Psychology Unit 2 Learning Flashcards
What is learning?
a process that produces a change in behavior or knowledge as a result of experience.
classical conditioning
pairing a neutral stimulus with a response stimulus until the neutral stimulus elicits the same response.
Who was Ivan Pavlov?
Russian physiologist who discovered classical conditioning through his work on digestion in dogs
what did Ivan Pavlov notice?
he noticed dogs salivating before he put food in front of them
What is Pavlov’s experiment?
used a bell as a neutral stimulus to elicit dogs to salivate.
Condition stimulus
a neutral stimulus that ultimately elicits a reflexive response
unconditioned response
a natural stimulus that creates a response without prior learning
when is conditioning most effective?
when the conditioned response is presented right before the unconditioned response
acquisition
the gradually learning of a response to a conditioning stimulus
Extinction
the diminishing of a conditioned response
spontaneous recovery
the reappearance, after a pause, of a diminished conditioned response
Generalization
responding similarly to a range of similar stimuli
Discrimination
the ability to distinguish between a specific conditioned stimulus and other stimuli
taste aversions
when eat a specific food and get sick you will have an aversion to that food
what did John Garcia discover
that animals seem to be better prepared to associate an illness with a taste vs a location, person or object
what is operant conditioning and who discovered it
behavior that is shaped by consequences
discovered by E.L Thorndike.
who developed the puzzle box
E.L Thorndike
What is the law of effect?
rewarded behavior is likely to recur
punished behavior is likely to not persist
what did B.F Skinner study
how animals acquire voluntary behaviors
what is reinforcement
any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
positive reinforcement
increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli
negative reinforcement
increasing behaviors by taking away negative stimuli
primary reinforcement
a naturally reinforcing stimulus
secondary reinforcement
any reinforcer that becomes reinforcing after being paired with a primary reinforcer
partial reinforcement
reinforcing a response only part of the time
what are the 4 types of partial reinforcements?
fixed ratio
variable ratio
fixed interval
variable interval
variable ratio
reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses
fixed interval
reinforces a response at predictable time intervals
variable interval
reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals
fixed ratio
reinforces a response after a predictable number of responses
What is punishment?
an event that decreases the behavior that it follows
Who was B.F. Skinner?
the most influential psychologist of the 20th century who discovered operant conditioning and reinforcement.
When is punishment most effective?
when it is immediate, consistent, and strong
what did Edward Tolman experiment with?
he put rats in a maze and rewarded them with food
what did Edward Tolman discover in his experiment?
he discovered that rats got better and faster the more they went into the maze and built a cognitive map of the maze.
what is a cognitive map?
mental representation of an area
what did Edward Tolman conclude?
rewards are not necessary for learning but they did effect performance
What is latent learning?
learning that is stored for later use.
What is observational learning?
learning that occurs through action
Who was Albert Bandura?
psychologist who experimented with observational learning through aggression in small children.
Who was Wolfgang Kohler?
observed chimps, while hanging bananas from the ceiling, and placing tools and boxes around the floor.
What is insight?
learning that happens quickly.
