unit 5 (learning)

Behavioral perspective

Definition: A psychology approach that focuses on observable behavior and how it’s learned through experience.

Example: Instead of asking why someone is anxious, a behaviorist looks at what triggers the anxiety and what behavior follows.

Classical conditioning

Definition: Learning by associating two stimuli so that one predicts the other.

Example: Hearing a bell before food repeatedly → bell alone makes you salivate.

Association

Definition: A mental link formed between two events or stimuli.

Example: Thunder becomes associated with lightning.

Acquisition

Definition: The initial learning phase where the association is formed.

Example: When the bell first starts causing salivation after being paired with food.

Associative learning

Definition: Learning that two things are connected.

Example: A dog learns that leash = going outside.

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Definition: A stimulus that naturally triggers a response without learning.

Example: Food automatically causes salivation.

Unconditioned response (UR)

Definition: The natural reaction to the UCS.

Example: Salivating when food is in your mouth.

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

Definition: A previously neutral stimulus that now triggers a response after learning.

Example: A bell that now causes salivation.

Conditioned response (CR)

Definition: The learned response to the conditioned stimulus.

Example: Salivating when you hear the bell.

Extinction

when the conditioned stimulus (CS) is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), causing the conditioned response (CR) to gradually weaken and eventually disappear.

Example: Bell rings repeatedly with no food → salivation stops.

Spontaneous recovery

Definition: The reappearance of an extinguished response after a pause.

Example: Days later, the bell causes brief salivation again. (food is still absent. its just the suppression of the CR weakens overtime, until the CR shows up again.)

Stimulus discrimination

Definition: Learning to respond only to a specific stimulus, not similar ones.

Example: Dog salivates to your doorbell, not others.

Stimulus generalization

Definition: Responding similarly to stimuli that are alike.

Example: Fear of one dog spreads to all dogs.

Higher-order conditioning

Definition: when a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus (CS) by being paired with an existing conditioned stimulus, rather than with the unconditioned stimulus (UCS).

Example: Bell → food; then light → bell → salivation.

Counterconditioning

Definition: Replacing a negative response with a positive one.

Example: Pairing a feared dog with treats to reduce fear.

Taste aversion

Definition: Avoiding a food after getting sick from it, even once.

Example: You throw up after sushi → never want sushi again.

One-trial conditioning

Definition: Learning after just one pairing.

Example: One bad food poisoning experience causes lifelong avoidance.

Example:You touch an electric fence once and get shocked. After that single experience, the sight of the fence alone makes you step back or feel cautious.

Biological preparedness

Definition: We’re genetically wired to learn some associations more easily.

Example: Fear of snakes is learned faster than fear of flowers.

Example:People learn to fear heights very quickly after a bad fall, but they do not easily learn to fear everyday objects like chairs, even if they get hurt by one.

One-trial learning

Definition: Learning something in a single experience.

Example: Touching a hot stove once teaches you not to do it again.

Habituation

Definition: Decreased response after repeated exposure to a stimulus.

Example: You stop noticing the sound of traffic outside.

Operant conditioning

Definition: Learning based on rewards and punishments.

Example: Studying more because good grades are rewarded.

Reinforcement

Definition: Anything that increases a behavior.

Example: Praise makes a child do homework more often.

Punishment

Definition: Anything that decreases a behavior.

Example: Detention reduces skipping class.

Law of Effect

Definition: Behaviors followed by good outcomes repeat; bad outcomes stop.

Example: You keep using an app that gives rewards.

Positive reinforcement

Definition: Adding something good(desirable) to increase behavior.

Example: Getting candy for good behavior.

Example: you participate in class, and the teacher gives you extra credit.

Because of the extra credit, you participate more often in the future.

Negative reinforcement

Definition: Removing something bad to increase behavior.

Example: Buckling your seatbelt to stop the beeping

Example: You do your homework so your parents stop reminding/nagging you about it.Because the nagging stops, you’re more likely to do homework again.

Primary reinforcers

Definition: rewards that are naturally reinforcing because they satisfy basic biological needs and do not need to be learned.

Example: Food, water, sleep.

Example: A rat presses a lever and gets food.The rat keeps pressing the lever because food directly satisfies hunger, not because it was taught to like food.

Secondary reinforcers

Definition: Reinforcers that gain value through association.

Example: Money (because it buys food).

Reinforcement discrimination

Definition: Learning that only certain actions are rewarded.

Example: Dog sits only when you say “sit,” not any word.

Reinforcement generalization

Definition: Applying learned behavior to similar situations.

Example: Being polite to all teachers, not just one.

Shaping

Definition: Rewarding small steps toward a final behavior.

Example: Teaching a dog tricks one step at a time.

Instinctive drift

when an animal’s natural, inborn (instinctive) behaviors interfere with or replace a learned behavior that was reinforced through operant conditioning.

Example: A raccoon rubs coins instead of placing them in a box.

Example: You’re taught to eat slowly, but when you’re extremely hungry, your natural instinct is to eat fast — even if you’ve learned better habits.

Superstitious behavior

Definition: Behavior repeated because it’s accidentally rewarded.

Example: Wearing “lucky socks” after winning once.

Learned helplessness

Definition: Giving up because you believe nothing you do matters.

Example: Student stops studying after repeated failures.

Reinforcement schedules

Definition: Patterns of how often reinforcement is given.

Example: Getting paid weekly vs randomly.

Continuous reinforcement

Definition: Behavior is rewarded every time.

Example: Candy every time a dog sits.

Partial reinforcement

Definition: Behavior is rewarded sometimes.

Example: Slot machines.

Fixed interval

Definition: Rewarded after a set amount of time.

Example: Paycheck every 2 weeks.

Variable interval

Definition: Rewarded after unpredictable time intervals.

Example: Checking email.

Example: Uni students checking the email constantly to check if they have gotten their applications back from specific unis.

Example: You refresh social media and sometimes there’s a new post — but you don’t know when it’ll appear.

Fixed ratio

Definition: Rewarded after a set number of actions.

Example: Free coffee after 10 purchases.

Variable ratio

Definition: Rewarded after an unpredictable number of actions.

Example: Gambling. or Lottery

Scalloped graph

Definition: A scalloped graph is the pattern of responding seen in a fixed interval reinforcement schedule, where responses are slow right after reinforcement and gradually increase as the next reinforcement time approaches.

Example: Studying a lot right before an exam.

Example: You clean your room right after your parents remind you, then do very little cleaning for a while. As the next scheduled room inspection gets closer, you start cleaning more and more, doing the most cleaning right before they check.

Social learning theory

Definition: We learn by observing others.

Example: Learning how to dress by watching friends.

Vicarious conditioning

Definition: Learning by watching someone else be rewarded or punished.

Example: Seeing a sibling get yelled at makes you behave.

Modeling

Definition: Imitating another person’s behavior.

Example: Copying a coach’s technique.

Insight learning

Definition: a form of learning in which a solution suddenly becomes clear without trial-and-error, as the learner mentally reorganizes the problem.

Example: “Ohhh THAT’s how the puzzle works!”

Example: A chimpanzee can’t reach a banana hanging from the ceiling.

After thinking, it suddenly stacks boxes and climbs them to reach the banana.

Latent learning

Definition: Learning that happens without reinforcement and appears later.

Example: Knowing your way around school without trying to learn it.

Cognitive maps

Definition: Mental images of layouts.

Example: Knowing shortcuts through campus.