UF PSY2012 Ch. 6

learning

change in an organism's behavior or thought as a result of experience

Habituation

process of responding less strongly over time to repeated stimuli

Sensitization

Responding to repeated stimuli more over time

Classical conditioning

(Pavlovian) form of learning in which animals come to respond to a previously neutral stimulus that had been paired with another stimulus that elicits an automatic response

Neutral Stimulus

Unconditioned Stimulus

Unconditioned Response

Conditioned Stimulus

Conditioned Response

5 primary components of classical conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus

stimulus that elicits an automatic response

Unconditioned Response

automatic response to nonneutral stimulus that does not need to be learned

Conditioned Response

Response previously associated with a non-neutral stimulus that is elicited by a neutral stimulus through conditioning

Conditioned Stimulus

initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a response due to association with an unconditioned stimulus

acquisition

the phase during which a CR is established

Extinction

the reduction and elimination of the CR after the CS is presented repeatedly without the UCS

Spontaneous Recovery

sudden reemergence of an extinct conditioned response after a delay in exposure to the conditioned stimulus

Renewal Effect

sudden reemergence of a conditioned response following extinction when an animal is returned to the environment in which the conditioned response was acquired

Stimulus Generalization

process by which conditioned stimuli similar, but not identical, to the original conditioned stimulus elicit a conditioned response

Stimulus Discrimination

process by which organisms display a less pronounced conditioned response to conditioned stimuli that differ from the original conditioned stimulus

higher-order conditioning

developing a conditioned response to a conditioned stimulus by virtue of its association with another conditioned stimulus

latent inhibition

difficulty in establishing classical conditioning to a conditioned stimulus we've repeatedly experienced alone, that is, without the unconditioned stimulus

fetishism

sexual attraction to nonliving things

operant conditioning

learning controlled by the consequences of the organism's behavior AKA "instrumental conditioning"

law of effect

principle asserting that if a stimulus followed by a behavior results in a reward, the stimulus is more likely to give rise to the behavior in the future

insight

grasping the underlying nature of a problem

Skinner box

small animal chamber constructed by Skinner to allow sustained periods of conditioning to be administered and behaviors to be recorded unsupervised

Reinforcement

outcome or consequence of a behavior that strengthens the probability of the behavior

Positive Reinforcement

presentation of a stimulus that strengthens the probability of the behavior

Negative Reinforcement

removal of a stimulus that strengthens the probability of the behavior

Punishment

outcome or consequence of a behavior that weakens the probability of the behavior

Discriminative stimulus

stimulus that signals the presence of reinforcement

Schedules of reinforcement

pattern of reinforcing behavior (how and when consequences are arranged)

Continuous reinforcement

reinforcing a behavior every time it occurs, resulting in faster learning but faster extinction than only occasional reinforcement

Intermittent Reinforcement

"Partial" only occasional reinforcement of a behavior, resulting in slower extinction than if the behavior had been reinforced continually

Fixed Ratio Schedule

pattern in which we provide reinforcement following a regular number of responses

Variable Ratio Schedule

pattern in which we provide reinforcement after a specific number of responses on average, with the number varying randomly

Fixed interval schedule

pattern in which we provide reinforcement for producing the response at least once following a specified time interval

Variable interval schedule

patter in which we provide reinforcement for producing the response at least once during an average time interval with the interval varying randomly

shaping

conditioning a target behavior by progressively reinforcing behaviors that come closer to the target

fading

decreasing the frequency of our reinforcement for the non-exactly-right behaviors over time

chaining

linking a number of interrelated behaviors to form a longer series

token economies

systems for reinforcing appropriate behaviors and extinguishing in appropriate ones (primary and secondary reinforcers)

Secondary Reinforcer

neutral object that becomes associated with a primary reinforcer

Primary reinforcer

item or outcome that naturally increases the target behavior

Two Process Theory

we need both classical and operant conditioning to explain the persistence of anxiety disorders

latent learning

learning that's not directly observable

cognitive map

mental representation of how a physical space is organized

observable learning

learning by watching others

mirror neuron

cell in the prefrontal cortex that becomes activated when n animal performs an action or observes it being performed

preparedness

evolutionary predisposition to learn some pairings of feared stimuli over others owing to their survival value

instinctive drift

tendency for animals to return to innate behaviors following repeated reinforcement

Stimulus-Organism-Response psychology

the way an organism responds to a stimulus depends on what the stimulus means to it