Chapter 6 - Learning

UR

Unconditioned Response (________)- Unlearned, automatic, naturally occurring response to a US.

CS

Conditioned Stimulus (________)- The original NS that, after association with an US, comes to trigger a CR.

Learning

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

Learning

"the relatively permanent change in a subjects behavior to a given situation brought about by his or her repeated experience in that situation, provided that the behavior change cannot be explained on the basis of native response tendencies, maturation, or temporary states of the subject (e.g., fatigue, drugs, etc.)"

Classical Conditioning

"A type of learning in which we can link two or more stimuli and anticipate events"

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response

Unconditioned Response (UR)

Unlearned, automatic, naturally occurring response to a US

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

The original NS that, after association with an US, comes to trigger a CR

Conditioned Response (CR)

a learned response to the original NS that is now a CS

Acquisition

initial learning of an association

Extinction

the probability of a CR occurrence decreases due to the unlinking of the CS with the US

Spontaneous Recovery

reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished CR

Generalization

tendency for a CR to occur in response to stimuli that are different but similar to the CS

Discrimination

the ability to distinguish between CS (that are associated with the US) and similar but irrelevant stimuli that are not associated with the US

Kissing a baby

people like babies so they focus on that like and it rubs off on the candidate

Operant Conditioning

A type of learning in which specific voluntary behaviors are strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment

Reinforcement

any event that increases the frequency of a preceding response

Primary Reinforcers

innately satisfying

Conditioned Reinforcers

satisfying because they are associated with primary reinforcers

Immediate Reinforcers

offer immediate payback

Delayed Reinforcers

require ability to delay gratification

Positive Reinforcement

presenting a pleasant stimulus after a response; increases the frequency of the response

Negative Reinforcement

reducing or removing an unpleasant stimulus after a response; increases the frequency of the response; EX

Punishment

"an event that decreases the [frequency of] the behavior it follows"

Positive Punishment

administers an undesirable consequence

Negative Punishment

withdraws something desirable

Shaping

Reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

Reinforcement Schedules

patterns that define "how often a desired response will be reinforced"

Continuous Reinforcement

produce stimulus every single time something happens; best to use when trying to establish a behavior (acquisition)

Partial Reinforcement

produce stimulus in a pattern and only sometimes (every other time, every fifth time, etc.)

The Overjustification Effect

"An expected external incentive… decreases a persons intrinsic motivation to perform a task" (wikipedia)

Intrinsic Motivation

"the desire to perform a behavior well for its own sake"

Extrinsic (Incentivized) Motivation

"the desire to perform a behavior to receive promise rewards or avoid threatened punishment"

Observational Learning

"learning by others"