Week 5: Elements and Processes in Classical Conditioning Flashcards
What are reflexes?
Involuntary responses to a particular stimulus, consisting of both a stimulus and response.
Example: Eye blink response to a puff of air and salivation when food is placed in the mouth.
What are the two kinds of reflexes?
- Conditioned ‘learned’ reflexes
- Unconditioned ‘unlearned’ reflexes
What are conditioned reflexes?
Learned reflexes that occur in response to a conditioned stimulus.
Example: Dogs salivating at the sound of their dishes.
What are unconditioned reflexes?
Inborn, automatic responses to stimuli built into the nervous system.
Examples: Salivation in response to food, tears in response to onion juice.
What is an unconditioned response?
A response that is invariably elicited by the unconditioned stimulus without prior learning.
Example: Salivation in response to food.
What is an unconditioned stimulus?
Any stimulus that automatically elicits an unconditioned response without learning.
Example: Food.
What is a conditioned stimulus?
A neutral stimulus that becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus after repeated pairing and elicits a conditioned response.
What is a conditioned response?
A response that is elicited by a conditioned stimulus as a result of its repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus.
What is extinction in classical conditioning?
The weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response when the conditioned stimulus is presented without the unconditioned stimulus.
What is spontaneous recovery?
The reappearance of an extinguished response in a weaker form when exposed to the original conditioned stimulus after a rest period.
What is generalization in classical conditioning?
The tendency to make a conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus.
What is discrimination in classical conditioning?
The learned ability to distinguish between similar stimuli so that the conditioned response occurs only to the original conditioned stimulus.
What is higher-order conditioning?
Occurs when a neutral stimulus is paired with an existing conditioned stimulus, gaining the power to elicit the same conditioned response.
