module 20 basic learning concepts & classical conditioning

Question 1

learning

Answer 1

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

Question 2

associative learning

Answer 2

learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence (as in operant conditioning).

Question 3

stimulus

Answer 3

any event or situation that evokes a response.

Question 4

respondent behavior

Answer 4

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus.

Question 5

operant behaviors

Answer 5

behavior that operates on the environment, producing a consequence.

Question 6

cognitive learning

Answer 6

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

Question 7

classical conditioning

Answer 7

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).

Question 8

behaviorism

Answer 8

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

Question 9

neural stimuli

Answer 9

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning.

Question 10

unconditioned response

Answer 10

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

Question 11

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 11

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers an unconditioned response (UR).

Question 12

conditioned response

Answer 12

in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus

Question 13

conditioned stimulus

Answer 13

in classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR).

Question 14

acquisition

Answer 14

in classical conditioning, the initial stage—when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. (In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.)

Question 15

extinction

Answer 15

in classical conditioning, the diminishing of a conditioned response—when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus. (In operant conditioning, when a response is no longer reinforced.)

Question 16

spontaneous recovery

Answer 16

the reappearance, after a pause, of a weakened conditioned response.

Question 17

generalization

Answer 17

(also called stimulus generalization) in classical conditioning, the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses; in operant conditioning, when responses learned in one situation occur in other, similar situations.

Question 18

discrimination

Answer 18

(1) in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus; in operant conditioning, the ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced from similar responses that are not reinforced. (2) in social psychology, unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members.