Learning/Conditioning Flashcards
What is learning
a relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience
Habituation
an organism’s decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it
Associative learning
learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).
Classical Conditioning
a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events
Behaviorism
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).
unconditioned response (UR)
in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivation when food is in the mouth.
unconditioned stimulus (US)
in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally - naturally and automatically - triggers a response
conditioned response
in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)
conditioned stimulus (CS)
In classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response.
acquisition
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.
higher-order conditioning
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. For example, 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. (Also called second-order conditioning.)
extinction
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.
spontaneous recovery
the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response
generalization
the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses
discrimination
in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus
