Psychology Exam 3

What is learning?

The process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information of behaviors.

What are the two types of learning?

Cognitive and Associative

What is cognitive learning?

The acquisition of mental information that guides behavior.

What is observational learning?

Learning from others’ experiences.

What is an example of observational learning?

Chimpanzees often learn behaviors from watching other chimpanzees perform them.

What is associative learning?

Learning that certain events occur together.

What is classical conditioning?

When we learn to associate two stimuli and thus anticipate events.

What is an example of classical conditioning?

Lighting and thunder are warning signs of a thunderstorm/rainstorm.

What is operant conditioning?

When we learn to associate a response (our behavior) and its consequence.

What is an example of operant conditioning?

A child learning that being polite means they could get a treat (the consequence), the behavior is strengthened.

What is extinction?

The diminishing of a conditioned response

When an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS), it is…

The extinction of classical conditioning

When a response is no longer reinforced, it is…

The extinction of operant conditioning.

What is spontaneous recovery?

The reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.

Who coined the term “classical conditioning”?

Ivan Pavolv

What is behaviorism?

The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes.

Before conditioning, a dog is presented with food and begins salivating. What do we call this?

Food is the unconditioned stimulus (US)

Salivating is the unconditioned response (UR)

Pavlov introduces a bell. The bell ringing does not make the dog salivate. What is the bell?

The bell is a neutral stimulus (NS)

Pavlov then introduces the bell with the food, and the dog salivates. What is each part called?

Bell - neutral stimulus

Food - unconditioned stimulus

Salivation - unconditioned response

After repeating this behavior numerous times, the dog will now salivate when it hears the bell as it is associated with the food. What are the new terms for salivation and the bell?

Salivation - conditioned response (CR)

Bell - conditioned stimulus (CS)

What is acquisition?

The initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response.

What is higher-order conditioning?

A procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus.

What is generalization?

The tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli like the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.

What is discrimination?

The learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.

Classical condition

ing…

…is one way that virtually all organisms learn to adapt to their environment. 

What are examples of class conditioning?

* Drug cravings
* Food cravings
* Immune responses

What experiment is John B. Watson known for?

The “Little Albert” experiment.

What was the “Little Albert” experiment?

An infant was shown white rats and the experimenter played a loud noise. It eventually associated its fear of white rats to the loud noise. This fear eventually went on to any other white animals or objects (such as a white coat).

What is the Law of Effect?

Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.

What experiment is B.F. Skinner known for?

The Operant Chamber or the “Scare Box.”

What did the Scare Box consist of?

A bar that an animal (such as a rat) could use by pressing down on it to receive food or water.

What is positive reinforcement?

Adding a desirable stimulus

What is negative reinforcement?

Removing an aversive stimulus.

What is an example of positive reinforcement?

Petting a dog that comes when you call its name.

What is an example of negative reinforcement?

Taking painkillers to cure a headache.

What is positive punishment?

Administering an aversive stimulus.

What is negative punishment?

Withdrawing a rewarding stimulus.

What is continuous reinforcement?

Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

What are partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedules?

Reinforcing a response only part of the time.

Who coined the term “preparedness”?

John Garcia

What is preparedness?

A biological predisposition to learn associates, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value.

While researching the effects of radiation on laboratory animals, who noticed that rats began to avoid drinking water from the plastic bottles in radiation chambers?

Garcia and Robert Koelling (1966)

What happened to the rats during Garcia and Robert Koelling’s experiments?

They adapted and developed taste aversion. 

Even if sickened as late as several hours after tasting a novel flavor, the rats…

avoided that flavor.

The sickened rats developed aversions to taste but not to…

sights and sounds.

Biological constraints predispose organisms to…

learn associates that are naturally adaptive. 

What is the instinctive drift?

The tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns.

What is intrinsic motivation?

The desire to perform a behavior effectively.

What is observational learning?

 learning by observing others.

What is modeling?

The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior.

The BoBo Doll Experiment is an example of children doing what?

Modeling behavior

What are mirror neurons?

Frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so.

What is an example of mirror neurons working?

Yawning after you see someone else yawn.

What are prosocial effects?

We often model positive behaviors.

What is an example of a prosocial effect?

If a child sees an adult brush their doll's hair, they will model this by doing it with another doll.

What are antisocial effects?

We often model bad behaviors.

What is an example of an antisocial effect?

If a child sees a parent spanks their child, they may spank their baby dolls.

What is social psychology?

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

What is the attribution theory?

The theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition.

What is the fundamental attribution error?

The tendency for observers to underestimate the situation’s impact and overestimate the impact of personal disposition when analyzing others' behavior.

What factors can affect our attributions?

* Culture
* Situations (including our own and others)

What are attitudes?

Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events.

Attitudes effect…

actions.

What are the two different types of attitudes?

Peripheral route persuasion and Central route persuasion.

What is central route persuasion?

Something that occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts.

What is peripheral route persuasion?

Something that occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness.

Actions affect…

attitudes.

What are the two different types of actions?

Cooperative actions and the foot-in-the-door

What are cooperative actions?

Actions that feed mutual liking and promote positive behavior.

What is the foot-in-the-door phenomenon?

The tendency of people who first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.

What is the cognitive dissonance theory?

The theory that we act to reduce the ***discomfort*** we feel when two of our ***thoughts*** are inconsistent.

When does the cognitive dissonance theory become active?

when our actions do not align with our attitudes

What is an example of the cognitive dissonance theory?

In the Stanford Prison experiment, the guards knew the people they mistreated were innocent. However, their brains eventually merged with the idea to create the feeling that the men were dangerous criminals.

Who coined the term the “chameleon effect”?

Tanya Chartrand and John Bargh (1999)

What did Tanya Chartrand and John Bargh call the “chameleon effect”?

The social contagion of repeating someone else’s actions.

What is the “chameleon effect”?

Something that refers to nonconscious mimicry of the postures, mannerisms, facial expressions, and other behaviors of one's interaction partners, such that one's behavior passively and unintentionally changes to match that of others in one's current social environment.

What is conformity?

Adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

What is normative social influence?

An influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.

What is informational social influence?

An influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality.

What is Milgram’s Study?

He examined justifications for acts of genocide offered by those accused at World War II and Nuremberg War Criminal trials. Their defense often was based on "obedience" - that they were just following orders from their superiors.

What experiment was conducted by Milgram?

The “Shock” Experiment

What is minority influence?

A form of social influence that takes place when a member of a minority group influences the majority to accept the minority's beliefs or behavior.

What is social facilitation?

Improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others.

What is an example of social facilitation?

When you do well, you are likely to do even better in front of an audience, especially a friendly audience. What you normally find difficult may seem all but impossible when you are being watched.

What is social loafing?

The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable.

What is deindividuation?

The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

What is group polarization?

The enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group.

What is groupthink?

The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.

What is prejudice?

An unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members.

What is stereotyping?

Generalized beliefs about a group of people.

What does discriminate mean?

To act in negative and unjustifiable ways toward members of the group.

Explicit prejudice is…

within our awareness

Implicit prejudice is…

outside our awareness

What is the just-world phenomenon?

The tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people, therefore, get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

What is the ingroup?

The “us” or people with whom we share a common identity.

What is ingroup bias?

The tendency to favor our own group.

What is the outgroup?

The “them” or those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup.

What is the scapegoat theory?

The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame.

What is the other-race effect?

The tenancy to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races.

What is aggression?

any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally