responsible for maternal approach behaviors in children and adolescent humans

Question 8

Flavor Preference

Answer 8

A preference for a specific flavor as a result of flavor-sweetness and/or flavor-nutrient associations

Question 9

Imprinting

Answer 9

The Development of a social attachment to a stimulus experienced during a sensitive period of development

Question 10

Instinctive Drift

Answer 10

When operant behavior deteriorates despite continued reinforcement due to the elicitation of instinctive behaviors

Question 11

Instinctive View of Imprinting

Answer 11

The view that imprinting is a genetically programmed form of learning

Question 12

Interim Behavior

Answer 12

The behavior that follows reinforcement when an animal is reinforced on an interval schedule of reinforcement

Question 13

Learned-Safety Theory of Flavor Aversion Learning

Answer 13

The recognition that a food can be safely consumed wen illness does not follow food consumption

Question 14

Long-Delay Learning

Answer 14

The association of a flavor with an illness or positive nutritional consequences that occurred even several hours after the flavor was consumed

Question 15

Medial Forebrain Bundle (MFB)

Answer 15

The area of the limbic system that is part of the brain’s reinforcement center

Question 16

Mesolimbic Reinforcement System

Answer 16

A central nervous system, or collection of structures, that mediates the influence of reinforcement on behavior

Question 17

Nigrostriatal Pathway

Answer 17

A neural pathway that begins in the substantia nigra and projects to the neostriatum and that serves to facilitate reinforcement-induced enhancement of memory consolidation

Question 18

Predisposition

Answer 18

Instances where learning occurs more rapidly or in a different form than expected

Question 19

Schedule-Induced Behavior

Answer 19

The high levels of instinctive behavior that occur following reinforcement on an interval schedule

Question 20

Schedule-Induced Polydipsia (SIP)

Answer 20

The high levels of water consumption following food reinforcement on an interval schedule

Question 21

Secure Relationship

Answer 21

The establishment of a strong bond between a mother who is sensitive and responsive to her infant

Question 22

Species-Specific Defense Reactions (SSDRs)

Answer 22

An instinctive reaction, elicited by signals of danger, allowing the avoidance of an aversive event

Question 23

Stimulus-Bound Behavior

Answer 23

Behavior tied to the prevailing environmental conditions and elicited by stimulation of the brain’s reinforcement center

Question 24

Superstitious Behavior

Answer 24

A “ritualistic” stereotyped pattern of behavior exhibited during the interval between reinforcements

Question 25

Tegmentostriatal Pathway

Answer 25

A neural pathway that begins in the lateral hypothalamus, goes through the medial forebrain bundle and ventral tegmental area, terminates the nucleus accumbens, and governs the motivation properties of reinforcements

Question 26

Terminal Behavior

Answer 26

The behavior that just precedes reinforcement when an animal is reinforced on an interval schedule of reinforcement

Question 27

Ventral Tegmental Area

Answer 27

A structure in the tegmentostriatal reinforcement system that projects to the nucleus accumbens