Learning and thinking part 1

Nativist

a person who believes that knowledge and abilities are mostly inborn rather than learned through experience. Example: someone who believes babies are born already understanding basic physics, like knowing objects fall when dropped

Empiricist

a person who believes that knowledge comes primarily from experience, observation, and the senses rather than being built in. Example: John Locke arguing that a newborn learns everything about the world only after birth

Tabula rasa

the idea that the mind starts as a blank slate at birth and is shaped entirely by experience. Example: a child raised in a specific culture absorbing that culture's language and values purely through exposure

Dualism

the idea that the mind and body are two separate substances that interact with each other. Example: Descartes arguing that your thoughts exist separately from your physical brain

Hedonism

the idea that behavior is driven by the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. Example: choosing to eat dessert because it feels good, even though you know it is not the healthiest option

Methodological Behaviorism

an approach that says psychologists should study only observable, measurable behavior and should ignore unobservable internal events like thoughts. Example: a researcher recording only how many times a rat presses a lever, not guessing what the rat is thinking

Neobehaviorism

an approach that says internal events, like hunger or fatigue, can influence behavior and can be operationalized even though they cannot be directly observed. Example: measuring hunger by hours since last meal to explain why an animal works harder for food

Cognitive Behaviorism

an approach that says behavior is the result of goal directed problem solving and planning, not just stimulus response chains. Example: Tolman's rats forming a mental map of a maze rather than just memorizing turns

Social Learning Theory

the idea that people learn new behaviors by observing and imitating others, without needing to perform the behavior themselves first. Example: a child learning to tie their shoes by watching a parent do it repeatedly

Radical Behaviorism

an approach that says overt behavior is influenced primarily by the environment, even though thoughts and feelings exist and interact with it. Example: Skinner explaining a person's shyness mainly through their history of social rewards and punishments rather than personality traits

Reflex

an unlearned, automatic response that occurs the very first time a stimulus is presented, with no learning required. Example: your leg kicking out when a doctor taps your knee

Unconditioned Stimulus

a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without any prior learning. Example: the smell of food naturally making your mouth water

Unconditioned Response

the automatic, unlearned reaction produced by an unconditioned stimulus. Example: salivating the moment food touches your tongue

Conditioned Stimulus

a stimulus that was originally neutral but comes to trigger a response after being repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus. Example: a dog learning to associate the sound of a can opener with mealtime

Conditioned Response

a learned reaction produced by a conditioned stimulus after enough pairings have occurred. Example: a dog salivating just from hearing the can opener, before any food appears

Distributed Practice

a study method where you spread learning out across several separate sessions over time instead of cramming it all at once. Example: studying for an hour every night for a week instead of doing one seven hour session the night before the test

Interleaving

a study method where you mix up different topics or problem types during a study session instead of focusing on only one at a time. Example: alternating between practice problems on classical conditioning and operant conditioning in the same study block

Chunking

grouping related pieces of information together into a larger unit so they are easier to remember. Example: remembering a phone number as three chunks of digits instead of ten separate numbers

Elaboration

deepening your understanding of new material by connecting it to things you already know or have experienced. Example: relating the concept of extinction to your own experience of a habit fading once you stopped getting rewarded for it

Retrieval Practice

a study method where you actively test yourself on material without looking at your notes, rather than just rereading them. Example: covering your notes and trying to write out the steps of classical conditioning from memory

Overlearning

continuing to practice or study material even after it feels like you have already mastered it, to make the memory more durable. Example: still running through flashcards a few extra times after you have answered every one correctly

Stimulus

anything in the environment that causes an organism to respond. Example: a loud alarm going off is a stimulus that makes you jump

Response

the reaction that follows and is caused by a stimulus. Example: jumping is the response to the alarm going off

Overt Behavior

a behavior that can be directly seen or observed by another person. Example: someone visibly crying

Covert Behavior

a behavior that cannot be directly observed by others and can only be measured indirectly, often through self report. Example: someone silently feeling anxious before a test, which can only be measured by asking them how they feel

Appetitive Stimulus

something an organism finds desirable and is willing to work in order to get. Example: a dog will perform tricks to earn a treat

Aversive Stimulus

something an organism finds unpleasant and will work to avoid or escape. Example: a rat will press a lever to turn off a mild electric shock

Motivating Operation

a condition that temporarily changes how appetitive or aversive a stimulus is, and therefore changes how hard an organism will work for it. Example: not eating all day makes food much more appetitive than it would be right after a big meal

