Psychology Exam 3 dr grace

Learning

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

Associative learning

learning that certain events occur together. the events may be two stimuli(classical conditioning) or a response and it’s consequence(operant conditioning)

Stimulus

any event or 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.

Operant conditioning

type of learning in which behavior is strengthend if followed by reinforcements

Positive reinforcers

grades, treats, attention

Negative reinforcers

stops a averise stimuli

Example of a negative reinforcer

pain killers: tylenol, ibuproten

Punishment

decrease behavior

Making punishment effective

immediate, consistent, explain the punishment

Ivan Pavlov

a Russian physiologist who won the 1904 Nobel Prize for his research on digestion. He is most famous for discovering classical conditioning, demonstrating that animals could learn to associate a neutral stimulus (like a bell) with a reflex response (like salivation) through repeated pairing with food.

John B Watson

an influential American psychologist who founded the school of behaviorism, arguing that psychology should focus on observable behaviors rather than mental processes. He is best known for the controversial "Little Albert" experiment, demonstrating emotional conditioning in humans, and advocating for environmental influence over genetics

Cognitive learning

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

Classical conditioning

a type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli; as a result, to illustrate with Pavlov’s classic experiment, the first stimulus (a tone)

comes to elicit behavior ( drooling) in anticipation of the second stimulus(food.)

(dog)

Behaviorism

view of psychology 1) should be an objective science that 2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with one but not with 2

Neutral stimulus(NS)

classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Unconditioned response (UR)

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

Unconditioned stimulus

stimulus that unconditionally naturally and automatically triggers an unconditioned response

Conditioned response

learned response to neutral stimulus

Conditioned stimulus

originally neutral stimulus that after association with an unconditioned stimulus comes to trigger a conditioned response

Acquisition

when one links a neural stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response.

Higher order conditioning

one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus which creates a second conditioned stimulus (ex:animal has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone

Extinction

occurs in classical conditioning where an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced

Spontaneous recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, conditioned response

What is NS

Neutral stimulus

What is US

unconditioned stimulus

What is UR

unconditioned response

What is CS

conditioned stimulus

What is CR

Conditioned response

Generalization (also called stimulus generalization)

once a response has been conditioned for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar response, generalization occurs when responses learned in one situation occr in other

Discrimination

the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus, ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced fro similar responses that are not reinforced

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

thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become ore likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

Operant chamber

contains a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking

Reinforcement

any event that strengthens in the behavior it follows

shaping

reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer of the desired behavior

Positive reinforcement

increasing behaviors by presenting a pleasurable stimulus. a positive reinforcer is any stimulus that when presented after a response strengthens the response

Negative reinforcement

stopping or reducing an aversive stimulus. when removed after a response, strengthens the response(negative reinforcement is not punishment)

Primary reinforcer

reinforcing stimulus, such as one taht satisfies a biological need

Conditioned reinforcer

a stimulus that gains it’s reinforcing power through it’s association with a primary reinforcer

Reinforcement schedule

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

Continuous reinforcement schedule

reinforcing the desire response every time it occurs

Partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule

reinforcing only part of the time, slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

Fixed ratio schedule

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

variable ratio schedule

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

fixed interval schedule

operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only atfer a specified 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 follows

Cognitive map

mental representation of the layout of one’s environment

ex:after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it

Latent learning

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

Observational learning

learning by observing others

Modeling

the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior

Mirror neurons

frontal lobe neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so the brain’s mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation and empathy

Prosocial behavior

positive, constructive, helpful behavior, the opposite of antisocial behavior

encoding

the process of getting information into the memory system-for example by extracting meaning

storage

the process of retaining encoded information over time

retrieval

the process of getting information out of memory storage

parallel processing

processing many aspects of a stimulus or problem simultaneously

sensory memory

immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system

short term memory

activated memory of a few items that is later stored or forgotten

Long term memory

permanent and limitless archive of the memory system (includes knowledge, skills, and experiences)

working memory

newer understanding of short term memory, conscious, active processing of both incoming sensory information, and information retrieved from long term memory