CH 6 learning

reflexes

motor or neural reactions to a specific stimulus in the environment

instincts

innate behaviors that are triggered by a broader range or events

learning

relatively permanent change in behavior/knowledge that results from experience

associate learning

when an organism makes connections between stimuli or events that occur together in the environment

classical conditioning

process by which we learn to associate stimuli and consequently, to anticipate events

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

stimulus that elicits a reflexive response in an organism

unconditioned response (UCR)

a natural (unlearned) reaction to a given stimulus

neutral stimulus (NS)

stimulus that does not naturally elicit a response

conditioned stimulus (CS)

stimulus that elicits a response after repeatedly being paired with an unconditioned stimulus

conditioned response (CR)

behavior caused by the conditioned stimulus

higher order/second order conditioning

using a conditioned stimulus to condition another stimulus

acquisition

when an organisms learns to connect a neural stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus

extinction

decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus

spontaneous recovery

return of previously extinguished conditioned response following a rest period

stimulus discrimination

when an organism learns to respond differently to various stimuli that are similar

stimulus generalization

when an organism demonstrates the conditioned response to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus

operant conditioning

organisms learn to associate a behavior and its consequence

law of effect

behaviors that are followed by consequences that are satisfying to the organism are more likely to be repeated, and behaviors that are followed by unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated

positive reinforcement

something is added to increase the likelihood of a behavior

negative reinforcement

something is removed to increase the likelihood of a behavior

positive punishment

something is added to decrease the likelihood of a behavior

negative punishment

something is removed to decrease the likelihood of a behavior

shaping

rewarding successive approximations of a target behavior

primary reinforcer

have innate reinforcing qualities, these are not learned

secondary reinforcer

has no inherent value and only has reinforcing qualities when linked with a primary reinforcer

continuous reinforcement

when an organism receives a reinforcer each time it displays a behavior

partial/intermittent reinforcement

not getting reinforcement every time desired behavior is performed

cognitive map

mental picture

latent learning

learning that occurs but is not observable in behavior until there is a reason to demonstrate it

observational learning

learning by watching other and then imitating or modeling what they do or say