Deprivation

going without access to something for a period of time, which usually increases how appetitive that thing becomes. Example: not drinking water for hours makes a sip of water feel extremely rewarding

Satiation

having had plenty of something recently, which usually decreases how appetitive that thing is. Example: after eating a huge meal, dessert seems far less appealing than it would on an empty stomach

Operational Definition

a definition that states exactly how a concept will be measured or produced in a study, in specific observable terms. Example: defining "a good movie" as one that at least 80 percent of surveyed viewers rate 4 stars or higher, instead of just saying it "feels good"

Rate

a measure of behavior found by dividing the frequency of a behavior by the amount of time it occurred in. Example: Joey Chestnut eating 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes works out to a rate of 7.6 hot dogs per minute

Duration

the total length of time a behavior lasts, calculated as the stop time minus the start time. Example: timing how many minutes a toddler cries during a tantrum

Topography

the specific physical form, sequence, or style in which a behavior is carried out. Example: describing exactly how someone chews their food, including utensils used and number of bites

Interval Recording

a method where an observation period is divided into equal intervals and the observer notes whether a behavior occurred at all during each interval. Example: checking every 10 minutes during a 2 hour recess period whether any aggressive behavior happened in that interval

Time Sampling

a method where behavior is observed only during brief sampled periods spread out across a much longer overall timeframe, and those samples are used to estimate the whole. Example: observing a classroom for 10 minutes once a week all year to estimate how aggressive the class is overall

Speed

a measure of behavior found by dividing distance traveled by the time it took. Example: measuring how many miles per hour a runner covers during a race

Latency

the amount of time that passes between a stimulus being presented and the response that follows it. Example: measuring how many seconds pass between an alarm going off and a sleeping person turning it off

Intensity

the magnitude, strength, or force of a response. Example: measuring how many pounds of pressure a rat applies when pressing a lever

Reactivity

a change in the way someone behaves simply because they know they are being observed or recorded. Example: a student behaving unusually well in class only on the day they know they are being evaluated

Naturalistic Observation

a research method where behavior is watched and recorded in its natural setting without the researcher interfering. Example: Jane Goodall observing chimpanzees in the wild without altering their environment

Case Study

a detailed, in depth investigation of one individual or a small group, often used when a situation is rare or unique. Example: the famous case of Phineas Gage, studied in depth after a rod passed through his skull and changed his personality

Independent Variable

the factor that a researcher deliberately manipulates or makes different between groups in an experiment. Example: whether or not students have access to a teaching assistant

Dependent Variable

the factor that a researcher measures to see whether it was affected by the independent variable. Example: students' exam scores in a study on whether having a teaching assistant helps performance

Random Assignment

the process of placing participants into experimental groups purely by chance, to help make sure the groups start out similar. Example: flipping a coin to decide whether each student gets a tutor or not

Factorial Design

an experimental design that includes more than one independent variable at the same time. Example: a study looking at both amount of sleep and amount of caffeine together to see their combined effect on test performance

Single Subject Design

a research design that studies the behavior of one individual over time, usually comparing a baseline period to a treatment period. Example: tracking one child's number of tantrums before and after a new behavior plan is introduced

Baseline

the period during which a behavior is measured before any treatment or intervention has been introduced, used as a point of comparison. Example: recording how many cigarettes someone smokes per day for two weeks before starting a quit plan

Reversal Design

a single subject design where treatment is applied, then removed to see if behavior returns to baseline, and often reapplied again to confirm the treatment caused the change. Example: introducing a reward system for a child's chores, removing it to see if chores drop off, then bringing it back

Multiple Baseline Design

a single subject design where a treatment is introduced at different times across different people, settings, or behaviors to demonstrate its effect. Example: introducing a new study technique to one subject at a time, a week apart, to show grades improve only after the technique starts for each person

Changing Criterion Design

a single subject design where the goal or standard for a behavior is gradually raised or lowered in steps over time. Example: gradually increasing the number of push ups required each week as part of a fitness plan

Reflex Arc

the neural pathway that a reflex travels along, running from a sensory neuron to an interneuron to a motor neuron, often without involving the brain. Example: your hand pulling away from a hot stove before you consciously register the pain

Fixed Action Pattern

an unlearned, stereotyped sequence of behaviors that is triggered by a specific stimulus and always plays out the same way once started. Example: a spider building its web in the same fixed sequence of movements every time

Sign Stimulus

the specific feature of a stimulus that is responsible for triggering a fixed action pattern. Example: the red belly of a male stickleback fish triggering an attack response in another male

