Behavioral Psychology

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior resulting from practice, training, or experience.

Classical Conditioning

A process in which a previously neutral stimulus becomes capable of eliciting a response due to its association with a stimulus that automatically produces a similar response.

What are some features of Classical Conditioning?

Reflexes, focus on antecedent events, based on individual learning two things go together

Who discovered classical conditioning?

Ivan Pavlov

Neutral Stimulus

A stimulus that does not elicit a response.

What is a neutral response in terms of Pavlov’s dog experiment?

Bell sound

Unconditioned Stimulus

A stimulus that automatically elicits a response without prior learning.

What is an unconditioned stimulus in terms of Pavlov’s dog experiment?

Food

Unconditioned Response

The response that occurs automatically to the unconditioned stimulus.

What is an unconditioned response in terms of Pavlov’s dog experiment?

Salivation to the food

Conditioned Stimulus

A previously neutral stimulus that, by pairing with the unconditioned stimulus, elicits a conditioned response.

What is a conditioned stimulus in terms of Pavlov’s dog experiment?

Bell

Conditioned Response

The response that occurs to the conditioned stimulus.

What is a conditioned response in terms of Pavlov’s Dog experiment?

Salivation to the bell

Stimulus Generalization

The process whereby stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus also elicit a conditioned response.

What is stimulus generalization in terms of Pavlov’s dog experiment?

A similar bell ringing sound

Stimulus Discrimination

The process whereby an organism learns to differentiate between two similar stimuli.

Extinction

The gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is no longer followed by the unconditioned stimulus.

Flooding

A technique in which a person is exposed to the feared stimulus until anxiety decreases.

Systematic Desensitization

A behavior therapy technique that conditions relaxation competing with anxiety to stimuli that cause anxiety.

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT)

Includes modifying maladaptive thoughts and behaviors to replace anxious responses with healthy coping responses.

Who directed the Little Albert experiment?

John Watson

In terms of anxiety and behavior, what makes anxiety worse?

Avoidance

Habituation

Occurs when a child is in the presence of the feared stimulus for long periods, leading to decreased anxiety over time.

Operant Learning Perspective

Anxiety and avoidance may be positively reinforced in child’s environment

What is a cognitive feature of children with a high self efficacy for coping?

They believe they can cope with a feared object

What maladaptive cognitive biases do children with anxiety display?

Low evals of competency to cope with danger, High probability of negative outcomes, more likely to attend emotionally threatening stimuli.

Anxious children often have anxious parents which stems from

Genetic impact and anxious modeling

Parents of children with anxiety are theorized to be

More over-controlling/overprotective and more rejecting/less warm

What are the 4 parts of the Coping Cat program?

Psychoeducation and Skill-building, practice, parent involvement, and school involvement (if necessary)

What makes up part 1 of the coping cat program?

Rapport building, psychoeducation, skill-building, coping skills, learn signs of anxiety, FEAR plan

What makes up Part 2 of the Coping Cat program?

Exposure to anxiety provoking situations, gradual and repetitive, collaboration, preparation, processing exposure

What is key to treating anxiety?

Exposure and Response prevention

What is Operant Conditioning?

The arrangement of environmental variables to establish a functional relationship between a voluntary behavior and its consequences

What does operant conditioning focus on?

Voluntary behavior and the consequences that follow that behavior which either make that behavior less or more likely to occur in the future

What is a Response?

Any observable or measurable act; what a person says or does

What is an antecedent?

A stimulus or event that proceeds a behavior

Discriminative Stimulus

An antecedent event that signals that a behavior will be reinforced.

What is an example of a discriminative stimulus?

A school bell ringing signals a child to go home

Establishing Operation

A variable that temporarily alters the effectiveness of a reinforcer

What is an example of an Establishing Operation?

Drinking fluids and exercising heavily for a period of time are EOs for increasing the effectiveness of water as a reinforcer

What is a consequence?

A stimulus or event that occurs immediately after the behavior

Positive Reinforcement

The presentation of a stimulus following a response that increases the future probability of the response.

Negative Reinforcement

The removal of an aversive stimulus following a response, increasing the future probability of the response.

Positive Punishment

The presentation of an aversive stimulus following a response, decreasing the future probability of the response.

Negative Punishment

The removal of a stimulus (reinforcer) following a response, decreasing the future probability of the response.

Fixed Ratio Schedule

When a behavior is reinforced after a fixed number of occurrences.

An example of a fixed ration schedule

Reinforce a behavior every time it happens or every 3rd or 5th time it happens (FR1, FR3, FR5)

Variable Ratio Schedule

When a behavior is reinforced after an average number of responses.

Example of Variable Ratio Schedule

Slot machine

Fixed Ration and variable ratio schedules are both schedules based on what?

Responses

Fixed Interval Schedule

When a behavior is reinforced after a fixed amount of time.

Variable Interval Schedule

When a behavior is reinforced after an average interval of time.

Fixed Interval and Variable Interval schedules are both schedules based on what?

Time

Extinction Burst

A phenomenon where behavior temporarily increases in frequency, duration, or intensity when it is no longer reinforced.