Psychology Unit 4

Ivan Pavlov

Coined classical conditioning

Pavlov’s Dogs

Experiment where dogs were classically conditioned to salivate at a bell ringing

Classical Conditioning

Process wherre stimulus elicits a once-neutral response

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

Stimulus that naturally causes a specific response

Unconditioned Response (UR)

Response naturally caused by a stimulus

Neutral Stimulus

Stimulus that has no prior response connection

Conditioned Stimulus

Neutral stimulus paired with US, that causes a desired response when represented alone

Conditioned Response

A response that is caused by the CS alone

Stimulus Generalization

Same response to general stimuluses

Stimulus Discrimination

Specific response to a specific stimulus

Extinction

Complete stop of response to a stimulus

Spontaneous Recovery

Response to a once-extinct stimulus

John Watson

Studied classical conditioning in humans

Watson’s Baby Experiment

Baby was conditioned to be scared of a white rat due to being yelled at when the white rat was around

Mary Cover Jones

First behavioral therapist; developed counterconditioning to unlearn fears

Joseph Wolpe

Developed desensitization therapy to treat anxiety

Operant Conditioning

Learning behavior through punishments/reinforcements

Thorndike’s Puzzle Box

Experiment where a cat learned how to escape a cage through pulleys

BF Skinner

Coined operant conditioning

Skinner Box

Experiment where a rat learned to get food through punishments and reinforcements in a box with buttons on it

Positive Reinforcements

Encourages behavior with added pleasant stimuli

Negative Reinforcements

Encourages behavior with unpleasant stimuli taken away

Positive Punishments

Discourages behavior with added unpleasant stimuli

Negative Punishments

Discourages behavior with pleasant stimuli taken away

Fixed Ratio

Reinforcement/punishment after set amount of responses

Variable Ratio

Reinforcement/punishment after varied amounts of responses

Fixed Interval

Reinforcement/punishment after set amount of time

Variable Interval

Reinforcement/punishment after varied amounts of time

Learned Helplessness

Acceptance that one is unable to change an event

Seligman and Maier Dog Study

Experiment where dogs learned helplessness by giving up trying to escape shocks when not given an easy option to stop the shocks

Latent Learning

Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

Insight Learning

A sudden realization of a problem’s solution

Observational Learning

Learning through actions by role model

Bobo Doll Study

Showed strong observational learning when children treated a doll violently when an adult did the same