Supernormal Stimulus

an artificial or exaggerated version of a sign stimulus that produces an even stronger response than the natural version would. Example: a bird preferring to sit on an oversized fake egg instead of its own smaller real egg

Habituation

a decrease in the strength of a response after a stimulus has been presented repeatedly. Example: no longer noticing the hum of a refrigerator after living in the same apartment for a while

Sensitization

an increase in the strength of a response after a stimulus has been presented repeatedly, often due to it being intense or threatening. Example: becoming jumpy and reacting strongly to any sudden noise after hearing a loud explosion nearby

Dishabituation

the sudden return of a habituated response after a new, different stimulus is introduced. Example: no longer reacting to a ticking clock, but jumping again when it ticks right after a loud knock at the door

Spontaneous Recovery

the reappearance of a response that had faded due to habituation or extinction, after a period of rest with no stimulus presented. Example: a dog that stopped responding to a doorbell sound returning to react again after being away from the house for a week

Opponent Process Theory

a theory stating that an initial emotional reaction is automatically followed by an opposite reaction that brings the body back toward baseline, with the opposing reaction growing stronger and faster with repeated experience. Example: the intense high of a first time skydiver being followed by a wave of relief and calm afterward, with veteran skydivers feeling less initial fear and more of the calm afterglow

Conditioned Emotional Response

a learned emotional reaction, most often fear, produced through classical conditioning. Example: a person feeling a rush of anxiety just from hearing a dentist's drill sound, even in an unrelated setting

Suppression Ratio

a measurement of conditioned fear based on how much an ongoing behavior, like lever pressing, slows down when a feared conditioned stimulus is presented. Example: a rat pressing a lever far less often while a tone that predicts shock is playing

Inhibitory Conditioning

a type of learning where an organism learns that a particular stimulus signals the unconditioned stimulus will not occur. Example: learning that a green light on a dryer means it will not shock you if touched, unlike when the light is off

Excitatory CS

a stimulus that has been conditioned to signal that the unconditioned stimulus will occur, often labeled CS plus. Example: a tone that reliably comes right before a shock in an experiment

Inhibitory CS

a stimulus that has been conditioned to signal that the unconditioned stimulus will not occur, often labeled CS minus. Example: a light that reliably means no shock is coming, which reduces fear when it appears

Delayed Conditioning

a timing arrangement in classical conditioning where the neutral stimulus begins first and is still present when the unconditioned stimulus starts. Example: a tone starting a few seconds before food is delivered and staying on until the food arrives

Trace Conditioning

a timing arrangement where the neutral stimulus is presented and ends completely before the unconditioned stimulus begins, leaving a gap between them. Example: a bell rings and stops, and then a few seconds later food is delivered

Simultaneous Conditioning

a timing arrangement where the neutral stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are presented at exactly the same time. Example: a tone playing at the exact same moment that food is delivered

Backward Conditioning

a timing arrangement where the unconditioned stimulus is presented before the neutral stimulus, which is generally the weakest form of conditioning. Example: food being delivered first and only afterward does a tone play

Pseudoconditioning

a response that looks like classical conditioning has occurred but is actually caused by general sensitization rather than a true learned association. Example: an animal reacting fearfully to a harmless light not because it was paired with a shock, but simply because it is on edge from having been recently shocked by something else

Temporal Conditioning

a form of classical conditioning where the time of day itself becomes the conditioned stimulus because unconditioned stimuli tend to occur at that same time. Example: a person automatically feeling a burst of energy around 10am each day because that is when they always have their coffee

Higher Order Conditioning

a process where a stimulus that has already been conditioned then acts like an unconditioned stimulus, allowing a brand new neutral stimulus to become conditioned by being paired with it. Example: a brand logo being paired with a celebrity you like, and then a new product paired with that logo starts to feel likable too

Sensory Preconditioning

a process where two neutral stimuli are paired together first, before one of them is later paired with an unconditioned stimulus, causing the other one to also produce a response. Example: seeing two coworkers hang out often, and then after one of them treats you badly, you start to feel wary of the other one too even though they never did anything

Overshadowing

when two stimuli are presented together but only the more intense or noticeable one ends up becoming the conditioned stimulus. Example: in a band, the lead singer getting associated with the band's sound while a quieter backup instrument goes unnoticed

Blocking

when a stimulus fails to become conditioned because it is introduced only after another stimulus has already been fully conditioned to predict the same outcome. Example: a tone is already conditioned to predict shock, and then a light is added alongside it, but the light never becomes conditioned because the tone already "explains" the shock

