Quiz 1 Flashcards
Define learning
Acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors.
How do we learn?
Through experience by making associations.
Define classical conditioning
Learning to anticipate good or bad events with automatic reactions.
Reaction to a good event
Automatic positive emotions
Reaction to a bad event
Automatic negative emotions
Acquisition
Initial learning of the stimulus-response relationship
NS
Neutral stimulus
US
Unconditioned stimulus
UR
Unconditioned response
CS
Conditioned stimulus
CR
Conditioned response
Neutral stimulus
A stimulus, that on its own, doesn’t mean anything.
Unconditioned stimulus
Born with a response to
Unconditioned response
Produces an unlearned response (born with)
Conditioned stimulus
Produces a stimulated response on its own after conditioning
Conditioned response
Produces a learned response/behavior
Order of classical conditioning
NS : US —> UR
CS —> CR
Things that are classically conditioned operate in…
The subconscious
Emotion
A mix of bodily arousal, expressive behavior, and conscious feelings or thoughts
Traumatic event response
Pupils dilate, sweats, increased heart rate, etc.
Emotional stimuli activate what nervous system?
sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight)
Are emotions conscious or unconscious?
Unconscious
spillover effect with emotions
arousal produced at random (bridge study)
“quick-and-dirty” emotional information is received by the…
Amygdala
Why does the amygdala receive emotional information quickly?
Risk assesment
The high road and low road deal with what?
emotional responses
What is the difference between high and low roads?
high road goes to the visual cortex; low road is “act now, ask questions later”
Phobias
extreme, irrational fear reactions
Can phobias be learned by classical conditioning?
Yes, they can be
Generalization
Stimuli similar to the CS can give a similar CR
ex. attacked by a dog; fear of all dogs
Discrimination
the learned ability to distinguish between a CS+ and a CS-
ex. determine an aggressive dog from a harmless puppy
Extinction
a reduction of a CR; reducing fear of phobias
Behavior Therapy
the application of learning theory to reduce problem behaviors (rarely will make anxiety “go away” for good)
Anxiety
generated through classical conditioning (phobias)
Exposure Therapies
treat anxieties by exposing people to triggers in safe environments
systematic desensitization
low risk –> higher risk exposure
spontaneous recovery
the reappearance of a CR after a gap in time
