Learning and Ethology

Question 1

Acquisition

Answer 1

period during which an organism is learning the association of stimuli

Question 2

Generalization

Answer 2

tendency for stimuli for stimuli similar to the CS to elicit the CR

Question 3

Forward conditioning

Answer 3

presenting the UCS following the CS

CS – UCS (bell then food)

Question 4

Backward conditioning

Answer 4

presenting the CS following the UCS
UCS – CS (food then bell)
Not generally successful

Question 5

Sensory preconditioning

Answer 5

two neutral stimuli are paired together and then one of the neutral stimuli is paired with an UCS
can be successful

Question 6

Contingency explanation of classical conditioning

Answer 6

the CS must be a good predictor of the UCS

Further theories also say that the CS must provide nonredundant information about the UCS&raquo_space; blocking

Question 7

Blocking

Answer 7

Conditioning does not occur when a new UCS is combined with an already learned UCS/CS. Suggests that a stimulus needs to be interesting/surprising for learning

Question 8

Escape

Answer 8

A kind of negative reinforcement

Removes something undesireable

Question 9

Avoidance

Answer 9

There is a warning that an aversive stimulus will soon occur, and the appropriate response completely avoids the aversive stimulus. The behavior stops an aversive stimulus from occuring

Question 10

Discriminative stimulus

Answer 10

a stimulus condition that indicates that the organism’s behavior will have consequences

Question 11

Partial reinforcement effect

Answer 11

It takes longer to extinguish the lever press for the rat who acquired the response while receiving only occasional reinforcement
Ex: gambling
Best schedule = variable ratio
Worst schedule = fixed interval

Question 12

Differential reinforcement

Answer 12

Shaping

You reinforce the desired response while extinguishing others

Question 13

Flooding

Answer 13

Exposing client to irrational fears

Exposes the CS without the US that originally elicited fear

Question 14

Implosion

Answer 14

Imagining the fearful situation
Intensely concentrating on the fearful stimulus (CS) in a way that nothing fearful can happen (no UCS), the person is able to confront the phobia
Based on classical conditioning

Question 15

Systematic desensitization

Answer 15

Uses a hierarchy of anxiety-producing situations coupled with the use of relaxation techniques

Question 16

Counter-conditioning

Answer 16

Part of systematic desensitization where the client proceeds up the hierarchy until the relaxation responses are reinforced to the anxiety-invoking stimulus

Question 17

Conditioned aversion

Answer 17

The stimulus that attracts the client to a bad habit becomes paired with an aversive UCS associated with a punishment. The negative feeling s will be associated to the undesirable behavior and the client will no longer be attracted to it.

Question 18

Contingency management

Answer 18

A general name of therapies that attempt to change the client’s behavior by altering the consequences of the behavior

Question 19

Behavioral contract

Answer 19

A written agreement that explicitly states the consequences of certain acts; useful in resolving interpersonal conflicts

Question 20

Time-out

Answer 20

Removing the client from potentially reinforcing situation before he can receive reinforcement for the undesirable behavior

Question 21

Insight

Answer 21

Kohler thought Thorndike’s experiments with cats were forced into trial-and-error learning but it is also possible to learn by insight, given the opportunity

Question 22

Biological constraints

Answer 22

different species have different inborn predispositions to learn different things in different ways

Question 23

Garcia effect

Answer 23

Taste aversion only develops to a smell or taste of food that was eaten before getting sick. Garcia used the preparedness of rats to study this because sights or sounds did not produce the same effect
Possible to occur after only one trial, even up to 24 hours after

Question 24

Preparedness

Answer 24

an in-born tendency to associate certain stimuli with certain consequences

Question 25

Cognitive Maps

Answer 25

Tolman
Animals have mental maps of physical spaces
Alternative to conditioning model

Question 26

Instinctual drifts

Answer 26

Brelands, Experiments with shaping raccoon’s behavior

Instinctual ways of behaving are able to override behaviors learned through operant conditioning

Question 27

fixed-action patterns

Answer 27

A stereotypical behavior sequence that does not have to be learned by the animal

Question 28

Sign stimuli

Answer 28

Features of a stimulus sufficient to bring about a particular fixed-action pattern

Question 29

Releaser

Answer 29

A sign stimulus that triggers social behaviors between animals

Question 30

Innate releasing mechanism

Answer 30

A mechanism in the animal’s nervous system that connects sign stimuli with the correct fixed-action pattern

Question 31

Reproductive fitness

Answer 31

Takes into account the number of offspring that live to be old enough to reproduce
Altruism is problematic for this

Question 32

Inclusive fitness

Answer 32

Takes into account the number of offspring that live to be old enough to reproduce and the number of other relatives who live to reproductive age
Altruism is not problematic

Question 33

Altruism

Answer 33

If the animal’s behavior decreases its reproductive fitness
Animal puts itself in danger but does not help its offspring (or potential offspring), the behavior will actually decrease reproductive fitness

Question 34

Stimulus descrimination

Answer 34

A differentiation between two similar stimuli when only one of them is consistently associated with the unconditioned stimulus

Question 35

cognitive perspective

Answer 35

the consideration of mental processes such as prediction and expectancy on learning.
classical conditioning involves predicting the occurrence of events

Question 36

Rescorla-Wagner model

Answer 36

A cognitive model of classical conditioning; it states that the strength of the CS-US association is determined by the extent to which the unconditioned stimulus is unexpected/surprising
More surprising = more effort put into learning association

Question 37

Blocking effect

Answer 37

Once learned, a CS can prevent the acquisition of a new conditioned stimulus

Question 38

Law of effect

Answer 38

Thorndike’s general theory of learning: Any behavior that leads to a satisfying outcome will more likely occur again, and any behavior that has an annoying outcome will be less likely to occur

Question 39

Successive approximations

Answer 39

part of shaping behavior

Teaches the animal to discriminate which behavior is being reinforced to eventually produce the desired behavior

Question 40

Efficacy of reinforcement schedules

Answer 40

1. variable ratio: A slot machine pays off on average every few pulls, but you never know which one will pay
2. fixed ratio: you are paid each time you complete a chore
3. variable interval: Listening to the radio for your favorite song when you don’t know when it will come up
4. fixed interval: quizzes are every month, students only study when the quiz is about to be administered

Question 41

Latent learning

Answer 41

Learning that takes place in the absence of reinforcement

Tolman’s experiment with the rats and cognitive maps is an example of latent learning

Question 42

Optimal foraging theory

Answer 42

how animals in the wild choose their own reinforcement schedules

Question 43

Observational learning

Answer 43

learning that occurs when behaviors are acquired or modified following exposure to others performing the behavior
Bobo doll experiment

Question 44

Vicarious learning

Answer 44

Learning that occurs when people learn the consequences of an action by observing others being rewarding or punished for performing the action

Question 45

Mirror neurons

Answer 45

Neurons that are activated during observation of others performing an action

Question 46

Nucleus accumbens

Answer 46

part of the limbic system

experience of pleasure results from the activation of dopamine neurons in the nucleus accumbens

Question 47

Habituation

Answer 47

A decrease in behavioral response following repeated exposure to nonthreatening stimuli

Question 48

Sensitization

Answer 48

An increase in behavioral response to a threatening stimulus

Question 49

Long-term potentiation

Answer 49

The strengthening of a synaptic connection so that postsynaptic neurons are more easily activated
NMDA receptions are important (for glutamate)