Learning Flashcards

Flashcards about Learning.

Learning

A long-lasting change in behavior resulting from experience.

Neuroplasticity

The ability of the brain to change throughout an individual’s life.

Long-term potentiation (LTP)

A persistent strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity.

Classical conditioning

Forming an association with some sort of already naturally occurring event.

Unconditioned stimulus

The original stimulus, such as food, in classical conditioning.

Unconditioned response

The natural response to an unconditioned stimulus, such as salivation.

Neutral stimulus

A stimulus that initially has no conditioned response.

Conditioned stimulus

What the organism has learned to pair with a response.

Conditioned response

The response resulting from the conditioned stimulus.

Delayed conditioning

When the bell is rung and, while ringing, food is presented.

Trace conditioning

The CS begins and ends before the US is presented.

Simultaneous conditioning

The CS and US are presented and terminated at the same time.

Backward conditioning

The US is presented first and is followed by the CS.

Acquisition

Learning has taken place once the animal responds to the CS without the US.

Extinction

The process of unlearning behavior.

Spontaneous recovery

After extinction, a CR reappears in the presence of the CS.

Generalization

Animals generalize the sound of a bell with other stimuli.

Discrimination

Animals can be trained to discriminate between stimuli.

First order conditioning

Pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned response.

Second order conditioning

Pairing another neutral stimulus with the previously conditioned stimulus.

Learned Taste Aversions

Developing an aversion to a particular food after becoming nauseous.

Law of effect

If the consequences of a behavior are pleasant, the likelihood of the behavior will increase.

Operant conditioning

Involves applying reinforcement or punishment after a behavior.

Reinforcer/reinforcement

Anything that makes a behavior more likely to occur.

Positive reinforcement

Adding something pleasant to increase behavior.

Negative reinforcement

Removing something unpleasant to increase behavior.

Punishment

Anything that makes a behavior less likely to reoccur.

Positive punishment

Adding an aversive stimulus to decrease behavior.

Negative punishment (omission training)

Removing a pleasant stimulus to decrease behavior.

Escape conditioning (or escape learning)

Responding by leaving an aversive stimulus situation.

Avoidance conditioning (learning)

Enables one to avoid the unpleasant stimulus altogether.

Shaping

Reinforces the steps used to reach a single desired behavior.

Chaining

Reinforcing individual responses occurring in a sequence to form a complex behavior.

Primary reinforcers

Things like food, water, rest, sex that help the organism survive.

Secondary reinforcers

Things that the organism has learned to have value.

Premack Principle

Whichever of two activities is preferred can be used to reinforce the activity that is not preferred.

Continuous reinforcement

Continuously rewarding a particular behavior.

Partial-reinforcement

Rewarding a particular behavior on some trials.

Partial-reinforcement effect

Behaviours will be more resistant to extinction if they have not be reinforced continually.

Schedules of reinforcement

Rules that determine how often an organism is reinforced for a particular behavior.

Fixed Ratio

Reinforcement is delivered after a fixed number of responses.

Fixed Interval

Reinforcement delivered after a behavior is performed following the passage of a fixed amount of time.

Variable ratio

Reinforcement delivered after a variable number of responses.

Variable interval

Reinforcement delivered after a behavior is performed following the passage of a variable amount of time.

Observational Learning

People and animals learn through observing others.

Contingency model of classical conditioning

It is necessary for one event to reliably predict another for a strong association between the two to result.

Abstract learning

Involves understanding concepts rather than just learning S-R connections.

Latent Learning

The third group of rats learned their way around in the first trials, but their performance did not improve because they was no incentive to run the maze quickly.

Insight learning

Learning in this sudden way due to realization rather than gradual SR connection.

Operant Conditioning

B. F. Skinner