PSYCH CHAP 7

Question 1

behavioral contrast

Answer 1

A response pattern in which an organism evaluates a reward relative to other available rewards or those that have been available recently.

Question 2

blocking effect

Answer 2

A result showing that an animal learns nothing about a stimulus if the stimulus provides no new information.

Question 3

classical conditioning

Answer 3

A form of learning in which one stimulus is paired with another so that the organism learns a relationship between the stimuli.

Question 4

compensatory response

Answer 4

A response that offsets the effects of the upcoming unconditioned stimulus.

Question 5

conditioned response (CR)

Answer 5

A response elicited by an initially neutral stimulus?the conditioned stimulus (CS)?after it has been paired repeatedly with an unconditioned stimulus (US). See also conditioned stimulus (CS), unconditioned response (UR), unconditioned stimulus (US).

Question 6

conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 6

An initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a new response due to pairings with the unconditioned stimulus. See also conditioned response (CR), unconditioned response (UR), unconditioned stimulus (US).

Question 7

discrimination

Answer 7

An aspect of learning in which the organism learns to respond differently to stimuli that have been associated with a US (or reinforcement), and stimuli that have not.

Question 8

dishabituation

Answer 8

An increase in responsiveness when something novel is presented, following a series of presentations of something familiar.

Question 9

extinction

Answer 9

The weakening of a learned response that is produced if a conditioned stimulus is now repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, or if a previously reinforced operant behavior is no longer reinforced.

Question 10

habituation

Answer 10

A decline in the response to a stimulus once the stimulus has become familiar.

Question 11

inhibitor

Answer 11

A stimulus signaling that an event is not coming, which elicits a response opposite to the one that the event usually elicits.

Question 12

instrumental conditioning

Answer 12

A form of learning in which the participant receives a reinforcer only after performing the desired response, and thereby learns a relationship between the response and the reinforcer. Also called operant conditioning.

Question 13

interval schedule

Answer 13

A pattern of delivering reinforcements only after a certain amount of time has passed.

Question 14

latent learning

Answer 14

Learning that occurs without a corresponding change in behavior.

Question 15

law of effect

Answer 15

Thorndike’s theory that a response followed by a reward will be strengthened, whereas a response followed by no reward (or by punishment) will be weakened.

Question 16

learned helplessness

Answer 16

A condition of passivity apparently created by exposure to inescapable aversive events. This condition inhibits or prevents learning in later situations in which escape or avoidance is possible.

Question 17

long-term potentiation (LTP)

Answer 17

A long-lasting increase in a neuron’s response to specific inputs, caused by repeated stimulation. See also activity dependence.

Question 18

mirror neurons

Answer 18

Neurons that fire whenever an animal performs an action, such as stretching out its arm or reaching toward a target, and also whenever the animal watches another performing the same action.

Question 19

observational learning

Answer 19

The process of watching how others behave and learning from their example.

Question 20

operant

Answer 20

In Skinner’s system, an instrumental response that is defined by its effect (the way it operates) on the environment. See instrumental conditioning.

Question 21

partial reinforcement

Answer 21

A learning condition in which only some of the organism’s responses are reinforced.

Question 22

prepared learning

Answer 22

Learning that occurs without extensive training because of an evolved predisposition to the behavior.

Question 23

presynaptic facilitation

Answer 23

A process, documented in studies of Aplysia, that underlies many kinds of learning. It occurs when learning results in an increased release of neurotransmitter into the synapse.

Question 24

ratio schedule

Answer 24

A pattern of delivering reinforcements only after a certain number of responses.

Question 25

reinforcer

Answer 25

A stimulus delivered after a response that makes the response more likely in the future.

Question 26

schedule of reinforcement

Answer 26

The rules about how often and under what conditions a response will be reinforced. See also interval schedule, ratio schedule.

Question 27

second-order conditioning

Answer 27

A form of learning in which a neutral stimulus is first made meaningful through classical conditioning. Then, that stimulus (the CS) is paired with a new, neutral stimulus until the new stimulus also elicits the conditioned response.

Question 28

shaping

Answer 28

The process of eliciting a desired response by rewarding behaviors that are increasingly similar to that response.

Question 29

spontaneous recovery

Answer 29

The reappearance of an extinguished response after a period in which no further conditioning trials have been presented.

Question 30

stimulus generalization

Answer 30

The tendency for stimuli similar to those used during learning to elicit a reaction similar to the learned response.

Question 31

taste aversion learning

Answer 31

A form of learning in which an organism learns to avoid a taste after just one pairing of that taste with illness.

Question 32

unconditioned response (UR)

Answer 32

A response elicited by an unconditioned stimulus without prior training. See also conditioned response (CR), conditioned stimulus (CS), unconditioned stimulus (US).

Question 33

unconditioned stimulus (US)

Answer 33

A stimulus that reliably triggers a particular response without prior training. See also conditioned response (CR), conditioned stimulus (CS), unconditioned response (UR).

Question 34

vicarious conditioning

Answer 34

A form of learning in which the learner acquires a conditioned response merely by observing another participant being conditioned.