Classical Conditioning (unit 4)

Question 1

Aversive Conditioning

Answer 1

help to give up a behavior by associating them with something unpleasant ex. spraying water in a screaming childs face

Question 2

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

Answer 2

unlearned response that occurs naturally in reaction to the unconditioned stimulus, occurs naturally and automatically ex. smelling food and feeling hungry

Question 3

Classical Conditioning

Answer 3

Forming an association between two stimuli resulting in a learning response, we learn to anticipate events ex. Pavlov and his dogs

Question 4

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

Answer 4

the conditioned stimulus is a previously neutral stimulus that eventually triggers a conditioned response ex. NS-UCS-CR

Question 5

Discrimination (Classical Conditioning)

Answer 5

The ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been paired with an UCS

Question 6

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

Answer 6

A stimulus that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers an unconditioned response or reflex ex. smell of food

Question 7

Extinction (Classical Conditioning)

Answer 7

The occurence of a conditioned response decreasing/disappearing, this happens when a CS is no longer paired with an UCS ex. being scared of dogs as a child but not an adult

Question 8

Shaping

Answer 8

Procedure in which reinforcers gradually guide an animals actions toward a desired complex behavior ex. flashing a light to get a duck to turn

Question 9

Observational Learning

Answer 9

The process of learning by watching the behavior of others (watch, memorize, mimic) ex. a child learns to paint nails by watching their mother

Question 10

The Law of Effect

Answer 10

According to this principle, actions that are followed by desirable outcomes are more likely to be repeated ex. if you get a pay raise you may continue to work hard

Question 11

Generalization (Classical Conditioning)

Answer 11

The tendency for the conditioned stimulus to evoke similar responses after the response has been conditioned ex. a dog conditioned to drool to the sound of clinking may also do it with other similar sounds

Question 12

Second-Order Conditioning

Answer 12

A procedure where the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new, neutral stimulus, creating a second (weaker) stimulus ex. associating food with a bell and light with the bell

Question 13

Insight Learning

Answer 13

Immediate or clear learning/understanding that occurs without overt trials-and-error testing, occurs in human learning when they recognize relationships that help solve new problems ex. any time you’ve had an epiphany in the shower or on a walk

Question 14

Instinctive Drift

Answer 14

The tendency for a learned behavior to trigger innate behaviors, the closer similarity between the learned behavior and innate behavior the more likely the occurence of the underlying innate behavior

Question 15

Latent Learning

Answer 15

The subconcious retention of information without reinforcement or motivation, one changes behavior only when there is sufficient motivation later than when they subconciously retained the information ex. a child might learn a math problem in class but not realize it until later on

Question 16

Learned Taster Aversions (Garcia Effect)

Answer 16

The avoidance of certain foods following a period of illness after consuming that food ex. having chips the day you get the flu and then hating them

Question 17

Learning

Answer 17

Any relatively permanent change in behavior brought by experience or practice ex. learning not to lie so you don’t get punished

Question 18

Spontaneous Recovery (Classical Conditioning)

Answer 18

Refers to the return of a previously extinguished conditioned response following a rest period ex. you stop crying with loud noises but then one day you do again

Question 19

Mirror Neurons

Answer 19

A type of brain cell that responds equally when we perform an action and witness someone performing that action. When you see someone smile your mirror neurons fire up the same way they do when you smile

Question 20

Acquisitions

Answer 20

Initial stage of learning when a response is first established and gradually strengthened ex. a pigeon pecks a key when a sound goes off and there is food on the key but after a while it pecks just to the sound

Question 21

Watson’s ‘Little Albert’ Experiment

Answer 21

Classical Conditioning experiment on an infant boy. Watson was interested in examining the effects of conditioning on the fear response in humans ex. the baby initially showed no fear of a white rat but after the rat was paired repeatedly with loud noises the baby would cry

Question 22

Ivan Pavlov’s Dog

Answer 22

Pavlov noticed that dogs began to salivate as soon as they saw food, he used different sounds to condition the salivation response in dogs ex. the dog learned to associate the buzzer with getting food

Question 23

Learned Helplessness

Answer 23

When a person is unable to find resolutions to difficult situations- even when a solution is accessible ex. if a student studies and still fails they might give up and believe that preparing for tests is ineffective and studying won’t help

Question 24

Albert Bandura & Bobo Doll

Answer 24

Experiment on social learning theory, researchers physically and verbally abused a clown doll in front of young kids which led to the children mimicking this behavior on the doll

Question 25

B.F. Skinner

Answer 25

Founder of modern behavioral perspective, research on operant conditioning and schedules of reinforcement (how consequences of actions influence behavior)