PSYC-2600 - Term Test 1 - Textbook Material

Behaviour

any activity of an organism that can be observed or somehow measured; an be internal or external

Learning

a relatively enduring change in behaviour that results from some type of experience

Classical Conditioning

Pavlov; the process by which inborn behaviours come to be elicited in new circumstances (involuntary)

Operant Conditioning

the strengthening or weakening of a behaviour as a result of its consequences (voluntary)

Observational Learning

when the act of observing someone else’s behaviours facilitates the occurrence of similar behaviour in oneself

Nativist Perspective

Nature; assumes that a person’s abilities and tendencies are largely inborn

Empiricist Perspective

Nurture; assumes that a person’s abilities and tendencies are mostly learned

Law of Similarity

events that are similar to each other are readily associated (eg. cars and trucks)

Law of Contrast

events that are opposite from each other are readily associated (eg. black and white)

Law of Contiguity

events that occur in close proximity to each other are readily associated (eg. thunder and lightning)

Law of Frequency

the more frequently two items occur together, the more strongly they are associated

Mind-Body Dualism

Descartes; proposes that some human behaviours are reflexes automatically elicited by external stimulation while others are freely chosen and controlled by the mind

British Empiricists

Maintained that almost all knowledge is a function of experience

Believed that the conscious mind is composed of a finite set of basic elements that are combined through the principles of association into complex sensations and thought patterns

John Locke

proposed tabula rasa; the mind is a blank slate upon which environmental experiences are written

Structuralism

Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener

an approach to psychology that studies the basic elements of the conscious mind and how they are combined to create more complex experiences

Introspection

Part of structuralism

a subject attempts to accurately describe their conscious thoughts, emotions, and sensations

Functionalism

William James

assumes that the mind evolved to help us adapt to the world around us and that the focus of psychology should be the study of those adaptive processes

Deprived from Darwin’s theory of evolution

Natural Selection

organisms that are capable of adapting to environmental pressures are more likely to reproduce and pass along their adaptive characteristics than those that cannot adapt

• Traits vary within and between species

• Many traits are heritable

• Organisms must compete for limited resources

Evolutionary Adaptation

a helpful genetic trait that evolves as a result of natural selection

Behaviourism

John B. Watson

a natural science approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of environmental influences on observable behaviour

Methodological (Classical) Behaviourism

psychologists should study environmental influences only on those behaviours that can be directly observed

Stimulus-Response (S-R) Theory

learning consists of a connection being formed between a specific stimulus and a specific response

Neobehaviourism

Clark L. Hull

uses intervening variables in the form of hypothesized physiological processes to help explain behaviour

Claimed that Watson’s rejection of unobservable events was scientifically unsound

Often categorized as a “molecular” theory as it assumes that specific S-R connections are the building blocks of behaviour in the same way that molecules are the building blocks of matter

Operationalized

when something is defined in such a way that it can be measured

Cognitive Behaviourism

Tolman

uses intervening variables usually in the form of hypothesized cognitive processes to help explain behaviour

The whole is more than the sum of its parts

Cognitive Map

a mental representation of one’s spatial surroundings

Latent Learning

learning can occur despite the absence of any observable indication of learning at that time and only becomes apparent at a later time

Social Learning Theory

Bandura

an approach to psychology that strongly emphasizes the importance of observational learning and cognitive variables in explaining human behavior (also sometimes called Cognitive Social Learning Theory or Social Cognitive Theory)

Reciprocal Determinism

the assumption that environmental events, observable behaviour, and “person variables” (thoughts and feelings) reciprocally influence each other

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

where psychological disorders are treated by altering both environmental variables and cognitive processes

Radical Behaviourism

Skinner

emphasizes the influence of the environmental on observable/overt behaviour

Rejects the use of internal events to explain behaviour and instead views the thoughts and feelings as private behaviours that need to be explained just like any other behavior

Essentially saw internal events as behaviours rather than explanations for behaviours

Basic Behaviour Analysis

the basic science that grew out of radical behaviourism and is concerned with investigating the basic principles of behaviour, especially the principles of operant conditioning

Applied Behaviour Analysis

a science and technology of behavior that is concerned with applying the basic principles of behaviour toward the analysis and improvement of real-world issues

Variable

a characteristic of a person, place, or thing that can change (vary) over time or from one situation to another

Categorical Variable

things like colour, age, etc.

Independent Variable

the aspect of the experiment that is made to systematically vary across the different conditions of the experiment; this is manipulated

Dependent Variable

the aspect of the experiment that is allowed to vary freely to see if it is affected by changes in the independent variable; this is measured

Quasi-Independent Variable

a variable that is inseparable from an individual and cannot be manipulated; however, group comparisons can be made based on that variable

Eg. Nationality

Comparative Designs

examine differences in learning ability between species

Functional Relationships

the relationship between changes in an independent and dependent variable

Stimulus

any event that can potentially influence behaviour

Response

another word for behaviour, but used when discussing a particular behaviour in rn reaction to a stimulus

Overt Behaviour

behaviour that can be observed by an individual other than the one performing the behaviour

Covert Behaviour

behaviour that can be perceived only by the person performing the behaviour

Appetitive Stimulus

an event that an organism will seek out

Aversive Stimulus

an event that an organism will avoid

Motivating Operation

any procedure that affects the appetitiveness or aversiveness of an event

Establishing Operation

a procedure that increases the appetitiveness or aversiveness of an event

Abolishing Operation

a procedure that decreases the appetitiveness or aversiveness of an event

Deprivation

the prolonged absence of an event

Satiation

the prolonged exposure to or consumption of an event

Temporal Contiguity

the extent to which events occur close in time (eg. thunder and lightning)

