Lesson 4 - Behavior And Learning Flashcards
Term that encompasses the following:
-Theory of mind
-Conscious thought and action
-Mind/brain duality
-Meta-rationality
Cognition
A change in the brain that results in behavior being modified for longer than a few seconds
Learning
Animal learns relationship between 2 things
Associative learning
Animal learns to react to an event or stimulus without reinforcers
Non-associative learning
What are the two types of associative learning?
Classical conditioning & operant conditioning
What are the two types of non-associative learning?
Habituation & sensitization
When animals learn to associate something that normally would not have had an effect with something that normally would be meaningful, we call this…
Classical conditioning
What is an example of an unconditioned stimulus paired with an unconditioned response?
A dog salivating (UR) when it sees delicious food (US) is considered a normal association
What is an example of a conditioned stimulus producing a conditioned response?
Ringing a bell (CS) causes salivation (CR).
Explanation: Ringing a bell was initially a neutral stimulus, but if the bell rings initially when food is offered, the dog will start to associate the bell with food. Thus, the bell ringing, even in the absence of food, starts to cause salivation (turning an UR into a CR)
Classical conditioning was discovered by…
Ivan Pavlov
Term meaning that “two events must be closely paired in time”
Contiguity
Term meaning “one event must always predict the other”
Contingency
Term meaning “it must be something the animal perceives as important”
Saliency
Trial and error learning; learning through association of behavior with the immediate consequences of the behavior (reward/outcome)
Operant conditioning
Behavior analysis was developed in the 20th century by…
B.F. Skinner
Behaviors that are __________ are more likely to recur, while behaviors that are __________ are less likely to recur (in similar situations)
Rewarded/reinforced; punished
True or False: Efficacy of reinforcement and/or punishment on behavior is dependent on long term effects rather than immediate effects.
True
Adding something wanted to increase desired behavior (i.e. rewarding a dog in times it is not jumping on you/being calm)
Positive reinforcement
Removing something aversive to increase desired behavior (i.e. if initially pushing as a response - no longer pushing a dog down while it is jumping on you
Negative reinforcement
Adding something aversive to decrease undesired behavior (i.e. pushing a dog away when they are jumping on you)
Positive punishment
Removing something wanted to decrease undesired behavior (i.e. not giving attention to a dog that is jumping on you)
Negative punishment
Non-stop learning with positive reinforcement; important when initially learning a behavior but can be detrimental in the long term
Continuous reinforcement
When positive reinforcement is given inappropriately or at the wrong times, causing undesirable behaviors to be reinforced, we call this…
Non-contingent reinforcement
The process of gradually dropping rewards for the worst of acceptable responses, but frequent enough and with enough intensity to still encourage the animal to learn the behavior
Intermittent (Differential) reinforcement
When behavior is reinforced on a fraction of occasions, we call this…
Variable ratio
When behavior is performed for differing lengths of time before reward, we call this…
Variable duration
What are the benefits of using clickers for training?
The clicker is a marker (an instantaneous signal), and it can bridge the gap between identifying to the animal that they performed a specific desired behavior correctly (at the moment it occurs) and supplying a reward for said behavior
True or False: Clicker training utilizes both classical and operant conditioning
True; initially classical conditioning (clicker as a neutral stimulus marks something positive for the animal) and changes to operant conditioning when the animal intentionally repeats an action in order to earn a reward
Building a new behavior by selectively reinforcing variations in existing behavior during action (not after completion)
Shaping
Hands-off method of guiding an animal through a behavior (i.e. using food to guide a dog into “down” from “sit”)
Luring
Learning not to respond to a stimulus that triggers an instinctive response; Reduction of a psychological (behavioral) response when a specific stimulus occurs repeatedly
Habituation
Increasing responsiveness to a repeated stimulus; tends to be caused by more intense or aversive stimuli, especially if stimuli repeats when an animal is still physiologically aroused from the initial exposure
Sensitization
Sensitization vs habituation depends on three things…
-Form of stimulus
-Intensity of stimulus
-Timing between repeat presentations
Provides a means of safely exposing a pet to a stimulus at or below the predicted fear threshold; involves slow, gradual exposure and positive reinforcement
Desensitization
This is used to change a pet’s attitude or emotional response to a stimulus…
Counter-conditioning
A technique in which the pet is taught, using reinforcement-based techniques, to replace the undesirable behavior with a desirable one
Response substitution
When an animal is given prolonged exposure to a stimulus that is fear or aggression evoking with the inability to leave the situation until no longer reactive; extremely stressful and often worsens fear
Flooding
A founder of modern ethology and animal behavior study (along with Tinbergen); discovered imprinting behavior
Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989)
Rapid and relatively stable learning and bond between a newborn and caregiver (or object) in very early life; Involves attachment to object or living being that can be generalized to all objects in that class and that will later evoke behavior patterns in the adult
Imprinting
Animals that are developed at birth/hatching and are mobile and can stand/follow their mother
Precocial species
