Test 2

Question 1

Learning

Answer 1

the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Question 2

Associative learning

Answer 2

learning that certain events occur together.

Question 3

Stimulus

Answer 3

any event or situation that evokes a response

Question 4

Respondent behavior

Answer 4

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

Question 5

Cognitive learning

Answer 5

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language

Question 6

Behaviorism

Answer 6

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes

Question 7

Neutral stimulus (NS)

Answer 7

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Question 8

Unconditioned response (UR)

Answer 8

in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth)

Question 9

Conditioned response (CR)

Answer 9

in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus

Question 10

Conditioned stimulus

Answer 10

in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response

Question 11

Acquisition

Answer 11

in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.

Question 12

Higher-order conditioning

Answer 12

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. (i.e. an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone.)

Question 13

Extinction

Answer 13

the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus; occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced

Question 14

Spontaneous recovery

Answer 14

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

Question 15

Generalization

Answer 15

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

Question 16

Discrimination

Answer 16

in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

Question 17

Operant conditioning

Answer 17

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

Question 18

Operant behavior

Answer 18

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences

Question 19

Reinforcement

Answer 19

in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Question 20

Shaping

Answer 20

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior (gradually guiding the rat’s actions toward the desired behavior)

Question 21

Law of effect

Answer 21

Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

Question 22

Operant chamber

Answer 22

in operant conditioning research, a chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking

Question 23

Positive reinforcer

Answer 23

increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response (pay the person who paints your house)

Question 24

Negative reinforcer

Answer 24

increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (take painkillers to end pain)

Question 25

Primary reinforcers

Answer 25

getting food when hungry or having a painful headache go away

Question 26

Conditioned reinforcers

Answer 26

get power through learned association with primary reinforcers

Question 27

Punishment

Answer 27

an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows

Question 28

Reinforcement schedule

Answer 28

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

Question 29

Continuous reinforcement

Answer 29

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Question 30

partial (intermittent) reinforcement

Answer 30

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

Question 31

fixed-ratio schedule

Answer 31

punch card

Question 32

variable-ratio schedule

Answer 32

slot-machine players

Question 33

fixed-interval schedule

Answer 33

a hungry child jiggles the jello more often to see if it has set

Question 34

variable-interval schedules

Answer 34

the message that finally rewards persistence in rechecking for e-mail or a facebook response

Question 35

positive punishment

Answer 35

spray water on a barking dog; give a traffic ticket for speeding

Question 36

negative punishment

Answer 36

take away a teen’s driving privileges; revoke a library card for nonpayment of fines