1. Latent Learning: Learning that occurs without obvious reinforcement and only becomes apparent when there is an incentive to demonstrate it.
2. Insight Learning: A sudden realization or “aha” moment in problem-solving, often involving the reorganization of information rather than trial-and-error learning.
3. Modeling: Learning by observing and imitating the behavior of others.
4. Vicarious Conditioning: Learning that occurs by observing others being rewarded or punished, influencing the observer’s behavior.
5. Social Learning Theory: A theory proposing that learning occurs through observation, imitation, and modeling, incorporating cognitive processes in addition to environmental influences.
6. Partial Reinforcement: A reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is not rewarded every time it occurs, making it more resistant to extinction.
7. Continuous Reinforcement: A reinforcement schedule in which every instance of a behavior is reinforced, leading to rapid acquisition but less resistance to extinction.
8. Learned Helplessness: A condition in which exposure to uncontrollable aversive events leads to a failure to act or escape, even when opportunities to do so are available.
9. Instinctive Drift: The tendency for an animal’s innate responses to interfere with conditioned behaviors.
10. Shaping: Gradually reinforcing successive approximations of a target behavior until the desired behavior is achieved.
11. Primary Reinforcer: A stimulus that is naturally reinforcing because it satisfies a biological need (e.g., food, water).
12. Law of Effect: Thorndike’s principle stating that behaviors followed by satisfying consequences are more likely to be repeated, while those followed by unpleasant consequences are less likely to occur.
13. Punishment: A consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behavior occurring again.
14. Reinforcement: A consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior occurring again.
15. Operant Conditioning: Learning in which the consequences of a behavior determine the likelihood of its recurrence.
16. Habituation: A decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure, demonstrating a basic form of learning.
17. Preparedness (Biological): The predisposition of certain species to learn associations that have survival value more easily than others.
18. Taste Aversion (Conditioned): A learned avoidance of a particular taste or food after it has been associated with illness or discomfort.
19. Counterconditioning: A technique where an undesirable response is replaced with a desirable one by associating the stimulus with a new response.
20. Higher-Order Conditioning: A process in which a conditioned stimulus becomes associated with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second conditioned stimulus.
21. Generalization: The tendency for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit the conditioned response.
22. Discrimination (Classical Conditioning): The ability to differentiate between similar stimuli and respond only to the conditioned stimulus.
23. Spontaneous Recovery: The reappearance of a conditioned response after extinction and a rest period.
24. Extinction: The weakening and eventual disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus.
25. Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A previously neutral stimulus that, after being paired with the unconditioned stimulus, elicits a conditioned response.
26. Conditioned Response (CR): The learned response to the conditioned stimulus.
27. Unconditioned Stimulus (US): A stimulus that naturally triggers a response without prior conditioning.
28. Unconditioned Response (UR): The natural, reflexive response to the unconditioned stimulus.
29. Acquisition: The initial stage of learning during which the association between the conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus is established.
30. Classical Conditioning: A learning process in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus, resulting in a conditioned response.
