Chapter 9-Learning

Question 0

What is behaviorism?

Answer 0

An approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of the environment as a determinant of behavior.

Question 1

What is learning?

Answer 1

A relatively permanent change in behavior(or behavioral potential) due to experience.

Question 2

What is conditioning?

Answer 2

A basic kind of learning that involves associations between environmental stimuli and the organism’s responses.

Question 3

What is an unconditioned stimulus(US)?

Answer 3

The classical conditioning term for a stimulus that elicits a reflexive response in the absence of learning.

Question 4

What is an unconditioned response(UR)?

Answer 4

The classical-conditioning term for a reflexive response elicited by a stimulus in the absence of learning.

Question 5

What is a conditioned stimulus(CS)?

Answer 5

The classical-conditioning term for an initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

Question 6

What is a conditioned response(CR)?

Answer 6

The classical-conditioning term for a response that is elicited by a conditioned stimulus; it occurs after the conditioned stimulus is associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

Question 7

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 7

The process by which a previously neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to elicit a response through association with a stimulus that already elicits a similar or related response. Also called Pavlovian or respondent conditioning.

Question 8

What is extinction?

Answer 8

The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; in classical conditioning, it occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

Question 9

What is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 9

The reappearance of a learned response after its apparent extinction.

Question 10

What is higher-order conditioning?

Answer 10

In classical conditioning, a procedure in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus through association with an already established conditioned stimulus.

Question 11

What is stimulus generalization?

Answer 11

After conditioning the tendency to respond to a stimulus that resembles one involved in the original conditioning; in classical conditioning, it occurs when a stimulus that resembles the CS elicits the CR.

Question 12

What is stimulus discrimination?

Answer 12

The tendency to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli, it occurs when a stimulus similar to the CS fails to evoke the CR.

Question 13

What is counterconditioning?

Answer 13

In classical conditioning, the process of pairing a conditioned stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a response that is incompatible with an unwanted conditioned response.

Question 14

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 14

The process by which a response becomes more likely to occur or less so, depending on its consequences.

Question 15

What is reinforcement?

Answer 15

The process by which a stimulus or event strengthens or increases the probability of the response that it follows.

Question 16

What is punishment?

Answer 16

The process by which a stimulus or event weakens or reduces the probability of the response that it follows.

Question 17

What is a primary reinforcer?

Answer 17

A stimulus that is inherently reinforcing, typically satisfying a physiological need; an example is food.

Question 18

What is a primary reinforcer?

Answer 18

A stimulus that is inherently punishing; an example is electric shock.

Question 19

What is a secondary reinforcer?

Answer 19

A stimulus that has acquired reinforcing properties through association with other reinforces.

Question 20

What is a secondary punisher?

Answer 20

A stimulus that has acquired punishing properties through association with other punishers.

Question 21

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 21

A reinforcement procedure in which a response is followed by the presentation of, or increase in intensity of, a reinforcing stimulus; as a result, the response becomes stronger or more likely to occur.

Question 22

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 22

A reinforcement procedure in which a response is followed by the removal, delay, or decrease in intensity of an unpleasant stimulus; as a result, the response becomes stronger or more likely to occur.

Question 23

What is extinction?

Answer 23

The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; in operant conditioning, it occurs when a response is no longer followed by a reinforcer.

Question 24

What is stimulus generalization in operant conditioning?

Answer 24

In operant conditioning, the tendency for a response that has been reinforced(or punished) in the presence of one stimulus to occur(or be suppressed) in the presence of other similar stimuli.

Question 25

What is stimulus discrimination in operant conditioning?

Answer 25

In operant conditioning, the tendency of a response to occur in the presence of one stimulus but not in the presence of other, similar stimuli that differ from it on some dimension.

Question 26

What is discriminative stimulus?

Answer 26

A stimulus that signals when a particular response is likely to be followed by a certain type of consequence.

Question 27

What is a continuous reinforcement?

Answer 27

A reinforcement schedule in which a particular response is always reinforced.

Question 28

What is intermittent(partial) schedule of reinforcement?

Answer 28

A reinforcement schedule in which a particular response is sometimes but not always reinforced.

Question 29

What is shaping?

Answer 29

An operant-conditioning procedure in which successive approximations of a desired response are reinforced.

Question 30

What is successive approximations?

Answer 30

In the operant-conditioning procedure of shaping, behaviors that are ordered in terms of increasing similarity or closeness to the desired response.

Question 31

What is instinctive drift?

Answer 31

During operant learning, the tendency for an organism to revert to instinctive behavior.

Question 32

What is behavior modification?

Answer 32

The application of operant conditioning techniques to teach new responses or to reduce or eliminate maladaptive or problematic behavior; also called applied behavior analysis.

Question 33

What are extrinsic reinforcers?

Answer 33

Reinforcers that are not inherently related to the activity being reinforced.

Question 34

What are intrinsic reinforcers?

Answer 34

Reinforcers that are inherently related to the activity being reinforced.

Question 35

What is latent learning?

Answer 35

A form of learning that is not immediately expressed in an overt response; it occurs without obvious reinforcement.

Question 36

What are social-cognitive theories?

Answer 36

Theories that emphasize how behavior is learned and maintained through observation and imitation of others, positive consequences, and cognitive processes such as plans, expectations, and beliefs.

Question 37

What is observational learning?

Answer 37

A process in which an individual learns new responses by observing the behavior of another(a model) rather than through direct experience; sometimes called vicarious conditioning.