Chapter 7 - Learning

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

Stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Unconditioned stimulus

Stimulus that unconditionally triggers an unconditioned response

Unconditioned response

Unlearned, reflexive response to unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned stimulus

Originally irrelevant stimulus, after association with an unconditioned stimulus triggers a conditioned response

Conditioned response

Learned response to previously neutral but now conditioned stimulus

Acquisition

Initial stage of learning something

Extinction

Suppression of learned response, weakening of CR tendency

Spontaneous recovery

Reappearance of an extinguished CR after a period of non exposure

Discrimination

Ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and irrelevant stimuli

Generalization

Tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

Biological Preparedness

Conditioning works best with stimuli that are biologically relevant to an organism

Taste Aversion Learning/Garcia effect

If sick after food, it’s avoided

Second Order conditioning

Conditioned stimulus acquires the ability to elicit a conditioned response without being directly paired with an unconditioned stimulus

Classical Conditioning

Type of learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response

Unconditioned Stimulus

Something reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism

Unconditioned Response

Reflexive reaction that is reliably produced by an unconditioned stimulus

Acquisition

Phase of classical condition where CS and US are presented together

Operant conditioning

Type of learning where consequences of an organism's behavior determine whether it'll repeat that behavior

Law of Effect

Cats displayed trial and error behavior when trying to escape from the box. They made lots of irrelevant actions until they discovered the solution. Once they figured out what behavior let them escape, they stopped all other ineffective behaviors and escaped from the box faster

Operant Behavior

Behavior that an organism performs that has some impact on the environment

Reinforcer

Any stimulus or event that increases the likelihood of the behavior that led to it

Punisher

Any stimulus/event that decreases likelihood of the behavior that led to it

Fixed Interval Schedule

Reinforcers are presented at fixed time periods

Variable Interval Schedule

Behavior is reinforced on the basis of an average time that has expired since the last reinforcement

Fixed Ratio Schedule

Reinforcement is delivered after a specific number of responses have been made

Variable Ration Schedule

Delivery of reinforcement is based on average number of responses

Intermittent Reinforcement

Only some of the responses made are followed by reinforcement

Intermittent Reinforcement Effect

Fact that operant behaviors that are maintained under intermittent reinforcement schedules resist extinction better than those maintained under cont. reinforcement

Shaping

Learning that results from reinforcement of successive steps to a final desired behavior

Latent Learning

Something is learned but not manifested as behavioral change until sometime in the future

Cognitive Map

Mental representation of physical features of the environment

Observational Learning

Organism learns by watching the actions of others

Diffusion Chain

Individuals initially learn a behavior by observing another perform that behavior, then become models from which other individuals learn that behavior

Primary reinforcer

Satisfy biological need

Secondary reinforcer

Non biological reinforcers like praise or money

Learning principle of reinforcement learning

When delivery of a reinforcer occurs close together in time with an independent behavior

Instinctive drift

Tendency of learned, reinforced behavior to gradually return to a more innate behavior

Latent learning

Learning that occurs but isn’t apparent until there’s an incentive to demonstrate it

Cognitive map

Mental pic of layout of one’s environment

Insight learning

Sudden “Aha” learning

Observational Learning

Learning by watching & imitating others