Unit 6 Flashcards
Learning
The process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring info or behaviors
Associative learning
Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (classical conditioning) orally response and its consequence (operant conditioning)
Stimulus
Any event or situation that evokes a response
Respondent behavior
Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus
Classical conditioning
A type of learning in which we link two or ore stimulus, as a silt, the first stimulus comes to elicit (provoke) behavior in anticipation of the second stimulus
Behaviorism
The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behaviors w/o reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree w/ (1) but not (2)
Neutral Stimulus (NS)
In classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits (provokes) no response before conditioning
Unconditioned response (UR)
In classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus
Unconditioned Stimulus
In classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally - naturally & automatically - triggers an unconditioned response
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
In classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditional stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned stimulus
Extinction
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
Generalization
The tendency once a response has been conditioned, for stimulus to elicit similar response
Discrimination
In classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus
Spontaneous recovery
The reappearance after a pause of an extinguished conditioned response
Operant conditioning
A type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher
Law of effect
Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely
Operant chamber
In operant conditioning research a chamber (AKA Skinner box) containing a bar/key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food/water reinforcer, (attached to devices to record animal’s heart rate)
Reinforcement
In operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
Shaping
An operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior
Positive reinforcement
When adding a stimulus, the response is strengthened
Negative reinforcement
When removing a stimulus, the response is strengthened
Primary reinforcement
An innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need
Conditioned reinforcer
A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer (AKA secondary reinforcer)
Reinforcement schedule
A pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced
Continuous reinforcement schedule
Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs
Partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule
Reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition to extinction than does continuous reinforcement
Fixed-ratio schedule
In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses
Variable-ratio schedule
In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses
Fixed-interval schedule
In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed
Variable-interval schedule
In operant conditioning,a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals
Punishment
An event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows
Biofeedback
A system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back info regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension
Instinctive drift
The tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns
Latent learning
Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it
Intrinsic motivation
A desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake
Extrinsic motivation
A desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment
Problem-focused coping
Attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor
Emotion-focused coping
Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring the stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction
Learned helplessness
The hopelessness and passive resignation an anima or person learns when able to avoid repeated aversive (heartless) events
External locus of control
The perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate
Internal locus of control
The perception that we control our own fate
Observational learning
Learning by observing others (AKA social learning)
Modeling
The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior
Mirror neurons
Frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so. The brain’s mirroring of another’s actions may enable imitation and empathy
Prosocial behavior
Positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior
Insight
A sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts w/ strategy-based solutions
Cognitive map
A mental representation of the layout of one’s environment
Preparedness
A biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value
Discriminative stimulus
In operant conditioning, a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement (in contrast to related stimuli not associated with reinforcements)
Conditioned response (CR)
In classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus
Cognitive learning
The acquisition of mental info, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language
Self-control
The ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards
Personal control
Our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless
Higher-order conditioning
A procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired w/ a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus
Operant behavior
Behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences
Habitualition
Decreasing responsiveness w/ repeated exposure to a stimulus
Acquisition
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
