Elicited Behaviours

Question 1

Elicited behaviour

Answer 1

a drawn our behaviour by the presentation of a stimulus

Question 2

reflex

Answer 2

basic form of elicited behaviour, automatic, response

adaptive promotes survival

Question 3

startle reflex

Answer 3

defensive reaction to an unexpected stimulus, muscles tighten + internal change (hormones+organs)

Question 4

orienting reflex

Answer 4

positioning ourselves to attend to a stimulus - major body movement

Question 5

reflex arc

Answer 5

neural pathway that controls reflex - synapses in the spinal cord send messages to the brain

Question 6

fixed action pattern

Answer 6

fixed sequence of responses of species-specific behaviour elicited by a stimulus
ex: web building by a spider
releaser stimulus: sets it in motion!
ex: looking at something and gagging automatically

• adaptive+evolved to promote survival

not well suited for major changes
ex: deer running zigzag on a highway

Question 7

Habituation

Answer 7

decrease in strength of an elicited repsonse to a stimuli after repetition, the response is most intense the first time

ex: habituating to the sound of a fan

longterm: response slowly decreases and slowly recovers in absence -> widely spaced (train going by apartment)
short-term: response quickly decreases and recovers quickly -> narrowly spaced (sound of fan)

Question 8

Sensitization

Answer 8

enhancement of a response following repetition of a novel stimulus
- alerts to small, dangerous changes in there environment
ex: branches snapping in the woods

generalization occurs, ex: soldiers and bullet casing sounds will be generalized to slightest sounds that are similar

Question 9

classical conditioning
1. purpose
2. components

Answer 9

Involuntary - introducing a new stimulus to elicit a response
Pavlov: train a dog to salivate to a metronome

components:
US-
UR-
NS-
CS-
CR-

Question 10

aversive conditioning

Answer 10

US is an unpleasant event, that the person tends to avoid ex: shock, bite

fear conditioning: if given a shock (US) while in a box (NS), the animal will fear the box (CS)

UR and CR are not always so similar, pain can turn to fear: snake bite
pain(UR), bite (US) -> snake (NS -> CS), fear (CR)

responsible for fears + anxieties

Question 11

appetitive conditioning

Answer 11

US is pleasant ex: food, water, drugs (addiction)

Question 12

excitatory conditioning

Answer 12

NS is presented with US
NS becomes CS = CS+

a response is elicited

Question 13

inhibitory conditioning

Answer 13

NS is associated with the removal of a stimulus
ex: if a dog doesn’t bite when the owner is around someone will associate the owner as an inhibitory CS for fear - no pain will occur

Question 14

Temporal factors in conditioning:

Answer 14

delayed, trace, simultaneous, backwards

Question 15

delayed

Answer 15

NS preceeds US but they overlap

best arrangement especially when the onset of the NS and US is short (ISI- interval)

Question 16

trace

Answer 16

onset and offset of NS is before the US

oganism has to remember the occurrence of the NS

trace interval: time between NS and US

can be almost as effective as delayed if there is a VERY small trace interval

Question 17

simultaneous

Answer 17

NS and US are presented at the same time
- poor conditioning, don’t know which object produces a behaviour (ex: pain)

Question 18

backwards

Answer 18

The US is presented before the NS

least effective

could be useful to instill safety signals in some circumstances
ex: if a tone proceeds a snake it can warn a rat that a snake (biologically relevant signal for fear) will become present

Question 19

Opponent Process Theory

Answer 19

emotions come in opposite pairs ex: happy/sad

opponent process sets in after the primary process is quieted

repeated exposure of a stimulus decreases the primary reaction and increases the opponent one

explains addictive behaviour: the emotional pairing of pleasure and symptoms of withdrawal, more pleasure is less withdrawal

but more drugs will lead to more withdrawals

response (a-process) elicits compensatory (b-process) that counteracts a-process

Question 20

Tolerance

Answer 20

decreased sensitivity to a drugs effect after repetition - you need more drug to feel an effect

withdrawal: compensatory symptoms, oppose primary effect of the drug

Question 21

metabolic tolerance

Answer 21

reduction in the amount of drug reaching the site of action

Question 22

Functional Tolerance

Answer 22

less reactivity to a drug at the site of action, the number of receptors change to accommodate the drug effect

Question 23

Conditioned Tolerance example

Answer 23

drugs = US
they produce UR
places, noises, smells (CS/NS)= paired with the drug

after repetition, you associate the CS with the effects of the US
the place then can produce a CR (mimicking the effect of a drug)

Question 24

situational specificity

Answer 24

change of environment can lead to an overdose - loss of tolerence