Chp 7.1: Pavlovian Conditioning 1

Question 1

learning

Answer 1

a relatively enduring change in an organism’s behaviour or performance capabilities that occurs as a result of experience

Question 2

capabilities

Answer 2

a distinction made by many theorists: “knowing how,” or learning, versus “doing,” or performance.

Question 3

What do behaviourists do?

Answer 3

behaviourists focused on how organisms learn, examining the processes by which experience influences behaviour.

Question 4

habituation

Answer 4

a decrease in the strength of response to a repeated stimulus

Question 5

Sensory adaptation vs habituation

Answer 5

• Sensory adaptation refers to a decreased sensitivity to a continuously present stimulus.
• Habituation, on the other hand, is a simple form of learning that occurs within the central nervous system.
• You may habituate to a stimulus, but that sensory information is still available if it becomes relevant.

Question 6

sensitization

Answer 6

an increase in the strength of response to a repeated stimulus

Question 7

classical conditioning (Pavlovian)

Answer 7

a procedure in which a formerly neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus) comes to elicit a conditioned response by virtue of being paired with an unconditioned stimulus that naturally elicits a similar response (the unconditioned response) when two stimuli become associated with each other.

For example, seeing a dog and being bitten become associated such that one stimulus (seeing a dog) now triggers a new response (fear).

Question 8

Acquisition

Answer 8

the period during which a response is being learned

Question 9

Acquisition is Classical conditioning

Answer 9

CS typically must be paired multiple times with a UCS to establish a strong CR

Question 10

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Answer 10

a stimulus that elicits a particular reflexive or innate response (the UCR) without prior learning

Eg. If we place food in the dog’s mouth, the dog will salivate, food is the UCS

Question 11

unconditioned response (UCR)

Answer 11

a response (usually reflexive or innate) that is elicited by a specific stimulus (the UCS) without prior learning

Eg. If we place food in the dog’s mouth, the dog will salivate, salivation is the UCR

Question 12

conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 12

a neutral stimulus that comes to evoke a conditioned response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus
(Tone of the food to dog)

Question 13

conditioned response (CR)

Answer 13

in classical conditioning, a response to a conditioned stimulus; the CR is
established by pairing a conditioned stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus that evokes a similar response

(Salivation as a result of conditioning)

Question 14

Under what circumstances are CRs typically acquired most quickly?

Answer 14

Learning usually occurs most quickly with forward short-delay pairing: The CS (tone) appears first and is still present when the UCS (food) appears.

Question 15

Name some pairing arrangements (4)

Answer 15

• Forward short-delay pairing (effective)
• Forward trace pairing
• Simultaneous (not really effective shown by CS alone test)
• Backward pairing (not effective)

Question 16

extinction (classical conditioning)

Answer 16

weakening and eventual cessation of a CR caused by the presentation of the CS without the UCS

Question 17

learning trial

Answer 17

Pairing of CS to UCS

Question 18

extinction trial

Answer 18

each presentation of the CS without the UCS

Question 19

spontaneous recovery

Answer 19

in classical conditioning, the reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of time has passed following extinction