Chapter 9 - Behavioral psychology

Question 1

classical conditioning

Answer 1

a form of stimulu-response in which an initially neutral stimulus acquires the ability to evoke the same innate reflex as another stimulus that originally evoked it
- Pavlov

Question 2

unconditioned reflex

Answer 2

consists of unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response

Question 3

conditioned reflex

Answer 3

consists of the conditioned stimulus and conditioned response
- what Descartes described as learned reflexes

Question 4

unconditioned response

Answer 4

a natural response to a particular stimulus, an unconditioned stimulus

Question 5

conditioned response

Answer 5

the response when the unconditioned response is combined with a conditioned stimulus

Question 6

higher-order conditioning

Answer 6

happens once a conditioned stimulus has acquired the power to elicit a conditioned response, one can use that sequence to condition yet another conditioned stimulus
- the new conditioned stimulus was never paired with the original unconditioned stimulus

Question 7

generalization

Answer 7

when one shows the same conditioned response to a slightly different stimulus

Question 8

differentiation

Answer 8

when taking 2 approximately similar stimuli but associating a different response to each, dogs learn very well between these 2 stimuli

Question 9

experimental neurosis

Answer 9

when exposed to 2 or more stimuli whith different responses at the same time

Question 10

John Watson

Answer 10

argued that if psychology was to become a true science, it had to focus on observable behavior
- no mind was required, all complex behaviors are learned

Question 11

behaviorism

Answer 11

a psychological approach that focuses on observable behavior rather than mental processes

Question 12

“black box”

Answer 12

only the behavior that comes out of the box is analyzed, because everything that is not observable is in the black box

Question 13

Watson’s work on emotions

Answer 13

showed that all emotions are built up through conditioning
- observed fear, rage, and love

Question 14

radical environmentalism

Answer 14

environmental factors are more important than heredity in determining behavior
- people are a product of their environment and the conditioing they recieve

Question 15

Little Albert experiment

Answer 15

at first the baby wasn’t scared of the rat, but when the rat came close the researchers banged 2 metal poles over the baby
- loud noise (unconditioned stimulus) induced fear (unconditioned response)
- after a while the baby was scared of the rat and generalized his fears to other white furry things like rabbits or beards

Question 16

Mary Jones

Answer 16

studied systematic desensitisation
- studied little Peter who was afraid of rabbits
- found that when the rabbit was associated with a positive stimulus, the fear reduced (systematic desensitisation)

Question 17

Hull

Answer 17

invented a new formula that could predict what an animal would do in a certain situation

Question 18

Tolman

Answer 18

believed that behaviorism could not explain everything

Question 19

latent learning

Answer 19

the acquisition of knowledge or skills that is not immediately expressed in behavior

Question 20

purposive behaviorism

Answer 20

behavioral acts have an underlying purpose leading to a goal

Question 21

B.F. Skinner

Answer 21

developed operant conditioning using a Skinner box

Question 22

operant conditioning

Answer 22

a form of stimulus-response learning, in which the probability of a response changes in response to its consequences
- behavioral consequences occur in the form of rewards and punishments

Question 23

positively reinforcement

Answer 23

a factor is added

Question 24

negative reinforcement

Answer 24

a factor is removed

Question 25

cumulative curve

Answer 25

total number of times the lever was pressed by the rat in a skinner box

Question 26

extinction

Answer 26

the gradual weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned behavior once the reinforcement stops

Question 27

the 4 types of reinforcement schedules

Answer 27

• fixed interval
• fixed ratio
• variable interval
• variable ratio

Question 28

fixed interval

Answer 28

every time you press the bar, food comes out

Question 29

fixed ratio

Answer 29

after pressing the bar x times, food comes out

Question 30

variable interval

Answer 30

the time between reinforcements is varied

Question 31

variable ratio

Answer 31

you do not know how many times you have to press the bar in order to get food

Question 32

which reinforcement schedule leads to a stronger response

Answer 32

variable ratio

Question 33

shaping

Answer 33

the process in which the behavior gets to change step by step
- reinforcing behaviors close to the desired one and you shape them through gradual approximation