Learning and Conditioning

Question 1

associative learning

Answer 1

form of learning that involves connecting certain stimuli or events that occur together in the environment (classical and operant conditioning)

Question 2

instinct

Answer 2

unlearned knowledge, involving complex patterns of behavior; instincts are thought to be more prevalent in lower animals than in humans

Question 3

learning

Answer 3

change in behavior or knowledge that is the result of experience

Question 4

reflex

Answer 4

unlearned, automatic response by an organism to a stimulus in the environment

Question 5

classical conditioning

Answer 5

learning in which the stimulus or experience occurs before the behavior and then gets paired or associated with the behavior

Question 6

conditioned response (CR)

Answer 6

response caused by the conditioned stimulus

Question 7

conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 7

stimulus that elicits a response due to its being paired with an unconditioned stimulus

Question 8

higher-order conditioning

Answer 8

(also, second-order conditioning) using a conditioned stimulus to condition a neutral stimulus

Question 9

neutral stimulus (NS)

Answer 9

stimulus that does not initially elicit a response

Question 10

unconditioned response (UCR)

Answer 10

natural (unlearned) behavior to a given stimulus

Question 11

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Answer 11

stimulus that elicits a reflexive response

Question 12

acquisition

Answer 12

refers to the period when the stimulus comes to evoke the conditioned response

Question 13

extinction

Answer 13

decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the conditioned stimulus

Question 14

habituation

Answer 14

when we learn not to respond to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly without change

Question 15

spontaneous recovery

Answer 15

return of a previously extinguished conditioned response

Question 16

stimulus discrimination

Answer 16

ability to respond differently to similar stimuli

Question 17

stimulus generalization

Answer 17

demonstrating the conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus

Question 18

law of effect

Answer 18

any behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated

Question 19

operant conditioning

Answer 19

form of learning in which the stimulus/experience happens after the behavior is demonstrated

Question 20

negative punishment

Answer 20

taking away a pleasant stimulus to decrease or stop a behavior

Question 21

negative reinforcement

Answer 21

taking away an undesirable stimulus to increase a behavior

Question 22

positive punishment

Answer 22

adding an undesirable stimulus to stop or decrease a behavior

Question 23

positive reinforcement

Answer 23

adding a desirable stimulus to increase a behavior

Question 24

primary reinforcer

Answer 24

has innate reinforcing qualities (e.g., food, water, shelter, sex)

Question 25

punishment

Answer 25

implementation of a consequence in order to decrease a behavior

Question 26

reinforcement

Answer 26

implementation of a consequence in order to increase a behavior

Question 27

secondary reinforcer

Answer 27

has no inherent value unto itself and only has reinforcing qualities when linked with something else (e.g., money, gold stars, poker chips)

Question 28

shaping

Answer 28

rewarding successive approximations toward a target behavior

Question 29

continuous reinforcement

Answer 29

rewarding a behavior every time it occurs

Question 30

fixed interval reinforcement schedule

Answer 30

behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time

Question 31

fixed ratio reinforcement schedule

Answer 31

set number of responses must occur before a behavior is rewarded

Question 32

operant conditioning

Answer 32

form of learning in which the stimulus/experience happens after the behavior is demonstrated

Question 33

variable interval reinforcement schedule

Answer 33

behavior is rewarded after unpredictable amounts of time have passed

Question 34

variable ratio reinforcement schedule

Answer 34

number of responses differ before a behavior is rewarded

Question 35

cognitive map

Answer 35

mental picture of the layout of the environment

Question 36

latent learning

Answer 36

learning that occurs, but it may not be evident until there is a reason to demonstrate it

Question 37

model

Answer 37

person who performs a behavior that serves as an example (in observational learning)

Question 38

observational learning

Answer 38

type of learning that occurs by watching others

Question 39

vicarious punishment

Answer 39

process where the observer sees the model punished, making the observer less likely to imitate the model’s behavior

Question 40

vicarious reinforcement

Answer 40

process where the observer sees the model rewarded, making the observer more likely to imitate the model’s behavior