Studied by 6 people
Chapters 6, 7, & 8
reflexes
motor or neural reactions to a specific stimulus in the environment
instincts
innate behaviors that are triggered by a broad range of events
more complex than reflexes
learning
relatively permanent change in behavior that is brought about by experience
classical conditioning
type of learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to elicit a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally brings about the response
unconditioned stimulus
stimulus that naturally brings about a particular response without having been learned
unconditioned response
a response (to the ucs) that is natural and needs no training
conditioned stimulus
a once neutral stimulus that has been paired with a ucs to bring about a response formerly caused only by the ucs
conditioned response
a response (to the cs) that, after conditioning, follows a previously neutral stimulus
pavlov conditioning example
ucs → meat
ucr → salivation
cs → bell
cr → salivation
higher-order-conditioning
an established conditioned stimulus is paired with a new neutral stimulus (the second order stimulus), so that eventually the new stimulus also elicits the conditioned response, without the initial conditioned stimulus being present
higher-order-conditioning example
cat learns to associate a cabinet door with an electric can opener for food
taste aversion conditioning
flavors associated with certain foods/drinks can be associated with unpleasant symptoms
fear conditioning and phobias
cues associated with emotional trauma
acquisition
the initial period of learning when an organism learns to connect a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus
extinction
a decrease in the conditioned response when the ucs is no longer presented with the cs
spontaneous recovery
the return of a previously extinguished 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 conditioned stimulus
habituation
as a stimulus is repeated, we learn not to focus our attention on it
little Albert study
John b. Watson study using a white rat and other animals with fur (conditioned stimulus) and hit a metal bar (unconditioned stimulus) that caused baby to develop a fear of animals
operant conditioning
learning to associate your behavior and resulting events
aspects of our environment provide cues for whether or not a behavior will result in a particular outcome
throndike’s law of effect
responses that lead to “satisfying” consequences are more likely to be repeated
thorndike’s law of effect example
cat in the cage example → when placed in the same box a second time, the cat will be able to get out a lot quicker
reinforcement
process by which a consequence increases the future likelihood behavior → behavior going up
positive reinforcement
when the addition of a stimulus causes behavior to increase
negative reinforcement
when the removal of a stimulus causes behavior to increase
punishment
process by which a consequence decreases the future likelihood of a behavior → behavior going down
positive punishment
when the addition of a stimulus causes behavior to decrease
negative punishment
when the removal of a stimulus causes behavior to decrease
shaping
reinforce any response that resembles desired behavior
reinforce the response that more closely resembles the desired behavior
continue to reinforce closer & closer approximations
only reinforce the desired behavior
primary reinforcer
innate reinforcing qualities
primary reinforcer examples
food, water, shelter, touch ; depends on motivation
secondary reinforcer
no inherent value, only desired when linked with a primary reinforcer
secondary reinforcer examples
praise, money, “tokens”
continuous reinforcement
when a reinforcer is received each time the correct behavior is displayed
partial reinforcement
a reinforcer is received intermittently when the correct behavior is displayed
fixed interval
delivered at predictable time intervals
fixed interval example
paychecks
variable interval
delivered at unpredictable time intervals
variable interval example
a teacher checking for cheating during an exam
fixed ratio
delivered after a predictable number of responses
fixed ratio example
piecework - farm worker paid after each potato picked
variable ratio
delivered after an unpredictable # of responses ; average amount of responses - highest rate of responding
variable ratio example
gambling
tolman’s experiment
rats in a maze
cognitive map
a mental picture of an area
latent learning
learning that occurs but is not observable in behavior until there’s a reason to demonstrate it
elements or learning needed in modeling process
attention
retention
reproduction
motivation
vicarious reinforcement
when a model is reinforced for their behavior
vicarious punishment
when a model is punished for their behavior
process of observational learning
you learn (see) a new response from a model
you choose whether or not to imitate the model
you generalize the rule
live models
watching in real time as someone else does something
verbal models
someone explaining what would happen if you were to do a behavior
symbolic models
fictional characters, observing things & they are impacting you
cognition
thinking
processes associated with cognition
perception, knowledge, problem-solving, judgment, language, and memory
concepts
categories of linguistic info, images, ideas, or memories
used to see relationships among different elements of experience
can be complex and abstract or concrete
prototype
the best example or representation of a concept
gandhi
could be a prototype for the category of civil disobedience
natural concepts
created “naturally” through either direct or indirect experience
natural concept example
our concept of snow
artificial concepts
defined by a specific set of characteristics
artificial concept example
properties of geometric shapes like squares, triangles, etc
schema
a mental construct consisting of a collection of related conceptsc
schema example
aspects of a house (i.e. doors, windows, roof, etc)
role schema
makes assumptions about how individuals in certain roles behave
role schema example
librarians
event schema (cognitive script)
a set of routine or automatic behaviors
can vary widely among different cultures and countries
dictate behavior
make habits difficult to break because they’re automatic
language
a communication system that involves using words and systematic rules to organize those words to transmit information from one individual to another
components of language
lexicon, grammar, phoneme, morphemes, semantics, syntax
lexicon
the words of a given language
grammar
the set of rules that are used to convey meaning using lexicon
phoneme
a basic sound unit (like the sounds “ah” “eh”)
morphemes
the smallest unit of language that convey some type of meaning
semantics
the meaning we derive from morphemes and words
syntax
the way words are organized into sentences
noam chomsky
proposed that the mechanisms underlying language acquisition are biologically determined
language develops in the absence of formal instruction
language acquisition follows similar patterns in children from different cultures/backgrounds
critical period
proficiency at acquiring language is maximal early in life
being deprived of language during this time impedes the ability to fully acquire and use knowledge
Sapir & whorf
proposed that language determines thought
trial and error
continue trying different solutions until problem is solved
algorithm
step-by-step problem-solving formula
heuristic
general problem-solving framework
rule of thumb
working backwards
begin solving the problem by focusing on the end result
breaking large tasks into a series of smaller steps
mental set
persistence in approaching a problem in a way that has worked in the past
becomes a problem when that way is no longer working
functional fixedness
inability to perceive an object being used for something other than what it’s designed for
anchoring bias
tendency to focus on one piece of info when making a decision or problem-solving
confirmation bias
tendency to focus on info that confirms your existing beliefs
hindsight bias
leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it wasn’t
representative bias
tendency to unintentionally stereotype someone or something
availability bias
tendency to make a decision based on an example, information, or recent experience that is readily available to you, even though it may not be the best example to inform your decision
8 intelligences in multiple intelligence theory
linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalist
emotional intelligence
the ability to understand the emotions of yourself and others, show empathy, understand social relationships and cues, and regulate your own emotions and responded in culturally appropriate ways
nature
intelligence is inherited from a person’s parents
nurture
intelligence is shaped by a child’s developmental environment
range of reaction
theory that each person responds to the environment in a unique way based on their genetic makeup
genetic makeup in a fixed quantity
whether you reach your full intellectual potential is dependent upon environmental factors
memory
a set of processes used to encode, store, and retrieve information over different periods of time
encoding
involves the input of information into the memory system
when the brain receives info from the environment it :
labels/codes it
organized it with other similar info
connects new concepts to existing concepts
storage
the retention of the encoded info
retrieval
getting the information out of memory and back into awareness
automatic processing
encoding of details like time, space, frequency, and the meaning of words
when you studied
