psych chapter 6

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

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

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 (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 reinforcement 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 condition stimulus

John B. Watson

founder of behaviorism, did the experiments with Baby Albert

Operant conditioning

organisms learn to associate a behavior and it's consequence

B. F. Skinner

believed that we are motivated by the consequences we receive for the 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

undesirable stimulus is removed to increase a behavior (ex. seat belt beeping until you put it on)

punishment

always decreases a behavior

positive punishment

add undesirable stimulus to decrease a behavior (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

no inherent value and only works in conjunction with a primary reinforcer (ex. 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, only occasionally

fixed interval

reward 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

Watson and Skinner - behavior is important, not cognition

Tolman

organisms can learn without immediate reinforcement, suggesting cognitive aspect 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

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