LEARNING Flashcards
What is classical conditioning?
A neutral stimulus produces a response after being paired w/ a stimulus that naturally produces a response
What are the four components of classical conditioning?
Unconditioned stimulus - something that produces a naturally-occurring reaction (food)
Unconditioned response - reflective reaction that is reliably produced by UCS (salivation)
Conditioned stimulus - initially neutral stimulus that produces no response (bell)
Conditioned response - reaction that resembles UCR but is caused by CS (salivation in response to bell)
What is acquisition? Extinction? Spontaneous recovery?
Acquisition - phase when CS & UCS are presented together
Extinction - gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when UCS is no longer present
Spontaneous recovery - tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period
What is second-order conditioning?
A stimulus that was previously neutral (a light) is paired w/ a CS (a tone that has been paired w/ food to produce salivation = first order) produces the same CR as the CS
How does classical conditioning help explain taste aversions and PTSD triggers?
Taste aversion - when you eat something & then coincidentally get sick the next day, likely to avoid that food
Associate the food w/ the sickness
What is a conditioned emotional response (CER)? What are some examples of CERs?
An emotionally charged conditioned response elicited by a previously neutral stimulus
Child bitten by cat, cats now induce fear → sight of cat is CS
Person in car accident had been listening to a song, song now induces fear
How does flooding differ from counterconditioning?
Flooding - present person w/ an overwhelming amount of the fear-inducing stimulus
Counterconditioning - change CER from negative → neutral → positive
What are the basic steps of counterconditioning?
Begin w/ subject in calm & relaxed state
Work w/ them below their threshold
Pair really good things w/ low levels of ‘scary’ stimulus
Short sessions
Gradually increase level of stimulus as subject remains calm
What is operant conditioning?
The consequences of behavior determine the probability that the behavior will occur again
Understand the four quadrants of operant conditioning. What are examples of each? How are they similar? How are they different?
Reinforcement - probability of behavior increases
+R = food reward for sitting
-R = end grounding early for good behavior
Punishment - probability of behavior decreases
+P = shock collar for barking
-P = no dessert for being fussy at the table
Positive - add something
Negative - takes something away
What is the difference between a primary and secondary reinforcer?
Primary reinforcer - “natural” reinforcers (food, water, warmth) → do not need to learn that these are reinforcers
Secondary reinforcer - must learn that these are reinforcing
Who decides what is reinforcing – the trainer or the learner?
The learner
What is the Premack Principle? What are some examples of its use?
Preferred behaviors, or behaviors w/ a higher level of intrinsic reinforcement, can be used as reinforcements for less preferred behaviors → least favorite behavior = greatest reward
What is shaping? How does it work?
Animal offers behavior w/out assistance
Wait for the animal to do the behavior on their own & then reward it
What is the difference between continuous and intermittent (partial) reinforcement?
Continuous - reward after every behavior
Intermittent - reward after only some occurrences of the behavior
