PY 201: Unit 3 Test (Chp. 6, 7, 8)

Reflexes

A motor or neural reaction to a specific stimulus in the environment (ex. contraction of pupil to bright light)

Instincts

Innate behaviors that are triggered by a broader range of events, like maturing or change of he seasons (ex. eating, drinking, sleeping)

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience (ex. school, work)

Associative learning

Happens when an organism makes connections between stimuli or events that happen together in the environment (ex, sequences of events)

Classical conditioning

A process by which we learn to associate stimuli and, consequently to anticipate events (ex. Pavlov dog experiment)

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that elicits a reflexive response in an organism (ex. meat powder)

Unconditioned response (UCR)

A natural (unlearned) reaction to a given stimulus (ex. dogs salivation)

Neutral stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that does not naturally elicit a response (ex. tone)

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

A stimulus that elicits a response after repeatedly being paired with an unconditioned stimulus (used to be NS)

Conditioned response (CR)

The behavior caused by the conditioned stimulus (CS) (ex. the dogs associated the tone (CS) with being fed, and began to salivate (CR) in anticipation of food)

Higher-order conditioning

Using a conditioned stimulus (CS) to condition a neutral stimulus (NS)

Second-order conditioning

Using a conditioned stimulus (CS) to condition a neutral stimulus (NS) (different from higher-order conditioning because it involves a second-order stimulus)

Acquisition

When an organism learns to connect a neutral stimulus (NS) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) (the NS becomes the CS)

Extinction

The decrease in the conditioned response (CR) when the unconditioned stimulus (US) is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus (CS)

Spontaneous recovery

The return of a previously extinguished conditioned response (CR) following a resting period

Stimulus discrimination

When an organism learns to respond differently to various stimuli that are similar (ex. dogs distinguished between tone)

Stimulus generalization

When an organism demonstrates the conditioned response (CR) to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus (CS) (ex. if a electric mixer sounds a lot like the electric can opener, it could elicit the same response)

Operant conditioning

When organisms learn to associate a behavior and its consequence (ex. Skinner box)

Law of effect

Behaviors that are followed by consequences that are satisfying to the organism are more likely to be repeated, and behaviors that are followed by unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated

Punishment

Decreasing a behavior

Positive punishment

When something is added to decrease the likelihood of a behavior (ex. new puppy if bad behavior stops)

Negative punishment

When something is removed to decrease the likelihood of a behavior (no TV until you do your homework)

Positive reinforcement

When something is added to increase the likelihood of a behavior (ex. money for your job)

Negative reinforcement

When something is removed to increase the likelihood of a behavior (ex. when your car beeps until you put on your seatbelt)

Shaping

When successive approximations of a target behavior are rewarded

1. Reinforce any response that resembles the desired behavior.

2. Then reinforce the response that more closely resembles the desired behavior. You will no longer reinforce the previously reinforced response.

3. Next, begin to reinforce the response that even more closely resembles the desired behavior.

4. Continue to reinforce closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.

5. Finally, only reinforce the desired behavior.

Primary reinforcer

Reinforcers that have innate reinforcing qualities (ex. water, food, shelter)

Secondary reinforcer

Reinforcers that have no inherent value and only has reinforcing qualities when linked with a primary reinforcer (ex. sticker chart)

Continuous reinforcement

When an organism receives a reinforcer each time it displays a behavior (ex. giving a dog a treat when they sit)

Partial reinforcement

Also known as intermittent reinforcement, the person or animal does not get reinforced every time they perform the desired behavior

Fixed interval reinforcement schedule

When a behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time, which is predictable (ex. one dose of medication per hour)

Variable interval reinforcement schedule

When a person or animal get the reinforcement based on varying amounts of time, which are unpredictable (ex. work bonus for better quality)

Fixed ratio reinforcement schedule

When there are a set number of responses that must occur before the behavior is rewarded (ex. commission bonus from work)

Variable ratio reinforcement schedule

When the number of responses needed for a reward varies (ex. gambling)

Radical behaviorism

staunch form of behaviorism developed by B. F. Skinner that suggested that even complex higher mental functions like human language are nothing more than stimulus-outcome associations

Cognitive map

A mental picture of the layout of the maze (Skinner box)

Latent learning

Learning that occurs but is not observable in behavior until there is a reason to demonstrate it (ex. if there is a reward)

Observational learning

When we learn by watching others and then imitating, or modeling, what they do or say

Steps in the Modeling Process

1. You must focus on what the model is doing

2. You must be able to retain what you observed (retention)

3. You must be able to perform the behavior that you observed and committed to memory (reproduction)

4. You need to want to copy the behavior, whether ornot you are motivated depends on what happened to the model

Vicarious reinforcement

When you see the model was reinforced for their behavior and you’re motivated to copy them

Vicarious punishment

When you observed the model being punished, you would be less motivated to copy them

Cognition

Is thinking, and encompasses the processes associated with perception, knowledge, problem solving, judgement, language, and memory

