Chapter 8 Textbook Flashcards
what are reflexes
inevitable, involuntary responses to stimuli
most reflexes are controlled by nervous system circuits located in the spinal cord and brainstem
- before we had more hair and in times were we would respond to stress or cold our goosebumps would raise the hairs to make us seem bigger and to stay warm but now that we don’t have this = decreases reflex
what are instincts
also called fixed action patterns
they are inborn patterns of behaviour elicited by environmental stimuli
- once they begin the instinctive behaviours run until completion
more complex and require more neurons
define learning
relative permanent change in behaviour or the capacity for behaviour due to experience
what are the three types of learning
associative learning
non-associative learning
observational
explain associative learning
occurs when we form associations or connections between stimuli, behaviours or both
predict the future based on past experiences
1. classical conditioning = forming associations between pairs of stimuli that occur sequentially in time
- sees a bee and gets stung - now you know what bees do
- connected to Pavlovian conditioning
-explains a lot of our learned emotional responses to our environment
2. operant conditioning = forming associations between behaviours and their consequences
- parking illegally and getting a ticket so now u will pay attention more next time
explain nonassociative learning
involves changes in the magnitude of responses to a single stimulus rather than the formation of connections between stimuli
1. habitation = reduces our reactions to repeated experiences that have already been evaluated and found to be unchanging and harmless
- a mother is used to her kids screaming but someone who doesn’t have kids will not be
2. sensitization = increases our reactions to a range of stimuli following exposure to one strong stimulus
involved in a car accident, may make u sensitive to loud sounds
- habituation occurs in response to milder stimuli whereas sensitization occurs in stronger stimuli
explain observational learning
also called social learning or modelling
occurs when one organism learns by watching the action of another organism
- transmit information across generations within families and cultures
what is implicit learning
defined as the learning of complex information that occurs in the absence of conscious awareness
what is explicit learning
is what typically comes to mind when we think of learning
- being aware of the learning and can report back on what was learnt
what is conditioned stimulus
refers to an environmental event whos significance is learned
what is an unconditional stimulus
has innate meaning to the organism
- a stimulus that has a response without prior experience
what is the difference between conditioned responses and unconditional responses
CRs VS UCRs
CRs = they are learned reactions
UCRs = don’t need to be learned - they a[[ear without prior experience with a stimulus
- salivating when food is put in your mouth
what is acquisition
refers to the development of conditioned responses (a learned response)
- requires contiguity or proximity in time between the CS and the UCs
if CS occurs long BEFORE the Ucs the organism may not view the 2 stimuli as related
- this requires a correlation between the CS and the UCS
what is extinction in classical conditioning
when the UCS no longer follows the conditioned stimulus
- when the consequence no longer follows the learned behaviour
when the dogs are exposed to a ticking sound but no food = stop salivating
what is spontaneous recovery
when the dogs undergo a ticking sound but no food is means that they stop salivating but it doesn’t mean they forget - it means they are learning that this CR (ticking) no longer predicts food - but it may take several session for this new learning to replace the old
- this only works after periods of rest
what is the classical conditioning of inhibition
a feature of classical conditioning in which a conditioned stimulus predicts the non-occurrence of an unconditioned stimulus
what is generalization
the tendency to respond to stimuli thay are similar to an original conditioned stimulus (CS)
- someone scared of bees may also be scared of wasps and hornets
what is the definition of discrimination
counteracting our tendency to generalize is another learning process
- this allows us to make fine distinctions between the implications of stimuli
- when you present a dog with a high tone and they always get food but with a low tone they don’t get food
the dog will salivate for both sounds because of generalization but then they will learn to differentiate/discriminate between the two stimuli
what is higher-order conditioning
a conditioned response can occur in response to stimuli that predict the conditioned stimuli
- allows us to make more distant predictions about the occurrence of significant events
- person bitten by a dog shows fear the next time he sees a dog because dogs (CS) and now associated with the pain (UCS)
what is latent inhibition
the slower learning that occurs when a conditioned stimulus (CS) is already familiar compared to when the CS is unfamiliar
- when you are already familiar with the CS it will take a longer amount of time to learn to respond to it
the effects are not seen right away
if you eat pizza all your life and suddenly one time you get sick after eating one you wont make an association with pizza and sickness
but if you eat chocolate ants one time an get sick you will 100% make the association with sickness and ants
contiguity and contingency
closeness in time and the correlation between the CS and the UCS
T/F learning occurs faster when you are surprised
true
- depending on how surprising the association between the CS and the unconditional stimulus (UCS)
- early in training = rapidly
- later in training = the gains in conditioning strength level off because the association between the 2 are now familiar = not surprising
what is the exposure therapy/flooding
treating phobias by exposing ppl to their fear stimuli in a manner that is safe until they no longer respond = extinction
- ppl find this to be traumatic
T/F fear can result from classical conditioning
true
