Learning and Behavior Flashcards
1
Q
Generally defined, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ refers to the permanent change in potential performance or behavior as the result of experience, requiring some active participation by the organism.
A
Learning
2
Q
Who initially studied animal learning and developed laws believed to be applicable to human learning as well?
A
E.L.
Thorndike
3
Q
Thorndike's idea of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ referred to the observation that when a subject's response was effective at achieving a reward, the response was repeated, while responses that were ineffective were eliminated.
A
Trial-and-error learning (approximates Darwin's notion of adaptive selection)
4
Q
According to Thorndike, what are the 3 main conditions that maximize stimulus-response learning?
A
Law of Effect,
Law of Exercise,
and Law of
Readiness
5
Q
Thorndike's Law of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ states that response recurrence is governed by its consequence, usually in the form of reward or punishment- with increased satisfaction comes strengthening of the response, while discomfort leads to weakening of the response.
A
Effect (a direct
precursor to
Skinner’s principle
of reinforcement)
6
Q
What law, according to Thorndike, states that stimulus-response associations are strengthened through repetition?
A
Law of
Exercise
7
Q
Thorndike's Law of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ states that before a subject experiences satisfaction by performing an act, he must first be prepared to perform the act.
A
Readiness
8
Q
Considered one of Thorndike's minor laws, the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ states that when an act has satisfying consequences, the pleasure becomes associated with other acts that occur at approximately the same time.
A
Law of
Spread of
Effect
9
Q
According to Thorndike's Theory of
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, new learning is facilitated by
previous learning ("transfer of training")
only to the extent that the new learning
contains elements identical to those in
the previous, otherwise the amount of
transfer is determined by the number of
elements shared by both situations.
A
Identical
elements
10
Q
Generally considered the "father of modern behaviorism," he believed psychologists should focus only on observable, measurable behaviors and argued that differences in experience account for differences in behavior.
A
John B. Watson
(introduced the
term “behaviorism”
in 1912)
11
Q
Developed by \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, this paradigm contended that a response that is regularly elicited by a given stimulus would also be elicited by a substitute stimulus if the substitute were presented just prior to the original, and eventually the substitute will elicit the response on its own.
A
Pavlov;
Classical
Conditioning
12
Q
In Pavlov's dog/salivation experiment, the food was the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ and the dog's natural salivation was the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_; the bell was the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ until it began to cause the dog to salivate, then it became the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, while the salivation in response to the bell was the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
A
Unconditioned stimulus; unconditioned response; neutral stimulus; conditioned stimulus; conditioned response
13
Q
According to Pavlov, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ conditioning refers to when the conditioned stimulus precedes and overlaps the unconditioned stimulus, whereas \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ conditioning involves the unconditioned stimulus coming before the conditioned stimulus.
A
Delayed;
backward
14
Q
Of the different types of conditioning, which produces the strongest and most rapidly acquired response, and which is the least effective?
A
Delayed conditioning is best, while backward usually leads to no conditioning
15
Q
The diminishing of a conditioned response (salivation) due to repeated presentation of a conditioned stimulus (bell) outside the presence of an unconditioned stimulus (food) is referred to as what?
A
Extinction
16
Q
This refers to the sudden reappearance of a conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus that had stopped producing a response, which indicates extinguished responses are more likely suppressed than forgotten.
A
Spontaneous
recovery
17
Q
This term refers to when a more salient conditioned stimulus is more strongly conditioned than a less salient conditioned stimulus, sometimes occurring when 2 simultaneous conditioned stimuli of different salience are paired with an unconditioned stimulus.
A
Overshadowing
18
Q
The \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ occurs when the extinction of a response to an overshadowing conditioned stimulus leads to an increased conditioned response to the less salient conditioned stimulus.
A
Cue
deflation
effect
19
Q
In Watson's "Little Albert" experiment, Albert's eventual fear of all objects of a white and furry nature exemplifies what phenomenon?
A
Stimulus generalization (suggests responses/learning can generalize to similar to stimuli)
20
Q
In what type of learning does one stimulus serve as a connecting link between 2 other stimuli that are never paired?
A
Mediated stimulus
generalization (or
mediated
generalization)
21
Q
This occurs when one stimulus is reinforced while others are not, leading to a conditioned response to only the reinforced stimulus.
A
Stimulus
discrimination
22
Q
According to Pavlov, what occurs when a discrimination task is too difficult and the stimuli cannot be differentiated readily enough, leading to noticeable changes in behavior?
A
Experimental
neurosis
23
Q
The process of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ occurs when a well-conditioned stimulus (bell) becomes an unconditioned stimulus and is paired with a new stimulus (light), leading to the new stimulus producing the conditioned response (salivation), though slightly weaker- all without the original unconditioned stimulus (food).
A
Higher-order conditioning (third-order conditioning never achieved)
24
Q
In the process of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, two conditioned stimuli (light and tone) are paired during preconditioning sessions; one conditioned stimulus (tone) is then paired with an unconditioned stimulus (food), which produces a conditioned response (salivation); when the other conditioned stimulus (light) is presented, the same conditioned response occurs, though weaker.
A
Sensory
preconditioning
25
Q
This occurs when one conditioned stimulus inhibits the learning of a second conditioned stimulus; when 2 conditioned stimuli are paired simultaneously with an unconditioned stimulus, only the first conditioned stimulus evokes the conditioned response.
