Psychology 105 Flashcards

Flashcards for Psychology 105 Lecture Notes

Reflex

Stimulus + Response

Unconditioned Response (UR)

An unlearned response

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

An unlearned stimulus that triggers a response

Classical Conditioning

Repeated pairing of a Neutral Stimulus (NS) with an Unconditioned Stimulus (US) until the NS elicits a response

Acquisition

The initial learning of the connection between the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus when these two stimuli are paired.

Generalization

Performing a reinforced behavior in a different situation.

Discrimination

Responding appropriately to stimuli that signal that a behavior will or will not be reinforced.

Extinction

Decreases in the frequency of a behavior when the behavior is no longer reinforced.

Spontaneous Recovery

The process in classical conditioning by which a conditioned response can recur after a time delay, without further conditioning.

Operant Conditioning

A type of learning where behavior becomes stronger or weaker depending on its consequences (instrumental learning).

Thorndike's Law of Effect

Behavior is a function of its consequences.

Shaping

Reinforcing successive approximations of a behavior.

Reinforcement

Consequence that increases or maintains the strength of a behavior.

Positive Reinforcement

Adding something to strength/maintain behavior

Negative Reinforcement

Something removed that strengths/maintains behavior.

Primary Reinforcer

Not dependent on another reinforcer to be reinforcing.

Conditioned Reinforcer (secondary reinforcer)

Reinforcing because of association with other reinforcers.

Continuous Reinforcement

Behavior reinforced each time.

Partial (or intermittent) reinforcement

Behavior is sometimes reinforced.

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

Reinforcement after a predictable number of responses.

Variable-Ratio Schedule

Reinforcement after an unpredictable number of responses.

Fixed-Interval Schedule

Reinforcement after a predictable amount of time.

Variable-Interval Schedule

Reinforcement after an unpredictable amount of time.

Punishment

Consequence that reduces strength of behavior.

Positive Punishment

Something added that suppresses behavior.

Negative Punishment

Something removed that suppresses behavior.

Observational Learning

Learning by observing another (vicarious learning).

Modeling

Observing and imitating behavior.

Retention Interval

Time between encoding and recall.

Memory Encoding

Transforming physical/sensory input into something that can be stored in memory.

Storage

Retaining encoded information in memory.

Retrieval

Gaining access to information stored in memory.

Short Term Memory (STM)

About 30 seconds

Long Term Memory (LTM)

Longer than STM

Chunking

Organizing items into familiar, manageable units.

Depth of Processing

Deeper processing of stimuli produces better memory of them.

Explicit Memories (declarative memory)

Knowing that.

Implicit Memories (nondeclarative memory)

Knowing how.