Chapter 8: Learning Flashcards
when psychologists talk about learning, they are talking about
behaviors
enduring changes in behavior that occur with experience
learning
processes by which two pieces of information in the environment are linked, so we connect them in our minds
association
principles of association:
contiguity, frequency, and similarity (CFS)
nearness in time and space
contiguity
how often something occurs
frequency
how alike things are
similarity
form of associative learning in which behaviors are triggered by associations with events in the environment
conditioning
neutral stimulus becomes associated with stimulus which was automatic, inborn response
classical conditioning
___ stimulus and ___ response are biologically hardwired, an innate response to a stimulus
unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response
ex: dog salivates when it is given a treat
unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response
leads to no kind of response
neutral stimulus
ex: ring the bell and present the dog with food - the bell becomes a
conditioned stimulus
ex: whether or not the dog learned to associat the bell with food
conditioned response
dog salivating when it hears the bell - the salivating becomes a ____ to the bell
conditioned response
initial learning of the stimulus-response relationship
acquisition
conditioned stimulus comes before unconditioned stimulus (most effective)
forwarding conditioning
ex: ringing the bell before the food
forwarding conditioning
unconditioned stimulus comes before conditioned stimulus
backward conditioning
ex: food first, then ring the bell
backward conditioning
a new neutral stimulus can become a new conditioned stimulus
high-order conditioning
ex: aunt –> arousal
high-order conditioning
diminished responding when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus
extinction
tendency to respond with the conditioned response to stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus
generalization
learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other irrelevant stimuli
discrimination
ex: a turtle trained to be afraid of rabbits is shown a snake (no reaction)
discrimination
ex: present a turtle trained to be afraid of bunnies with a mouse (shocked)
generalization
consequences of a behavior increase or decrease likelihood the behavior will be repeated
law of effect
process of changing behavior by manipulating consequences of that behavior
operant conditioning
action is strengthened if followed by a
reinforcer
action is diminished if followed by a
punisher
strengthens response by following it with a pleasing stimulus
positive reinforcement
strengthen response by removing something desirable
negative reinforcement
unlearned and innately satisfying
primary reinforcers
ex: using food and sleep as reinforcers
primary reinforcers
are associated with primary reinforcers to achieve result
secondary reinforcers
ex: money (use money to give you access to food, clothing, etc)
secondary reinforcer
using reinforcers to gradually guide an animal’s actions toward a desired behavior
shaping
baby steps that get you closer to your desired behavior
successive approximations
reinforce behavior every single time it occurs
continuous reinforcement
reinforce behavior, but not every time it occurs
partial/intermittent reinforcement
more resistant to extinction, but harder for organism to learn desired behavior
partial/intermittent reinforcement
pros vs cons: organism quickly learns behavior but quickly distinguishes
continuous reinforcement
reinforce behavior after certain number of responses
fixed ratio
reinforce behavior after unpredictable number of responses
variable ratio
reinforce first response after fixed amount of time
fixed interval
reinforce first response after varying time interval
variable interval
diminish response by following it with an unpleasant stimulus
positive punishment
diminish response by removing a desired stimulus
negative punishment
learned behavior that shifts toward instinctive, unlearned tendencies
instinctive drift
view on learning which proposes that some behaviors are inherently more likely to be learned than others
biological constraint model
learning that occurs in absence of reinforcement and is not demonstrated until later when reinforcement occurs
latent learning
