Lesson 1 - Classical Conditioning Flashcards
Learning
The process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors.
Associative learning
When two events that occur together are linked and remembered.
Habituation
- When a response decreases with repeated exposure.
- An example of associative learning can be seen with habituation
Behaviourists
Believe all behaviours are learned through conditioned interaction with the environment
Conditioning
Associative learning is seen in the process of conditioning.
There are two types:
- Classical
- Operant
Classical conditioning
When someone learns to associate a particular stimulus with a specific response.
Operant conditioning
When someone learns to associate a behaviour with a consequence.
Unconditioned stimulus
- An object or event that causes a reaction
Unconditioned response
This response is not learnt; it is instinctive
Neutral stimulus
Something that would not normally cause any reaction, produces the same UCR
Conditioned stimulus
The NS is now described as a conditioned stimulus (CS) because it triggers a learnt response.
Conditioned response
The CS produces a conditioned response
Generalization
Tendency to respond to stimulus similar to the CS
Discrimination
Learning to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that do not signal a UCS
Extinction
A learnt response (CR) decreases when the CS is repeatedly presented alone
Spontaneous recovery
The reappearance, after a period of extinction, of a learnt response (CR)
Biological preparedness
An evolutionary predisposition to easily learn behaviours related to survival.
- Many argue that humans show this
Taste aversion
The avoidance of a certain food following a period of illness after consuming that food.
One-trial conditioning
The underlying conditioning component of taste aversion
- a single pairing of a stimulus (dodgy salmon) and response (illness) will be enough to create an association.
