Unit 4 - Learning and Cognition

Vocabulary terms and definitions from Unit 4: Learning and Cognition covering classical and operant conditioning, learning principles, memory stages, and cognitive processes.

Classical conditioning

A learning procedure in which associations are made between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned response

Neutral stimulus

A stimulus that does not initially elicit any part of an unconditioned response

Unconditioned stimulus

An event that elicits certain predictable response typically without previous training

Unconditioned response

An organism’s automatic reaction to a stimulus

Conditioned stimulus

A once-neutral event that elicits a given response after a period of training in which it has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned response

The learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus

Extinction

The gradual disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus

Operant conditioning

Learned in which a certain action is reinforced or punished, resulting in corresponding increases or decreases in occurrence

Reinforcement

Stimulus or event that follows a response and increases the likelihood that the response will be repeated

Secondary reinforcer

Stimulus such as money that becomes rewarding through its link with a primary reinforcer

Primary reinforcer

Stimulus that is naturally rewarding, such as food or water

Shaping

Technique in which the desired behavior is “molded” by first rewarding any act similar to that behavior and then requiring ever-closer approximations to the desired behavior before giving the reward

Negative reinforcement

Increasing the strength of a given response by removing or preventing a painful stimulus when the response occurs

Social learning

Process of altering behavior by observing and imitating the behavior of others

Learned helplessness

Condition in which repeated attempts to control a situation fail, resulting in the belief that the situation is uncontrollable

Modeling

Learning by imitating others; copying behavior

Token economy

Conditioning in which desirable behavior is reinforced with valueless objects, which can be accumulated and exchanged for valued rewards

Encoding

The transforming of information so the nervous system can process it

Storage

The process by which information is maintained over a period of time

Retrieval

The process of obtaining information that has been stored in memory

Sensory Memory

Very brief memory storage immediately following initial stimulation of a receptor

Short-Term Memory

Memory that is limited in capacity to about seven items and in duration by the subject’s active rehearsal

Maintenance rehearsal

A system for remembering that involves repeating information to oneself without attempting to find meaning in it

Chunking

The process of grouping items to make them easier to remember

Semantic memory

Knowledge of language, including its rules, words, and meanings

Episodic memory

Chronological retention of the events of one’s life

Declarative memory

Stored knowledge that can be called forth consciously as needed

Procedural memory

Permanent storage of learned skills that does not require conscious recollection

Recognition

Memory retrieval in which a person identifies an object, idea, or situation as one he or she has or has not experienced before

Recall

Memory retrieval in which a person reconstructs previously learned material

Confabulation

The act of filling in memory gaps

Schemas

Conceptual frameworks a person uses to make sense of the world

Eidetic memory

The ability to remember with great accuracy visual information on the basis of short-term exposure

Elaborative rehearsal

The linking of new information to material that is already known

Metacognition

The awareness of or thinking about one’s own cognitive process

Heuristic

A rule of thumb problem solving strategy