Exam 1

Question 1

Learning

Answer 1

A relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs because of experience with events. Excludes temporary change and effects due to maturation. It is necessary because environments are unpredictable and we need to adapt

Question 2

Memory

Answer 2

Retention or retrieval of information

Question 3

Epistemology

Answer 3

Philosophical study of nature of knowledge and how we came to have knowledge

Question 4

Maturation

Answer 4

Effects due to this are not attributed to organism learning, but simply development

Question 5

Structuralism

Answer 5

School of early psychology associated with Wundt. It was known for emphasizing use of introspection
Purpose of psychology = understanding conscious experience via structure

Question 6

Functionalism

Answer 6

(James) emphasis on functions of consciousness; is often based on observation

Question 7

Behaviorism

Answer 7

School of early psychology associated with Watson. It viewed science as the study of observable events and psychology as the study of behavior.
Emphasis on relationship between stimuli and responses. Did not care about mental experience and feelings like attention, insight, etc. Only on what you DO

Question 8

Cognitive approach to learning

Answer 8

(Piaget, Bartlett) The goal of learning is to use measures of behavior to develop and test theories of mental processes.
The mind is an active processor of information, and forms an internal representation of the world that can guide behavior

Question 9

Schema

Answer 9

stored framework or body of knowledge about some topic

Question 10

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Answer 10

A theory involving qualitative changes in intellectual functioning during childhood. Follows the idea that development results from a combination of assimilation and accomodation

Question 11

Stages of Piaget’s theory

Answer 11

Sensory motor intelligence: infant, lack of object permanence
Preoperational period: toddler, failure at conservation tasks
Concrete operations: inability to handle abstract concepts or reason scientifically
Formal operations

Question 12

Repetition priming

Answer 12

Processing of a stimulus is affected by a previous presentation of it

Question 13

Learning curve

Answer 13

Is represented by a monotonic (one-direction), negatively accelerated (slowing) graph

Question 14

Habituation

Answer 14

Decrease in a response to a stimulus that is repeatedly presented
Refers to something happening as a reflex and is thus stimulus-specific

Question 15

Dishabituation

Answer 15

the idea that habituation to one stimulus can be temporarily blocked by the presentation of another stimulus

Question 16

Discrimination

Answer 16

Responding differently to different stimuli

Question 17

Features of habituation

Answer 17

It is a function of number of repetitions
effects fade with time
occurs more rapidly if it occurs to same stimulus on multiple occasions
spacing of repetitions is important

Question 18

Spontaneous recovery

Answer 18

Idea that the effects of habituation fade away as a result of the passage of time

Question 19

sensitization

Answer 19

increase in response to a stimulus as a result of repetition
reflects the overall state of arousal in the nervous system
tends to occur more with strong stimuli

Question 20

Thompson et al

Answer 20

Associated with dual-process theory of habituation and sensitization

Question 21

Thompson et al’s dual process theory

Answer 21

Found that response to a stimulus depends on two different sets of neurons
H neurons: most directly involved in reflect arc and habituate to repeated stimulation
S neurons: more central, reflect general state of arousal in organism and likely to enhance responsiveness

Question 22

Implications of dual-process theory

Answer 22

habituation and sensitization are not opposites but are based on different levels of the nervous system
Sensitization is less stimulus-specific than habituation
Processes are independent and may both operate, and behavior will reflect both systems

Question 23

Why does habituation occur

Answer 23

reduction or elimination of inappropriate response to a weak stimulus

Question 24

Why does sensitization occur

Answer 24

increase of general responsiveness in an important environment, usually dealing with a strong or particularly stressful stimulus

Question 25

Opponent-process theory of acquired motivation

Answer 25

Theory that presents idea that all organisms are oriented to homeostasis; when experience a strong reaction A, they then experience a counter-reaction B As a result of repetition, A habituates, but B sensitizes

Question 26

Applications of opponent-process theory

Answer 26

Romantic passion Skydiving Drug tolerance and addiction

Question 27

Who developed the opponent-process theory

Answer 27

Solomon, in 1980

Question 28

Hedonic treadmill

Answer 28

Emotional systems adapt to life circumstances, returning us to our emotional set-point Life experiences have only a temporary effect on our level of happiness

Question 29

Perceptual learning

Answer 29

Once we have learned how to perceive or identify a stimulus, it is easier to learn other things about it Experience with stimulus leads to improvement in task performance

