Chapter 6: Learning - How Experience Shapes Behaviour and the Mind

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards for Chapter 6: Learning, covering habituation, classical and operant conditioning, reinforcement schedules, cognitive processes, observational learning, and cultural transmission.

Learning

An enduring change in behaviour resulting from prior experience.

Nonassociative Learning

A change in the magnitude of an elicited response with repetition of the eliciting stimulus.

Associative Learning

Making connections between stimuli and behavioural responses; takes two primary forms: classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

Habituation

A form of nonassociative learning in which an organism becomes less responsive to a repeated stimulus (the brain's "cry wolf" effect); more potent when the organism is relaxed.

Sensitization

A form of nonassociative learning in which an organism becomes more responsive to a repeated stimulus, drawing attention to potentially noxious stimuli; more likely when the organism is aroused.

Dishabituation

The recovery of a habituated response, typically triggered by a novel stimulus.

Classical Conditioning

A passive form of learning by which an association is made between a reflex-eliciting stimulus and other stimuli.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

A stimulus that produces a reflexive response without prior learning.

Unconditioned Response (UR)

The reflexive response automatically generated by an unconditioned stimulus (US).

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A once-neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US).

Conditioned Response (CR)

The learned response that occurs to a conditioned stimulus (CS).

Acquisition (Classical Conditioning)

The initial learning of an association between the unconditioned stimulus (US) and the conditioned stimulus (CS).

Generalization

Responding to stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus (CS), ensuring that learning is not tied too narrowly to a single stimulus.

Discrimination

Learning to respond to a particular stimulus but not to similar ones, preventing overgeneralization.

Extinction

An active process weakening the conditioned response (CR) to the conditioned stimulus (CS) when the unconditioned stimulus (US) no longer follows.

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a delay, showing that learning is suppressed rather than forgotten.

Residual Plasticity Hypothesis

The hypothesis that neural networks of learning persist after extinction, allowing relearning to happen faster than the original conditioning.

Prediction Error

A signal in the brain indicating the need to revise its predictions; ensures conditioning selectively learns associations that are most valuable for anticipating the future.

Blocking

A phenomenon where a prior association with a conditioned stimulus prevents learning a new association that adds no further predictive value.

Counterconditioning

Counteracting an undesired association by conditioning a new response to the same stimulus.

Amygdala

A brain structure located next to the hippocampus in the medial temporal lobe that is critical for classically conditioned fear learning.

Preparedness

A species-specific biological predisposition to learn certain associations faster than others (e.g., phobias of snakes, spiders, and heights).

Conditioned Taste Aversion

A biologically predisposed association between ingested food and subsequent nausea, functioning to help organisms avoid toxic or spoiled food.

Conditioned Drug Tolerance

A conditioned response wherein environmental cues (CS) trigger preemptive physiological adjustments before drug intake, raising tolerance in familiar contexts and increasing overdose risk in new contexts.

Operant Conditioning

An active form of learning where an association forms between a stimulus and a voluntary response; behaviours must be performed to obtain or avoid consequences.

Antecedent

In the ABCs of operant conditioning, the stimulus that signals which behaviours lead to which consequences.

Law of Effect

Edward Thorndike's principle that behaviour is a function of its consequences: positive outcomes strengthen behaviour, whereas negative outcomes weaken it.

Positive Reinforcement

Presenting a positive stimulus following a behaviour to increase the likelihood of that behaviour occurring again (e.g., giving a sticker for working hard).

Negative Reinforcement

Removing a negative stimulus following a behaviour to increase the likelihood of that behaviour occurring again (e.g., taking medication to relieve a headache).

Positive Punishment

Presenting a negative stimulus following a behaviour to decrease the likelihood of that behaviour occurring again (e.g., getting scolded by a teacher).

Negative Punishment

Removing a positive stimulus following a behaviour to decrease the likelihood of that behaviour occurring again (e.g., losing phone privileges).

Primary Reinforcers

Innately pleasurable stimuli that directly satisfy biological needs, such as food, drink, warmth, and sex.

Secondary Reinforcers

Learned reinforcers that acquire value through their association with primary reinforcers (e.g., money).

Premack Principle

The principle that a frequently performed activity can serve as a reinforcer for a less-preferred activity (e.g., requiring a child to finish vegetables before eating dessert).

Delay Discounting

The psychological tendency for future consequences to carry less subjective weight than immediate ones, often driving impulsive decisions.

Shaping

Gradually molding a target behaviour by reinforcing successive approximations (each small step closer to the final goal).

Instinctive Drift

The tendency of an animal to revert to evolutionarily derived instinctive behaviours rather than maintaining a newly learned operant response.

Continuous Reinforcement

A schedule in which a behaviour is reinforced every single time it occurs, leading to rapid acquisition and rapid extinction.

Partial Reinforcement

A schedule in which a behaviour is reinforced only some of the time, making the response highly resistant to extinction.

Fixed-Ratio (FR) Schedule

A reinforcement schedule where a reward is delivered after a set number of responses, typically causing a brief pause in responding right after reward followed by rapid acceleration.

Variable-Ratio (VR) Schedule

A reinforcement schedule where a reward is delivered after an unpredictable, averaging number of responses (e.g., slot machines), producing consistently high response rates.

Fixed-Interval (FI) Schedule

A reinforcement schedule where a reward is delivered after a fixed amount of time has elapsed, producing a characteristic scallop-shaped response pattern.

Variable-Interval (VI) Schedule

A reinforcement schedule where a reward is delivered after an unpredictable amount of time that varies around an average, producing slow, steady responding.

Superstitious Conditioning

The acquisition of a behaviour caused by noncontingent, coincidental reinforcement in the absence of any true causal link between response and outcome.

Latent Learning

Learning that takes place without any immediate reward, clear motivation, or noticeable behavioural change until incentive is provided.

Cognitive Map

A mental representation of the spatial layout of an environment, demonstrated by Edward Tolman's rats navigating a maze without rewards.

Insight Learning

A form of learning that occurs suddenly without trial-and-error or clear reinforcement, often experienced as an "aha!" moment (demonstrated by Wolfgang Köhler with chimpanzees).

Observational Learning

Learning that occurs through watching and imitating the behaviour of a model, bypassing extensive trial-and-error.

Imitation

The purposeful copying of goal-directed behaviour, observable in human infants within their first days and weeks of life.

Social Learning Theory

Albert Bandura's theory stating that learning is a cognitive process resulting from social observation, comprised of four core processes: attention, retention, motor reproduction, and reinforcement.

Vicarious Reinforcement

An increase in the likelihood of performing a behaviour after observing a model receive reinforcement for that behaviour.

Vicarious Punishment

A decrease in the likelihood of performing a behaviour after observing a model receive punishment for that behaviour.

Mirror Neurons

Neurons that fire both when an individual executes a specific motor action and when they observe another individual performing the same action.

Cultural Transmission

The transfer of information, skills, and practices between generations through teaching and social learning rather than biological inheritance.

Vertical Transmission

The passing of cultural information and skills directly from parent to offspring (e.g., language learning).

Horizontal Transmission

The passing of cultural skills, practices, and information between peers within the same generation.

Diffusion Chain

A mechanism of social transmission where individuals observe a model, learn a behaviour, and subsequently become models from whom other individuals learn.

Cumulative Cultural Evolution

The progressive modification and buildup of skills, technologies, and knowledge across successive generations.

Dual Inheritance Theory

A gene-culture coevolutionary framework stating that genetic evolution and cultural evolution interact, with cultural evolution acting as a major evolutionary force over the last few hundred thousand years.