learning and classical conditioning Flashcards
what is learning?
process by which experience produces a relatively enduring change in behavior or performance capabilities
what is learning more then? what does it encompass?
acquiring knowledge, it encompasses a much larger range of behavior and processes
what does tabula rasa mean?
blank slate
what is the behaviorist solution to operationalize learning?
to measure ‘doing’ by relying on performance-based metrics
what evidence is there for diverse influences on learning beyond what behaviorists have traditionally argued for?
cognitive, environmental, biological and cross-cultural
what is learning viewed as?
a personal adaptation in response to the specifics of one’s own environment
what are the two forms of learning?
habituation and sensitization
what is habituation?
decrease in the strength of response to a repeated stimulus (similar but distinct from sensory adaptation)
what is sensitization?
increase in the strength of a response to a repeated stimulus
what does our system pay more attention to?
things that have a more negative impact on you
what is classical conditioning?
learning to associate two stimuli such that one stimulus comes to elicit response originally produced by the other stimulus
what are the four steps to classical conditioning?
- must start with naturally occurring distinctive response (a response that is not learned)
- initially, a neutral stimulus is not associated with a natural response
- pair stimulus that produces that natural behavior with the neutral stimulus
- eventually, the neutral stimulus will come to produce the natural response by itself
what is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?
elicits a reflective or innate (unconditioned) response without prior learning
what is a conditioned stimulus (CS)?
through learning, comes to produce a conditioned response similar to the original unconditioned response
what is an unconditioned response (UCR)?
the response elicited by the UCS (occurs without prior learning)
what is the conditioned response (CR)?
the response that eventually comes to be elicited by the CS after the association is formed
what is acquisition?
period of time in which cc association is learning
each pairing of a CS/UCS is considered a?
learning trial
the speed of acquisition usually depends on?
the order/delay for the CS and UCS presentation
what is an example of fast acquisition?
if there is a traumatic car accident, and a certain song was playing, you become fearful whenever the song plays - conditioned (song) unconditioned (feeling fearful)
what is the order, from fastest to slowest, of acquisition?
- forward short-delay: CS presented first (and remains), then UCS
- forward trace: CS presented first (then disappears), then the UCS
- simultaneous: CS and UCS presented at the same time
- backward: CS is presented after the UCS
what happens when a learned association is no longer relevant?
extinction
what occurs when extinction happens?
the CS stops being paired with the UCS, the CR weakens and eventually disappears
what is spontaneous recovery?
the reappearance of a previously extinguished CR, in the absence of any learning trials
what does spontaneous recovery demonstrate?
association (the learning and those neurons) still exist and are present in some level, and can be ‘reactivated’
what is generalization?
extension of classically conditioned associations to another (sufficiently similar) stimuli
generalization has a __________ response as stimuli become more similar?
stronger
when does discrimination occur?
when the CR elicited in response to one stimulus but not to another
discrimination has a ___________ response as stimuli become less similar?
weaker
what is higher-order conditioning?
chain of events involving multiple CS
what are some examples of classical conditioning?
taste aversion, marketing, products sold at hated workplaces
what is exposure therapy?
expose patients to fearful/anxiety-provoking stimuli under neutral circumstances, to promotes extinction
what is aversion therapy?
attempts are made to try to establish a negative association with some stimuli
edward thorndike studied the question of how we learned new behaviors using a?
puzzle box (escape room for cats)
how did the puzzle box for instrumental learning work?
- cat is placed in a box and the door is closed
- door opens if the cat does a specific action
cat eventually performs necessary action to open the door, simply through trial and error, and gets let out
