Psych 101 Exam 3

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

1. reinforce any response that resembles desired behavior

2. reinforce the response that more closely resembles the desired behavior

3. continue to reinforce closer & closer approximations

   1. 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

1. attention

2. retention

3. reproduction

4. 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

1. you learn (see) a new response from a model

2. you choose whether or not to imitate the model

3. 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