Unit 6: Learning Vocab

Punishment

an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows.

Preparedness

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

Spontaneous recovery

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

Reinforcement

any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.

Instinctive Drift

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

Law of effect

Thorndikes principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.

Classical Conditioning

type of learning in which we relate 2 or more stimuli, making one stimuli imply the 2nd one is coming & makes the subject anticipate the 2nd stimulus.

Discriminative stimulus

signal that a response will be reinforced.

Cognitive Map

a mental representation of the layout of ones environment.

Stimulus

an event of situation that evokes a response.

Discrimination

ability to distinguish between conditioned stimulus and other stimulus and choose which to respond to and which one anticipates the unconditioned stimulus.

Generalization

tendency to respond to stimuli similar to that of a conditioned stimulus.

Extinction

diminishing of a conditioned response due to lack of presence from a Unconditioned Stimulus.

Prosocial (positive, helpful) behaviors

positive, constructive, helpful behavior.

CR Conditioned Response

in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)

Acquisition

initial stage of classical conditioning.

Reinforcement schedules

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced.

Successive approximations

reinforce responses that are ever closer to the final desired behavior.

Mirror neurons

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

positive reinforcer

A(n) ________ is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.

Extrinsic Motivation

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment.

Intrinsic Motivation

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake.

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning.

Cognitive Learning

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language.

Unconditioned Responses (UR)

in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth)

Learning

the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Associative learning

associating two events that occur in proximity of each other

Stimulus

an event of situation that evokes a response

Respondent Behavior

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

Operant Behavior

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences

Cognitive Learning

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language

Observational Learning

learn from others experiences

Classical Conditioning

type of learning in which we relate 2 or more stimuli, making one stimuli imply the 2nd one is coming & makes the subject anticipate the 2nd stimulus

Behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without references to mental processes (most psychologists today agree with objective science and not behavior without mental processes)

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Unconditioned Responses (UR)

in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (US) (such as food in the mouth)

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally-naturally and automatically-triggers an unconditioned response (UR)

Conditioned Response (CR)

in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

in classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR)

Acquisition

initial stage of classical conditioning

High-Order Conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus is paired with a Conditioned Stimulus creating a weaker 2nd Conditioned Stimulus

Extinction

diminishing of a conditioned response due to lack of presence from a Unconditioned Stimulus

Spontaneous recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

Generalization

tendency to respond to stimuli similar to that of a conditioned stimulus

Discrimination

ability to distinguish between conditioned stimulus and other stimulus and choose which to respond to and which one anticipates the unconditioned stimulus

Operant conditioning

type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by  a punisher

Law of effect

Thorndikes principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

Operant chamber (skinners box)

a chamber containing a bar/key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food/water reinforcer; attached devices record the animals rate of bar pressing

Reinforcement

any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Shaping

procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

Successive approximations

reinforce responses that are ever closer to the final desired behavior

Discriminative stimulus

signal that a response will be reinforced

Positive reinforcement

increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers

Negative reinforcement

increasing behaviors by stopping/ reducing negative stimuli

Primary reinforcers

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need

Conditioned reinforcers

a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer (secondary reinforcer)

Reinforcement schedules

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

Continuous reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Partial reinforcement schedules

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results on slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance

fixed-ratio schedule

a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

Variable-ratio schedule

a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

Fixed-interval schedule

a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specific amount of time has elapsed

Variable-interval schedule

a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

Punishment

an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows

Preparedness

a biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value

Instinctive Drift

the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns

Cognitive Map

a mental representation of the layout of ones environment

Latent Learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

Modeling

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

Skinner’s Box

Skinner’s operant conditioning chamber used to train animals such as rats and pigeons to perform certain behaviors, like pressing a lever

Law of Effect

Thorndikes theory that if an action is followed by a pleasurable consequence, it will tend to be repeated and if it's followed by an unpleasant consequence, it will tend not to be repeated.

**Rayner and Watson**

two psychologists responsible for the Little Albert experiment; Little Albert played with a white rat, showing no fear. He did show fear when a steel bar was struck behind his back. When Watson paired the rat with a loud noise, Albert cried. Soon afterwards, when the rat was presented but no noise sounded, he cried.

Bandura

a psychologist who tested the Bobo doll experiment; that children are able to learn social behavior such as aggression through the process of observation learning, through watching the behavior of another person.

Pavlov

a psychologist who showed that dogs could be conditioned to salivate at the sound of a bell if that sound was repeatedly presented at the same time that they were given food (Classical conditioning)

Tolman

a psychologists who demonstrated that you need some notion of mental representation — like a mental map — to explain rat behavior; creating a maze to investigate latent learning in rats