Classical Conditioning & Operant Conditioning (Week 2)

Question 1

Front

Answer 1

Back

Question 2

What are the two fundamental forms of non-associative learning?

Answer 2

Sensitisation and habituation.

Question 3

What is sensitisation in learning?

Answer 3

A temporary state of heightened attention and responsivity to sudden or surprising events.

Question 4

What is habituation in learning?

Answer 4

The gradual diminishing of attention and responsivity to a persistent stimulus.

Question 5

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 5

Learning a predictive relationship between an originally neutral environmental event and a biologically significant event that itself naturally
causes an autonomic reflex response, so that the previously neutral event becomes a meaningful stimulus that produces the autonomic reflex response on its own

classical conditioning is the process of learning an involuntary association between a neutral stimulus (NS) and an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) so that the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus that can cause a conditioned reflex response in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus.

Question 6

What is a neutral stimulus (NS)?

Answer 6

A stimulus that does not naturally produce a reflex response.

Question 7

What is an unconditioned stimulus (UCS)?

Answer 7

A biologically significant stimulus that naturally causes a reflex response.

Question 8

What is an unconditioned response (UCR)?

Answer 8

A reflex response that occurs naturally to a UCS.

Question 9

What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)?

Answer 9

A previously neutral stimulus that elicits a reflex response after association with a UCS.

Question 10

What is a conditioned response (CR)?

Answer 10

A learned reflex response to a previously neutral stimulus.

Question 11

What is stimulus generalisation?

Answer 11

The tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus.

Question 12

What is stimulus discrimination?

Answer 12

The learned ability to respond only to a specific stimulus, not to similar ones.

Question 13

What is extinction in classical conditioning?

Answer 13

The gradual weakening of a conditioned response when the CS is presented without the UCS.

Question 14

What is spontaneous recovery?

Answer 14

The reappearance of a conditioned response after a rest period following extinction.

Question 15

What is rapid reacquisition?

Answer 15

Faster relearning of a conditioned response after it has been extinguished.

Question 16

What was the UCS in the Little Albert experiment?

Answer 16

The loud noise.

Question 17

What was the CS in the Little Albert experiment?

Answer 17

The white rat.

Question 18

What was the UCR in the Little Albert experiment?

Answer 18

Fear/startle response to the loud noise.

Question 19

What was the CR in the Little Albert experiment?

Answer 19

Fear response to the white rat.

Question 20

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 20

Learning where voluntary behaviors are controlled by their consequences.

Question 21

Who is the psychologist most associated with operant conditioning?

Answer 21

B.F. Skinner.

Question 22

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 22

Adding a pleasant stimulus to increase behavior.

Question 23

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 23

Removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase behavior.

Question 24

What is positive punishment?

Answer 24

Adding an unpleasant stimulus to decrease behavior.

Question 25

What is negative punishment (response cost)?

Answer 25

Removing a pleasant stimulus to decrease behavior.

Question 26

What is continuous reinforcement?

Answer 26

Reinforcement given every time the behavior occurs.

Question 27

What is partial reinforcement?

Answer 27

Reinforcement given only some of the time.

Question 28

Why is partial reinforcement more effective for long-term behavior?

Answer 28

It leads to more persistent learning and slower extinction.

Question 29

What is shaping in operant conditioning?

Answer 29

Reinforcing successive approximations toward a desired complex behavior.

Question 30

What are the three Cs of effective punishment?

Answer 30

Contingency, contiguity, and consistency.

Question 31

What is an antecedent in operant conditioning?

Answer 31

A cue that signals the availability of reinforcement.

Question 32

What is a discriminant stimulus?

Answer 32

A stimulus that signals which behavior will be reinforced in a given context.

Question 33

What is an extinction burst?

Answer 33

A temporary increase in behavior when reinforcement is initially withheld.

Question 34

What is the ABC model of operant conditioning?

Answer 34

Antecedent → Behavior → Consequence.

Question 35

Why is gambling so addictive according to Skinner?

Answer 35

It operates on a variable-ratio reinforcement schedule.

Question 36

Define Cognition

Answer 36

encompasses the activities of "the mind" and involves the acquisition and use of knowledge

Question 37

Explain mental representations

Answer 37

Refers to the format in which information is encoded, stored and reconstructed/represented within our mind.

Question 38

What forms can mental representations take and why?

Answer 38

It can take the form of mental imagery but can also take abstarct forms to express more complex relationships between two or more concepts and allow concepts to be mentally manipulated in relation to each other

Question 39

What are cognitive capacities and what are they used for

Answer 39

Defined as capacities to learn about and respond to their environments in an adaptive way - they are used for acquiring and processing information (learning) and storing this information in a form that enables this learning to inform our future behaviours (memory)

Question 40

Define Learning

Answer 40

refers to the set of biological, cognitive and social processes through which organisms make meaning from their experiences, producing long-lasting changes in their behaviour, abilities, and knowledge. They helps us to predict the future from our past experiences and use these predictions to guide adaptivebehaviours.