Chapter 6: Learning

Habituation

________: when we learn not to respond to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly without change.

Observational learning

________ adds social and cognitive layers to all the basic associative processes, both conscious and unconscious.

Spontaneous recovery

________: the return of a previously extinguished conditioned response following a rest period.

Instincts

________ and reflexes are innate behaviors that organisms are born with.

Bandura

________ identified three kinds of models: live, verbal, and symbolic.

B F Skinner

________ believed that behavior is motivated by the consequences we receive for the behavior: the reinforcements and punishments.

Rewards

________ can be used to reinforce learning.

Variable interval reinforcement schedule

________: when the behavior is rewarded after varying amounts of time, which are unpredictable.

Acquisition

________: the initial period of learning.

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.

Extinction

________: the decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus; a gradual weakening and disappearance of the conditioned response.

Reinforcement

________ and punishment can be positive or negative.

UCS

Unconditioned stimulus (________): a stimulus that elicits a reflexive response in an organism.

Tokens

________ can be traded in for rewards and prizes.

events

Organisms learn to associate ________ or stimuli that repeatedly happen together.

Taste

________ aversion: a type of conditioning in which an interval of several hours may pass between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.

permanent change

Learning: a relatively ________ in behavior or knowledge that results from experience.

Retention

________: you must be able to retain, or remember, what you observed.

Negative

________: taking something away.

successive approximations

Shaping: reward ________ of a target behavior.

Ratio

________: the schedule is based on the number of responses between reinforcements.

Behaviorist Edward C Tolmans

________ experiments with rats demonstrated that organisms can learn even if they do not receive immediate reinforcement.

Classical conditioning

________ tends to involve unconscious processes.

John B Watson

________ is the founder of behaviorism.

Interval

________: the schedule is based on the time between reinforcements.

Punishment

________: decreasing a behavior.

Reflexes

________: a motor or neural reaction to a specific stimulus in the environment.

Positive

________: adding something.

conscious processes

Operant conditioning tends to involve ________.

Skinner

________ conducted scientific experiments on animals to determine how organisms learn through operant conditioning.

Attention

________: you must be focused on what the model is doing.

Pavlov

________: a Russian scientist best known for his experiments in classical conditioning.

Psychologist Albert Bandura

________ proposed a brand of behaviorism called social learning theory, which took cognitive processes into account.

Watson

________ demonstrated that emotions could become conditioned responses.

behavioral response

All reinforcers (positive or negative) increase the likelihood of a(n) ________.

Vicarious reinforcement

________: if you saw that the model was reinforced for their behavior, you will be more motivated to copy them.

Models

________: the individuals performing the imitated behavior.

response

Conditioned ________ (CR): the behavior caused by the conditioned stimulus.

Positive punishment

________: an undesirable stimulus is added to decrease a behavior.

Negative reinforcement

________: an undesirable stimulus is removed to increase a behavior.

Negative punishment

________: a pleasant stimulus is removed to decrease behavior.

Motivation

________: you need to want to copy the behavior, and whether or not you are ________ depends on what happened to the model.

ratio reinforcement schedule

Fixed ________: there are a set number of responses that must occur before the behavior is rewarded.

Stimulus discrimination

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

Little Albert experiment

________: Little Albert was conditioned to fear certain things.

Token economies

________ have been found to be very effective at modifying behavior in a variety of settings such as schools, prisons, and mental hospitals.

Behaviorism

________: focuses on outward observable behavior that can be measured.

Symbolic model

________: fictional characters or real people who demonstrate behaviors in books, movies, television shows, video games, or Internet sources.

Reinforcement

________: increasing a behavior.

instincts

Unlike ________ and reflexes, learned behaviors involve change and experience.

Reflexes

a motor or neural reaction to a specific stimulus in the environment

Instincts

innate behaviors that are triggered by a broader range of events

Learning

a relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience

Associative learning

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

Pavlov

a Russian scientist best known for his experiments in classical conditioning

Classical conditioning

a process by which we learn to associate stimuli and anticipate events

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

a stimulus that elicits a reflexive response in an organism

Unconditioned response (UCR)

a natural (unlearned) reaction to a given stimulus

Neutral stimulus (NS)

a stimulus that doesnt naturally elicit a response

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

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

Conditioned response (CR)

the behavior caused by the conditioned stimulus

Higher-order conditioning, or second-order conditioning

pairing a new neutral stimulus with the conditioned stimulus

Acquisition

the initial period of learning

Taste aversion

a type of conditioning in which an interval of several hours may pass between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus

Extinction

the decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus; a gradual weakening and disappearance of the conditioned response

Spontaneous recovery

the return of a 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 condition stimulus

Habituation

when we learn not to respond to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly without change

Behaviorism

focuses on outward observable behavior that can be measured

Little Albert experiment

Little Albert was conditioned to fear certain things

Little Albert later demonstrated stimulus generalization-he became afraid of other furry things

a rabbit, a furry coat, etc

Operant conditioning

organisms learn to associate a behavior and its consequence

B. F. Skinner believed that behavior is motivated by the consequences we receive for the behavior

the reinforcements and punishments

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

adding something

Negative

taking something away

Reinforcement

increasing a behavior

Punishment

decreasing a behavior

Positive reinforcement

a desirable stimulus is added to increase a behavior

Negative reinforcement

an undesirable stimulus is removed to increase a behavior

Positive punishment

an undesirable stimulus is added to decrease a behavior

Negative punishment

a pleasant stimulus is removed to decrease behavior

Shaping

reward successive approximations of a target behavior

Primary reinforcers

reinforcers that have innate reinforcing qualities

Examples

water, food, sleep, shelter, pleasure, sex, and touch

Secondary reinforcers

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

Examples

Praise linked to affection, money when it can be used to buy something, and tokens

Continuous reinforcement

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

Partial reinforcement

the person or animal does not get reinforced every time they perform the desired behavior

There are several different types of partial reinforcement schedules

fixed or variable, and as either interval or ratio

Fixed

the number of responses between reinforcements, or the amount of time between reinforcements, which is set and unchanging

Variable

the number of responses or amount of time between reinforcements, which varies or changes

Interval

the schedule is based on the time between reinforcements

Ratio

the schedule is based on the number of responses between reinforcements

Fixed interval reinforcement schedule

when behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time

Variable interval reinforcement schedule

when the behavior is rewarded after varying amounts of time, which are unpredictable

Fixed ratio reinforcement schedule

there are a set number of responses that must occur before the behavior is rewarded

Variable ratio reinforcement schedule

the number of responses needed for a reward varies

Latent learning

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