Exam 3 Terms and Names To Know Flashcards
the size of object remains constant (perceived) although is enlarged in the retinal image
Size constancy
the smallest difference between two sensations that allows them to be discriminated.
Just noticeable difference (JND)
what things are
Pattern recognition
was watching American cats trying to escape from puzzle boxes. He reported his observations and inferences about the kind of learning he believed were taking place in his subjects. According to his analysis, learning was an association between stimuli in the situation and a response that an animal learned to make: a “stimulus-response (S-R) connection”
Edward L. Thorndike
the learning theory that stresses the role of observation and the imitation of behaviors observed in others.
Social learning theory
this type of eater puts constant limits on the amount of food they will let themselves eat; are chronically on diets; constantly worry about food
Restrained eaters
the stage in a classical conditioning experiment during which the conditioned response is first elicited by the conditioned stimulus.
Acquisition
an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by measures to purge the body of excess calories.
Bulimia nervosa
a schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response made after a variable period of time whose average is predetermined.
Variable interval (VI) schedule
basic needs such as hunger and thirst; at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy
Biological needs/motivation
Researcher who believed that avoidance learning is a combination of classical and operant conditioning at work; explained that calamity automatically leads to distress
Mowrer
an increase in behavioral response when a stimulus is presented repeatedly.
Sensitization
an unlearned response elicited by specific stimuli that have biological relevance for an organism.
Reflex
the tendency for learned behavior to drift toward instinctual behavior over time.
Instinctual drift
the study of the correspondence between physical simulation and psychological experience.
Psychophysics
specialized cell that converts physical signals into cellular signals that are processed by the nervous system.
Sensory receptor
a decrease in a behavioral response when a stimulus is presented repeatedly.
Habituation
in operant conditioning, a pattern of delivering and withholding reinforcement.
Schedules of reinforcement
Eyes aim inward to see object nearby
Convergence
the minimum amount of physical energy needed to produce a reliable sensory experience; operationally defined as the stimulus level at which a sensory signal is detected half the time.
Absolute threshold
intense fears to stimuli.
Phobias
a schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response made after a variable number of responses whose average is predetermined.
Variable ratio (VR) schedule
theorist who most fully developed the theory that much important behavior is motivated by internal drives. In his view, drives are internal states that arise in response to an animal’s physiological needs.
Clark Hull
2 eyes see different angles
Retinal disparity
innate, unlearned, biological reinforcement (i.e. food, water, sex)
Primary reinforcement
receptor cell in the retina that is sensitive to light.
Photoreceptor
the means by which organisms learn that, in the presence of some stimuli but not others, their behavior is likely to have a particular effect on the environment.
Three-term contingency
a hormone that acts to inhibit eating
Leptin
Maslow’s view that basic human motives form a hierarchy and that the needs at each level of the hierarchy must be satisfied before the next level can be achieved; these needs progress from basic biological needs to the need for self-actualization.
Hierarchy of needs
discussed the importance of expectations in motivating behavior in his social learning theory. For him, the probability that you will engage in a given behavior is determined by your expectation of attaining a goal that follows the activity and by the personal value of that goal.
Julian Rotter
the automatic extension of conditioned responding to similar stimuli that have never been paired with the unconditioned stimulus.
Stimulus generalization
the gradual improvement of the eyes’ sensitivity after a shift in illumination from light to near darkness.
Dark adaptation
predictability
Contingency
in classical conditioning, a formerly neutral stimulus that has become a reinforcer.
Conditioned reinforcer
the difference between what has been learned and what is expressed in overt behavior.
Learning-performance distinction.
a biological constraint on learning in which an organism learns in one trial to avoid a food whose ingestion is followed by illness
Taste-aversion learning
the behavioral principle that states that responses acquired under intermittent reinforcement are more difficult to extinguish than those acquired with continuous reinforcement.
Partial reinforcement effect
a form of learning in which animals acquire a response that will allow them to escape from an aversive stimulus.
Escape conditioning
biologically determined reinforcer, such as food and water.
