LCT10: Learning and Conditioning

Question 1

Behaviorism

Answer 1

a school of thought that emphasized observable behavior and learning through interactions with the environment
- everything you are is the result of experiences

Question 2

Psychologist associated with behaviorism

Answer 2

John Watson

B.F. Skinner

Question 3

Anti-Mentalism

Answer 3

internal emotions and feelings are vague and unscientific

- unobservable = not important to science (according to behaviorists)

Question 4

Three Ways of Learning

Answer 4

1) Habituation
2) Classical Conditioning
3) Operant Conditioning

Question 5

Habituation

Answer 5

simplest form of learning, critically adaptive and important - not permanent

Question 6

Classical Conditioning

Answer 6

a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate one stimulus with another

Question 7

Unconditioned

Answer 7

natural, innate response

Question 8

Conditioned

Answer 8

learned through association

Question 9

Most of the time…

Answer 9

conditioned and unconditioned response are the same

Question 10

Acquisition

Answer 10

the formation of learned response

Question 11

Extinction

Answer 11

weakening or elimination of a learned response (CR)

Question 12

Spontaneous Recovery

Answer 12

reappearance of a learned response after an apparent extinction

Question 13

Learning to Fear

Answer 13

a person can learn to fear just about anything if it is paired with something that elicits pain, surprise, or embarrassment

Question 14

Phobia

Answer 14

acquired fear, out of proportion to the real threat

Question 15

Taste Aversion Learning

Answer 15

learning i not simply due to contiguous pairing of stimuli - it is also affected by biological factors

Question 16

Conditioned taste Aversion

Answer 16

link between taste (or smell) and illness, easily produced

Question 17

Biological Preparedness

Answer 17

fear responses (Seligman)
- organisms are genetically prepared to fear certain objects

Question 18

Cognitive Perspective

Answer 18

focuses on how expectations and prediction impact classical conditioning

Question 19

Classical conditioning is an association between…

Answer 19

unconditioned stimulus and conditioned stimulus

Question 20

Operant Conditioning

Answer 20

learning the relationships between actions and rewards or punishments (to learn what works and what doesn’t - B.F. Skinner)

Question 21

Classical vs. Operant

Answer 21

Classical - passive associational process that does not take into account when organisms enlarge in instrumental behavior
Operant - the learning process in which an action’s consequences determine the likelihood that the action will be performed again

Question 22

Law of Effect

Answer 22

Behavoirs followed by positive outcomes are strengthened, and behaviors followed by negative outcomes are weakened

Question 23

Psychologist associated with the Law of Effect

Answer 23

Edward L. Thorndike

Question 24

“Skinner Box”

Answer 24

an apparatus used to study the effects of reinforcement on behavior or lab animals

Question 25

Reinforcement

Answer 25

increases the probability of a behavior occurring again (strengthens the response)

Question 26

Punishment

Answer 26

decreases the probability of a behavior occurring again (weakens the response)

Question 27

Reinforcer

Answer 27

a stimulus that occurs after a response and increases the likelihood that a response will be repeated

Question 28

Two types of Reinforcers

Answer 28

Primary and Secondary

Question 29

Primary Reinforcer

Answer 29

those satisfying basic biological needs

Question 30

Secondary Reinforcer

Answer 30

those that do not satisfy basic biological needs and are learned through classical conditioning

Question 31

Two types of Reinforcements

Answer 31

Positive and Negative

Question 32

Positive Reinforcement

Answer 32

increase response with positive stimulus (often reward)

Question 33

Negative Reinforcement

Answer 33

increases response with removal of negative stimulus (ointment on bites, seatbelt buzzer)

Question 34

Reinforcement is something that will...

Answer 34

always increase the response : can be positive or negative

Question 35

Shaping

Answer 35

reinforcements used to gradually guide an animal or person toward a behavior

Question 36

Two Kinds of Punishment

Answer 36

Positive and Negative

Question 37

Positive Punishment

Answer 37

decreases the response by giving unpleasant stimulus (yelling, shock)

Question 38

Negative Punishment

Answer 38

decrease the response by removing a desired stimulus (taking privileges)

Question 39

Both kinds of punishments...

Answer 39

decrease the response

Question 40

Ratio

Answer 40

reinforcement after a certain number of times a response is produced

Question 41

Interval

Answer 41

after a period of time, reinforcement is available

Question 42

Fixed

Answer 42

reinforcement given on a set schedule, at every # of responses or every time period

Question 43

Variable

Answer 43

reinforcement given at different rates of times

Question 44

Example of Variable Ratio

Answer 44

a slot machine pays off on average every few pulls, but you never know which pull will pay

Question 45

Example of Fixed Ratio

Answer 45

you are paid each time you complete a chore

Question 46

Example of Variable Interval

Answer 46

you listen to the radio to hear your favorite song, you do not know when you will hear it.

Question 47

Example of Fixed Interval

Answer 47

when quizzes are scheduled at fixed intervals, students study only when the quiz is to be administered (the grade is the reinforcer)

Question 48

Partial-Reinforcement Effect

Answer 48

greater persistence of behavior under partial reinforcement than under continuous reinforcement

Question 49

What schedule is most associated with persistence of behavior?

Answer 49

Variable Ratio

Question 50

Critiques of Operant Conditioning

Answer 50

- biology constrains learning | - learning can occur without reinforcement

Question 51

Instinctive Drift

Answer 51

conditioning is most effective if it is consistent with predispositions

Question 52

Latent Learning

Answer 52

learning that takes place without reinforcement

Question 53

Insight Learning

Answer 53

in problem-solving, solution emerges suddenly, with no clear antecedent

Question 54

Observational Learning

Answer 54

learning that occurs after watching another perform a behavior

Question 55

Modeling

Answer 55

imitation of observed behavior

Question 56

Vicarious Reinforcement

Answer 56

whether a model is reinforced or punished determines whether the observer imitates

Question 57

Vicarious Learning

Answer 57

learning the consequences of an action by watching other being rewarded or punished for it

Question 58

Mirror Neurons

Answer 58

neurons that are activated when one observes another engaging in an action and when one performs the action that was observed

Question 59

Pleasure Centers

Answer 59

areas in brain that produce pleasure when stimulated

Question 60

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

Answer 60

the strengthening of synaptic connections so that postsynaptic neurons are more easily activated