AP Psych Unit 3 | Learning by Association

behavioral perspective

examines how observable behaviors are learned and reinforced through interactions with the environment

associative learning

a process of learning in which an individual forms connections between events that occur together

habituation (non-associative learning)

when organisms grow accustomed to and exhibit a diminished response to a repeated or enduring stimulus

• getting used to something over time

classical conditioning

a learning method where we associate two stimuli

• enables us to anticipate events

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

a stimulus that naturally triggers a response without any learning needed

unconditioned response (UR)

a natural and automatic reaction to a stimulus that occurs without any prior learning or conditioning

conditioned stimulus (CS)

a previously neutral stimulus that evokes a conditioned response after being repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus

conditioned response (CR)

a learned response that occurs when a conditioned stimulus is presented

• results from association with an unconditioned stimulus

acquisition

the initial learning of an association

extinction

the process in which the conditioned response weakens and eventually disappears 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 rest

• suggests that extinction does not erase the association but temporarily suppresses it

stimulus discrimination

the ability to differentiate between between similar stimuli and respond differently to them

• learned through the conditioning process

stimulus generalization

the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus

higher-order conditioning

a process where a previously conditioned stimulus is used to create further associations with new neutral stimuli

• results in new stimuli as eliciting a conditioned response

counterconditioning

changing a learned response to something more preferred by pairing it with a different response

taste aversion

a learned association between a particular taste and feeling sick

• often happens after only trying the food and getting sick from it once

one-trial conditioning

learning quickly after just one pairing of two things

biological preparedness

the innate tendency of organisms to quickly learn associations between certain stimuli and responses that are relevant to their survival, such as food or danger