Chapter 6

Question 1

What is learning?

Answer 1

Change in an organisms behavior or thought as a result of experiences

Question 2

What are the basic kinds of learning?

Answer 2

Habituation and sensitization

Question 3

What is habituation?

Answer 3

Decrease in response to a stimulus after being repeatedly exposed to it

Question 4

What is sensitization?

Answer 4

Repeated exposure to a stimulus results in the progressive amplification (increasing strength) of the reaction to the stimulus

Question 5

What is learning via association?

Answer 5

Simple associations provided the mental building blocks for more complex ideas

Question 6

Who is Ivan Pavlov?

Answer 6

Russian physiologist; the digestion of the dog

Question 7

5 primary components of classical conditioning?

Answer 7

Neutral stimulus (NS)	
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
Unconditioned response (UCR)
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Conditioned response (CR)

Question 8

What are the steps to classical conditioning?

Answer 8

1. neutral stimulus does not elicit a particular response
2. pair NS repeatedly w/ UCS, which elicits an UCR
3. The NS becomes a CS, eliciting a CR

Question 9

What is acquisition?

Answer 9

Phase during which a CR is established

Question 10

What is extinction?

Answer 10

Reduction and elimination of the CR after the CS is presented repeatedly w/out UCS

Question 11

What is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 11

Sudden reemergence of an extinct CR after a delay following an extinction procedure

Question 12

What is stimulus generalization?

Answer 12

When similar CSs elicit a CR

Question 13

What is stimulus discrimination?

Answer 13

When we exhibit a CR only to certain stimuli, not similar to others

Question 14

What is high order conditioning?

Answer 14

Process were organisms develop classically conditioned responses to CSs associated w/ the original CS

Question 15

What are advertisers?

Answer 15

Repeatedly pair their products w/ the stimuli that elicit positive emotions

Question 16

What is latent inhibition?

Answer 16

Resistance to conditioning b/c its been paired alone too often

Question 17

What is fetishism?

Answer 17

Sexual attraction to nonliving things

Question 18

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 18

Learning controlled by the consequences of the organism’s behavior

Question 19

What is the law of effect?

Answer 19

If we’re rewarded for a response to a stimulus, we’re more like to repeat that response to the stimulus in the future

Question 20

Who is E.L Thorndike?

Answer 20

Discovered principles of the law of effect after experimenting w/ cats in puzzle boxes

Question 21

Who is B.F Skinner?

Answer 21

Designed the skinner box to more effectively record activity

Question 22

What are reinforcements?

Answer 22

Outcomes that strength the probability of a response

Question 23

What are positive reinforcements?

Answer 23

Involves giving a stimulus

Question 24

What are negative reinforcements?

Answer 24

Involves taking away a stimulus

Question 25

What is punishment?

Answer 25

Outcomes that weakens the probability of a response

Question 26

What are disciplinary actions?

Answer 26

Punishments only if they decrease chance of the behavior happening again

Question 27

What are disadvantages of punishment?

Answer 27

Tells what not to do, creates anxiety, encourages subversive behavior, may provide model for aggressive behavior

Question 28

What is discriminative stimulus?

Answer 28

Signals the presence of reinforcements

Question 29

What is partial reinforcement?

Answer 29

Occurs when we reinforce responses only some of the time

Question 30

What is fixed ratio?

Answer 30

Reinforcement after regular number of responses

Question 31

What is variable ratio?

Answer 31

Reinforcement after specific number of responses, on average

Question 32

What is fixed interval?

Answer 32

Reinforcement after specific amount of time

Question 33

What is variable interval?

Answer 33

Reinforcement after an average time interval

Question 34

What is the 2-process theory of anxiety?

Answer 34

Begins w/ CC, but it is maintained by negative reinforcement ex) I am bitten (UCS) by a dog (CS), resulting in fear (CR)

Question 35

What was radical behaviorism?

Answer 35

Early behaviorists did not believe that thinking played much of a role in learning

Question 36

What is latent learing?

Answer 36

Refers to learning that is not directly observable; implies that reinforcement is not necessary for learning to occur

Question 37

What is observational learning?

Answer 37

Simply mean learning by watching others

Question 38

What is mirror neurons?

Answer 38

Becomes activated by specific motions when an animal both performs and observes that action

Question 39

What is instinctive drift?

Answer 39

Tendency for animals to return to innate behaviors following repeated reinforcement

Question 40

What is sleep-assisted learning?

Answer 40

Learning new material while asleep

Question 41

What is discovery learning?

Answer 41

Students figure out specific principles through trial and error