Learning and Conditioning Flashcards
Define ‘learning’
Any relatively permanent change in the behaviour feelings or thoughts as a consequence of prior experience and it also involves the adaptation of the individual to the environment
What are the different types of learning?
- Auditory - hearing
- Kinesthetic - touching
- Visual – seeing
What are examples of ‘non-learnt’ behaviours?
Reflexes, habituation, instinct and imprinting
What is stimulus generalisation?
A response to a specific stimulus is then associated with other, similar stimuli
What is stimulus discrimination?
Where an individual responds to one stimulus and not another
What is acquisition of a conditioned response?
Learning phase where the conditioned response is strengthened
What is extinction of a conditioned response?
Gradual weakening of the conditioned response tendency
What is spontaneous recovery of a conditioned response?
Reappearance of a conditioned response the has been extinguished without any environmental prompting
What is the garcia effect?
An individual will avoid eating certain food/drink due to a past unpleasant experience
Describe the neurobiology behind fear
Cues that produce fear e.g. snake travel through basal and central nuclei in the amygdala and activate fear and anxiety
What is a positive punishment in operative conditioning?
Application of an unpleasant stimuli e.g. being hit
What is a negative punishment in operative conditioning?
Removal of a pleasant stimulus e.g. being grounded
Which brain structure is particularly important in operant conditioning?
Nucleus accumbens (hypothalamic nuclei)
