Psychology of Learning: Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, and Observational Learning

Vocabulary flashcards covering key definitions, theories, schedules of reinforcement, and theorists from the lecture on learning principles.

Reflexes

A motor or neural reaction to a specific stimulus in the environment.

Instincts

Innate behaviors that are triggered by a broader range of events.

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge due to experience.

Associative Learning

Occurs when an organism makes connections between stimuli or events that occur together in the environment.

Pavlov

Conducted experiments with classical conditioning.

Classical conditioning

Process by which we learn to associate stimuli and anticipate events.

Unconditioned stimulus

A stimulus that elicits a reflective response in an organism.

Unconditioned response

Natural (unlearned) behavior to a given stimulus.

Neutral stimulus

A stimulus that does not naturally elicit a response.

Conditioned stimulus

A stimulus that elicits a response after repeatedly being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned response

The behavior caused by a conditioned stimulus.

Higher-order conditioning

Pairing a new neutral stimulus with a conditioned stimulus (for example, pairing a squeaking cabinet with cats).

Acquisition

The initial period of learning in classical conditioning when an organism learns to connect a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus.

Extinction

Decrease in a conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous recovery

The return of a previously extinguished conditioned response.

Stimulus generalization

Conditioned response to stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus.

John B. Watson

Founder of behaviorism who conducted the experiments with Baby Albert.

Operant conditioning

Form of learning where organisms learn to associate a behavior and its consequence.

B. F. Skinner

Believed that we are motivated by the consequences we receive for behavior: reinforcements or punishments.

Law of effect

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.

Positive reinforcement

A desirable stimulus is added to increase a behavior.

Negative reinforcement

An undesirable stimulus is removed to increase a behavior (e.g., seat belt beeping until you put it on).

Punishment

Always decreases a behavior.

Positive punishment

Add an undesirable stimulus to decrease a behavior (e.g., a reprimand added to decrease behavior).

Negative punishment

Remove a pleasant stimulus to decrease behavior.

Shaping

Rewarding successive approximations of a desired behavior (rewarding the steps).

Primary reinforcer

An innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need (water, food, sleep, etc.).

Secondary reinforcer

Has no inherent value and only works in conjunction with a primary reinforcer (e.g., money - only worth something to buy other things).

Continuous reinforcement

Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

Partial reinforcement

The person or animal does not get reinforced every time they perform the desired behavior.

Fixed interval

Reward delivered after a certain amount of time.

Variable interval

Reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.

Fixed ratio schedule

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses.

Variable ratio

Schedule of reinforcement requiring a varying number of responses for reinforcement.

Radical Behaviorism

Associated with Watson and Skinner; the view that behavior is important, not cognition.

Tolman

Proposed that organisms can learn without immediate reinforcement, suggesting cognitive aspects of learning.

Cognitive map

Mental picture of the maze.

Latent learning

Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.

Laura Carlson

Found that what we place in our cognitive map can impact our success in navigating our environment.

Observational learning

Learning by observing others.

Vicarious reinforcement

Process where the observer sees the model rewarded, making the observer more likely to imitate the model's behavior.

Vicarious punishment

Process where the observer sees the model punished, making the observer less likely to imitate the model's behavior.