Unit 4 - Learning

Learning

the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus

Associative Learning

learning that certain events occur together.

i.e. 2 stimuli or a response and its consequence

Stimulus

any event or situation that evokes a response

Respondent Behavior

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

Operant Behavior

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences; REINFORCEMENT OR PUNISHMENT

Cognitive Learning

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language

Classical Conditioning

NATURAL RESPONSE

a type of learning in which we link 2 or more stimuli; Pavlov

Behaviorism

the view that psychology should 1) be an objective science that 2) only focuses on behavior and not mental processes

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

**classical conditioning;** a stimulus that elicits no response *before* conditioning

Unconditioned Response (UR)

**classical conditioning;** an unlearned, *naturally* occurring response (like salvation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (like food in the mouth)

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

**classical conditioning**; a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers an unconditioned response (UR)

Conditioned Response (CR)

**classical conditioning;** a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus (CS)

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

**classical conditioning;** an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR)

Acquisition

**classical conditioning;** the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response.

**operant conditioning;** the strengthening of a reinforced response

Higher-Order Conditioning

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus.

Extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in a **classical conditioning** when an unconditioned stimulus (US) doesn’t follow a conditioned stimulus (CS)

**operant conditioning;** when a response is no longer reinforced

Spontaneous Recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

CR tends to be less intense with each period of recovery

Generalization

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar response.

**Operant conditioning:** occurs when responses learned in one situation occur in other, similar situations

Discrimination

**classical conditioning;** the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

**operant conditioning:** the ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced from similar responses that are not reinforced

Operant Conditioning

a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher.

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

Operant Chamber

**operant conditioning;** a chamber (like a Skinner Box) containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking

Reinforcement

**operant conditioning;** any event that stregthens the behavior it follows

Shaping

**operant conditioning;** a procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

Discriminative Stimulus

**operant conditioning;** a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement

Positive Reinforcement

increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers

Positive Reinforcers

any stimulus that when *presented* after a response, strengthens the response

Negative Reinforcement

increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing aversive stimuli;

*“AVOID; REDUCE*”

Negative Reinforcer

any stimulus that, when *removed* after a response, strengthens the response

Primary Reinforcer

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need

Conditioned Reinforcer

a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; AKA *secondary reinforcer*

Reinforcement Schedule

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

Continuous Reinforcement Schedule

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement Schedule

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

**operant conditioning;** a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

Variable-Ratio Schedule

**operant conditioning;** a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

Variable-Interval Schedule

**operant conditioning;** a reinforcment schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

Punishment

an event that tends to *decrease* the behavior that it follows

Watson’s “Little Albert”

Controversial classical conditioning exp on an infant boy;

examines the effects of conditioning on the fear response in humans

* Rat paired with scary sounds; baby generalized

Garcia Effect

rats; initial exposure to flavored water followed by a toxic reaction to radiation made rats averse to the water

* People associating a certain food like a pizza, to nausea (like if you had the stomach flu and ate the pizza, you don’t want to go near pizza again)

Biofeedback

a system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension

Preparedness

a biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value

Instinctive Drift

the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns

Cognitive Map

a mental representation of the layout of one’s environment

Latent Learning

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

Insight

a sudden realization of the solution to a problem

Intrinsic Motivation

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

Extrinsic Motivation

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

Problem-Focused Coping

attempting to alleviate stress directly- by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor

Emotion-Focused Coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction

Personal Control

our sense of controlling our environment rather than feeling helpless

Learned Helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

External Locus of Control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate

Internal Locus of Control

the perception that we control our own fate

Self-Control

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards

Observational Learning

learning by observing others

Modeling

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

Mirror Neurons

frontal lobe neurons that fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so.

Mirroring can enable imitation and empathy

Prosocial Behavior

positive, constructive, helpful behavior

Premack Principle

A person will perform a less desirable activity in order to perform the more desirable activity as a consequence

Wolfgang Kohler

Insight Learning with the monkeys in a cage trying to get a banana.

The monkeys suddenly realized how to solve the problem

Martin Seligman

Investigated dogs in a cage w/ a partially electrified floor (positive psychology);

* Some dogs **learned helplessness** while others realized the other side didn’t have electricity

One of the basic tools available to control simple learning?

Reinforcement

Latent learning often occurs because

the anticipation of reward

Learning is best defined as…

a relatively permanent change in behavior due to past experience

Scolding is…

a NR, response cost, and aversive punishment

2 Key Elements that Underlie Learning

information and a responsive environment

Loftus

Misinformation Effect: the memories of eyewitnesses are altered after being exposed to incorrect information about an event.