Classical Conditioning (unit 4) Flashcards
Aversive Conditioning
help to give up a behavior by associating them with something unpleasant ex. spraying water in a screaming childs face
Unconditioned Response (UCR)
unlearned response that occurs naturally in reaction to the unconditioned stimulus, occurs naturally and automatically ex. smelling food and feeling hungry
Classical Conditioning
Forming an association between two stimuli resulting in a learning response, we learn to anticipate events ex. Pavlov and his dogs
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
the conditioned stimulus is a previously neutral stimulus that eventually triggers a conditioned response ex. NS-UCS-CR
Discrimination (Classical Conditioning)
The ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been paired with an UCS
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
A stimulus that unconditionally, naturally, and automatically triggers an unconditioned response or reflex ex. smell of food
Extinction (Classical Conditioning)
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
Shaping
Procedure in which reinforcers gradually guide an animals actions toward a desired complex behavior ex. flashing a light to get a duck to turn
Observational Learning
The process of learning by watching the behavior of others (watch, memorize, mimic) ex. a child learns to paint nails by watching their mother
The Law of Effect
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
Generalization (Classical Conditioning)
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
Second-Order Conditioning
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
Insight Learning
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
Instinctive Drift
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
Latent Learning
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
Learned Taster Aversions (Garcia Effect)
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
Learning
Any relatively permanent change in behavior brought by experience or practice ex. learning not to lie so you don’t get punished
Spontaneous Recovery (Classical Conditioning)
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
Mirror Neurons
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
Acquisitions
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
Watson’s ‘Little Albert’ Experiment
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
Ivan Pavlov’s Dog
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
Learned Helplessness
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
Albert Bandura & Bobo Doll
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
B.F. Skinner
Founder of modern behavioral perspective, research on operant conditioning and schedules of reinforcement (how consequences of actions influence behavior)
