psych learning

Learning

A relatively lasting change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience.

Habituation

A decrease in responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated exposure to it.

Sensitization

An increase in responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated exposure to it.

Classical Conditioning

A type of learning in which an organism learns to associate two stimuli, causing a previously neutral stimulus to produce a response.

Associative Learning

Learning that two events or stimuli are connected to one another.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without prior learning.

Unconditioned Response (UR)

A natural, automatic response to an unconditioned stimulus.

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that initially does not produce the response being studied.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that produces a learned response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned response to a conditioned stimulus.

Acquisition

The initial learning phase during which an association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus is established.

Pavlov's Experiment

An experiment demonstrating classical conditioning in which dogs learned to associate a sound with food and eventually salivated in response to the sound alone.

Conditioned Emotional Response

An emotional reaction that develops through classical conditioning when a stimulus becomes associated with an emotional experience.

Little Albert Experiment

John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner's experiment demonstrating that fear could be classically conditioned by pairing a white rat with a frightening noise.

Extinction

The gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a period of time without further conditioning.

Stimulus Generalization

The tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus.

Stimulus Discrimination

The ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other similar stimuli that do not predict the unconditioned stimulus.

Higher/Second-Order Conditioning

A form of conditioning in which an established conditioned stimulus is used to create an association with a new neutral stimulus.

Biological Preparedness

The tendency for organisms to learn certain associations more easily because of their evolutionary history.

Operant Conditioning

A type of learning in which behavior is influenced by the consequences that follow it.

Law of Effect

Edward Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by satisfying consequences become more likely to occur, while behaviors followed by unpleasant consequences become less likely.

Puzzle Box Experiment

Thorndike's experiment in which cats learned to escape puzzle boxes more quickly through trial and error.

Skinner Box

An experimental chamber used to study operant conditioning by allowing researchers to control consequences following an animal's behavior.

Reinforcement

A consequence that increases the likelihood that a behavior will occur again.

Positive Reinforcement

Increasing a behavior by adding a desirable stimulus after the behavior occurs.

Negative Reinforcement

Increasing a behavior by removing an unpleasant stimulus after the behavior occurs.

Punishment

A consequence that decreases the likelihood that a behavior will occur again.

Positive Punishment

Decreasing a behavior by adding an unpleasant stimulus after the behavior occurs.

Negative Punishment

Decreasing a behavior by removing a desirable stimulus after the behavior occurs.

Primary Reinforcer

A reinforcer that satisfies a basic biological need, such as food, water, or warmth.

Secondary Reinforcer

A stimulus that becomes reinforcing through its association with a primary reinforcer or another established reinforcer.

Shaping

The process of teaching a behavior by reinforcing successive approximations toward the desired behavior.

Successive Approximations

Small steps or behaviors that gradually become closer to the desired behavior and are reinforced during shaping.

Extinction (Operant Conditioning)

The gradual decrease of a behavior when it is no longer reinforced.

Discriminative Stimulus

A stimulus that signals when a particular behavior is likely to be reinforced.

Continuous Reinforcement

A reinforcement schedule in which every occurrence of a desired behavior is reinforced.

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

A reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement is provided after a specific number of responses.

Variable-Ratio Schedule

A reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement is provided after an unpredictable number of responses.

Fixed-Interval Schedule

A reinforcement schedule in which the first response after a fixed amount of time is reinforced.

Variable-Interval Schedule

A reinforcement schedule in which the first response after varying, unpredictable amounts of time is reinforced.

Observational Learning

Learning that occurs by watching and imitating the behavior of others.

Modeling

Learning or demonstrating a behavior by observing and imitating another person.

Bobo Doll Experiment

Bandura's experiment demonstrating that children can learn aggressive behaviors by observing adults.

Vicarious Reinforcement

Learning that occurs when an individual observes another person being rewarded for a behavior.

Mirror Neurons

Neurons that become active both when an individual performs an action and when they observe someone else performing a similar action.

Implicit Learning

Learning that occurs without conscious awareness or intentional effort.

Explicit Learning

Learning that occurs through conscious awareness and intentional effort.

Latent Learning

Learning that takes place without an immediate reward or obvious behavioral change but becomes apparent when there is an incentive to demonstrate it.

Cognitive Map

A mental representation of the layout of an environment.

Retrieval Practice

Improving learning by actively recalling information from memory rather than simply reviewing it.