Untitled Flashcards Set

  • Appetitive Behavior: The initial component of an elicited behavior sequence. Appetitive behavior is variable, occurs in response to general spatial cues, and serves to bring the organism into contact with releasing stimuli that elicit consummatory responses.

  • Autoshaping: A form of sign-tracking in which a pigeon comes to peck a key light that is paired with the delivery of food. Autoshaped pecking occurs even though the food delivery is not contingent on pecking.

  • Avoidance Behavior: An instrumental response that prevents the delivery of an aversive stimulus.

  • Blocking Effect: Retardation of Pavlovian conditioning to a novel stimulus when it is presented in a compound with a previously conditioned stimulus.

  • Classical Conditioning (Pavlovian Conditioning): A type of associative learning in which a neutral stimulus (CS) comes to elicit a conditioned response (CR) through repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus (US) that elicits an unconditioned response (UR).

  • Conditioned Inhibition: A type of Pavlovian conditioning in which a conditioned stimulus (CS) comes to signal the absence of the unconditioned stimulus (US).

  • Conditioned Response (CR): The learned response that is elicited by the conditioned stimulus (CS) after repeated pairings of the CS and the unconditioned stimulus (US).

  • Conditioned Stimulus (CS): An initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response (CR) after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US).

  • Consummatory Behavior: Behavior that serves to complete or consummate a natural response sequence. Consummatory responses are usually species-typical modal action patterns.

  • Contingency: The degree to which one event predicts another.

  • Cumulative Record: A graphical representation of responding in operant conditioning in which the number of responses is plotted as a function of time.

  • Delay Discounting: The decrease in the value of a reinforcer as the delay to receiving it increases.

  • Discrimination: The ability to respond differently to different stimuli.

  • Drive Reduction Theory: A theory of reinforcement that proposes that motivation is based on the reduction of biological drives.

  • Escape Behavior: An instrumental response that terminates an aversive stimulus.

  • Ethology: The study of animal behavior in the natural environment.

  • Extinction: The weakening of a learned response that occurs when the CS is presented without the US (in classical conditioning) or when the response is no longer reinforced (in operant conditioning).

  • Fixed-Interval Schedule: A reinforcement schedule in which the first response after a fixed amount of time has elapsed is reinforced.

  • Fixed-Ratio Schedule: A reinforcement schedule in which a specific number of responses must occur before the reinforcer is delivered.

  • Generalization: The tendency for learned behavior to occur in the presence of stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus.

  • Goal Tracking: A conditional response that is directed toward the location of reward delivery (i.e., the goal) rather than the signal for reward.

  • Habituation: The decrease in the vigor of an elicited behavior that may occur with repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus.

  • Instrumental Conditioning (Operant Conditioning): A type of learning in which the consequences of a behavior influence the probability of that behavior occurring again.

  • Latent Inhibition: Retardation of Pavlovian conditioning that occurs because of repeated exposures or presentations of the conditioned stimulus by itself before CS–US pairings.

  • Law of Effect: The idea, proposed by Thorndike, that responses followed by a satisfying state of affairs will be more likely to occur again, whereas those followed by an annoying state of affairs will be less likely to occur again.

  • Learning: A relatively permanent change in behavior, or the potential for behavior, as a result of experience.

  • Magnitude of Reinforcement Extinction Effect: More rapid extinction with a larger reinforcer.

  • Modal Action Pattern (MAP): A response pattern exhibited by most, if not all, members of a species in much the same way. Modal action patterns are commonly elicited by particular environmental stimuli.

  • Negative Punishment: An instrumental conditioning procedure in which the instrumental response results in the omission of an appetitive stimulus.

  • Negative Reinforcement: An instrumental conditioning procedure in which there is a negative contingency between the instrumental response and an aversive stimulus. If the instrumental response is performed, the aversive stimulus is terminated or prevented from occurring; if the instrumental response is not performed, the aversive stimulus is presented.

  • Operant Conditioning (Instrumental Conditioning): A type of learning in which the consequences of a behavior influence the probability of that behavior occurring again.

  • Overexpectation Effect: A decrease in the conditioned response to a stimulus that has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) when the stimulus is presented in a compound with a second stimulus that also has been paired with the same US. The overexpectation effect is produced by presenting a larger number of pairings of the stimulus compound with the US than is necessary to condition a response to the compound that is the sum of the responses to the individual stimuli.

  • Overshadowing: A decrement in conditioning with one conditioned stimulus because of the presence of another conditioned stimulus. Usually occurs when the two stimuli differ in intensity or salience.

  • Partial Reinforcement Extinction Effect (PREE): The finding that responses are more rapidly extinguished after continuous (CRF) than after partial or intermittent reinforcement.

  • Pavlovian Conditioning (Classical Conditioning): A type of associative learning in which a neutral stimulus (CS) comes to elicit a conditioned response (CR) through repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus (US) that elicits an unconditioned response (UR).

  • Positive Punishment: An instrumental conditioning procedure in which the instrumental response results in the delivery of an aversive stimulus.

  • Positive Reinforcement: An instrumental conditioning procedure in which the instrumental response results in the delivery of an appetitive stimulus.

  • Premack Principle: The idea that a high-probability behavior can be used to reinforce a low-probability behavior.

  • Ratio Schedule: A schedule of reinforcement in which the delivery of the reinforcer depends on the number of responses the participant makes.

  • Reinforcer: A stimulus or event that increases the probability of a response.

  • Reinstatement: The reappearance of an extinguished response that is produced by exposures to the US or reinforcer.

  • Renewal Effect: A recovery of the conditioned response when the context during extinction is changed.

  • Rescorla-Wagner Model: A mathematical model of classical conditioning that proposes that learning depends on the surprisingness of the unconditioned stimulus.

  • Response Deprivation Hypothesis: A theory of reinforcement that proposes that restricting access to a behavior below its baseline level will make access to that behavior a positive reinforcer.

  • S-R Learning (Stimulus-Response Learning): A theory of learning that proposes that learning involves the formation of an association between a stimulus and a response.

  • S-S Learning (Stimulus-Stimulus Learning): A theory of learning that proposes that learning involves the formation of an association between two stimuli.

  • Schedule of Reinforcement: A program or rule that determines which occurrence of a response is followed by the reinforcer.

  • Sensitization: An increase in the vigor of elicited behavior that may result from repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus or from exposure to a strong extraneous stimulus.

  • Shaping: The reinforcement of successive approximations of a desired behavior.

  • Sign Stimulus: A specific external stimulus that elicits a modal action pattern.

  • Sign Tracking: A type of Pavlovian conditioning in which the conditioned response is directed toward the location of the conditioned stimulus (CS) rather than the location where the unconditioned stimulus (US) is presented.

  • Spontaneous Recovery: The return of extinguished responding that occurs after a period of time following extinction.

  • Stimulus Control: A phenomenon that occurs when the presence of a discriminative stimulus reliably affects the probability of a behavior.

  • Stimulus Generalization: The tendency to respond in a similar way to stimuli that resemble the original training stimulus.

  • Unconditioned Response (UR): The response that is elicited by an unconditioned stimulus (US) without any prior training.

  • Unconditioned Stimulus (US): A stimulus that elicits an unconditioned response (UR) without any prior training.

  • Variable-Interval Schedule: A reinforcement schedule in which the first response after a variable amount of time has elapsed is reinforced.

  • Variable-Ratio Schedule: A reinforcement schedule in which a variable number of responses must occur before the reinforcer is delivered