PSYC 201 - 04 : Chapter 5

Vocabulary flashcards covering core learning concepts, theorists, paradigms, and key definitions from Chapter 5 of Discovering Psychology.

Learning

A relatively enduring change in behavior or knowledge as a result of experience.

Conditioning

The process of learning associations between environmental events and behavioral responses.

Classical Conditioning

A basic learning process that involves repeatedly pairing a neutral stimulus with a response-producing stimulus until the neutral stimulus elicits the same response.

Ivan Pavlov

Russian scientist (1849–1936) who discovered and studied classical conditioning, reflexive responses, and the formation of associations.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A natural stimulus that reflexively elicits a response without the need for prior learning.

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

An unlearned, reflexive response that is elicited by an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A formerly neutral stimulus that acquires the capacity to elicit a reflexive response.

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned, reflexive response to a conditioned stimulus.

Charles Henry Turner

Referred to as the first African American psychologist (1867–1923), who conducted comparative learning research across species and published groundbreaking work including the von Frisch technique.

Stimulus Generalization

The occurrence of a learned response not only to the original stimulus but also to other, similar stimuli as well.

Stimulus Discrimination

The occurrence of a learned response to a specific stimulus but not to other, similar stimuli.

Higher Order Conditioning

A procedure in which a conditioned stimulus from one learning trial functions as the unconditioned stimulus in a new conditioning trial.

Extinction (in classical conditioning)

The gradual weakening and apparent disappearance of conditioned behavior when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of time without exposure to the conditioned stimulus.

Behaviorism

A school of psychology and theoretical viewpoint that emphasizes the study of observable behaviors, especially as they pertain to the process of learning.

John Watson

Psychologist (1878–1958) who founded behaviorism, redefined psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior, and co-conducted the Case of Little Albert experiment.

Case of Little Albert

A controversial experiment conducted by John Watson and Rosalie Rayner demonstrating conditioned emotional reactions (fear) in an infant using a white rat and a loud noise.

Mary Cover Jones

Psychologist who used classical conditioning techniques to extinguish a very young child's fears.

Conditioned Taste Aversions

Natural behavior patterns influenced by evolution that demonstrate taste-illness associations, violating standard conditioning models.

John Garcia

Psychologist who demonstrated taste aversion learning, showing it requires only one pairing and long intervals between CS and UCS, explained in part by biological preparedness.

Operant Conditioning

A basic learning process dealing with active, voluntary behaviors that are shaped and maintained by manipulating their consequences.

Edward L. Thorndike

First psychologist (1874–1949) to systematically investigate animal learning using trial and error, proposing the Law of Effect.

Law of Effect

Principle stating that responses followed by a satisfying effect become strengthened and more likely to recur, while responses followed by a dissatisfying effect are weakened.

B. F. Skinner

Behaviorist who proposed restricting psychology to outwardly observable behavior, coined the term operant, invented the Skinner box, and studied shaping and reinforcement schedules.

Operant

B. F. Skinner's term to describe any active behavior that operates upon the environment to generate consequences.

Reinforcement

The occurrence of a stimulus or event following a response that increases the likelihood of that response being repeated.

Discriminative Stimulus

A specific stimulus that increases the likelihood of a particular response by indicating that reinforcement is likely to occur.

Positive Reinforcement

A process where a response is followed by the addition of a reinforcing stimulus, increasing the likelihood that the response will be repeated.

Negative Reinforcement

A process where a response results in the removal of, avoidance of, or escape from a punishing stimulus, increasing the likelihood that the response will be repeated.

Primary Reinforcer

A stimulus or event that is naturally or inherently reinforcing for a given species, such as food, water, or other biological necessities.

Secondary Reinforcer

A stimulus or event that has acquired reinforcing value by being associated with a primary reinforcer (also called a conditioned reinforcer).

Punishment

The presentation or removal of a stimulus or event following a behavior that acts to decrease the likelihood or future occurrence of that behavior.

Positive Punishment

A situation in which an operant is followed by the presentation or addition of an aversive stimulus (punishment by application).

Negative Punishment

A situation in which an operant is followed by the removal or subtraction of a reinforcing stimulus (punishment by removal).

Shaping

An operant procedure of selectively reinforcing successively closer approximations of a goal behavior until the goal is displayed.

Continuous Reinforcement

A pattern of reinforcement in which every occurrence of a particular response is reinforced.

Partial Reinforcement

A pattern of reinforcement in which the occurrence of a particular response is only sometimes followed by a reinforcer.

Extinction (in operant conditioning)

The gradual weakening and disappearance of conditioned behavior when an emitted behavior is no longer followed by a reinforcer.

Partial Reinforcement Effect

The phenomenon in which behaviors conditioned using partial reinforcement are more resistant to extinction than behaviors conditioned using continuous reinforcement.

Schedules of Reinforcement

Specific preset arrangements of partial reinforcement identified by Skinner (1956) that produce different patterns and rates of responding.

Learned Helplessness

A phenomenon where exposure to inescapable and uncontrollable aversive events produces passive behavior.

Martin Seligman

Psychologist (b. 1942) who studied learned helplessness in dogs and humans, applied findings to depression, and helped launch positive psychology.

Learning Styles

The concept that individuals differ in the mode of instruction most effective for them; a concept not supported by research evidence.

Observational Learning

Learning that occurs through observing and imitating the actions of others.

Albert Bandura

Psychologist (b. 1925) who contended that most human behavior is acquired through observational learning and demonstrated it in classic Bobo doll experiments in the early 1960s.

Mirror Neurons

Brain cells that become activated both when individuals perform a motor act and when they observe the same motor act done by another individual.