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MCAT Behavioral Sciences > Learning > Flashcards

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MCAT flashcards
1
Q

What is a stimulus defined as?

A

anything to which an organism can respond, including all sensory inputs

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2
Q

What is the basis for all behavioral learning?

A

the combination of stimuli and response

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3
Q

What is habituation?

A

a decrease in response after repeated exposure to a stimulus

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4
Q

What is dishabituation?

A

the recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occurred; usually caused by a second stimulus interrupting the habituation process of the original stimulus

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5
Q

What is associative learning?

A

creation of pairing, or association, between two stimuli or between a behavior and response; includes classical and operant conditioning

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6
Q

What is classical conditioning?

A

an unconditioned stimulus that produces an instinctive, unconditioned response is paired with a neutral stimulus; with repetition, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that produces a conditioned response

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7
Q

What is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?

A

any stimulus that brings about an innate or reflexive response

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8
Q

What is an unconditioned response (UCR)?

A

the innate/reflexive response to an unconditioned stimulus

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9
Q

What is a neutral stimulus?

A

a stimulus that does not produce a reflexive response

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10
Q

What is a signaling stimulus?

A

a neutral stimulus that has the potential to be used as a conditioning stimulus

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11
Q

What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)?

A

a previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response

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12
Q

What is a conditioned response (CR)?

A

an automatic response established by training to an ordinarily neutral stimulus

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13
Q

What is extinction?

A

repeated exposure = habituation to the conditioned stimulus and subsequent loss of response

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14
Q

What is spontaneous recovery?

A

extinct conditioned stimulus is presented again, causing a weak conditioned response

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15
Q

What is generalization?

A

broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to the conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response

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16
Q

What is discrimination?

A

distinguishing between two similar stimuli; opposite of generalization

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17
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A

links voluntary behaviors with consequences in an effort to alter the frequency of those behaviors; associated with B.F. Skinner

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18
Q

Who is considered the father of behaviorism?

A

B.F. Skinner

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19
Q

What is behaviorism?

A

the theory that all behaviors are conditioned

20
Q

What is reinforcement?

A

process of increasing the likelihood that an individual will perform a behavior

21
Q

What is positive reinforcement?

A

reinforcement through adding a positive consequence or incentive following the desired behavior

22
Q

What is negative reinforcement?

A

reinforcement through removing something unpleasant

23
Q

What are subdivisions of negative reinforcement?

A

escape learning and avoidance learning

24
Q

What is escape learning?

A

meant to reduce the unpleasantness of something that already exists

25
Q

What is avoidance learning?

A

meant to prevent the unpleasantness of something that has yet to come

26
Q

What is a primary reinforcer?

A

re

27
Q

What is a primary reinforcer?

A

reinforcer that an organism responds to naturally

28
Q

What is a secondary/conditioned reinforcer?

A

reinforcer that would not normally be so on its own, but has been paired with a primary reinforcer to elicit the same response

29
Q

What is a discriminative stimulus?

A

indicates that reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm

30
Q

What is punishment?

A

use of conditioning to reduce occurrence of a behavior

31
Q

What is positive punishment?

A

adding an unpleasant consequence to decrease behavior

32
Q

What is negative punishment?

A

removing a stimulus to decrease behavior

33
Q

What is a fixed-ratio (FR) schedule?

A

reinforce a behavior after a specific number of performances of that behavior (ex: rewarding a rat with food every third time it presses a bar in its cage)

34
Q

What is continuous reinforcement?

A

fixed-ratio schedule in which the behavior is rewarded every time it is performed

35
Q

What is a variable-ratio (VR) schedule?

A

reinforce a behavior after a varying number of performances, but such that the average number of performances to receive a reward is relatively constant

36
Q

What is a fixed-interval (FI) schedule?

A

reinforce the first instance of a behavior after a specified time period has elapsed (ex: rat gets pellet, then must wait 60 seconds before pushing the lever warrants a pellet)

37
Q

What is variable-interval (VI) schedule?

A

reinforce a behavior the first time it is performed after a varying internal of time (ex: have the rat wait 60 seconds, then 30 seconds, then 90 seconds, etc. before getting pushing the lever warrants a pellet)

38
Q

Which reinforcement schedule works the fastest for learning a new behavior and is the most resistant to extinction?

A

variable-ratio (VR) schedule

VR > FR > VI > FI

39
Q

What is shaping?

A

process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviors

40
Q

What is latent learning?

A

learning that occurs without a reward, but is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced

41
Q

What is problem-solving?

A

taking a step back, observing the situation, and taking decisive action to solve challenges instead of undergoing a trial-and-error approach

42
Q

What are evidences that cognitive and biological factors outside the standard behaviorist approach affect associative learning?

A

latent learning and problem-solving

43
Q

What is preparedness?

A

predisposition to learning behaviors that coincide with natural behaviors

44
Q

What is instinctive drift?

A

difficulty overcoming instinctual behaviors in training/conditioning

45
Q

What is observational learning or modeling?

A

process of learning a new behavior or gaining information by watching others; can be used to reinforce behavior or to teach to avoid it

46
Q

What are mirror neurons?

A

neurons located in the frontal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex that fire both when an individual performs an action and when that individual observes someone else performing the same action

*involved in motor processes, but also thought to be related to empathy and vicarious emotions (some mirror neurons fire when we experience an emotion or observe another experiencing the same emotion)

47
Q

What is encoding?

A

process of putting new information into memory

MCAT Behavioral Sciences (15 decks)

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