A
Blocking
26
Q
This occurs when 2 conditioned stimuli are simultaneously paired with an unconditioned stimulus and then only 1 conditioned stimulus continues to be paired with the unconditioned stimulus, leading to a weakening of conditioning to the other conditioned stimulus.
A
Backward
blocking
27
Q
This term refers to when a subject becomes conditioned more to the experimental/learning conditions themselves rather than the intended conditioned stimulus.
A
Pseudoconditioning
28
Q
This term refers to the technique of pairing an undesirable behavior with an incompatible behavior so that the undesirable behavior is eliminated.
A
Counterconditioning
29
Q
Developed by J. Wolpe, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ encourages a person to imagine the feared object/situation while engaging in a response that is incompatible with the anxiety usually produced; he referred to the underlying process as \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
A
Systematic
desensitization;
reciprocal
inhibition
30
Q
What counterconditioning technique encourages the repeated practice of appropriate and effective ways of dealing with real-life situations that are difficult for the client; the therapist provides feedback until the behavior is normal for the client.
A
Behavioral
rehearsal
31
Q
This counterconditioning technique is used to reduce performance anxiety evoked by sexual situations; it involves training a couple to relax and engage in sexual touching and exploration, without pressure to achieve arousal, erection, or orgasm.
A
Sensate
focus
32
Q
What technique based on classical extinction involves exposing the client to the anxiety-inducing stimulus, without pairing the feared stimulus with an incompatible response, while preventing the client from engaging in the typical avoidance response?
A
Flooding (can
be imaginal
or in-vivo)
33
Q
A therapist treating a client with a fear of heights used the flooding technique, which actually led to increased fear of heights by the client. What is this an example of?
A
The incubation effect (or paradoxical enhancement effect)
34
Q
To avoid the incubation effect, treatment might include \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, which involves progressively introducing the client to certain aspects of the feared stimulus until the anxiety response has diminished.
A
Graded
exposure (or
graduated
extinction)
35
Q
Research by Foa and Kozak indicates that \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ flooding is more effective than \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ flooding.
A
In-vivo;
imaginal
36
Q
According to Stein and Marks, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ exposure to an anxiety-evoking stimulus is more effective than \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ exposure.
A
Prolonged;
brief
37
Q
What are the disorders that flooding and graded exposure have been shown to be particularly effective at treating?
A
Agoraphobia and
Obsessive-Compulsive
Disorders
38
Q
Research suggests that the underlying principle of systematic desensitization is likely \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, rather than counterconditioning.
A
Exposure to the
feared stimulus
without adverse
consequences
39
Q
What technique involves deliberate exposure to the physical sensations associated with panic attacks, such as hyperventilation, shaking head, racing heart, and body tension, to reduce the anxiety usually experienced when these sensations occur?
A
Interoceptive
exposure
40
Q
Similar to imaginal flooding, \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ imaginal exposure to a feared stimulus; however, it differs from flooding in that it incorporates psychodynamic themes thought to underlie the fear into the imagery.
A
Implosive
therapy
(implosion)
41
Q
What technique pairs a noxious stimulus with a behavior targeted for elimination, or a stimulus associated with that behavior, until the avoidance response elicited by the noxious stimulus is elicited by the targeted behavior?
A
Aversive
conditioning
42
Q
In aversive conditioning, the noxious stimulus is the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ and the target stimulus or behavior is the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
A
Unconditioned
stimulus;
conditioned
stimulus
43
Q
This aversive conditioning technique uses counterconditioning in imagination, as opposed to in-vivo, to reduce or eliminate undesirable behaviors; a person imagines they are engaging in the undesirable behavior then imagines an aversive consequence.
A
Covert sensitization, which is more effective at treating paraphilias than obesity and addictions
44
Q
According to B.F. Skinner, the term \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ refers to a response that is voluntarily emitted and learned as the result of environmental consequences that follow it, as opposed to respondent behaviors that are automatically elicited by stimuli.
A
Operant
45
Q
From the Operant Conditioning perspective, events that increase a behavior are called \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_, while events that decrease a behavior are called \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_.
A
Reinforcers;
punishers
46
Q
What is the general difference
between the terms “positive”
and “negative” in regards to
reinforcement/punishment?
A
Positive means a stimulus is applied, while negative means a stimulus is removed
47
Q
According to Operant Conditioning, a teenager who receives an allowance only after completing all of his chores is an example of:
A
Positive
Reinforcement
(apply stimulus to
increase behavior)
48
Q
A mother nags her daughter for not completing her chores; once the daughter did her chores, her mother's nagging ceased. What Operant Conditioning principle does this exemplify?
A
Negative Reinforcement (remove stimulus to increase behavior)
49
Q
Based on Operant Conditioning, a shock-collar on a dog is an example of what?
A
Positive
Punishment (apply
stimulus to
decrease behavior)
50
Q
A child who receives a "time-out" for performing an unacceptable behavior exemplifies what Operant Conditioning principle?
A
Negative Punishment (remove stimulus to decrease behavior)
51
Q
What term refers to the withdrawal of reinforcement from a previously reinforced behavior so that the behavior is decreased or eliminated?
A
Operant
extinction
This behavioral understanding of
52
Q
This behavioral understanding of depression suggests when once successful behaviors fail to elicit expected reinforcers, or if reinforcement becomes so unpredictable the subject is unable to tell what response works, the organism stops responding even if conditions change and the behavior could be successful again.
A
Learned
helplessness
