Unit Four

Question 1

learning

Answer 1

the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Question 2

associative learning

Answer 2

learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (as in operant conditioning).

Question 3

stimulus

Answer 3

any event or situation that evokes a response

Question 4

classical conditioning

Answer 4

a type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli; as a result, the first stimulus leads to a response in anticipation of the second stimulus

Question 5

Ivan Pavlov

Answer 5

Russian physiologist who described classical conditioning after his landmark study with dogs in which he trained them to drool at the sound of a bell by pairing the bell with food

Question 6

behaviorism

Answer 6

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

Question 7

John B. Watson

Answer 7

American psychologist who founded behaviorism and conditioned an infant (“Little Albert”) to fear small animals by pairing an animal with a loud noise

Question 8

unconditioned stimulus (US)

Answer 8

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers an unconditioned response

Question 9

unconditioned response

Answer 9

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

Question 10

conditioned stimulus

Answer 10

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

Question 11

conditioned response

Answer 11

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

Question 12

acquisition

Answer 12

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 13

extinction

Answer 13

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

Question 14

spontaneous recovery

Answer 14

the reappearance, after a pause, of a previously 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. (In operant conditioning, generalization occurs when responses learned in one situation occurs in other, similar situations.)

Question 16

discrimination

Answer 16

in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus. (In operant conditioning, the ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced from similar responses that are not reinforced.)

Question 17

Edward L. Thorndike

Answer 17

psychologist who developed the law of effect, which states behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

Question 18

law of effect

Answer 18

Thorndike’s principle that rewarded behavior is likely to recur and punished behavior is not

Question 19

operant conditioning

Answer 19

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

Question 20

B.F. Skinner

Answer 20

American psychologist who studied operant conditioning primarily using rats and pigeons

Question 21

reinforcement

Answer 21

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

Question 22

shaping

Answer 22

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

Question 23

positive reinforcement

Answer 23

increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food

Question 24

negative reinforcement

Answer 24

increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing aversive stimuli, such as nagging

Question 25

primary reinforcer

Answer 25

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need like food

Question 26

conditioned reinforcer

Answer 26

a “secondary” stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer, such as money

Question 27

continuous reinforcement

Answer 27

reinforcing the desired behavior every time it occurs

Question 28

fixed-ratio schedule

Answer 28

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a behavior only after a specified number of responses

Question 29

variable-ratio schedule

Answer 29

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a behavior after an unpredictable number of responses

Question 30

fixed-interval schedule

Answer 30

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a behavior only after a specified time has elapsed

Question 31

variable-interval schedule

Answer 31

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a behavior at unpredictable time intervals

Question 32

punishment

Answer 32

an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows

Question 33

positive punishment

Answer 33

decreasing behaviors by administering aversive stimuli, such as scolding

Question 34

negative punishment

Answer 34

decreasing behaviors by withdrawing rewarding stimuli, such as taking away privileges

Question 35

instinctive drift

Answer 35

the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns

Question 36

insight

Answer 36

a sudden realization of a problem’s solution

Question 37

intrinsic motivation

Answer 37

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

Question 38

extrinsic motivation

Answer 38

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

Question 39

overjustification effect

Answer 39

the effect of promising a reward for doing what one already likes to do. The person may now see the reward, rather than intrinsic interest, as the motivation for performing the task.

Question 40

external locus of control

Answer 40

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate

Question 41

internal locus of control

Answer 41

the perception that we control our own fate

Question 42

self-control

Answer 42

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards

Question 43

observational learning

Answer 43

learning by observing others (also called social learning)

Question 44

modeling

Answer 44

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

Question 45

Albert Bandura

Answer 45

American psychologist who discovered in his “Bobo doll” studies that children will model aggressive behavior of adults

Question 46

mirror neurons

Answer 46

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 action may enable imitation and empathy.