Week 3: Elicited Behaviours and Classical Conditioning Flashcards
Elicited Behaviour
A behaviour that is drawn out by a preceding stimulus.
Reflex
A relatively simple, automatic response to stimuli.
Startle Response
Defensive reaction to sudden, unexpected stimulus.
Automatic tightening of skeletal muscles and hormone and visceral changes.
Orienting Response
Automatically positioning oneself to facilitate attending to a stimulus.
Relatively major body movement.
Flexion Response
Automatically jerk body part away from hot/sharp object.
Reflex Arc
Neural structure underlying simple reflexes that consist of a sensory neuron, interneuron (spinal cord), and a motor neuron.
Fixed Action Patterns
Fixed sequence of responses elicited by a specific stimulus. Ex: spider building a web.
Sign stimulus/Releaser
Specific stimulus that elicits a fixed action pattern.
Habituation
Decrease in strength of an elicited response following repeated presentation of eliciting stimulus.
Sensitization
Increase in strength of an elicited response following repeated presentations of eliciting stimulus.
Short-Term Habituation
Response quickly decreases from repeated stimulation and ability to respond quickly recovers in absence of stimulation.
Presentation narrowly spaced/Continuous.
Long-Term Habituation
Response slowly decreases from repeated stimulus and ability to respond slowly recovers in absence of stimulus.
Presentation widely spaced.
Sensitization v Habituation
Sensitization generalizes to other stimuli.
Habituation stimulus specific - small changes elicit response. (Coolidge effect).
Dishabituation
Habituated responses reappearing following the presentation of seemingly irrelevant, novel, stimulus.
Low-Intensity Stimulus
Habituation.
High-Intensity Stimulus
Sensitization. Typically significant/dangerous.
Opponent-Process Theory
An emotional event elicits two competing processes: an a-process (primary) directly elicited by event, a b-process (opponent) elicited by the a-process and serves to counteract it. Homeostasis.
4 Characteristics of O-P Theory
- a-process correlates closely with presence of the emotional event.
- b-process is slow to increase and decrease.
- repeated presentation of the emotional event will result in stronger and longer b-process.
- a-process and b-process tend to be hedonically opposite.
Classical Conditioning
A stimulus comes to elicit a response because it has been associated with another stimulus.
Also Pavlovian or Respondent conditioning.
Conditional Trial
Pairing of NS and US during conditioning.
Unconditioned Stimulus
Naturally elicits a response.
Unconditioned Response
Response naturally elicited.
Conditioned Stimulus
Initially neutral, comes to elicit a response because of pairing.
Conditioned Response
Elicited by conditioned stimulus. Never identical to UR.
Appetitive Conditioning
US is an appetitive event. Pleasurable.
Aversive Conditioning
US is an aversive event. Unpleasurable.
Conditioned Suppression or Conditioned Emotional Response (CER)
Measuring the suppression of a conditioned response when an aversive stimulus is present to measure rate of fear in animals.
Excitatory Conditioning
NS is associated with the presentation of US, CS comes to elicit a certain response. CS+
Inhibitory Conditioning
NS associated with absence of or removal of US. CS comes to inhibit occurrence of certain response. CS-.
Delayed Conditioning
Onset of NS precedes onset of US and overlap. Best arrangement for conditioning.
Interstimulus Interval (ISI)
Time between onsets.
Trace Conditioning
Onset and offset of NS precedes onset of US without overlap. Almost as effective as delayed if trace internal is short.
Trace interval
Time between offset of NS and onset of US.
Simultaneous Conditioning
Onset of NS and US at the same time - no opportunity to use NS for prediction.
Backward Conditioning
Onset of NS follows onset of US. Least effective. Inhibitory conditioning.
Temporal Conditioning
Classical conditioning where CS is passage of time.
Pseudoconditioning
Mistaking an elicited response to be conditioned when it is only sensitized.
How to combat pseudoconditioning
Control groups where NS and US are presented separately and comparing it to an experimental group.
