learning (u4)

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge resulting from experience.

Associative Learning

Learning that two events occur together, or that a behavior produces a particular consequence.

Classical Conditioning

Learning to associate two stimuli so that one eventually triggers a response originally caused by the other.

Operant Conditioning

Learning to associate a behavior with its consequences, such as rewards or punishments.

Cognitive Learning

Learning through mental processes such as observation, thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving.

Observational Learning

Learning by watching and imitating the behavior of others.

Behaviorism

The psychological approach that focuses on observable behavior and how it is learned through environmental experiences.

Stimulus

Anything in the environment that triggers or influences a response.

Response

A reaction or behavior caused by a stimulus.

Conditioning

The process of learning associations between stimuli or between behaviors and consequences.

Acquisition

The initial stage of learning when an association is first established.

Adaptation

Adjusting behavior or responses to changing environmental conditions.

Ivan Pavlov

Russian physiologist who discovered classical conditioning through experiments with dogs.

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that initially does not trigger the response being studied. Example: a bell before conditioning.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US/UCS)

A stimulus that naturally and automatically produces a response without learning. Example: food.

Unconditioned Response (UR/UCR)

An automatic, unlearned response to an unconditioned stimulus. Example: salivating when given food.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that triggers a learned response after being associated with an unconditioned stimulus. Example: a bell after conditioning.

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned response to a conditioned stimulus. Example: salivating when hearing the bell.

Extinction

The weakening or 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 rest.

Generalization

Responding similarly to stimuli that resemble the original conditioned stimulus.

Discrimination

Learning to distinguish between the conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not predict the unconditioned stimulus.

Higher-Order Conditioning

When an established conditioned stimulus is paired with a new neutral stimulus, causing the new stimulus to become conditioned.

Preparedness

A biological predisposition to learn certain associations more easily because they help with survival.

Taste Aversion

Developing a dislike for a food after associating it with illness, sometimes after only one experience.

Biological Constraints

Natural limitations or predispositions that influence which associations organisms can learn.

B. F. Skinner

Behaviorist who studied how reinforcement and punishment shape behavior.

Edward Thorndike

Psychologist who developed the law of effect through experiments with cats in puzzle boxes.

Law of Effect

Behaviors followed by satisfying consequences become more likely, while behaviors followed by unpleasant consequences become less likely.

Operant Behavior

Voluntary behavior that operates on the environment and produces consequences.

Reinforcement

Any consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior occurring again.

Punishment

Any consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behavior occurring again.

Positive Reinforcement

Adding something desirable to increase a behavior. Example: giving a student candy for completing homework.

Negative Reinforcement

Removing something unpleasant to increase a behavior. Example: fastening a seat belt to stop an annoying beeping sound.

Positive Punishment

Adding something unpleasant to decrease a behavior. Example: assigning extra chores for breaking a rule.

Negative Punishment

Removing something desirable to decrease a behavior. Example: taking away phone privileges for breaking a rule.

Primary Reinforcer

Something naturally rewarding because it satisfies a biological need. Example: food or water.

Secondary Reinforcer

Something that becomes rewarding through learned associations. Example: money.

Immediate Reinforcer

A reward received immediately after a behavior.

Delayed Reinforcer

A reward received some time after a behavior.

Discriminative Stimulus

A cue signaling that a particular behavior is likely to be reinforced.

Continuous Reinforcement

Reinforcing a behavior every time it occurs; produces rapid learning but relatively rapid extinction.

Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement

Reinforcing a behavior only some of the time; generally produces slower acquisition but greater resistance to extinction.

Fixed-Ratio Schedule (FR)

Reinforcement after a set number of responses. Example: a reward after every five completed tasks.

Variable-Ratio Schedule (VR)

Reinforcement after an unpredictable number of responses. Example: winning after an unpredictable number of game attempts.

Fixed-Interval Schedule (FI)

Reinforcement for the first response after a fixed amount of time. Example: a rat's first lever press after each 30-second interval.

Variable-Interval Schedule (VI)

Reinforcement for the first response after an unpredictable amount of time. Example: checking for an email that arrives at unpredictable times.

Ratio Schedule

Reinforcement depends on the number of responses.

Interval Schedule

Reinforcement depends on the passage of time.

Fixed Schedule

Reinforcement follows a predictable requirement.

Variable Schedule

Reinforcement follows an unpredictable requirement.

Most Resistant Schedule to Extinction

Variable-ratio reinforcement, because rewards are unpredictable and encourage persistent responding.

Shaping

Reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior until the complete behavior is learned.