Cognitive psychology

The field of psychology dedicated to examining how people think

Concepts

Are categories or groupings of linguistic information, images, ideas, or memories (ex. life experiences)

Prototypes

The best example or representation of a concept

Natural concept

Are created naturally through your experiences and can be developed from either direct or indirect experiences (ex. never seeing snow but knowing what it is)

Artificial concept

A concept that is defined by a specific set of characteristics (ex. a square has 4 sides, so a math formula for the area of a square)

Schema

A mental construct consisting of a cluster or collection of related concepts

Role schema

Makes assumptions about how individuals in certain roles will behave (ex. teacher —> smart)

Event schema

Also known as a cognitive script, is a set of behaviors that can feel like a routine (ex. getting into an elevator)

Language

A communication system that involves using words and systematic rules to organize those words to transmit information from one individual to another

Lexicon

Refers to the words of a given language

Grammar

Refers to the set of rules that are used to convey meaning through the use of the lexicon

Phoneme

A basic sound unit of a given language, and different languages have different sets of these (ex. ‘ah’ or ‘eh’)

Morpheme

The smallest units of language that convey some type of meaning; combinations of phonemes (ex. ‘I’)

Semantics

Refers to the process by which we derive meaning from morphemes and words

Syntax

Refers to the way words are organized into sentences

Overgeneralization

Refers to an extension of a language rule to an exception to the rule (ex. s is added to a word to create plurality, but some words aren’t, like mice or geese)

Problem-solving strategies

A plan of action used to find a solution

Trial and error

A strategy of continuing to try different solutions until the problem is solved

Algorithm

A step-by-step solving formula with instructions used for a desired outcome (ex. how-to-do video)

Heuristic

A general problem-solving framework (ex. working backwards, breaking a task into steps)

Working backwards

A useful heuristic in which you begin solving the problem by focusing on the end result

Mental set

Where you persist in approaching a problem in a way that has worked in the past but is not working now

Functional fixedness

A type of mental set where you cannot perceive an object being used for something other than what it was designed for (ex. Duncker experiment)

Anchoring bias

Occurs when you focus on one piece of information when making a decision or solving a problem

Confirmation bias

Is the tendency to focus on information that confirms your existing beliefs

Hindsight bias

Leads you to believe that the event you just experinced was predictable, even though it wasn’t

Representative bias

Describes a faulty way of thinking, in which you unintentionally stereotype someone or something

Availability heuristic

A heuristic in which you make a decision based on an example, information, or recent experince that is readily available to you, even though its not the best example

Crystalized intelligence

Is characterized as acquired knowledge and the ability to retrieve it

Fluid intelligence

Encompasses the ability to see complex relationships and solve problems

Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Created by Robert Sternberg, and sees intelligence ad comprised of three parts: pratical, creative, and analytical intelligence

Pratical intelligence

Compared to street smarts; everyday knowledge

Analytic intelligence

Is closely aligned with academic problem solving and computations; demonstrated by an ability to analyze, evaluate, judge, compared, and contrast

Creative intelligence

Is marked by inventing or imagining a solution to a problem or situation

Multiple intelligences theory

developed by Howard Gardner; each person has 8 intelligences: linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, musical intelligence, bodily kinesthetic intelligence, spatial intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and naturalistic intelligence

Emotional intelligence

Encompasses the ability to understand the emotions of yourself and others, show empathy, understand social relationships and cues, and regulate your own emotions and respond in culturally appropriate ways

Cultural intelligence

Referred to as cultural competence; how well you relate to the values of another culture

Creativity

The ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions, and possibilities

Divergent thinking

Is described as thinking “outside the box”; allows an individual to arrive at unique, multiple solutions to a given problem

Convergent thinking

Describes the ability to provide a correct or well-established answer or solutions to a problem

Intelligence quotient (IQ)

Describes a score earned on a test designed to measure intelligence

Standardization

The manner of administration, scoring, and interpretation of results is consistent

Norming

Involves giving a test to a large population so data can be collected comparing groups, such as age groups

Flynn effect

Named after James Flynn, among the first to discover this trend; Refers to the observation that each generation has a significantly higher IQ than the last

Representative sample

A subset of the population that accurately represents the general population

Standard deviation

Describe how data are dispersed in a population and given context to large data sets

Range of Reaction

The theory that each person responds to the environment in a unique way based on their genetic makeup

Dysgraphia

A learning disability that results in a struggle to write legibly

Dyslexia

A learning disability that results in an inability to correctly process letters

Dyscalculia

A learning disability that results in difficulty learning or comprehending arithmetic

Memory

Is an information processing system like a computer

Encoding

Involves the input of information into the memory system

Storage

The retention of the encoded information

Retrieval

Is getting the information out of memory and back into awareness

Automatic processing

Encoding of details without conscious awareness (ex. what I wore yesterday)

Effortful processing

Encoding of details that takes time and effort (ex. what you learned when you last studied)

Self-reference effect

The tendency to have better memory for information that has personal relevance

Semantic encoding

Encoding of words and their meanings; most effective form of encoding

Visual encoding

Encoding of images (ex. words like car, dog, and book)