Classical Conditioning

Question 1

Learning

Answer 1

relatively enduring change in the mechanisms of behaviour that occurs due to experience

Question 2

Mechanisms of behaviour

Answer 2

mechanisms of behaviour must be studied as opposed to the changes of behaviour, as there is a difference between learning and performance

Question 3

Latent learning

Answer 3

the effects of learned behaviour that is not yet reflected in performance

Question 4

Enduring changes in learning

Answer 4

learning should tend to be retained over time whether or not learning is continually expressed in behaviour

Question 5

Maturation

Answer 5

there are behaviours that develop and change as an individual matures; developmental changes; this is not considered to be learning

Question 6

Watson

Answer 6

psychology has to look at things that are objectively measured

Question 7

Skinner

Answer 7

prediction and precise control of behaviour

Question 8

Orienting response

Answer 8

automatic shift of attention toward that stimulus or event

Question 9

Habituation

Answer 9

a decrease in response to a stimulus or event as it is repeatedly presented without any consequence

Question 10

Dishabituation

Answer 10

increase in responding that follow a change in the stimulus to which habituation has occurred

Question 11

Sensitization

Answer 11

increase in behavioural responding to a repeated stimulus

Question 12

Long term potentiation

Answer 12

the strengthening of synaptic connections between neurons

Question 13

Pavlov’s experiment

Answer 13

metronome would begin playing and was followed by the presentation of food;
after several trials, dogs would salivate in response to the sound of the metronome alone

Question 14

Unconditional response

Answer 14

biologically determined reflex that can be elicited in the absence of any prior learning

Question 15

Unconditional stimulus

Answer 15

stimulus that elicits the unconditioned response

Question 16

Conditional response

Answer 16

only emerges after some learning takes place; generally very similar to the unconditional response

Question 17

Conditional stimulus

Answer 17

stimulus that previously produced nothing other than a brief orienting response and now elicits the conditioned response

Question 18

Contingency

Answer 18

presentation of one stimulus reliably leads to the presentation of another

Question 19

Classical conditioning

Answer 19

the learning of a contingency between a particular signal and a later event that are paired in time/space

Question 20

Acquisition

Answer 20

conditioning tends to be gradual, and the strength of the conditional response starts at zero, and slowly grows over the course of conditioning trials; most learning occurs during early trials

Question 21

Contiguity

Answer 21

the extent to which the two stimuli occur together in time and space; the US and the CS must be presented together in time and space continuously in order for learning of the association between the two

Question 22

Extinction

Answer 22

observed when a CS is repeatedly presented alone following acquisition of the CR

Question 23

Test trial

Answer 23

when the CS is presented alone during the acquisition stage, required in order to see if any association is developing

Question 24

Extinction trial

Answer 24

when the CS is presented alone during the extinction phase, done in order to reduce the association between the CS and US

Question 25

Reacquisition

Answer 25

following an extinction phase, the reacquisition of the same CS and US pairing occurs at a much faster rate

Question 26

Spontaneous recovery

Answer 26

with further extinction, this response will diminish to zero, however originally, the CR will reappear to some extent despite the lack of exposure to either the CS or US

Question 27

Renewal

Answer 27

if a response is extinguished in a different environment than where it was acquired, the fully expressed CR is observed if the subject is returned to the original environment of acquisition

Question 28

Excitatory conditioning

Answer 28

where the CS signals the presence of the US

Question 29

Inhibitory

Answer 29

where the CS signals the absence of the US

Question 30

Higher-order conditioning

Answer 30

the established CS is paired with a new stimulus, allowing the new stimulus to become another CS capable of eliciting a CR; typically more vulnerable to extinction

Question 31

Stimulus generalization

Answer 31

the process of applying what has been learned with a particular set of stimuli to a wider range of similar stimuli

Question 32

Generalization gradient

Answer 32

pattern of responding, resembles a bell curve shape where the conditioned stimulus produces the maximum response

Question 33

Stimulus discrimination

Answer 33

reflects an organism’s ability to fine-tune its responding such that a CR occurs to one stimulus but not to other, similar stimuli

Question 34

Discrimination training

Answer 34

presentation of a CS+ and a CS- in order to discriminate between the stimuli;
CS+ = signals the onset of the US, excitatory association;
CS- = signals the absence of a US, inhibitory association

Question 35

Backwards conditioning

Answer 35

occurs when the US is presented before the CS, generally results in inhibitory learning

Question 36

Implosive therapy

Answer 36

individual with phobia is encouraged to confront conditional stimulus that evoke anxiety

Question 37

Systematic desensitization

Answer 37

gradual exposure to feared stimulus

Question 38

Compensatory response

Answer 38

a conditional stimulus acts as a preparatory signal to help an organism anticipate an important biological event