AP psych Unit 6

learning

Gaining new knowledge, skills, or behaviors through experience.

habituation

Getting used to a repeated stimulus so you pay less attention to it over time.

associative learning

Learning that two events happen together (like lightning and thunder).

stimulus

Anything in the environment that causes a reaction or response.

respondent behavior

An automatic or involuntary reaction to a stimulus (like flinching).

operant behavior

Behavior that you choose to do that produces a result or consequence.

cognitive learning

Gaining information by watching others, listening, or reading rather than direct experience.

classical conditioning

Learning to connect two different stimuli to predict an outcome (like Pavlov's dogs).

behaviorism

The idea that psychology should focus only on observable behavior, not mental thoughts.

neutral stimulus (NS)

A trigger that causes no reaction before learning takes place (like a bell sound).

unconditioned response (UR)

An automatic, natural reaction to something (like salivating at food).

unconditioned stimulus (US)

A natural trigger that causes an automatic reaction without any training (like food).

conditioned response (CR)

A learned reaction to something that used to be neutral (like salivating at a bell).

conditioned stimulus (CS)

A trigger that causes a reaction only after you've learned to associate it with something else.

acquisition

The initial starting phase where an association or habit is first learned.

higher-order conditioning

Adding a second neutral stimulus to an already learned trigger to create another trigger.

extinction

The gradual fading of a learned response when it is no longer reinforced or paired.

spontaneous recovery

The sudden return of an extinguished response after a brief break.

generalization

Reacting the same way to things that are similar to the original stimulus.

discrimination

Learning the difference between a specific trigger and other similar stimuli.

operant conditioning

Learning through rewards (which encourage behavior) and punishments (which stop behavior).

law of effect

Behaviors followed by good outcomes happen more; behaviors followed by bad outcomes stop.

operant chamber

A research cage (Skinner box) with buttons or levers used to study animal behavior.

reinforcement

Any event or outcome that increases or strengthens a behavior.

shaping

Rewarding small step-by-step progress toward a final target behavior.

discriminative stimulus

A signal that lets you know a certain behavior will lead to a reward.

positive reinforcement

Increasing a behavior by giving a good reward after it happens.

negative reinforcement

Increasing a behavior by removing an annoying or bad stimulus (like taking aspirin to stop pain).

primary reinforcer

An unlearned reward that fulfills a basic biological need (like food or water).

conditioned reinforcer

A reward you learn to value because it connects to basic needs (like money).

reinforcement schedule

A rule or plan stating how often a behavior will be rewarded.

continuous reinforcement schedule

Rewarding a behavior every single time it happens.

partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule

Rewarding a behavior only some of the time, making it harder to quit.

fixed-ratio schedule

Rewarding a behavior after a specific set number of responses (e.g., every 5th time).

variable-ratio schedule

Rewarding a behavior after an unpredictable number of responses (like a slot machine).

fixed-interval schedule

Rewarding the first correct behavior after a specific amount of time passes (e.g., weekly paycheck).

variable-interval schedule

Rewarding a behavior after unpredictable time periods