Primary reinforcer
when a behavior no longer produces predictable consequences, its return to the level of occurrence it had before operant conditioning.
Operant extinction
in classical conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response.
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
conducted a very telling experiment using dogs as subjects. Designed an experiment using a tone (the CS) and a shock (the UCS).
Robert Rescorla
the fullest development of potential according to Maslow’s theory; a person who has achieved this is self-aware, self-accepting, socially responsive, creative, spontaneous, and open to novelty and challenge.
Self-actualization
proposed that the critical dimension that underlies the psychology of eating behaviors is restrained versus unrestrained eating.
Janet Polivy
a basic law of learning that states that the power of a stimulus to evoke a response is strengthened when the response is followed by a reward and weakened when it is not followed by a reward.
Law of effect
transformation of one form of energy into another; for example, light is transformed into neutral impulses.
Transduction
the region of the retina where the optic nerve leaves the back of the eye; no receptor cells are present in this region.
Blind spot
a conditioning process in which an organism learns to respond differently to stimuli that differ from the conditioned stimulus on some dimension.
Stimulus discrimination
a projective test in which pictures of ambiguous scenes are presented to an individual, who is encouraged to generate stories about them.
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
The researcher who supported the ecological view of perception.
Gibson
He believed that scientific psychology should focus on consciousness and therefore centralizes on structuralism. He analyzed the constituents of the mind by using a method called introspection, which involves the subjective observation of one’s own experience
Wundt
pattern of proximal stimulation changes, but perception of distal stimulus remains constant–the object is perceived as getting closer, but perceived size stays the same
Perceptual constancies
This type of learning occurs without reward, indicative of cognition/Tolman’s view
Latent learning
thought to be the “satiety center”
Ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH)
the processes that put sensory information together to give the perception of a coherent scene over the whole visual field
Perceptual organization
the observer must store a representation of model’s behavior in memory.
Retention
a type of learning in which a behavior (conditioned response) comes to be elicited by a stimulus (conditioned stimulus) that has acquired its power through an association with a biologically significant stimulus (unconditioned stimulus).
Classical conditioning
His main contribution to the discipline was in the development of cognitive psychology, in particular that of “Perception as hypotheses”, an approach which had its origin in the work of Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894) and his student Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920). Between them, the two Germans laid the basis of investigating how the senses work, especially sight and hearing.
Gregory
a phenomenon in which receptor cells lose their power to respond after a period of unchanged stimulation; allows a more rapid reaction to new sources of information.
Sensory adaptation
a form of learning in which animals acquire responses that allow them to avoid aversive stimuli before they begin.
Avoidance conditioning
point at which human reaction to a stimulus changes
Threshold
learned or conditioned reinforcement (i.e. money, clothes, grades, etc.)
Secondary reinforcement
coined the term ”psychophysics” and provided a set of procedures to relate the intensity of a physical stimulus—measured in physical units—to the
Gustav Fechner
the “nature” view of perception; emphasis on innate abilities
Nativist/ecological view
discomfort with weight, body shape, and appearance; puts people at risk for eating disorders.
Body dissatisfaction
the “nurture” view of perception; involves thinking processes
Empiricist view
the delivery of a punisher following a response.
Punishment
the process of starting, directing, and maintaining physical and psychological activities; includes mechanisms involved in preferences for one activity over another and the vigor and persistence of responses.
Motivation
where things are
Place recognition
the delivery of a reinforcer following a response.
Reinforcement
the flexible tissue that focuses light on the retina.
Lens
nerve cell in the visual system that combines impulses from many receptors and transmits the results to ganglion cells.
Bipolar cell
pioneered the study of cognitive processes in learning by inventing experimental circumstances in which mechanical one-to-one associations between specific stimuli and responses could not explain animals’ observed behavior.
Edward C. Tolman
a behavior is followed by the presentation of an aversive stimulus, decreasing the probability of that behavior.
Positive punishment
in classical conditioning, the stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response.
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
the reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a rest period.
Spontaneous recovery
Overlap, height, linear perspective, size cues, shading, & aerial haze
Distal/monocular cues
a particular species has evolved so that the members require less learning experience than normal to acquire a conditioned response.
