Behavior Unit 1

Reflexes

A relationship between a specific event and a simple response to that event.

Modal Action Patterns (MAP)

A series of related acts found in all or nearly all members of a species, also known as fixed action patterns or formerly instinct.

General Behavior Traits

Any general behavioral tendency that is strongly influenced by genes, such as introversion and general anxiety.

Habituation

A decrease in the intensity or probability of a reflex response resulting from repeated exposure to a stimulus that evokes that response.

Topography

The form behavior takes.

Anecdotal Evidence

First- or secondhand reports of personal experience, often unreliable as a source of evidence.

Unconditional Reflexes

Reflex that is largely innate, involving an unconditional stimulus and unconditioned response.

Higher-Order Conditioning

A variation of Pavlovian conditioning where a neutral stimulus is paired with a well-established conditioned stimulus.

Backward Conditioning

A Pavlovian conditioning procedure in which the unconditioned stimulus precedes the conditioned stimulus.

Counterconditioning

The use of Pavlovian conditioning to reverse the unwanted effects of prior conditioning.

Overshadowing

Failure of a stimulus that is part of a compound stimulus to become a conditioned stimulus, overshadowed by another stimulus.

Pavlovian Conditioning

A learning process that involves the pairing of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.

Interstimulus Interval

The time between the appearance of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.

Compound Stimulus

Two or more stimuli presented simultaneously, often as a conditioned stimulus.