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AP Psychology > Learning and Conditioning Vocab > Flashcards

Learning and Conditioning Vocab Flashcards

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1
Q

the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

ex: knowing not to do a behavior after being negatively punished

A

learning

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2
Q

decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus

ex: a squirt of water causes a sea slug to withdraw its gills; if the water repeatedly squirts, eventually the slug will not withdraw its gills (it gets used to it)

A

habituation

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3
Q

learning that certain events occur together; the events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence (as in operant conditioning)

ex: the sea slug associates the squirt with an impending shock (if it is shocked after the squirt of water, its response grows stronger)

A

associative learning

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4
Q

any event or situation that evokes a response

ex: we learn a flash of lightning signals an impending crack of thunder

A

stimulus

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5
Q

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

ex: when lightning flashes, we start to brace ourselves

A

respondent behavior

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6
Q

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences

ex: a child uses good manners and gets rewarded, therefore they become a well-mannered adult

A

operant behavior

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7
Q

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language

ex: chimpanzees learn behaviors by watching others perform

A

cognitive learning

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8
Q

a type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli; as a result, to illustrate with Pavlov’s classic experiment, the first stimulus (a tone) comes to elicit behavior (drooling) in anticipation of the second stimulus (food)

ex: dog associates a tone with food

A

classical conditioning

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9
Q

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes; most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2)

ex: Watson hated mentalistic concepts and thought that all references to inner thoughts, feelings, and motives should be discarded when it comes to psychology

A

behaviorism

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10
Q

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

ex: when the tone is first presented to the dog it means nothing; eventually it makes the link between it and food

A

neutral stimulus (NS)

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11
Q

in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth)

A

unconditioned response (UR)

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12
Q

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally-naturally and automatically-triggers an unconditioned response (UR)

ex: food to dog

A

unconditioned stimulus (US)

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13
Q

in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)

ex: dog eventually associates tone with food

A

conditioned response (CR)

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14
Q

in classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR)

ex: previously meaningless tone that now triggers salivation

A

conditioned stimulus (CS)

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15
Q

in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response; in operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response

ex: research where repeatedly presenting a female quail and turning a red light on causes a male quail to become turned on just from the light (increasing reproduction)

A

acquisition

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16
Q

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus

ex: an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone

A

higher-order conditioning (also called second-order conditioning)

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17
Q

the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced

ex: researchers stop playing the tone when presenting food

A

extinction

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18
Q

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

ex: after a few hours, the researchers play tone again when presenting the food

A

spontaneous recovery

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19
Q

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses; (in operant conditioning, this occurs when responses learned in one situation occur in other, similar situations)

ex: a slightly different tone is played to dogs when presenting food, they still give the conditioned response (drool); a toddler learns to fear moving cars, so they also fear trucks and motorcycles

A

generalization

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20
Q

in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus; (in operant conditioning, the ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced from similar responses that are not reinforced)

ex: occasionally, a dog might distinguish the original tone from the slightly different tone

A

discrimination

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21
Q

a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher

ex: a parent gives their child a time out after the child was throwing tantrums

A

operant conditioning

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22
Q

Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

ex: if you work hard and receive a promotion, you will be more likely to continue putting in more effort

A

law of effect

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23
Q

in operant conditioning research, a chamber (also known as a Skinner box) containing a bar or a key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking

A

operant chamber

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24
Q

in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

ex: praise, attention, a paycheck

A

reinforcement

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25
Q

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

ex: when a baby is learning to walk step by step

A

shaping

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26
Q

in operant conditioning, a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement (in contrast to related stimuli not associated with reinforcement)

ex: pigeon’s learn to recognize human faces, the face is an example

A

discriminative stimulus

27
Q

increasing behaviors by presenting these; this is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response

ex: a child does their homework on time therefore they get a piece of candy

A

positive reinforcement

28
Q

increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing aversive stimuli; this is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response (this is not the same as punishment)

ex: a child portrays good behavior, therefore they get a night off of doing homework

A

negative reinforcement

29
Q

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need

ex: water, shelter, food, sex, touch

A

primary reinforcer

30
Q

a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer

ex: tone that is associated with food

A

conditioned reinforcer (or secondary reinforcer)

31
Q

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

ex: when we stop playing the tone when delivering food to the dog and when it starts again, etc

