Unit 6- Learning

key words and phrases from chapter 6 of the textbook what is psychology? by Pastorino and doyle-portillo

cognition

the way in which we use and store information in memory

learning

a relatively permanent change in behavior, or behavior potential, as a result of experience

memory

the storage, processing, and retrieval of information in the mind

language

a well developed, syntactical verbal system for representing the world

intelligence

abilities that enable you to adapt to your environment and behave in a goal directed way

orienting reflex

the tendency of an organism to orient its senses toward unexpected stimuli

habituation

the tendency of an organism to ignore repeated stimuli

dishabituation

re responding to a stimulus to which one has been habituated

unconditioned stimulus

a stimulus that naturally elicits a response in an organism

unconditioned response (ur)

the response that is elicited by an unconditioned stimulus

neutral stimulus

a stimulus that does not naturally elicit the unconditioned response in an organism

what is the ur for the following us: a puff of air to the eye

eye blink

what is the ur for the following us: ingestion of a toxin

nausea

what is the ur for the following us: being stuck with a needle

flinching away from the needle

what is the ur for the following us: sour food placed on the tongue

salivation

what is the ur for the following us: a light shone in the eye

pupil constricts

what is the ur for the following us: a firm tap to the knee

knee jerk reflex

conditioned reflex (cs)

a stimulus that elicits a conditioned response in an organism

conditioned response (cr)

the response that is elicited by a conditioned stimulus

classical conditioning

learning that occurs when a neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus, because of this pairing, the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus with the same power as the unconditioned stimulus to elicit the response is the organism

contiguity

the degree to which two stimuli occur close together in time

contingency

the degree to which the presentation of one stimulus reliably predicts the presentation of the other stimulus

forward (delayed) conditioning

cs omnes first but continues until the us starts, conditioning occurs readily

forward (trace) conditioning

cs comes first, ends before start of us, conditioning occurs readily but response is somewhat weak

forward trace conditioning with longer delay

conditioning is weaker

simultaneous conditioning

cs and us co occur, in most cases conditioning is weak or hard to demonstrate

backward conditioning

cs follows us, after a few repetitions, cs becomes inhibitory (a signal for a time of absence of the us, aka they learn the us is not coming now) and conditioning is weak

stimulus generalization

responding in a like fashion to similar stimuli

stimulus discrimination

responding only to a particular stimulus

taste aversion

classical conditioning that occurs when an organism pairs the experience of nausea with a certain food and becomes conditioned to feel ill at the sight, smell, or idea of the food

biological preparedness

a genetic tendency to learn certain responses very easily

extinction

the removal of a cr

acquisition

the process of learning a conditioned response or behavior

aversion therapy

a type of therapy that uses classical conditioning to condition people to avoid certain stimuli

spontaneous recovery

during extinction, the tendency for a cr to reappear and strengthen over a brief period of time before re extinguishing

operant conditioning

a type of learning in which the organism learns through the consequences of its behavior

law of effect

a principle discovered by e l thorndike, which states that behaviors that lead to positive consequences will be strengthened and behaviors that lead to negative consequences will be weakened

reinforcement

the strengthening of a response that occurs when the response is reqarded

positive reinforcement

strengthening a behavior by adding something pleasant to the environment of the organismn

negative reinforcement

strengthening a behavior by removing something unpleasant from the environment of the organism

punishment

the weakening of a response that occurs when a behavior leads to an unpleasant consequence

positive punishment

weakening a behavior by adding something unpleasant to the organisms environment

negative punishment

weakening a behavior by removing something pleasant from the organisms environment

skinner box

device created by b f skinner to study operant behavioral in a compressed time frame, in a skinner box, an organism is automatically rewarded or punished for engaging in certain behaviors

extinction burst

a temporary increase in a behavioral response that occurs immediately after extinction has begun

schedule of reinforcement

the frequency and timing of the reinforcements that an organism receives

continuous reinforcement

a schedule of reinforcement in which the organism is rewarded for every instance of the desired response

partial reinforcement

a schedule of reinforcement in which the organism is rewarded for only some instances of the desired response

fixed ratio schedule

a schedule of reinforcement of reinforcement in which the organism is rewarded for every xth instance of the desired response

variable ratio schedule

a schedine of reinforcement in which the organism is rewarded on average for every xth instance of the desired response

fixed interval schedule

a schedule of reinforcement in which the organism is rewarded for the first desired response after an xth interval of time

variable interval schedule

a schedule of reinforcement in which the organism is rewarded for the first desired response in an average xth interval of time

continuous reinforcement results

(every time) high rates of responding but the quickest extinction

ratio vs interval schedules of reinforcement results

ratio schedules lead to higher rates of response than interval schedules do

variable (vs fixed) schedules of reinforcement results

variable reinforcement leads to behaviors that are the most resistant to extinction

what is the most efficient style of reinforcement?

variable ratio schedule of reinforcement

shaping

using operant conditioning to build a new behavior in an organism by rewarding successive approximations of the desired outcome

primary reinforcer

a reinforcer that is reinforcing in and of itself

secondary reinforcer

a reinforcer that is reinforcing only because it leads to a primary reinforcer

token economy

a system of operant conditioning in which participants are reinforced with tokens that can later be cashed in for primary reinforcers

behaviorism

a school of thought in psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behavior over the study of the mind

insight

a sudden realization about how to solve a problem that occurs after an organism has studied the problem for a period of time

latent learning

learning that cannot be directly observed in an organisms behavior

cognitive map

a mental representation of the environment that is formed through observation of ones environment

observation learning

learning through observation and imitation of others behavior

who discovered classical conditioning and how?

Ivan Pavlov while studying salivation in dogs