PSYCH100 Chapter 6

associative learning

involves making connections between stimulu and behavioral responses

nonassociative learning

involves a change in amount of evoked response with repitition of the evoked stimulus

habituation

a type of nonassociative learning where an organism becomes less responsive to a repeated stimulus

sensitization

a type of nonassociative learning where an organism becomes more responsive to a repeated stimulus

dishabituation

original state before habituation due to a new stimulus

classical conditioning

two stimulu get paired together, so you associate them with each other and respond accordingly

unconditioned stimulus

a stimulus that produces reflexive response without prior learning

unconditioned response

the response that is automatically generated by the unconditioned stimulus

conditioned stimulus

a stimulus that has no prior positive or negative association, but comes to elicit a response after being associated with the unconditioned stimulus

conditioned response

a response that occurs in the presense of the conditioned stimulus after an association between the conditioned and unconditioned stimulus is learned

aquisition

the organism begins to form an association between the unconditioned stimulus and a neutral stimulus, which becomes the conditioned stimulus

generalization

the organism elicits a conditioned response to a stimulus similar in nature to the original conditioned stimulus

discrimination

an organism learns that although two stimulus might be similar, they signal different information

extinction

a weakening of the conditioned response to the conditioned stimulus in the absense of the unconditioned stimulus

spontaneous recovery

the reappearance of an extinct behavior after a delay

blocking

a prior association with a conditioned stimulus prevents learning of an association with another stimulus because the second one adds no further predictive value- classical conditioning

preparedness

the species-specific biological predisposition to learn some associations more quickly than other associations

conditioned taste aversion

a classically conditioned response where individuals are more likely to associate nausea with food than with other environmental stimuli

operant conditioning

associative learning that involves voluntary behavioral consequences

law of effect

behaviors with positive outcomes are strengthened and behaviors with negative outcomes are weakened

reinforcement

a consequence that increases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated

punishment

a consequence that decreases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated

primary reinforcers

food, drink, intimacy

secondary reinforcers

money, good grades

positive reinforcement

the presentation of a positive stimulus, leading to an increase in frequency of a behavior

negative reinforcement

the removal of a negative stimulus, leading to an increase in frequency of a behavior

positive punishment

presentation of a negative stimulus, leading to a decrease in the frequency of a behavior

negative punishment

the removal of a positive stimulus, leading to a decrease in the frequency of a behavior

Premack principle

activities that individuals frequently engage in can be used to reinforce activities that they are less inclined to do

shaping

the process where random behaviors gradually change into a desired target behavior

instinctive drift

an animal’s reversion to instinctive behaviors instead of showing newly learned behaviors

continuous reinforcement schedule

a reinforcement schedule where a behavior is rewarded every time it is preformed

partial reinforcement schedule

a reinforcement schedule where a behavior is rewarded only some of the time

fixed-ratio schedule

reward occurs after you do the behavior a certain number of times

variable-ratio schedule

reward occurs after you do the behavior an average number of times (unpredictible)

fixed-interval schedule

a reinforcement schedule based on a certain amount of time before a reward is given

variable-interval schedule

reward offurs after variable amount of time, every x minutes

superstitious conditioning

a form of operant conditioning where a behavior is learned because it was conincidentally reinforced

latent learning

showing evidence of learning in the absence of reinforcement incident

insight learning

a form of learning that occurs without trial and error, and without clear reinforcement (the a-ha! moment)

observational learning

where a person observes and imitates a behavior

imitation

the purposeful copying of a goal-directed behavior

social learning theory

cognitive process derives from social observation rather than direct reinforcement of motor actions

mirror neurons

neurons that are active both when performing an action and when the same actions are observed in others

cultural transmission

transfer of information from one generation to another by teaching/learning

vertical transmission

transmission of skills from parent to offspring

horizontal transmission

the transmission of skills between peers

diffusion chain

a process in which individuals learn a behavior by observing a model and then serve as models for others