Spatial Contiguity

the extent to which events are situated close to each other in space

Contingency

a predictive (or functional) relationship between two events, such that the occurrence of one event predicts the probable occurrence of another

Objective

referring to some observable aspect of an individual’s behaviour

Unambiguous

clearly defined

Rate of Response

the number of responses that occur in a certain period of time

Cumulative Recorder

a classic device that measures the total number of responses over time and provides a graphic depiction of the rate of behaviour

The steeper the line, the higher the rate of response

Intensity

the force or magnitude of the behaviour

Duration

the amount of time that an individual repeatedly or continuously performs a behaviour (no concern for how fast or slow the behaviour is occurring)

Speed

the length of time required to perform a behavior from start to finish; indicates how fast or slow the behaviour is occurring

Latency

the length of time required for a behaviour to begin

Interval Recording

the measurement of whether a behaviour occurs during each interval within a set of continuous intervals

Time-Sample Recording

one measures whether a behaviour occurs during each interval within a series of discontinuous intervals (variation of interval recording)

Topography

the physical form of the behaviour (eg. how the lever is pressed)

Number of Errors

any behaviour in which responses can be categorized as right or wrong can be assessed in terms of the number of errors

Interobserver Reliability

the extent to which two or more independent observers agree in their observations of the occurrence of behaviour

Descriptive Research

involves gathering information about a behaviour and the circumstances within which it occurs

Surveys

individuals answer a series of questions

Case Studies

the intensive study of a single individual

Naturalistic Observation

one systematically observes and records the occurrence of behaviour in its natural environment (eg. Jane Goodall)

Ethology

Behavioural Ecology

a branch of zoology that focuses on the study of inherited behaviour patterns in animals

Experimental Research

one or more independent variables are systematically varied to determine their effect on a dependent variable

Group Designs

where researchers manipulate one or more independent variables across groups of subjects

Control Group Design

individuals are randomly assigned to either an experimental (or treatment) group or a control group; the experimental group is exposed to a certain manipulation or treatment, and the control group is not

Factorial Design

one examines the effects of two or more independent variables (or factors) across groups of subjects

Comparative Design

a type of group design in which species is used as a quasi-independent variable

Drawbacks to Group Designs

Require large number of subjects

Typically focus on the average performance of all subjects

Often analyzed and interpreted only at the end of the experiment, not during

Single-Subject Designs

require only one or a few subjects to conduct an entire experiment

Single Comparison (AB) Design

behaviour in a baseline condition is compared to behaviour in a treatment condition

Poor experimental design

Baseline

the normal frequency of the behaviour that occurs before some type of intervention

The A phase

Self-Punishment Treatment

people apply aversive consequence to themselves each time they engage in an unwanted target behaviour

The B phase

Reversal Design

consists of repeated alternations between a baseline phase and a treatment phase

Allows an entire experiment to be conducted with a single subject

If you want results to be “generalized”, experiment needs to be conducted again with the new subjects

Disadvantages of Reversal Design

If the behaviour doesn’t revert to its original baseline level when the treatment is withdrawn, we will be left wondering if the treatment was effective

Inappropriate for situations in which the treatment is intended to produce a long lasting or permanent change in behaviour such that you would not expect to see a reversal

Multiple-Baseline Design

a treatment is instituted at successive points in time for two or more persons, settings, or behaviours

Changing-Criterion Design

the effect of the treatment is demonstrated by how closely the behaviour matches a criterion (or standard) that is being systematically altered

Advantages of Using Animals in Behavioural Research

Ability to control their genetic makeup

Ability to control their learning history

Able to more strictly control the experimental environment for animals than humans

Some research can’t be ethically conducted with humans

Criticisms of Using Animals in Behavioural Research

Animal research has limited applicability to humans

Physiological processes, genetic tendencies, and learning histories are too different from humans

Morally wrong; animals have rights similar to humans

Elicited Behaviour

a behaviour that is drawn out be a preceding stimulus

Reflex

a relatively simple, automatic response to a stimulus (the relationship between such a response and the stimulus that elicits it)

Startle Response

a defensive reaction to a sudden, unexpected stimulus

Orienting Response

when we automatically position ourselves to facilitate attending to a stimulus

Flexion Response

when we automatically jerk our hand or foot away from a hot or sharp abject that we have inadvertently contacted

Reflex Arc

a neural structure underlying some reflexes that consists of a sensory neuron, an interneuron, and a motor neuron, in that order

Sensor neurons carry the danger message toward the spinal cord; in the spinal cord, interneurons receive the message and pass it to the motor neurons, which activate muscles in the arm to pull the hand away

Fixed Action Pattern

a fixed sequence of responses elicited by a specific stimulus

Sign Stimulus or Releaser

a specific stimulus that elicits a fixed action pattern

Habituation

a decrease in the strength of the elicited response following repeated presentations of the stimulus that naturally elicit that response (eg. a sudden tap on the shoulder naturally elicits a response whereas any additional taps have no effect)

Short-Term Habituation

when the response quickly decreases as a result of repeated stimulation and the ability to respond then quickly recovers in the absence of stimulation

Long-Term Habituation

the response slowly decreases as a result of repeated stimulation, and the ability to respond then slowly recovers in the absence of stimulation

Sensitization

an increase in the strength of an elicited response following repeated presentations of the stimulus that naturally elicit the response

Often generalizes to other stimuli (eg. a soldier who jumps when there’s a bomb will likely jump at other loud noises)