Psychology and Sociology: Chapter 3

Question 1

Habituation

Answer 1

repeated exposure to the same stimulus can cause a decrease in response

Question 2

Dishabituation

Answer 2

the recovery of a response to a stimulus after habituation has occurred; often noted when late in the habituation of a stimulus, a second stimulus is presented

Question 3

Classic conditioning

Answer 3

Type of associative learning that takes advantage of biological, instinctual responses to create associations between two unrelated stimuli

Question 4

Unconditioned stimulus

Answer 4

any stimulus that brings about a reflexive response

Question 5

Unconditioned response

Answer 5

the innate or reflexive response

Question 6

Neutral stimulus

Answer 6

stimuli that don’t produce a reflexive response

Question 7

Conditioned stimulus

Answer 7

a normally neutral stimulus that, through association, now causes a reflexive response called a conditioned response

Question 8

Acquisition

Answer 8

the process of using a reflexive, unconditioned stimulus to turn a neutral stimulus into a conditioned stimulus

Question 9

Extinction

Answer 9

refers to the loss of a conditioned response, and can occur if the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus

Question 10

Spontaneous recovery

Answer 10

after some time, presenting subjects again with an extinct conditioned stimulus will sometimes produce a weak conditioned response

Question 11

Generalization

Answer 11

a broadening effect by which a stimulus similar enough to the conditioned stimulus can also produce the conditioned response

Question 12

Stimuli discrimination

Answer 12

an organism learns to distinguish between similar stimuli

Question 13

Operant conditioning

Answer 13

Examines the ways in which consequences of voluntary behaviors change the frequency of those behaviors

Question 14

Behaviorism

Answer 14

the theory that all behaviors are conditioned

Question 15

Reinforcement

Answer 15

The process of increasing the likelihood that an animal will perform a behavior

Question 16

Positive reinforcement

Answer 16

increase the frequency of a behavior by adding a positive consequence or incentive following the desired behavior

Question 17

Negative reinforcement

Answer 17

increase the frequency of a behavior by removing something unpleasant

Question 18

Escape learning (negative reinforcement)

Answer 18

describes a situation where the animal experiences the unpleasant stimulus and, in response, displays the desired behavior in order to trigger the removal of the stimulus

Question 19

Avoidance learning (negative reinforcement)

Answer 19

occurs when the animal displays the desired behavior in anticipation of the unpleasant stimulus, thereby avoiding the unpleasant stimulus

Question 20

Primary reinforcer

Answer 20

stimulus that an animal naturally responds to

Question 21

Conditioned reinforcer or secondary reinforcer

Answer 21

stimulus that an animal is conditioned to respond to when it is paired with a primary reinforcer

Question 22

Discriminative stimulus

Answer 22

indicates that a reward is potentially available in an operant conditioning paradigm

Question 23

Positive punishment

Answer 23

adds an unpleasant consequence in response to a behavior to reduce that behavior

Question 24

Negative punishment

Answer 24

removing a stimulus in order to cause reduction of a behavior

Question 25

Fixed ratio (FR) schedules

Answer 25

reinforce behavior after a specific number of performances of that behavior

Question 26

Continuous reinforcement

Answer 26

a fixed-ratio schedule in which the behavior is rewarded every time it is performed

Question 27

Variable-ratio (VR) schedules

Answer 27

reinforce behavior after a varying number of performances of the behavior, but such that the average number of performances to receive a reward is relatively constant

Question 28

Fixed-interval (FI) schedules

Answer 28

reinforce the first instance of a behavior after a specified time period has elapsed

Question 29

Variable-interval (VI) schedules

Answer 29

reinforce a behavior the first time that behavior is performed after a varying interval of time

Question 30

Shaping

Answer 30

the process of rewarding increasingly specific behaviors that become closer to a desired response

Question 31

Latent learning

Answer 31

learning that occurs without a reward but that is spontaneously demonstrated once a reward is introduced

Question 32

Preparedness

Answer 32

animals are able to learn behaviors that coincide with their natural behaviors

Question 33

Instinctive drift

Answer 33

when animals revert to an instinctive behavior after learning a new behavior that is similar

Question 34

Modeling

Answer 34

people learn what behaviors are acceptable by watching others perform them

Question 35

Mirror Neurons

Answer 35

located in the frontal and parietal lobes of the cerebral cortex and fire both when an individual performs an action and when that individual observes someone else performing that action