Learning

Question 1

underlying machinery that makes behavior happen

Answer 1

physical machinery of the CNS

Question 2

What isn’t learning

Answer 2

• fatigue
• change in stimulus conditions
• alteration in physiological or motivational state
• maturation

Question 3

habituation

Answer 3

a decrease in response as a consequence of repeated exposure to stimulus

stimulus- stays constant
response- decreases

Question 4

Which response is learned and which is innate in habituation

Answer 4

initial response is innate- not learned

decrease in response is learned

Question 5

dishabituation

Answer 5

habituated response is restored by exposure to strong extraneous stimuli paired with stimulus to which animal has habituated

Question 6

sensitization

Answer 6

increase in responsiveness produced by repeated stimulation

generally temporary effects
duration determined by intensity of sensitizing stimulus

stimulus- constant
response- increased

Question 7

Classical Conditioning

Answer 7

aka Pavlovian Conditioning

simplest mechanism whereby an organism learns about relationships between stimuli and comes to alter its behavior accordingly

association type learning

Question 8

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 8

stimulus that elicits a particular response without necessity of prior training

Question 9

unconditioned response

Answer 9

response that occurs to a stimulus without the necessity of prior training

Question 10

conditioned stimulus

Answer 10

stimulus that does not elicit a particular response initially but comes to do so as a result of being associated with a US

Question 11

conditioned response

Answer 11

response that comes to be made to the CS as a result of classical conditioning

called conditioned response when it is elicited by the conditioned stimulus

Question 12

extinction

Answer 12

if animal is repeatedly exposed to CS without further pairing with the US then the animal’s response to CS will eventually cease

Question 13

extinction vs habituation

Answer 13

extinction: loss of learned response
habituation: loss of innate response

Question 14

What is learning?

Answer 14

enduring change in mechanisms of behavior involving specific stimuli and/or responses that result from prior experience with similar stimuli and responses

Question 15

Operant Conditioning

Answer 15

Also called instrumental conditioning

behavior is affected by its consequences

• pleasant consequences= likely to be repeated behavior
• unpleasant consequences= less likely to be repeated

Question 16

eliciting stimulus

Answer 16

gives the animal information about the immediate consequences of a given behavior

Question 17

appetitive stimulus

Answer 17

pleasant event

Question 18

aversive stimulus

Answer 18

an unpleasant event

Question 19

reinforcement

Answer 19

the probability that the behavior will recur is increased

Question 20

punishment

Answer 20

the probability that the behavior will recur is decreased

Question 21

positive operant conditioning term

Answer 21

the controlling stimulus is present or occurs as a consequence of the response occurring

response produces the stimulus

appetitive or aversive

Question 22

negative operative conditioning term

Answer 22

controlling stimulus is absent or removed as a consequence of the response occurring

response eliminates or prevents the occurrence of the stimulus

-appetitive or aversive

Question 23

operant conditioning: positive and negative reinforcement

Answer 23

positive reinforcement: probability that the behavior will occur increases as consequence of the CS being present or occurring immediately subsequent to behavior

negative reinforcement: the probability that the behavior will recur increase as a consequence of the controlling stimulus being absent or removed if the behavior occurs

Question 24

prompting and fading

Answer 24

initially getting animal to do desired behavior

-gently guide the animal into position while giving an eliciting stimulus such as sit

fading- once desired behavior is attained- give reinforcer and with repetition gradually fad the intensity of the prompt

Question 25

shaping

Answer 25

start by eliciting a behavior that would be the first step towards final behavior

• done without touching-
• gradually require the animal to engage in behavior that is more like the final behavior before it is rewarded

Question 26

what research showed about negative and positive reinforcement

Answer 26

dogs from positive reinforcement group were less stressed- better for welfare?

Question 27

positive punishment

Answer 27

usually referred to as punishment

probability that the behavior will recur decreases as consequence of the CS occurring immediately subsequent to the behavior

Question 28

negative punishment

Answer 28

“time out”

probability that behavior will recur decreases as consequence of CS being absent/removed if behavior occurs

Question 29

3 conditions for effective punishment

Answer 29

punishment must be immediate
punishment must be consistent
punishment must be appropriate for individual animal

Question 30

research on electric collar training

Answer 30

no consistent benefit from e-collar training but greater welfare concernss

Question 31

ratio of schedules for reinforcement

Answer 31

continuous
fixed ratio
variable ratio = intermittent reinforcement

Question 32

interval schedules

Answer 32

reinforcement depends on the amount of time that has passed between a response and the delivery of the reinforcer

• fixed interval
• variable interval

Question 33

reinforcers and motivation

Answer 33

animal’s motivation affects how fast and how well learning occurs

Question 34

secondary reinforcers/punishers

Answer 34

due to classical conditioning a neutral stimulus can come to have a similar regarding or punishing value as an unconditioned stimulus

Question 35

learned helplessness

Answer 35

interference with the learning of new instrumental responses as a result of exposure to inescapable and unavoidable aversive stimulation

Question 36

flooding

Answer 36

deliberate exposure of animal to a stimulus until the response extinguishes or the animal habituates
-once a flooding session is initiated, exposure to stimulus must continue until response ceases

Question 37

desensitization

Answer 37

expose animal to low level stimulus

• stimulus elicits low level response that can be easily interrupted/diverted
• gradually increase intensity of stimulus

Question 38

counter conditioning

Answer 38

response is elicited that is behaviorally and physiologically incompatible with another response
-reverses animals previous response to a stimulus