A

reinforcement schedule

32
Q

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

ex: giving a treat to an animal every time it displays good behavior

A

continuous reinforcement

33
Q

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

ex: a fisherman waits by the shore for certain amount of time, and he most likely catches same number of fishes every day, but the interval between catches isn’t same

A

partial (intermittent) reinforcement

34
Q

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

ex: a coffee shop giving a free drink after every 10 purchased

A

fixed-ratio schedule

35
Q

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

ex: slot-machine players/gamblers experience this

A

variable-ratio schedule

36
Q

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

ex: people check more frequently for the mail as the delivery time approaches

A

fixed-interval schedule

37
Q

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

ex: when the longed-for-message that finally rewards persistence in checking our phone (there is no knowing when the waiting will be over)

A

variable-interval schedule

38
Q

an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows

ex: discourages behavior rather than encourages it

A

punishment

39
Q

a system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension

ex: mirror the results of a person’s own efforts; a person uses this system to record their physiological state while meditating

A

biofeedback

40
Q

a biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value

ex: being afraid of things such as snakes, heights, or death with no previous knowledge/experience (biological)

A

preparedness

41
Q

the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns

ex: pigs trained to pick up wooden dollars and deposit them in a piggy bank began to drift back to their natural ways (dropping the coin, pushing it, wandering, etc)

A

instinctive drift

42
Q

a mental representation of the layout of one’s environment

ex: after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned it

A

cognitive map

43
Q

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

ex: as a boy, Billy watched his dad work with tools all the time, yet never picked one up; in adulthood, he is asked to perform a task with tools which he does easily with no instruction

A

latent learning

44
Q

a sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

ex: Sally is taking a math test and she has been stuck on the same problem for ten minutes; she can’t think of a solution when suddenly it just comes to her

A

insight

45
Q

a desire to perform a behaviors effectively for its own sake

ex: Bailey reads books all the time for fun just because she loves it

A

intrinsic motivation

46
Q

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

ex: Bailey’s teachers begin making her read a certain amount of pages every night for homework; this unmotivates her to the point where she doesn’t even want to read anymore

A

extrinsic motivation

47
Q

attempting to alleviate stress directly-by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor

ex: if our impatience leads to a family fight, we may go directly to that family member to work things out

A

problem-focused coping

48
Q

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction

ex: if, despite our best efforts, we cannot get along with that family member, we may relieve stress by reaching out to friends for support and comfort

(can also be harmful, ex: eating comforting but fattening foods or burying emotions)

A

emotion-focused coping

49
Q

our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless

ex: choosing to control how we react rather than how others react

A

personal control

50
Q

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

ex: a dog was strapped in a harness and given shocks with no way to avoid them; later on when the harness removed, the dogs didn’t try to avoid them and gave up hope

A

learned helplessness

51
Q

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate

ex: a student believes that they are failing due to random luck, fate, bias, etc

A

external locus of control

52
Q

the perception that we control our own fate

ex: a student believes they are failing because of their own lack of studying and knows they can do better next time

A

internal locus of control

53
Q

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards

ex: going to bed early so that you’ll be well rested in the morning even though you want to stay up later

A

self-control

54
Q

learning by observing others

ex: a child who sees his sister burn her fingers on a hot stove learns not to touch it

A

observational learning (also called social learning)

55
Q

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

ex: a child mimics her mother brushing her hair

A

modeling

56
Q

frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so; the brain’s mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation and empathy

ex: when you see someone smile, these neurons for smiling fire up too, creating a sensation in your own mind of the feeling associated with smiling

A

mirror neurons

57
Q

positive, constructive, helpful behavior; the opposite of antisocial behavior

ex: volunteer work, donating money

A

prosocial behavior

58
Q

created classical conditioning

A

Pavlov

59
Q

conditioning and behaviorism; Little Albert experiment; operant chamber

A

Watson and Skinner

60
Q

contributed to conditioning and behaviorism; created law of effect

A

Thorndike

61
Q

research on taste aversion

A

Garcia

62
Q

specialized in the involvement of cognitive processes in classical conditioning focusing on animal learning and behavior

A

Rescorla

63
Q

created concept of cognitive map

A

Tolman

64
Q

suggests that observation and modeling play a primary role in how and why people learn; bobo doll experiment

A

Bandura

AP Psychology (7 decks)

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