Biological preparedness
one of the photoreceptors concentrated in the periphery of the retina that are most active in dim illumination; rods do not produce sensation of color.
Rods
a behavior is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus, increasing the probability of that behavior.
Negative reinforcement
two ways of attaching meaning to percepts.
Identification and recognition
the smallest physical difference between two stimuli that can still be recognized as a difference; operationally defined as the point at which the stimuli are recognized as different half of the time.
Difference threshold
a graph that plots the percentage of detections of a stimulus (on the vertical axis) for each stimulus intensity (on the horizon axis).
Psychometric function
founded the school of psychology known as “behaviorism”
John Watson
the layer at the back of the eye that contains photoreceptors and converts light energy to neutral responses.
Retina
a cognitive theory of work motivation that proposes that workers are motivated to maintain fair and equitable relationships with other relevant persons; also, a model that postulates that equitable relationships are those in which the participants’ outcomes are proportional to their inputs.
Equity theory
the processes that organize information in the sensory image and interpret it as having been produced by properties of objects or events in the external, three-dimensional world.
Perception
adopted Watson’s cause and expanded his agenda. Formulated a position known as radical behaviorism.
B.F. Skinner
learning in which the probability of a response s changed by a change in its consequences.
Operant conditioning
devised a way to measure the strength of “a need to achieve” in different people by using his participants’ fantasies; created the Thematic Apperception Test
David McClelland
constancy or equilibrium of the internal conditions of the body.
Homeostasis
preprogrammed tendency that is essential to a species’ survival.
Instinct
the reduction in interest for foods as you eat them
Sensory-specific satiety
conditioning is usually most effective with a short interval between the onsets of the CS and UCS.
Delayed conditioning paradigm
a pioneering physiologist who believe that gastric activity in an empty stomach was the sole basis for hunger; tested his hypothesis on a student A.L. Washburn who trained himself to swallow and uninflated balloon attached to a rubber tube, which was attached to a device that recorded changes in air pressure; he thought he had proved that stomach cramps were responsible for hunger with his research.
Walter Cannon
an eating disorder characterized by out-of-control binge eating without subsequent purges.
Binge eating disorder
one of the energy sources for metabolism (sugar)
Glucose
a schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response made after a fixed number of responses.
Fixed-ratio (FR) schedule
area of the retina that contains densely packed cones and forms the point of sharpest vision.
Fovea
an assumed basic human need to strive for achievement of goals that motivates a wide range of behavior and thinking
Need for achievement
in classical conditioning, the response elicited by an unconditioned stimulus without prior training or learning.
Unconditioned response (UCR)
the process by which stimulation of a sensory receptor gives rise to neutral impulses that result in an experience, or awareness, or conditions inside or outside the body.
Sensation
the process of learning new responses by watching the behavior of another.
Observational learning
a behavioral method that reinforces responses that successively approximate and ultimately match the desired response.
Shaping by successive approximations
judgment about the causes of outcomes
Attributions
an assertion that the size of a difference threshold is proportional to the intensity of the standard stimulus.
Weber’s law
a process based on experience that results in a relatively permanent change in behavior or behavioral potential.
Learning
thought to be the “hunger center”
Lateral hypothalamus (LH)
the observer must pay attention to the model’s behavior and its consequences. This is more likely when there are perceived similarities between features and traits of the model and the observer.
Attention
the opening at the front of the eye through which light passes.
Pupil
dislike the punisher; punisher models the aggressive actions; usually no rationale given, no R+ given later either; may not have the desired effect–depends on behavior to be stopped
Problems w/severe, physical punishment
room that has a lack of distance cues, unconventional geometry, and no compensation for differences in retinal size
Ames room
when the drive is satisfied or reduced
Tension reduction
the systematic tendency as a result of nonsensory factors for an observer to favor responding in a particular way.
