Learning and Conditioning Concepts

A collection of flashcards covering key concepts and terms from the lecture on learning and conditioning.

Learning

A change in behaviour or thought as a result of experience.

Behaviourism

The study of learning through processes of conditioning, focusing on specific experiences that lead to learning.

Conditioned Response (CR)

An automatic or involuntary reaction developed through conditioning.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without prior learning.

Unconditioned Response (UR)

The natural reaction to an unconditioned stimulus.

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that initially produces no specific response but can become a conditioned stimulus after association with an unconditioned stimulus.

Classical Conditioning

A learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

A method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior.

Reinforcement

Consequences that increase the likelihood of a behavior occurring.

Punishment

Consequences that decrease the likelihood of a behavior occurring.

Extinction Procedures

Methods to get rid of a conditioned response by repeatedly presenting the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus.

Observational Learning

Learning that occurs through observing the behaviors of others.

Hebbian Learning

A theory that proposes an increase in the synaptic strength arises from the repeated and persistent stimulation of one neuron by another.

Synapse

The junction between two nerve cells where signals are transmitted.