Unit 3: Module 3.7a - 3.7b Flashcards
Learning
The process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors
Habituation
Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation
Associative Learning
Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli
Stimulus
Any event or situation that evokes a response
Respondent Behavior
Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus
Operant Behavior
Behavior that operates on the environment and produces a consequence
Cognitive Learning
The acquisition of mental information by observing events or by watching others
Classical Conditioning
A type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli. Illustrates with Pavlov’s classic experiment
Behaviorism
The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes
Neutral Stimulus - NS
A stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning
Unconditioned Response - UCR
A unlearned, naturally occurring response to a UCS
Unconditioned Stimulus - UCS
A stimulus that unconditionally naturally and automatically triggers a UCR
Conditioned Response - CR
A learned response to a previously neutral stimulus
Conditioned Stimulus - CS
An originally neutral stimulus that now comes to trigger a CR
Acquisition
The initial stage when one links a NS and a UCS so that the NS begins trigger the CR
Higher-order Conditioning
A procedure in which the CS in one conditioning experience is paired with a new NS creating a second CS
Extinction
The diminishing of a CR when an UCS does not follow a CS
Spontaneous Recovery
The reappearance, after a pause, of a weakened conditioned response
Generalization
The tendency for stimuli similar to the CS to elicit similar responses
Discrimination
The learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that have not been associated with a CS
Preparedness
A biological predisposition to learn associations that have survival value
