Unit 4: Learning (copy)

biofeedback

technique of gaining greater awareness of many psychological functions of one's own body by using electronic or other instruments, and with a goal of being able to manipulate the body's systems at will.

mirror neurons

frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain’s mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation and empathy

learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

cognitive maps

mental representations of the environment

negative punishment

withdraw a rewarding stimulus (taking away driving priviledges)

positive punishment

administer aversive stimulus (spraying water on a dog)

extinction

diminishing of the CR when the CS goes away

conditioned response

learned response to a previously neutral stimulus

unconditioned response

any unlearned response that can be elicited from an organism like sweat, vomit, blinking

cognitive learning

how we make sense of information. Deep thinking in order to understand a concept/subject

associative learning

acquiring new and enduring information by the formation of connections between elements/ideas

contingent/contingencies

conditional, probabilistic relation between 2 events

aversion

a strong dislike or disinclination

classical (pavlovian) conditioning

neutral stimulus produces a conditioned response because of its association with an unconditioned stimulus. (the subject learns to give a response it already knows to a new stimulus)

Response

is a reaction to a stimulus.

Neutral stimulus (NS)

initially does not elicit a response.

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS or US)

reflexively, or automatically, brings about the unconditioned response like salivation or pupil contraction

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

is a NS at first, but when paired with the UCS, it elicits the conditioned response (CR).

Aversive conditioning

Conditioning involving an unpleasant or harmful unconditioned stimulus or reinforcer, such as this conditioning of Baby Albert.

Spontaneous recovery

Although not fully understood by behaviorists, sometimes the extinguished response will show up again later without the re-pairing of the UCS and CS.

Stimulus

is a change in the environment that elicits (brings about) a response.

Higher-Order Conditioning

occurs when conditioned stimulus of one experiment acts on the unconditioned stimulus of another

Operant Conditioning (Robert skinner)

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher (learn to repeat behaviors that bring rewards.)

Instrumental learning

is a type of learning that involves the acquisition and use of skills or strategies to achieve a specific goal. It can involve trial-and-error processes, imitation, reinforcement, modeling, memorization and more.

Law of Effect

states that behaviors followed by satisfying or positive consequences are strengthened (more likely to occur), while behaviors followed by annoying or negative consequences are weakened (less likely to occur). Edward Thorndike

Positive reinforcement

in operant conditioning, adding something rewarding after a behavior

Negative reinforcement

in operant conditioning, takes away an aversive or unpleasant consequence after a behavior has been given. (like taking an aspirin to relieve a headache)

Omission training

In this training procedure, a response by the learner is followed by taking away something of value from the learner.

Aversive conditioning

is a type of learning in which an organism learns to associate an unpleasant stimulus with a particular behavior.

Secondary reinforcer

is something neutral that, when associated with a primary reinforcer, becomes rewarding.

Generalized reinforcer

is a secondary reinforcer that can be associated with a number of different primary reinforcers.

Primary reinforcer

is something that is biologically important and, thus, rewarding, “primal”

Shaping

positively reinforcing closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior, is an effective way of teaching a new behavior.

Chaining

is used to establish a specific sequence of behaviors by initially positively reinforcing each behavior in a desired sequence and then later rewarding only the completed sequence.

Partial reinforcement

schedules based on the number of desired responses are ratio schedules.

Fixed ratio

schedules reinforce the desired behavior after a specific number of responses have been made. (like getting a free drink after purchasing 10)

Fixed interval

schedules reinforce the first desired response made after a specific length of time.

Variable ratio

schedule, the number of responses needed before reinforcement occurs changes at random around an average. (fishing or slot machines)

Variable interval

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

Continuous reinforcement

is the schedule that provides reinforcement every time the behavior is exhibited by the organism.

Robert Rescorla

suggested a contingency model of classical conditioning that the CS tells the organism that the US will follow.

Insight

is the sudden appearance of an answer or solution to a problem.

Latent Learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

Bandura’s social Learning theory

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished

Conditioned taste aversion

an intense dislike and avoidance of a food because of its association with an unpleasant or painful stimulus through backward conditioning.

Instinctive drift

a conditioned response that drifts back toward the natural (instinctive) behavior of the organism

Preparedness

means that through evolution, animals are biologically predisposed to easily learn behaviors related to their survival as a species, and that behaviors contrary to an animal’s natural tendencies are learned slowly or not at all.