PSYCH 101 LO4: Learning

Habituation

basically when you start to tune something out from repeated stimulus. Like when you're not constantly fixating on a fan cuz it's constant type shit

Sensitization

think your senses are increased in response to a repeated stimulus. So whenever you experience a specific stimulus you're more ready for whatever you know comes after it (reward or danger). Could be heightened anxiety or something in response to a traumatic event.

Acquisition

so this is like picking up a response to a stimulus. Think of the dog that started salivating when the bell rang cuz he knew food was coming.

Extinction

gradual loss of a response when you take away the reinforcement like the food.

Spontaneous recovery

so this is just like how it sounds. It's the spontaneous recovery of a response to a stimulus after a period of time. Could occur in a different context. This happens cuz the response is not completely lost during extinction.

Stimulus generalization

So this is when the response is induced by a similar but different stimulus.

Stimulus discrimination

This I'm assuming is when the response is only induced by one specific stimulus and not another one that's similar. That is correct.

Operant conditioning

So this the theory that behavior is learned through the reward or punishment associated with said behavior (think we study for exams because we've learned that the behavior of studying leads to that reward of an outcome).

Primary vs secondary reinforcer

primary is something with innate value to an organism such as food and water. A secondary is something that has no innate value to your well being but is associated with the acquisition of those primary reinforcers like money or praise.

Shaping

Shaping in operant conditioning is essentially when you reward behaviors that get progressively closer to the desired behavior until you achieve it. So like giving the dog a treat for looking up, then a treat for sitting, then one for staying progressively longer and longer.

Positive and negative reinforcement and punishment

so punishment is an unwanted outcome, reinforcement is a desired one. Positive refers to the introduction of said outcome, negative is taking an outcome away.

Latent learning

Learning but not expressing the knowledge of the information until incentivized to do so. Think driving to work: you might've learned the way to get there through observation, but only expressed that ball of knowledge when you were incentivized by your need to drive to work.

Insight learning

Basically that sudden "aha" moment when solving a problem. It's a grasp of knowledge that seems to come out of nowhere without any prior conditioning for such knowledge/behavior.

Unconditioned response

A response to a stimulus that requires no prior learning like a dog salivating.

Unconditioned stimulus

A stimulus that requires no prior learning to evoke a response like how food will always cause a dog to salivate.

Neutral stimulus

A stimulus that elicits no response. A bell ringing is stimulating your auditory senses, but does not evoke a response.

Observational learning

This is when a subject may learn and exhibit a behavior through observation without specific conditioning. Children who witness violence are more likely to be violent.

Modeling

Observing and imitating others.

Vicarious conditioning

This is focusing specifically on observing the outcome of a behavior. A child will become more scared of dogs if they experience their sibling crying and screaming in its presence.

Mirror neurons

Neurons that fire both when a subject performs an action and when the subject witnesses someone else perform that action.