Lecture 2 Flashcards
Behavioral Learning
An individual determines what behaviors are culturally appropriate and how behaviors result in specific outcomes.
Associative Learning/Conditioning
Learning that involves associations between certain stimuli and specific response.
Acquisition
Stage of learning over which a conditioned response to a new stimulus is established
Extinction
Disappearance of the conditioned response.
Spontaneous Recovery
Reappearance of the conditioned response after a period of extinction.
Stimulus Generalization
Tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus. (American crow call vs. western raven call)
Stimulus Discrimination
Learned lack of response to a stimulus similar to the conditioned stimulus. (keep training so a dog can determine differences between bird calls and will only salivate with one)
Operant Conditioning
Associative learning in which an individual becomes more or less likely to carry out a certain behavior based on its consequences. (Skinner box - rat steps on lever to dispense food)
Reinforcement
Consequence that that INCREASES the likelihood of a behavior (food delivery)
Punishment
Stimulus that DECREASES the likelihood of a behavior (shock delivery)
Positive Reinforcement
Introduction of a reinforcing stimulus in response to a desired behavior.
Negative Reinforcement
Removal of an unpleasant stimulus in response to a desired behavior.
Primary Reinforcers/Punishers
Harness physiological needs and the drive for survival. Do not require learning.
Primary reinforcer example
Delivery of food
Primary punisher example
Exposure to extreme temperatures
Secondary Reinforcers/Punishers
Require learning and social context to affect behavioral decisions. Once learned they can be just as effective as primary reinforcers and punishers.
Secondary Reinforcer/Conditioned Reinforcer examples
Money, praise, prestige, good grades
Secondary Punisher Example
Fines, scolding, ostracism, and bad grades
Escape Conditioning
Learned behavior that allows the subject to escape an unpleasant stimulus. (mouse cage with half the floor capable of delivering shocks)
Avoidance Conditioning
Learned behavior allows the subject to avoid the unpleasant stimulus altogether by employing a specific response. (blowing a whistle before shocks, allow mouse to move to different region)
Reinforcement Schedule
Describes how often and under what conditions a behavior is reinforced. (extinction depends on this schedule)
Fixed-Ratio
Rewards are provided after a specified number of responses (reward after every third time)
Variable-Ratio
Rewards are provided after an unpredictable number of responses (most successful)
Fixed-Interval
Rewards to a response are provided after a specified time interval has passed (reward given 20 seconds after lever is pressed)
Variable-interval
Rewards to a response are provided after a unpredictable time interval has passed.
Continuous Reinforcement
Most rapid way to first establish a response. (Mouse receives reward after every time lever is pressed)
Partial/Intermittent reinfrocement
Individual is rewarded only some of the times the action has been done.
Behaviors that were established with a partial reinforcement schedule are much more resistant to extinction. (gambling)
Shaping
Operant conditioning that shapes behavior toward a certain response by reinforcing successive approximations towards a desired behavior
Innate behaviors
Developmentally fixed. Heavily influenced by physiology and genetic inheritance that are very difficult or impossible to change through learning
Cognitive Processes
Necessary for associative learning of non-instinctual behaviors. Animal must have sufficient higher level brain function to recognize the connection between cause and effect and then choose a new course of behavior. Activities of any animal are always prone to biological constraints
Observational Learning
Consists of witnessing another person’s actions, retaining information on that person’s behavior, and later re-encating what was learned through that observation. MODELING
Mirror Neurons
Specialized nerve cells fire both when a person is completing an action and when the person observes someone else completing the same action.
Vicarious Emotions
Feeling the emotions of others as though they are one’s own, in order to learn from the successes and mistakes of others through observation.
Behavior
The sum of coordinated responses of organisms to the internal and external stimuli that they experience. Partially influenced by the biology of the organism.
Animal Signals
Consist of vocalizations or the use of visual stimuli, touch, and smell for communication
Social Behavior
All interactions taking place between members of the same species. (attraction, aggression, attachment, and social support)
Attraction
Factors that draw members of a species togehter
Aggression
Conflict and competition between individuals
Attachment
Forming relationships between individuals
Social Support
Finding help through social connections
Foraging Behavior
Set of behaviors through which animals obtain food. Type of social behavior that is observed in many species.
Altruism
Behaviors that are disadvantageous to the individual acting, but confer benefits to other members of its social group. Can be explained by inclusive fitness
Inclusive Fitness
Describes overall fitness (an individuals level of success at passing on its genes) by considering not only the individuals level own progeny, but also the offspring of its close relatives.
Game Theory
Use of mathematical models to represent complex decision making in which the actions of other group members must be taken into account.
Primary Group
Characterized by relatively permanent intimate relationships among a small number of people. Families and close friends. (Dyads and Triads)
Secondary Group
Impersonal relationships among larger groups of people. Tend to be more goal oriented and less permanent (sports teams, and group projects)
Networkds
Webs of weaker social interactions. Friends of friends
Organization
A collection of individuals joining together to coordinate their interactions toward a specific purpose
Formal Organizations
Official organizations with specific rules and guidelines
Bureaucracy
a type of formal organization that has a particular focus on efficiency and effectiveness to accomplish the goals of the organization.
Characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy
All are aimed at increasing efficiency. Specialized and organized in a clear hierarchy, written rules and regulation with thorough record keeping. Impersonal and impartial
Iron Law of oligarchy
Criticizes the hierarchical nature of bureaucracy. People at the top of the hierarchy will inevitably come to value their power over the purpose of the organization. Leadership focuses on staying in power rather than achieving their original goal.
McDonaldization
Extends the concept of bureaucracy to the effect of chain stores and restaurants on consumerism and society as a whole. Chains are predictable, uniform, efficient, and automated. Homogenization leads to a loss of originality and creativity.
Fad
Novel social pattern that has a quick rise and fall in popularity.
Mass Hysteria/Moral Panic
Groups of people feel a real or imagined threat to social order and respond in a hysteric manner
Riot
Mass hysteria can progress to where the group that feels threatened grows frustrated to the point of violence and destruction
Role
Defined by their expected behavior in a particular situation in a social interaction.
Role Conflict
Occurs when two or more roles that an individual plays have conflicting requirements. (a boss is friends with one of her employees but has to fire the employee)
Role Strain
The demands of a single role become overwhelming (juggling too much)
Role Exit
Role exit and role strain can lead to this. Where an individual stops identifying with a particular role.
Ascribed Status
One that is assigned to a person. Either at birth or later in life. (gender, race, and SES)
Achieved Status
One that a person intentionally earns (professional athlete, doctor, boss)
Impression Management
Process of consciously making behavioral choices in order to create a specific impression in the minds of others (social media)
Dramaturgical Approach
Impression management takes place in all aspects of human interaction. A person’s behavior is an ongoing performance of self that changes according to the situation. The self is formed and reformed through interactions with others.
Front Stage Self
Encompasses the behavior that a player (person) performs in front of an audience (usually society). Performs when she knows she is being watched and subject to judgment
Back Stage Self
Employed when players are together but no audience is present. Still a region of performance but the players can let go of conventions necessary for the front stage self. Perform a different self for each other than they do for the audience. Perform behavior that would be unacceptable when performed in the front audience
Groupthink
Groups members tend to think alike and agree for the sake of group harmony. Members self-censor ideas or opinions that go against group norms. The group is unanimous and group members then believe they must be correct.
Group Polarization
The attitude of the group as a whole toward a particular issue becomes stronger than the attitudes of its individual members. Group decisions tend not to be the average of individual desires, instead reflecting those desires taken to an extreme.
Peer Pressure
Extremely powerful motivator and is connected to the desire for social acceptance
Social Facilitation
Tendency to perform better when a person knows they are being watched. Most pronounced for tasks at which the performer is highly practiced or skilled. (Olympic games)
Bystander Effect
Onlookers in a crowd fail to offer assistance to a person who is in trouble because they assume that someone else will help. Diffusion of responsibility
Social Loafing
Members of a group decrease the pace or intensity of their own work with the intention of letting other group members work harder. Members gain a free ride off the work of their teammates
Deindividualization
Occurs when people lose awareness of their individuality and instead immerse themselves in the mood or activities of a crowd. Can lead to actions that would otherwise go against individuals’ moral principles. Can lead to mob mentality
Socialization
The process by which people learn customs and values of their culture
Agents of Socialization
Comprised of the groups and people who influence personal attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. (family, friends, neighbors, religion, school, mass media)
Social Control
More direct form of socialization in which one group or individual imposes a set of rules to control the behavior of others (informal - parents disciplining, formal- laws to control citizens)
Conformity
Tendency of individuals to change their attitudes, opinions, and behaviors to align with group norms. (influence of peers and culture)
Obedience
Describes behavioral changes made in response to a command by an authority figure.
Deviance
Behavior that violates social expectations.
Stigma
Negative social label that changes a persons social identity by classifying the labeled person as abnormal or tainted
Strain Theory
Deviance arises when there is a conflict between societal expectations and the socially condoned methods of achieving those expectations. Used to explain the motivation for crime
Anomie
Individuals lose their moral guidance due to the pressures of pursuing societal expectations.
Differential Association Theory
Deviance arises from social learning. IF the behavior of a group deviates than individuals in that group will learn to be deviant.
Labeling Theory
Particular behaviors are societally defined as deviant based on the group that carries out those behaviors.
Transmission
Passage of culture from one generation to another
Diffusion
Spread of culture from one population to another. When one country adopts cultural aspects of another country
Assimilation
Process by which an individual or group becomes part of a new culture. Language acquisition and gaining knowledge about the social roles and rules of the newly adopted culture.
Culture Shock
Feeling of disorientation that occurs due to an encounter with n unfamiliar culture
Subculture
Culture that is shared by a smaller group of people who are also part of a larger culture but have specific cultural attributes that set them apart. (Amish, deaf community)
Popular culture
The most widespread cultural patterns of society.
Countercultures
Groups whose members adopt cultural patterns in opposition to the larger culture and tend to acquire cultural messages from sources that are less mainstream than mass media. (Hippie movement)
Cultural Lag
the time culture takes to adjust to technological innovations. (new medical technologies)
Ethnocentrism
Belief that one’s group is of central importance and includes the tendency to judge the practices of other groups by ones own cultural standards
Cultural relativism
Practice of trying to understand a culture on its own terms and to judge a culture by its own standards.
Stereotype Threat
Anxiety and resulting impaired performance that a person may experience when confronted with a negative stereotype about a group to which they belong or when they feel their performance may confirm a negative stereotype about their group