Response bias
every response rewarded
Continuous reinforcement
pattern of proximal stimulation is constant, but perception of distal stimulus changes; also called reversible figures or bistable figures
Ambiguous figures
learning is relatively permanent; change in behavior; change occurs as a result of experience; two things becoming connected through learning
Associative learning
in the processes of perception, the physical object in the world, as contrasted with the proximal stimulus, the optical image on the retina.
Distal stimulus
in classical conditioning, a response elicited by some previously neutral stimulus that occurs as a result of pairing the neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus.
Conditioned response (CR)
an eating disorder in which an individual weighs less than 85% of her or his expected weight but still expresses intense fear of becoming fat.
Anorexia nervosa
the observer must have a reason to reproduce the model’s behavior. For example, the model’s behavior could be seen as having reinforcing consequences.
Motivation (Conditioning)
won a Nobel Prize in 1981 for their pioneering studies of receptive fields of cells in the visual cortex.
David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel
used operant conditioning techniques to train thousands of animals to perform a remarkable array of behaviors.
Keller Breland and Marion Breland
a systematic approach to the problem of response bias that allows an experimenter to identify and separate the roles of sensory stimuli and the individual’s criterion level in producing the final response.
Signal detection theory
internal state that arises in response to a disequilibrium in an animal’s physiological needs.
Drive
the process by which the ciliary muscles change the thickness of the lens of the eye to permit variable focusing on near and distant objects.
Accommodation
a mental representation of physical space
Cognitive map
people with this type of disease mismatch their body’s internal signals and their eating behavior in a dramatic way
Eating disorders
a cognitive theory of work motivation that proposes that workers are motivated when they expect their efforts and job performance to result in desired outcomes.
Expectancy theory
behaviors become preferred and, therefore, reinforcing when an animal is prevented from engaging in them.
Response deprivation theory
these two stimuli must be presented closely enough in time to be perceived by the organism as being related.
Timing (of CS and UCS)
formulated the theory that basic motives form a hierarchy of needs. In his view, the needs at each level of the hierarchy must be satisfied before the next level can be achieved.
Abraham Maslow
stimulus that acts as a predictor of reinforcement, signaling when particular behaviors will result in positive reinforcement.
Discriminative stimulus
in conditioning, the weakening of a conditioned association in the absence of a reinforcer or unconditioned stimulus.
Extinction
a schedule of reinforcement in which a reinforcer is delivered for the first response made after a fixed period of time.
Fixed-Interval (FI) schedule
the observer have the physical or mental ability to reproduce the model’s behavior.
Reproduction
the axons of the ganglion cells that carry information from the eye toward the brain.
Optic nerve
a behavior is followed by the presentation of an appetitive stimulus, increasing the probability of that behavior.
Positive reinforcement
needs to belong, to affiliate with others, to love, and to be loved.
Attachment (social) needs/motivation
the hormone that helps to regulate the level of glucose in the bloodstream
Insulin
the psychologist who first documented taste-aversion learning in the laboratory, and his colleague Robert Koelling used this phenomenon to demonstrate that, in general, animals are biologically prepared to learn certain associations.
John Garcia
a behavior is followed by the removal of an appetitive stimulus, decreasing the probability of that behavior.
Negative punishment
The most common form of negative punishment
Time-out
external stimulus or reward that motivates behavior although it does not relate directly to biological needs.
Incentive
the optical image on the retina; contrasted with the distal stimulus, the physical object in the world.
Proximal stimulus
retinal disparity & convergence
Proximal/binocular cues
cell in the visual system that integrates impulses from many bipolar cells in a single firing rate.
Ganglion cell
one of the photoreceptors concentrated in the center of the retina that are responsible for visual experience under normal viewing conditions for all experiences of color.
Cones
after watching adult models punching, hitting, and kicking a large plastic BoBo doll, the children in the experiment later showed a greater frequency of the same behaviors that did children in control conditions who had not observed the aggressive models.
Albert Bandura
this disability causes people to generally have difficulty recognizing or identifying objects or people.
Agnosias
when life circumstances cause restrained eaters to let down their restraints and then tend to indulge in high-calorie binges; many types of life circumstances (i.e. stress) lead to this
Disinhibition
