Chapter 9 - Behavioral psychology Flashcards
classical conditioning
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
unconditioned reflex
consists of unconditioned stimulus and unconditioned response
conditioned reflex
consists of the conditioned stimulus and conditioned response
- what Descartes described as learned reflexes
unconditioned response
a natural response to a particular stimulus, an unconditioned stimulus
conditioned response
the response when the unconditioned response is combined with a conditioned stimulus
higher-order conditioning
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
generalization
when one shows the same conditioned response to a slightly different stimulus
differentiation
when taking 2 approximately similar stimuli but associating a different response to each, dogs learn very well between these 2 stimuli
experimental neurosis
when exposed to 2 or more stimuli whith different responses at the same time
John Watson
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
behaviorism
a psychological approach that focuses on observable behavior rather than mental processes
“black box”
only the behavior that comes out of the box is analyzed, because everything that is not observable is in the black box
Watson’s work on emotions
showed that all emotions are built up through conditioning
- observed fear, rage, and love
radical environmentalism
environmental factors are more important than heredity in determining behavior
- people are a product of their environment and the conditioing they recieve
Little Albert experiment
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
Mary Jones
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)
Hull
invented a new formula that could predict what an animal would do in a certain situation
Tolman
believed that behaviorism could not explain everything
latent learning
the acquisition of knowledge or skills that is not immediately expressed in behavior
purposive behaviorism
behavioral acts have an underlying purpose leading to a goal
B.F. Skinner
developed operant conditioning using a Skinner box
operant conditioning
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
positively reinforcement
a factor is added
negative reinforcement
a factor is removed
cumulative curve
total number of times the lever was pressed by the rat in a skinner box
extinction
the gradual weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned behavior once the reinforcement stops
the 4 types of reinforcement schedules
- fixed interval
- fixed ratio
- variable interval
- variable ratio
fixed interval
every time you press the bar, food comes out
fixed ratio
after pressing the bar x times, food comes out
variable interval
the time between reinforcements is varied
variable ratio
you do not know how many times you have to press the bar in order to get food
which reinforcement schedule leads to a stronger response
variable ratio
shaping
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