Latent Inhibition

when a stimulus that a person or animal is already very familiar with is harder to condition to a new outcome than a completely novel stimulus would be. Example: a strong first impression of someone being very difficult to change even after new, contradicting information comes in

Acquisition

the process of developing an association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus, essentially the learning phase of conditioning. Example: gradually starting to feel productive whenever a certain study playlist plays, after repeatedly listening to it while getting work done

Asymptote of Conditioning

the highest possible strength a conditioned response can reach, representing a plateau where further pairings do not increase the response further. Example: a dog trained to sit cannot sit "harder," so its response has hit its peak

Extinction

a gradual decrease in a conditioned response that happens because the conditioned stimulus is no longer being paired with the unconditioned stimulus. Example: a dog eventually stopping sitting on command after the command is repeated many times with no treat ever given again

Discrimination

the tendency, after conditioning, to respond to one specific conditioned stimulus but not to other similar stimuli. Example: a dog responding to one particular whistle tone as the "come here" signal but not to slightly different pitched whistles

Generalization

the tendency, after conditioning, to respond to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus, not just the exact one used in training. Example: Little Albert, conditioned to fear a white rat, later showing fear toward a white rabbit and a white fur coat as well

Aristotle

Greek philosopher (384 to 322 BCE) who was an empiricist and proposed the laws of association, saying ideas connect through contiguity, frequency, similarity, and contrast. Example: thinking of peanut butter automatically makes you think of jelly because the two are so often experienced together

Rene Descartes

philosopher (1596 to 1650) known for dualism, the idea that mind and body are separate, and for being a nativist who believed in innate ideas and reflexes. Example: arguing that basic reflexes are built in from birth rather than learned

Thomas Hobbes

philosopher (1588 to 1679) who argued the mind can produce voluntary behavior but can also work automatically like a reflex, and who is associated with hedonism. Example: explaining that people naturally chase pleasure and avoid pain, similar to how you instinctively pull your hand off a hot stove

John Locke

philosopher (1632 to 1704) and leading British Empiricist who proposed the idea of tabula rasa, that the mind is a blank slate at birth. Example: arguing that a baby has no built in knowledge and learns everything purely through experience

Weber and Fechner

physiologists from the 1800s known for Weber's Law and Fechner's Law, which describe a measurable relationship between the amount of physical energy in a stimulus and how strongly it is perceived. Example: noticing a small weight increase easily when lifting a light object, but needing a much bigger increase to notice a change when lifting something already heavy

Helmholtz

physiologist who studied the physical, material basis of the nervous system, including the speed of neural impulses and how color vision works. Example: measuring how fast a nerve signal travels from your hand to your brain when you touch something hot

Pierre Flourens

physiologist known for developing the lesion method, deliberately damaging parts of an animal's brain on purpose to see what function is lost. Example: removing part of an animal's brain in a lab to observe which specific behavior disappears afterward

Paul Broca

physiologist known for the clinical method, studying brain function by examining patients who had accidental damage or disease rather than causing it on purpose. Example: studying a patient who lost the ability to speak after a stroke to figure out what brain area controls language

Watson

psychologist associated with Methodological Behaviorism, the school of thought that says only observable, definable behaviors and environmental factors should be studied, while internal factors are ignored. Example: a Watson style researcher would only record what a child does, not speculate about what the child is feeling inside

Hull

psychologist associated with Neobehaviorism, the school of thought that internal events like physiology can mediate behavior and can be operationalized even without being directly observed. Example: measuring "hunger" indirectly through hours since last meal to explain why an animal works harder for food

Tolman

psychologist associated with Cognitive Behaviorism, the idea that behavior results from goal directed problem solving and planning rather than pure stimulus response habit. Example: his rats seeming to learn a mental map of a maze instead of just memorizing a fixed set of turns

Bandura

psychologist known for Social Learning Theory, the idea that people learn through observing and imitating others, with internal thoughts and feelings interacting with behavior and environment. Example: a child imitating aggressive behavior after watching an adult act aggressively toward a toy

Skinner

psychologist associated with Radical Behaviorism, the view that overt behavior is influenced primarily by the environment, even though internal events and behavior also affect the environment. Example: explaining a student's classroom behavior mainly by looking at what rewards and punishments they've experienced in that environment

Ebbinghaus

psychologist (1850 to 1909) famous for studying memory using nonsense syllables like CAZ, KIB, and BLE to measure forgetting and learning without relying on prior knowledge or meaning. Example: testing how many nonsense syllables you can still recall after a delay, since they can't be remembered through logic or association like real words can