Question 30

Who developed the cognitive theory of habituation

Answer 30

Wagner (1976)

Question 31

Cognitive theory of habituation

Answer 31

theory that habituation could reflect either short-term or long-term memory Stimulus more likely to be recognized if short-term

Question 32

Classical conditioning

Answer 32

Using a conditioned stimulus to program a response

Question 33

Unconditioned stimulus

Answer 33

Food

Question 34

Unconditioned response

Answer 34

salivation to food

Question 35

Conditioned stimulus

Answer 35

tone

Question 36

conditioned response

Answer 36

salivation to tone

Question 37

Extinction

Answer 37

when conditioned stimulus comes but not expected consequences, behavior for conditioned response slowly stops being conditioned Consciousness may be sufficient for extinction, but it is not necessary

Question 38

preparedness

Answer 38

number of learning experiences that must occur before behavior change is reliable

Question 39

conditioned taste aversion

Answer 39

only takes one illness to avoid food as a response one-trial learning Tends to only be certain aspects of senses

Question 40

second order conditioning

Answer 40

stimulus that was previously neutral (e.g., a light) is paired with a conditioned stimulus (e.g., a tone that has been conditioning with food to produce salivating - this is the "first" order) to produce the same conditioned response as the conditioned stimulus.

Question 41

Sensory preconditioning

Answer 41

learning of an association between two stimuli. S1 and S2 presented together, then only S2, with an unconditioned stimulus. It becomes a conditioned stimulus, then present S1 by itself and may elicit conditioned response due to association

Question 42

overshadowing

Answer 42

a stronger or more salient stimulus may be learned at the expense of a weaker one

Question 43

Blocking

Answer 43

Will not respond to a second stimulus that is unconditioned if it is presented with a stimulus that is already conditioned.

Question 44

Unblocking

Answer 44

Increasing the result when having two stimuli will cause conditioning for second stimulus too

Question 45

who came up with theory of classical conditioning

Answer 45

Rescorla and Wagner

Question 46

What is the theory of classical conditioning

Answer 46

Every unconditioned stimulus is limited in associative strength, and it is possible that conditioned responses can compete with each other for that associative strength delta V = f(lambda - V) -> change in associative strength of all conditioned stimuli = coding a particular US will support - associative strength of all CS

Question 47

Importance of classical conditioning theory

Answer 47

formed the way we think about classical conditioning

Question 48

Successes of the rescorla-wagner theory

Answer 48

shape of learning curve: learning slows as V approaches lambda Extinction and inhibitory conditioning occur when delta V is a negative number For blocking, after CS1-US conditioning, V already near Lambda

Question 49

over-expectation effect

Answer 49

presenting two stimuli conditioned for a response together with lead to a greater response, but animal will become conditioned to respond less over time if it does not receive twice the result

Question 50

Positive patterning

Answer 50

presenting simultaneous compound stimuli that are paired with reinforcement while withholding reinforcement when a single stimulus is presented. produces an increase in responding to the compound stimuli and a decrease in responding to a single stimulus.

Question 51

Negative patterning

Answer 51

However, the simultaneous compound stimuli are not paired with reinforcement while the stimuli presented individually are paired with reinforcement. decreases responding to the compound stimuli and increases responding to the stimuli presented individually.

Question 52

Perruchet effect

Answer 52

subjects' conscious expectations may differ from physiological response

Question 53

causal learning

Answer 53

learn associations between events, that one eent causes the other

Question 54

Evaluative conditioning

Answer 54

a conditioned stimulus coincides with some desirable or undesirable object, the unconditioned stimulus. Over time, stimuli that often coincide with desirable objects are perceived more favorably, whereas stimuli that often coincide with undesirable objects are perceived less favorably

Question 55

Coolidge effect

Answer 55

The reinitiation of sexual behaviour in a sexually satiated animal, in response to a novel receptive mate

Question 56

Conditioned emotional response

Answer 56

emotional response that results from classical conditioning, usually from the association of a relatively neutral stimulus with a painful or fear-inducing experience.

Question 57

Summation test of conditioned inhibition

Answer 57

stimuli that are conditioned separately are then combined in a compound. The procedure can identify a stimulus as a conditioned inhibitor if it suppresses responding evoked by the other stimulus

Question 58

Retardation of acquisition test of conditioned inhibiton

Answer 58

stimulus as a conditioned inhibitor if, when paired with a stimulus that gets a conditioned response, achievement of response is slowed.