Section 4

Question 0

Key ideas of learning

Answer 0

Based on experience
Produces changes in the organism
Changes are relatively permanent

Question 1

Learning

Answer 1

Acquisition of new knowledge, skills of responses from experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner

Question 2

Habituation

Answer 2

Repeated exposure to a stimulus results in decreased response to the stimulus

Question 3

Sensitization

Answer 3

Presentation of a stimulus results in increased response to a later stimulus

Question 4

Classical conditioning

Answer 4

A neutral stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response

Question 5

Example of classical conditioning

Answer 5

Pavlov’s experiment of the dogs and the saliva

Question 6

4 basic elements of classical conditioning

Answer 6

Unconditioned stimulus
Unconditioned response
Conditioned stimulus
Conditioned response

Question 7

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

Answer 7

Something that produces a naturally occurring reaction in organisms

Question 8

Unconditioned response (UR)

Answer 8

A reaction that is reliably produce by an unconditioned stimulus

Question 9

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Answer 9

A neutral stimulus that now produces a reliable response in an organism after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus

Question 10

Conditioned response (CR)

Answer 10

A reaction that resembles an unconditioned response but is produced by a conditioned stimulus

Question 11

Acquisition

Answer 11

Phase of classical conditioning when the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are presented together

Question 12

Second order conditioning

Answer 12

Conditioning where a conditioned stimulus is paired with a stimulus that became associated with the unconditioned stimulus in an earlier procedure
Ex) food - tone - black square

Question 13

Extinction

Answer 13

Gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus

Question 14

Spontaneous recovery

Answer 14

Tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period

Response is weakened but not eliminated

Question 15

Generalization

Answer 15

Conditioned response is observed even though there have been slight changes made to the conditioned stimulus

Question 16

Discrimation

Answer 16

Ability to distinguish between similar but distinct stimulus

Question 17

What properties are needed to have adaptive value (associated with food aversion)

Answer 17

Rapid learning that occurs in 1-2 trials
Conditioning should be able to take place over long intervals
Organism should develop the aversion to the smell or taste of the food not its ingestion
Learned aversions should occur more often with novel foods rather than with familiar ones

Question 18

Biological preparedness

Answer 18

Propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others

Conditioning works best with stimuli that are biologically relevant to the organism

Question 19

What is the difference between classical and operant conditioning

Answer 19

Classical - reactive, involuntary
Operant - active, voluntary

Operant is the study of what will happen based on our voluntary actions

Question 20

Operant conditioning

Answer 20

Type of learning in which the consequences of behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future

Question 21

Instrumental behaviors

Answer 21

Behavior that required an organism to do something (solve a puzzle) or manipulate its environment

Question 22

Example of operant conditioning

Answer 22

Cat in box (thorndike)

Question 23

Law of effect

Answer 23

Behaviors that are followed by a satisfying state of affairs tend to be repeated whereas those that produce an unpleasant state of affairs are less likely to be repeated

Question 24

Operant behavior

Answer 24

Behavior that has some impact on the environment

Question 25

Reinforcer

Answer 25

Something that increases the likelihood of the behavior that led to it

Question 26

Punisher

Answer 26

Something that decreases the likelihood of the behavior that led to it

Question 27

Positive and negative

Answer 27

Added | Taken away

Question 28

Positive reinforcement

Answer 28

A rewarding stimulus is presented and increases likelihood of behavior

Question 29

Negative reinforcement

Answer 29

Unpleasant stimulus is removed increasing the likelihood of behavior

Question 30

Positive punishment

Answer 30

Unpleasant stimulus is added which decreases likelihood of behavior

Question 31

Negative punishment

Answer 31

Rewarding stimulus is removed which decreases likelihood of behavior

Question 32

Primary reinforcers | Examples

Answer 32

Help satisfy biological needs comfort, shelter, food, warmth

Question 33

Secondary reinforcers | Examples

Answer 33

Effectiveness is derived from their associations with primary reinforcers Trophies, medals, money, verbal approval

Question 34

What is a key determinant of the effectiveness of a reinforcer or punisher?

Answer 34

Amount of time between behavior and reinforcer or punisher

Question 35

What is the importance of context? What is stimulus control?

Answer 35

Learning takes place in contexts, not just anywhere. In a discriminative stimulus, a response produces a reinforcement but in another context, it could produce a punishment. Stimulus control is when a particular response only occurs in a certain context.

Question 36

Why is extinction more complicated in operant conditioning?

Answer 36

It depends on how often the reinforcement is received Sometimes behaviors become stronger and more resilient

Question 37

What happened when Skinner didn't give rats the food pellets every time?

Answer 37

Pushed the lever at a different rate and pattern

Question 38

Interval schedules | 2 kinds

Answer 38

Based on time between reinforcements | Fixed interval schedule and variable interval schedule

Question 39

Ratio schedules | 2 kinds

Answer 39

Based on ratio of responses to reinforcements | Fixed ratio schedule and variable ratio schedule

Question 40

Fixed interval schedule (FI) | Example

Answer 40

Reinforcers are presented at fixed time periods, provided that correct responses are made Ex) College students do relatively little work until just before an exam where they do a burst of studying

Question 41

Variable interval schedule (VI) | Example

Answer 41

A behavior is reinforced based on an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement Ex) radio promotions happen on average every hour but it could be anywhere within the hour

Question 42

Fixed ratio schedule (FR) | Examples

Answer 42

Reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been made Ex) a store giving you a free shirt after a set number of regular purchases; laundry worker gets paid for every 10 pieces

Question 43

Variable ratio schedule | Example

Answer 43

Delivery of reinforcement is based on a particular average number of responses Ex) laundry worker will get paid on average for every 10 shirts washed and ironed but not for each 10th shirt; Casino slot machines

Question 44

Intermittent reinforcement

Answer 44

When only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement

Question 45

Why does variable ratio schedules produce higher rates of responding than fixed ratio schedules?

Answer 45

You don't know when you will be reinforced next

Question 46

Intermittent reinforcement effect

Answer 46

The fact that operant behaviors that are maintained under intermittent reinforcement schedules resist extinction better than those maintained under continuous reinforcement

Question 47

Shaping | Example

Answer 47

Learning that results from the reinforcement of successive steps to a final desired behavior Ex) dolphins learning tricks and making it look like one smooth set of movements but it is really a set of individual movements

Question 48

Superstition

Answer 48

An accidental correlation

Question 49

Means-ends relationship

Answer 49

A specific reward (end state) will appear if a specific response (means to that end) is made

Question 50

Latent learning

Answer 50

Something is learned but not shown as a behavioral change until later on

Question 51

Example of latent learning and cognitive maps

Answer 51

Rats in maze

Question 52

Cognitive maps

Answer 52

A mental representation of the physical features of the environment

Question 53

What drug plays a large key role in reward related learning?

Answer 53

Dopamine

Question 54

Observational learning

Answer 54

Learning takes place by watching the actions of others

Question 55

Example of observational learning

Answer 55

Bobo doll

Question 56

Diffusion chain

Answer 56

Individuals initially learn a behavior by observing someone else then they become the model for someone else to learn the behavior