Learning and Ethology

Question 1

Thorndike

Answer 1

functionalist; law of effect (basis of operant conditioning); puzzle box

Question 2

John Watson

Answer 2

classical conditioning; Little Albert

Question 3

Clark Hull

Answer 3

theory of motivation/drive-reduction theory

Question 4

drive-reduction theory

Answer 4

the goal of behaviour is to reduce biological drives (i.e., reinforcement occurs whenever a biological drive is reduced)

Question 5

Konrad Lorenz

Answer 5

ethology; animal behaviour can only be understood in natural environment

Question 6

reflex

Answer 6

unlearned response elicited by a specific stimulus, e.g. dog salivating when food placed in mouth

Question 7

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 7

stimulus that can reflexively elicit a response, e.g. food

Question 8

unconditioned response

Answer 8

response reflexively elicited by an unconditioned stimulus, e.g. salivation

Question 9

conditioned stimulus

Answer 9

stimulus that after conditioning elicits nonreflexive response, e.g. bell

Question 10

conditioned response

Answer 10

response that, after conditioning, is elicited by conditioned stimulus e.g. salivation after bell is rung

Question 11

what needs to happen for classical conditioning to work?

Answer 11

the conditioned stimulus has to be presented before the unconditioned stimulus (forward conditioning)

Question 12

extinction

Answer 12

repeatedly present the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus

Question 13

spontaneous recovery

Answer 13

period after extinction where the unconditioned stimulus still elicits a weak conditioned response

Question 14

generalization

Answer 14

tendency for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit the conditioned response

Question 15

second order conditioning

Answer 15

neutral stimulus paired with conditioned stimulus rather than an unconditioned stimulus so that neutral stimulus comes to elicit the conditioned response

Question 16

sensory preconditioning

Answer 16

two neutral stimuli are paired together and then one of the neutral stimuli is paired with an unconditioned stimulus. e.g. light and bell presented together. then light and food (UCS). after repeated pairings, bell will elicit salivation even though it was never paired with food.

Question 17

Robert Rescorla

Answer 17

contingency explanation of classical conditioning

Question 18

contingency explanation of classical conditioning

Answer 18

contingent = conditional/dependent upon. So this means that the conditioned stimulus (bell) must predict the unconditioned stimulus (food) consistently in order for classical conditioning to occur

Question 19

blocking

Answer 19

experimental procedure to show that classical conditioning occurs when the conditioned stimulus also provides non-redundant information about the occurrence of the unconditioned stimulus (as well as being contingent)

Question 20

three explanation for why classical conditioning works

Answer 20

(1) contiguity: CS and UCS are contiguous (near) in time
(2) contingency: CS is a good signal for UCS
(3) blocking: CS is a good signal for UCS and provides nonredundant information about the occurrence of UCS

Question 21

operant conditioning

Answer 21

reward learning; learning the relationship between one’s actions and their consequences

Question 22

ppl associated with operant conditioning

Answer 22

Thorndike and Skinner

Question 23

law of effect

Answer 23

if a response is followed by annoying consequence, animal less likely to emit the same response in the future

Question 24

Skinner developed these terms

Answer 24

positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction

Question 25

positive reinforcement

Answer 25

probability of desired response increases when organism is given something they want (essentially reward)

Question 26

negative reinforcement

Answer 26

probability of desire response increases when something is taken away or something undesirable is prevented (e.g. annoying buzzer stops when you put seatbelt on)

Question 27

escape

Answer 27

something undesirable is prevented (e.g. annoying buzzer stops when you put seatbelt on) - type of negative reinforcement

Question 28

avoidance

Answer 28

organism gets warning that aversive stimulus will soon occur, and the desired response avoids the aversive stimulus (e.g. stopping at a stop sign)

Question 29

discriminative stimulus

Answer 29

stimulus condition that indicates that the organism's behaviour will have consequences

Question 30

partial reinforcement effect

Answer 30

takes longer for extinction to occur in organism who has been occasionally reinforced for a behaviour

Question 31

four types of partial reinforcement

Answer 31

also called scheduled of reinforcement: fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, variable interval

Question 32

fixed-ratio

Answer 32

reinforcement received after a fixed number of responses

Question 33

variable ratio

Answer 33

reinforcement received after varying number of responses **Very Resistant to extinction, Very Rapid (most rapid response rate

Question 34

fixed interval

Answer 34

reinforcement occurs on 1st response after a fixed period of time has occurred since last reinforcement

Question 35

variable interval

Answer 35

reinforcement occurs after various time periods has elapsed

Question 36

continuous reinforcement schedule

Answer 36

FR 1; reinforced for every response

Question 37

schedule most resistant to extinction

Answer 37

variable ratio

Question 38

shaping

Answer 38

differential reinforcement; produce eventual desired response by reinforcing smaller steps of it

Question 39

implosion

Answer 39

type of behaviour therapy where client is forced to imagine their feared object (the CS)

Question 40

systematic desensitization

Answer 40

use of hierarchy of anxiety-producing situations coupled with relaxation techniques (can't experience anxiety and relaxation at same time - counter conditioning)

Question 41

conditioned aversion

Answer 41

extinguish unattractive behaviour by pairing it with an aversive unconditioned stimulus

Question 42

contingency management

Answer 42

using operant conditioning to modify behaviour

Question 43

behavioral contracts

Answer 43

written agreement that states what behavioural change is desired and indicated consequences of certain acts

Question 44

time-out procedures

Answer 44

remove person from situation where undesirable behaviour occurs so they're not reinforced for it

Question 45

token economies

Answer 45

tokes given for desirable behaviours and taken away for undesirable ones. can redeem tokens for rewards

Question 46

Premack principle

Answer 46

using a more preferred activity to reinforced less preferred activity

Question 47

law of effect

Answer 47

responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation

Question 48

learning according to Thorndike

Answer 48

trial and error

Question 49

learning according to Kohler

Answer 49

insight (perception of inner relationships between factors essential to solving a problem)

Question 50

Tolman

Answer 50

rat mazes and cognitive maps

Question 51

Garcia effect

Answer 51

preparedness; animals are wired to learn connections between certain stimuli (e.g. illness with something you ingested)

Question 52

instinctual drift

Answer 52

species-specific ways of behaving override behaviours learned through operant conditioning

Question 53

Keller and Marion Breland

Answer 53

instinctual drift

Question 54

fixed action patterns

Answer 54

stereotyped behaviour sequence that does not have to be learned by an animal e.g. courtship rituals

Question 55

sign stimuli

Answer 55

features of a stimulus sufficient to bring about a particular fixed action pattern

Question 56

supernormal stimulus

Answer 56

model more effective at triggering a FAP than the actual sign stimulus found in nature

Question 57

releaser

Answer 57

sign stimulus that triggers social behaviours between animals

Question 58

innate releasing mechanism

Answer 58

mechanism in the animal's nervous system that connects sign stimuli with the correct FAPs

Question 59

Karl von Frisch

Answer 59

honeybees communicate location of food sources by dancing

Question 60

reproductive fitness

Answer 60

number of offspring that live to be old enough to reproduce

Question 61

inclusive fitness

Answer 61

takes into account reproductive fitness and the number of other relatives who live to reproductive age

Question 62

E. O. Wilson

Answer 62

sociobiology (how social behaviours increase fitness)