WWu Psychology mana: Chapter 7 (Cognition and Conditioning) Flashcards
Classical Conditioning
Pairing neutral stimuli with natural stimuli to produce a response
Learning
Involves the acquisition of new knowledge, skills, or responses from experience that results in a relatively permanent change in the state of the learner (associative), Based on experiences, Produces changes in organism, changes are relatively permanent
Habituation
general process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in responding
Sensitization
presentation of a stimulus leads to an increased response to a later stimulus (hypersensitive to secondary stimulus)
Classical Conditioning
When a neutral stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response
Acquisition
the phase of classical conditioning when the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are presented together (gradually increase in learning)
Second-order Conditioning
conditioning where a conditioned stimulus is paired with a stimulus that became associated with the unconditioned stimulus in an earlier procedure
Extinction
the gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus
Spontaneous Recovery
the tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period
Generalization
conditioned response is observed even though the conditioned stimulus is slightly different than the conditioned stimulus used during acquisition
Discrimination
the capacity to distinguish between similar but distinct stimuli
Operant Conditioning
A type of learning in which the consequences of an organism’s behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future
Thorndike
tested hungry cats in a puzzle box to get them to do something or solve a problem (developed skill for triggering lever for release/instrumental behavior)
Law of Effect
(Thorndike) behaviors that are followed by a “satisfying state of affairs” tend to be repeated and those that produce “an unpleasant state of affairs” are less likely to be repeated
Operant Behavior
behavior that an organism produces that has some impact on the environment
Reinforcer
any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it (more efficient than punisher)
Primary Reinforcer
help satisfy biological needs
Secondary Reinforcer
derive effectiveness from their associations with primary reinforcers through classical conditioning
Punisher
any stimulus or event that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behavior that led to it
Positive Reinforcer
when rewarding stimulus is presented to increase likelihood of behavior
Negative Reinforcer
when unpleasant stimulus is removed to increase likelihood of behavior
Positive Punisher
when unpleasant stimulus is administered to decrease likelihood of behavior
Negative Punisher
when rewarding stimulus is removed to decrease likelihood of behavior
Stimulus Control
when a particular response only occurs when an appropriate discriminative stimulus, a stimulus that indicates that a response will be reinforced, is present
Interval Schedules
based on time intervals between reinforcements
Fixed Interval Schedule
reinforcers are presented at fixed time periods provided that the appropriate response is made
Variable Interval Schedule
behavior is reinforced based on average time that has expired since last reinforcement
Ratio Schedule
based on the ratio of responses to reinforcements
Fixed-ratio schedule
reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses has been made
Variable-ratio schedule
the delivery of reinforcement is based on a particular average number of responses
Intermittent Reinforcement
when only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement
Intermittent Reinforcement Effect
the fact that operant behaviors that are maintained under intermittent reinforcement schedules resist extinction better than those maintained under continuous reinforcement
Shaping
learning that results from the reinforcement of successive steps to a final desired behavior
Superstitious Behavior
Repeating behaviors that had accidentally been reinforced
Trace Conditioning
the conditioned stimulus ends, before unconditioned stimulus begins (cerebellum responsible)
Delay Conditioning
before conditioned stimulus turns off, unconditioned stimulus appears (cerebellum responsible)
Amygdala
fear/emotional conditioning
Hippocampus
necessary for trace but not delay conditioning
Conditioned Taste Aversions
(John Garcia) subject learns to avoid a food that has been paired with illness, CTAs are rapid, trace conditioning is required, should occur more often with novel food
Skinner
had a production line for data generation with ________ boxes looking for reinforcement, delay, etc.
Nucleus Accumbens
produces perception of reward
The release of dopamine in the ___________ is reinforcing:
1) Animals will bar press for electrical stimulation of these dopamine neurons, 2) food/water/sex/drugs increase dopamine release in __________, 3) dopamine antagonists (block dopamine receptors) decrease the reinforcing effects of food/water/sex/drugs.
Ventral Tegmentum Area
reinforcer/punisher information activated when reinforcer/punisher is released
Intracranial self-stimulation
electrical current activates certain electrodes in a tiny section of the brain for reward and action potential (dopamine)
Amygdala
fear conditioning
Cerebellum
motor skills and learning conditioning
Biological Preparedness
a propensity for learning particular kinds of associations over others (some behaviors are relatively easy to condition in some species but not others)
Adaptive Behaviors
allow an organism to grow and survive in environment
Means-End Relationship
Tolman suggested that conditioning experience produced knowledge that a specific reward (end state) will appear if a specific response (means to that end) is made
Latent Learning
(Tolman) something is learned, but is not manifested as a behavioral change until sometime in the future, *very dependent on the hippocampus found in temporal lobes
Cognitive Map
a mental representation of the physical features of the environment (developed through learning)
James Olds
Pleasure centers found by rats pressing lever down to electrically stimulate their brain
Medial Forebrain Bundle
neuron pathway that meanders its way from the midbrain through the hypothalamus into the nucleus accumbens, most susceptible to stimulation that produces pleasure
Observational Learning
Learning takes place by watching the actions of others
Diffusion Chain
where individuals initially learn a behavior by observing another individual perform that behavior, and then serve as a model from which other individuals learn the behavior
Enculturation Hypothesis
(Tomasello) being raised in a human culture has profound effect on the cognitive abilities of chimpanzees, especially their ability to understand intentions of others when performing tasks which in turn increases observational learning capacities
Ullrich Neisser
father of cognitive psychology
Cognition
Information learned simply because it is there… (all processes by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used.), *Cognitive psychology based on notion that information is learned, stored, manipulated and associated on the chance it MIGHT be useful some day.)
Cognitive Learning
occurs in the absence of any obvious or immediate reward or explicit pairing of stimuli… or even an obvious change in behavior
Edward Tolman
laid foundation for what Neisser called cognitive psychology, coined latent learning
Wolfgang Kohler
studied learning and memory in primates in a natural environment (found work of Pavlov and Watson uninteresting)
A-HA learning
(Kohler) Happens when you suddenly figure out what something means, frontal lobes critical for this type of learning
Albert Bandura
Found that people don’t actually have to perform act, you can watch someone and learn from it, even when you do not share in their rewards
Vicarious Reward
facilitates this learning, if the observed behaviour results in a positive reward the behaviour is likely to be “modelled”, but it is less likely if the observed behaviour results in a negative reward
Von Economo
noticed monstrous cell bodies that were points where large amounts of information can be stored
Mirror Neuron System
found in frontal and parietal lobes (Parietal-Temporal Junction), discovered by accident, when someone does something or watches someone else do something