Successive Approximations

Small steps that increasingly resemble a target behavior and are reinforced during shaping.

Operant Extinction

A learned behavior decreases when it no longer receives reinforcement.

Operant Generalization

Performing a learned behavior in situations similar to the original learning environment.

Operant Discrimination

Learning that a behavior is reinforced in certain situations but not others.

Superstitious Behavior

Repeating a behavior because it was accidentally associated with reinforcement, even without a real causal connection.

Overjustification Effect

When external rewards reduce a person's intrinsic motivation for an activity they previously enjoyed.

Intrinsic Motivation

Performing an activity because it is personally enjoyable or satisfying.

Extrinsic Motivation

Performing an activity to gain a reward or avoid punishment.

Thorndike's Puzzle Box

Cats learned to escape a puzzle box faster after repeated trials because successful escape behaviors were reinforced.

Skinner Box (Operant Chamber)

An experimental chamber where animals learn behaviors, such as pressing a lever, through reinforcement or punishment.

Skinner's Pigeon Experiments

Skinner demonstrated that animals could learn complex behaviors through reinforcement and shaping.

Skinner's Superstition Experiment

Pigeons developed repetitive behaviors when food was delivered independently of their actions, illustrating accidental associations.

Edward Tolman

Psychologist who studied latent learning and cognitive maps, challenging strictly behaviorist explanations of learning.

Cognition

Mental processes involved in thinking, remembering, understanding, and problem-solving.

Latent Learning

Learning that occurs without immediate reinforcement and becomes apparent when there is a reason to demonstrate it.

Cognitive Map

A mental representation of the layout of an environment.

Insight Learning

A sudden realization of how to solve a problem without gradual trial-and-error learning.

Problem-Solving

Using knowledge, reasoning, and experience to find solutions to challenges.

Mental Representation

An internal image or understanding of an object, event, or environment.

Trial-and-Error Learning

Learning by attempting different responses until one produces a successful outcome.

Tolman's Rat Maze Experiment

Rats explored a maze without rewards but later navigated it efficiently when food was introduced, demonstrating latent learning and cognitive maps.

Wolfgang Köhler

Psychologist who studied insight learning in chimpanzees.

Köhler's Chimpanzee Experiment

Chimpanzees suddenly figured out how to use objects, such as stacking boxes, to reach food, demonstrating insight learning.

Robert Rescorla

Psychologist who emphasized that classical conditioning depends on how reliably one stimulus predicts another.

Rescorla's Predictability Research

Demonstrated that conditioning is stronger when a conditioned stimulus provides useful information about an upcoming unconditioned stimulus.

Predictability in Conditioning

The extent to which one stimulus reliably signals that another stimulus will occur.

Modeling

Demonstrating or imitating a behavior that others can observe and learn.

Imitation

Copying the behavior of another individual.

Model

A person whose behavior is observed and potentially imitated.

Vicarious Learning

Learning by observing another person's experiences and consequences.

Vicarious Reinforcement

Becoming more likely to imitate a behavior after seeing someone else rewarded for it.

Vicarious Punishment

Becoming less likely to imitate a behavior after seeing someone else punished for it.

Prosocial Behavior

Positive behavior intended to help or benefit others.

Antisocial Behavior

Behavior that harms others or violates social expectations.

Mirror Neurons

Neurons associated with performing actions and observing similar actions in others; their precise role in human imitation remains debated.

Albert Bandura

Psychologist who demonstrated that people can learn behaviors by observing others.

Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment

Children who watched adults behave aggressively toward a doll were more likely to imitate similar aggressive behaviors.

Bandura's Social Learning Theory

People learn by observing others, including their actions and the consequences of those actions.

Social-Cognitive Learning Theory

Learning results from interactions among behavior, personal cognitive factors, and the environment.

Reciprocal Determinism

The idea that behavior, personal factors, and the environment continually influence one another.

Biological Preparedness

An inherited tendency to learn associations that historically helped organisms survive.

Biological Constraints on Learning

Biological factors that make certain behaviors or associations easier or harder to learn.

Instinctive Drift

The tendency for an animal's natural behaviors to interfere with learned behaviors.

Evolutionary Influence on Learning

The idea that natural selection favors learning tendencies that improve survival and reproduction.

Conditioned Taste Aversion

A learned avoidance of a particular food or flavor after it has been associated with illness.

Delayed Association

An association learned even when significant time passes between the stimulus and its consequence, as in taste aversion.

John Garcia's Key Finding

Taste and nausea can become associated after a single experience, even with a long delay, because organisms are biologically prepared for this connection.