psych chapter 6

Respondent Behavior

Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus.

Shaping

An operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.

Punishment

An event that decreases the behavior that it follows.

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 and often novel realization of the solution to a problem.

Intrinsic Motivation

A desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake.

Unconditioned Stimulus

In classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally triggers a response.

Conditioned Response

In classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral stimulus.

Acquisition

In classical conditioning, the initial stage when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus.

Extrinsic Motivation

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

Biofeedback

A system for electronically recording and feeding back information regarding a physiological state.

Observational Learning

Learning by observing others.

Modeling

The process of observing and imitating specific behavior.

Mirror Neurons

Frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing others.

Prosocial Behavior

Positive, constructive, helpful behavior; the opposite of antisocial behavior.

Learning

A relatively permanent change in an organism’s behavior due to experience.

Habituation

An organism’s decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure.

Variable-Ratio Schedule

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses.

Associative Learning

Learning that certain events occur together.

Classical Conditioning

A type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli.

Behaviorism

The view that psychology should study behavior without reference to mental processes.

Unconditioned Response

The unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus.

Higher-Order Conditioning

A procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer.

Law of Effect

Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely.

Operant Chamber

A chamber containing a bar or key used in operant conditioning research.

Positive Reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli.

Negative Reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli.

Primary Reinforcer

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

Conditioned Reinforcer

A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through association with a primary reinforcer.

Continuous Reinforcement

Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement

Reinforcing a response only part of the time.

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses.

Variable-Interval Schedule

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.

Conditioned Stimulus

An originally irrelevant stimulus that triggers a conditioned response after association.

Extinction

The diminishing of a conditioned response.

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.

Operant Behavior

Behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.

Generalization

The tendency for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.

Discrimination

The learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli.

Learned Helplessness

The hopelessness and passive resignation learned when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.