Learning and Conditioning Lecture Review

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts from the lecture on learning, including definitions for classical conditioning, operant conditioning, biological predispositions, latent learning, and observational learning.

Learning

The acquisition of new information or behaviors through experience.

Associations

The understanding that two events go together, a fundamental part of how we learn.

Conditioning

The process of learning associations between events.

Behaviorism

A theoretical position that the goal of psychology should be to study only observable behaviors and explain them through learning principles, without needing to understand mental processes.

Free Will (Behaviorist View)

The idea that conscious thought determines our outcomes; behaviorists suggest we have less free will and are primarily reacting to our environment based on past and expected reinforcements.

Classical Conditioning

A type of learning, also known as Pavlovian conditioning, where an organism learns to associate two stimuli, resulting in a naturally occurring response to the second stimulus being triggered by the first.

Operant Conditioning

A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcement, or diminished if followed by punishment.

Observational Learning

Learning that is done by observing and imitating the behavior of others.

Ivan Pavlov

Russian medical doctor and physiologist who discovered classical conditioning through his studies on digestive secretions in dogs.

Reflex

A naturally occurring response to something that is not typically consciously controlled, often the starting point for classical conditioning.

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that initially evokes no specific response, but is paired with an unconditioned stimulus in classical conditioning.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

The stimulus that unconditionally (naturally and automatically) triggers a response.

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

The unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response.

Conditioned Response (CR)

The learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus.

Acquisition (Classical Conditioning)

The initial stage of learning during which a response is established and gradually strengthened.

Extinction (Classical Conditioning)

The diminishing or weakening of the conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous Recovery (Classical Conditioning)

The sudden reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished conditioned response.

Generalization (Classical Conditioning)

The tendency, once a conditioned stimulus comes to trigger a conditioned response, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to evoke similar responses.

Discrimination (Classical Conditioning)

The ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.

Thorndike

An early researcher who explored how the consequences of behavior affect learning.

Law of Effect

Thorndike's principle stating that rewarded behavior is likely to recur.

B.F. Skinner

Psychologist who elaborated on Thorndike's Law of Effect and developed technology, such as the operant chamber, to study operant conditioning.

Operant Chamber (Skinner Box)

A soundproof chamber with a bar or key an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer, used to study operant conditioning.

Reinforcer

Any thing or event that encourages or strengthens a behavior.

Positive Reinforcer

Encourages behavior by giving something desirable (e.g., money, praise, food).

Negative Reinforcer

Encourages behavior by taking away something undesirable (e.g., taking ibuprofen for a headache, putting on a seatbelt to stop a buzzing sound).

Punishment

An aversive thing or event that decreases or weakens a behavior.

Schedules of Reinforcement

The frequency with which behavior is reinforced in operant conditioning.

Continuous Reinforcement Schedule

Reinforcing the desired response each time the behavior occurs, leading to rapid learning but also rapid extinction.

Partial Reinforcement Schedule

Reinforcement that does not occur each time behavior occurs, resulting in slower acquisition but slower extinction.

Ratio Schedule

A type of partial reinforcement where reinforcement happens after a certain number of responses.

Interval Schedule

A type of partial reinforcement where reinforcement happens after a certain time period.

Fixed Schedule

A type of partial reinforcement where reinforcement happens after a set number of responses or a set time period.

Variable Schedule

A type of partial reinforcement where reinforcement happens after an unpredictable number of responses or an unpredictable time period.

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

Responses are reinforced after a specific number of responses (e.g., factory workers paid for every 5 widgets).

Variable-Ratio Schedule

Responses are reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses (e.g., slot machines), producing a very high and consistent rate of responding.

Fixed-Interval Schedule

Responses are reinforced after a specific time has elapsed (e.g., checking a weekly blog), typically leading to a burst of activity near the expected time of reinforcement.

Variable-Interval Schedule

Responses are reinforced after an unpredictable time period (e.g., checking email for messages from friends), producing slow and steady responding.

Acquisition (Operant Conditioning)

The time during which behaviors become associated with reinforcements or punishments.

Extinction (Operant Conditioning)

The time during which behaviors are no longer associated with reinforcements or punishments.

Spontaneous Recovery (Operant Conditioning)

The return of an association at a later point after it has been extinguished, such as holding out hope for a behavior to be rewarded when rewards were long ago extinguished.

Biological Predispositions

The innate tendency for animals (including humans) to be especially sensitive to certain associations, such as rapid development of taste aversions or fears of specific animals, due to evolutionary survival.

Taste Aversion

A strong and often long-lasting dislike for a particular food, which can develop with even one negative pairing due to biological predispositions.

Latent Learning

Learning that occurs without obvious reinforcement and only becomes apparent when there is an incentive to demonstrate it.

Cognitive Map

A mental representation of the layout of one's environment, often formed through latent learning.

Modeling

The process of observing and imitating behavior, a key component of observational learning.

Bandura

Psychologist famous for his work on observational learning and the 'Bobo doll' study, demonstrating how children learn aggression by imitating others.

Bobo Doll Study

An experiment by Bandura demonstrating that children who observed aggressive behavior towards a Bobo doll were more likely to imitate that aggression compared to a control group.