Unit 3.6-3.9 - Development & Learning

What is the ecological system theory? Who created it?

Developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner, it explains how a child’s development is shaped by the environments around them using five nested systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.

What is stranger anxiety? When does it begin?

It is the fear infants commonly display when they encounter a stranger. It begins by 8 months old.

What is attachment?

It’s an emotional tie with others, like young people seeking closeness to their parents.

What is imprinting?

When certain animals/humans form strong attachments during early life.

For example, after birth or hatching, the newborn follows another animal that it recognizes or marks as its mother

What is a “strange situation”?

It’s a way of studying how children respond to the presence of an unfamiliar caregiver and their reactions to separation and reunion.

(child is left in a room, parent leaves, a stranger enters, scientists observe how the child reacts, then the parent comes back in)

What is secure attachment?

It’s a strong emotional bond infants have where they explore their environment openly without worrying about their parent’s present.

What is insecure attachment?

When infants get extreme anxiety or a clinging behavior towards their parents when they are left to explore the world.

What is basic trust?

It is a sense that th world is predictable and trustworthy according to infants.

What is self-concept?

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves. It answers the question “who am I?”

What is identity?

It’s our sense of self including our personal attributes, beliefs, and values.

What is social identity?

The “we” aspect of oru self concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?”

What is emerging adulthood?

A person from 18-mid 20s where people are no longer adolescents but aren’t yet fully indepedent.

What is the social clock?

The culturally referred timing of social events like marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

What is habituation?

The decreased responsiveness with repeated stimulation.

What is associative learning?

It’s learning that involves putting certain events together. This can include forming associations between stimuli and responses, such as classical and operant conditioning.

What is respondent behavior?

It’s behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus. (like seeing lightning and bracing ourselves to hear the thunder)

What is operant behavior?

It’s behavior that operates on the enviornment and produces a response. For example, a child learns to say "please" to receive a cookie and eventually learns to say please to anything to get something “good.”

What is cognitive learning?

A type of learning that involves learning mental information either through observing events, by watching others, etc.

What is classical conditioning?

A type of learning where we link two or stimuli together and the first stimulus eventually becomes a trigger for the second stimulus response.

(think unconditioned stimulus eventually becomes a conditioned response etc, remember that long worksheet).

What is higher-order conditioning?

When the conditioned stimulus in one experiement is paried with another neutral tstimulus, creating a second conditioned stimulus.

For example, an animal that learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone.

What is extinction in classical conditioning?

It is the diminishing of a conditioned response when that conditioned stimulus stops being repeated in some fashion.

What is spontaneous recovery?

It is the reappearance, after a pause, of a weakened conditioned response.

What is generalization?

It’s when stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus produce similar responses.

What is discrimination in classical conditioning?

It’s the ability to distinguish between different stimuli, responding only to the conditioned stimulus and not to similar stimuli.

What does preparedness mean?

The biological sense of learning associations, like a difference between taste and nausea.

What is operant conditioning?

A type of learning where a behavior becomes more likely to occur if it is reinforced or less likely to occur if it is punished.

What is reinforcement?

It’s any event that STRENGTHENS the behavior it follows.

What is shaping in operant conditioning?

It’s a procedure where the reinforcers GUIDE behavior toward a closer and closer desired one.

What is a discriminiative stimulus?

It’s a stimulus that elicits a reponse after association with reinforcement. For example, a specific cue that signals the availability of reinforcement for a particular behavior.

What is positive reinforcement?

It’s the addition of a rewarding stimulus following a desired behavior, increasing the likelihood of that behavior being repeated. (like you are given something to continue that behavior)

What is negative reinforcement?

It increases behavior by stopping or reducing an aversive stimulus. For example, taking painkillers to end pain or fastening a seatbelt to end loud beeping.

What is a primary reinforcer?

A stimulus that satisfies a basic biological need, such as food or water, thereby reinforcing behavior without prior learning.

What is a conditioned reinforcer?

A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through association with a primary reinforcer, such as food.

For example, money is a conditioned reinforcer because it can be exchanged for various primary reinforcers like food or shelter.

What is a reinforcement schedule?

A pattern that defines how often a desired repsonse will be reinforced. For example, potty training a child allows the child to get a reward but only on a fixed pattern (when they have to use the bathroom).

What is a continuous reinforcement schedule?

Involves reinforcing the desired repsonse every time it occurs. For example, a child receives a sticker for every correct answer on a homework assignment.

What is a partial (intermitten) reinforcement schedule? What is the benefit of it?

A schedule that reinforces a response only some of the time, leading to a slower acquisition of response but greater resistance to extinction. For example, a salesperson only earns money via commissions (how many cars they sell).

What is a fixed-ratio schedule?

It delivers a reward after a specified number of responses. For example, a worker receives a bonus after every fifth sale made.

What is a variable-ratio schedule?

It delivers a reward after an unpredictable number of responses, leading to high rates of response. For example, a gambler wins after a random number of bets placed. VERY ADDICTIVE

What is a fixed-interval schedule?

It provides rewards after a specified amount of time has passed, encouraging responses as the time for the reward approaches. For example, a paycheck received every two weeks.

What is a variable-interval schedule?

It delivers rewards after varying amounts of time, resulting in consistent responses. For example, receiving a bonus at unpredictable times.

What is a punishment?

An event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows.

What is instinctive drift?

The tendency that learned behaviors revert BACK to their biological ones.

What is a cognitive map?

A mental representation of someone’s environment. For rexample, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it.

What is latent learning?

Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it. For example, a child may learn how to solve a puzzle by watching others but only shows this knowledge when rewarded.

What is insight learning?

Solving problems through sudden insights (like “A-ha!” moments).

What is modeling?

The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior.