Exam 1 | Chapters 1 and 2 Flashcards
What is an adequate definition of learning?
The acquisition, maintenance, and change of an organism’s behavior as a result of lifetime experiences and events.
What is behavior? Give an example
Everything an organism does, including private and covert actions. Walking or talking is an example, but so is thinking and feeling.
What is neuroplasticity? What does it do? Give an example.
Alterations in the brain that accompany behavior change and participate in the regulation of behavior. It links behavior to neural processes in the brain. An example would be changing your response from yelling to breathing calmly in response to anger.
What does unfalsifiable mean? How does it apply to behavior and learning? Give an example.
Not capable of being proven false. Although it’s not based in science or has evidence, people still base decisions and behaviors off of unfalsifiable ideas. An example would be astrology.
What is confirmation bias? How does it relate to learning and behavior?
The tendency to interpret new information as one confirming one’s already existing beliefs or verbal statements. It affects human behavior through individuals seeking out information or events to prove themselves correct.
What is the experimental analysis of behavior (EAB)? How does it apply to the laboratory? The real world?
A natural-science approach to understanding behavior regulation. In a lab setting, it allows for control and changing factors that have an effect on a behavior in an experiment. In the real world, it can be used to study animal eating and movement trends. For example, seagulls stay on a beach more if people are there for the food people leave.
What is a control? Give an example.
The condition manipulated or changed by the experimenter. An example would be controlling the temperature in a room to test at what temp a person will seek water.
What is reinforcement? Give an example.
Involves an increase in the rate of operant behavior as a function of it’s consequences. An example would be giving a student candy if they answer a question in class correctly.
What is the science of behavior?
Also known as behavior analysis; a comprehensive natural-science based approach to the study off the behavior of organisms.
What are the five characteristics of studying behavior scientifically? Give an example of all of them.
- Observable behavior: only measure and investigate what we can see or hear, ex: breathing regulation; 2. Deterministic: behavior comes from environment and genes, both of which are discovered and analyzed through science and discrimination, ex: based on the environment you grew up in and your genetic predisposition, you may have anxiety; 3. Objective: Using precise, unbiased language that characterizes behavior without guessing or anthropomorphizing, ex: a dog with a stuffed animal doesn’t view the stuffed animal as a child; 4. Empirical: rely on measurement and quantification through numerical expression, ex: data; 5. Falsifiable: must be able to be proven wrong, ex: all swans are white
What is behavior analysis? Give an example.
See Science of Behavior
What is applied behavior analysis? How is it used?
Use of behavior principles to solve practical problems; used commonly to teach social expectations
What is operant conditioning? Give an example.
The regulation of behavior by outcomes or consequences. An example is a rat pushing a lever to get food
What is respondent conditioning? Give an example.
When a stimulus without a known effect on behavior is correlated with an unconditioned stimulus. An example would be Pavlov’s Dogs.
What is a reflex? Give an example.
Behavior elicited by a biologically relevant stimulus. Ex: Moving your hand away from a hot stove before your nerves recognize it was painful/hot
