Classical Conditioning II - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from Week 3 Classical Conditioning II lecture notes.

Contiguity

Temporal closeness between the CS and US; facilitates learning but is not by itself sufficient for conditioning.

Contingency

The predictive relationship between the CS and US; stronger learning when the CS reliably predicts the US.

CS pre-exposure (latent inhibition)

Pre-exposure to the CS alone reduces subsequent conditioning; the CS becomes less effective as a predictor.

US pre-exposure (habituation)

Repeated exposure to the US reduces its salience, weakening CS–US learning.

Partial reinforcement

Training with intermittent (partial) reinforcement leads to weaker conditioned responding than continuous reinforcement.

Degraded contingency

A weakened predictive relationship between CS and US, leading to weaker learning.

CS post-exposure (extinction)

Exposing the CS after conditioning without the US to reduce the CR.

US post-exposure (retroactive interference)

Repeated US presentations after learning interfere with the original CS–US memory, weakening the CS response.

Overshadowing

A more salient cue dominates learning, reducing the ability of a less salient cue to become a CS when both are presented with the US.

Blocking

Prior learning about one CS reduces or blocks learning about a new CS when it is paired with the US.

Latent inhibition

Another term for CS pre-exposure; learning about a CS is slower after prior non-reinforced exposure.

Garcia & Koelling’s Belongingness (relevance) principle

Some CS–US pairings are learned more readily due to evolutionary predispositions (e.g., taste with illness vs. shock with light).

Higher-Order Conditioning (HOC)

Learning where a CS is paired with another CS rather than directly with a US, producing a CR to the second-order CS.

Second-Order Conditioning (SOC)

A CS is conditioned by being paired with another CS that has already become a CS for the US.

Sensory Preconditioning (SPC)

Two neutral stimuli are paired before any US is involved; later one is trained with the US, making the other CS evoke the CR.

Stimulus–Stimulus (S–S) learning

Learning where the CS elicits a response by activating an internal representation of the US (expectancy).

Stimulus–Response (S–R) learning

Learning where the CS directly elicits a response without mediating US expectancy.

US Devaluation

Changing the value of the US after learning to test whether the CS–CR depends on the US’s current value.

Extinction (in SOC/SPC contexts)

Reduction of conditioned responding when the CS is no longer paired with the US; in some SOC studies, extinction of first-order CS does not abolish the second-order response.

OC (Occasion Setting)

A third event (an occasion setter) modulates whether a CS–US association will be effective, rather than directly signaling the US.

Positive Occasion Setting

An OS that allows one cue to facilitate the CS–US relationship (A–X+ / X− in the diagram).

Negative Occasion Setting

An OS that inhibits the CS–US relationship under certain conditions (A−X+/X− patterns).

Contextual cues

Diffuse cues from the environment (not discrete stimuli) that influence conditioning and can act as conditioned excitors or inhibitors.

Contextual conditioned excitors

Contexts that come to evoke conditioned responses because they have become associated with the US or CS–US contingencies.

Contextual conditioned inhibitors

Contexts that reduce conditioned responding and can pass retardation and summation tests.

Retardation of conditioning test

A test to identify conditioned inhibitors by checking if learning about a context as an inhibitor is slowed when paired with the CS.

Summation test

A test to identify conditioned inhibitors by seeing if a cue reduces responding when added to a known excitor.

Pavlov’s Stimulus Substitution Model

Idea that the CS substitutes for the US in the brain, so the CS evokes a response similar to the US.

CS Identity

The specific sensory modality or identity of the CS; evidence against simple substitution in some studies.

US Identity

The specific nature of the US; its preserved identity can influence learning patterns and substitution assumptions.

CS–US Interval

The timing between CS onset and US onset; a key variable influencing learning rate and strength.

Evolutionary predispositions

Innate tendencies that make certain CS–US pairings more easily learned due to biological relevance.

Salience

The prominence or noticeability of a stimulus; higher salience facilitates faster learning.

Novelty

New or surprising stimuli that can enhance learning by increasing attention to the CS.