Chapters 5-9 Exam Flashcards
(331 cards)
what is learning?
A relatively permanent change in how an organism responds or may respond resulting from experience.
what must happen before we know learning took place?
it must be demonstrated
what is latent learning?
Learning that happened but isn’t demonstrated/displayed until a later time.
what is a unconditioned response?
the body’s natural response to a stimulus
what is the unconditioned stimulus?
The stimulus that would normally trigger an automatic reflexive response in us
what is classical conditioning?
a procedure by which a previously neutral stimulus comes to elicit a response after it is paired with an unconditoned stimulus that automatically elects that same response
what is the acquisition of a conditioned response?
When a neutral stimulus begins to pick up the properties of the unconditioned stimulus because the two are paired or associated
what is the conditioned stimulus?
Once neutral stimuli that elicit the same response as the unconditioned stimulus
what is the conditioned response?
The response to the condition stimuli, which is the same as the unconditioned response
what is the optimal timing of the UCS-CS pairing?
Optimal timing is to present the NS/CS about a half second before the UCS
what happens if UCS and CS are no longer paired?
Gradual extinction of the conditioned response
what is prepared learning?
the idea that humans are biologically “prepared” to make associations more readily to stuff from our evolutionary past (ex: easier to fear heights than guns/cars because we’re biologically primed to do so easier)
when do conditioned taste eversions happen?
when tastes are very strong and distinctive
what are conditioned taste eversions?
when one hates the taste of a specific food (neutral stimuli) because it’s taste got paired with an unconditoned stimulus such as nauseas, causing unconditioned response like throwing up
what can phobias be thought of in terms of conditioned responses?
Phobias can be thought of as conditioned emotional/fear responses
what 3 ways can a phobia be classically conditioned?
- direct personal experience
- vicarious conditioning
- direct modelling
what is vicarious conditioning? give an example.
when someone is classically conditioned by someone else’s actions
ex: little brother gets bit by a dog, so now you fear dogs
what is direct modelling in terms of classical conditioning and phobias?
Straight up mimicking of the phobic responses witnessed around them
what are fetishes? how do they relate to classical and operant conditioning?
An unusual sexual attraction to things, rituals, clothing, and other non-human objects.
May start with accidental CC and then be reinforced and entrenched via repeated masturbatory fantasy (operant condoning)
what is stimulus generalization?
When things similar to the condioned stimulus elicit the condioned response too
what is stimulus discrimination?
When only the conditioned stimulus, not other things, elicit the conditioned response
why is John Watson an asshole?
he classically condoned an innocent toddler to be afraid of fluffy white toys
what is the idea behind operant conditioning?
whether a behaviour will occur again or not depends on its outcome
what is Skinner and Thorndyke’s “law of effect”?
the idea that behaviours that are rewarded or “reinforced” are more likely to be repeated, those that are punished are less likely to be repeated.