Key Terms Flashcards
(144 cards)
1
Q
Reflex
A
a relationship between a specific event and a simple response to that event (not a particular kind of behaviour)
2
Q
Modal action pattern
A
a series of related acts found in all/nearly all members of a species (aka fixed action patterns, species-specific behaviour)
3
Q
General behaviour traits
A
the tendency to engage in a certain kind of behaviour (e.g. shyness, aggression, anxiousness)
4
Q
Learning
A
a change in behaviour due to experience
5
Q
Behaviour
A
anything a person/animal does that can be measured (as this is necessary for scientific analysis)
6
Q
Experience
A
a change in the environment
7
Q
Stimuli
A
physical changes/environmental events in an organism’s environment that affect behaviour
8
Q
Habituation
A
a reduction in the intensity or probability of a reflex response as a result of repeatedly evoking the response (i.e. a change in behaviour due to experience)
9
Q
Experiment
A
a study in which a researcher manipulates one or more variables (independent variables) and measures the effects of this manipulation on one or more other variables (dependent variables)
10
Q
Between-subjects experiment
A
researcher identifies two or more groups of participants; independent variable made to differ across groups; some participants exposed (experimental group) and some not (control group)
11
Q
matched sampling
A
experiment participants with identical features identified and paired up then split into different groups
12
Q
Within-subject experiment
A
participant’s behaviour observed before (baseline period) then during or after (treatment period) experimental treatment
13
Q
ABA reversal design
A
return to baseline i.e. repeat experiment within same study
14
Q
Unconditional reflexes
A
reflexes that are present at birth, permanent, and found in all members of species with little variability (e.g. dog salivating when food put into its mouth)
15
Q
Conditional reflexes
A
reflexes that are not present at birth and must be acquired through experience, and are relatively impermanent compared to unconditional reflexes
16
Q
Classical conditioning
A
procedure (or experience) of pairing a US and a CS
17
Q
Higher-order conditioning
A
the procedure of pairing a neutral stimulus with a well-established CS
18
Q
Third-order conditioning
A
a neutral stimulus is paired with a CS(2) (i.e. a CS that is paired to a CS)
19
Q
Pseudoconditioning
A
the tendency of a neutral stimulus to elicit a CR after a US has elicited reflex response
20
Q
Trace conditioning
A
CS begins and ends before US appears (i.e. a gap in between)
21
Q
Delay conditioning
A
CS and US overlap (i.e. US appears before CS disappears)
22
Q
Simultaneous conditioning
A
CS and US coincide exactly
23
Q
Backward conditioning
A
CS follows the US
24
Q
Contingency
A
an if-then statement (i.e. X occurs if and only if Y occurs)
25
Interstimulus interval
interval between the CS and US
26
Compound stimulus
two or more stimuli presented simultaneously with US, then each presented alone
27
Overshadowing
when one stimulus more effective than the other, lesser stimulus does not become a CS
28
Latent inhibition
the appearance of a stimulus without US interferes with ability of that stimulus to become a CS later
29
Blocking
when NS is part of a compound stimulus with an effective CS, novel stimulus does not become CS
30
Sensory preconditioning
if participant exposed to pairing of two NS without US, then later exposed to NS1 and a CS, participant may have CR to NS2
31
Intertrial interval
gap between successive trials (i.e. between each pairing of CS and US)
32
Spontaneous recovery
reappearance of behaviour after extinction
33
Stimulus-substitution theory
CS merely substitutes for US in evoking the reflex response
34
Preparatory response theory
UR is an innate response to deal with US, but CR is a response to prepare for US
35
Compensatory response theory
CR prepares animal for US by compensating for its effects
36
Rescorla-Wagner model
argues that there is a limit to the amount of conditioning that can occur in pairing of two stimuli
37
Conditioned emotional responses
emotional reactions learned through classical conditioning
38
Counterconditioning
use of Pavlovian conditioning to reverse effects of previous conditioning
39
In vivo exposure therapy
person directly exposed to frightening stimulus
40
Systematic desensitization
therapist and client develop list of incrementally more frightening stimuli related to phobia,
then therapist supports client in imagining scenes while instructing them to relax
never experience terrifying fear during this process, but gradual desensitization
41
Law of effect
behaviour is a function of its consequences
42
Operant learning
experiences whereby behaviour is strengthened or weakened by its consequences
43
Primary reinforcers
innately effective, not dependent on learning experiences (aka unconditioned reinforcers)
44
Satiation
phenomenon where PR loses its effectiveness (e.g. the more full you are, the less food works)
45
Secondary reinforcers
not innately effective; the result of learning experiences (aka conditioned reinforcers)
46
Generalized reinforcers
reinforcers that have been paired with many different kinds of reinforcers and can therefore be used in wide variety of situations (e.g. money)
47
Natural reinforcers
events that follow spontaneously/automatically from a behaviour (e.g. pedaling moves bike forward)
48
Contrived reinforcers
events that are provided by someone for the purpose of modifying behaviour (e.g. work bonus)
49
Contingency
the degree of correlation between a behaviour and its consequence
50
Contiguity
the gap in time between a behaviour and its reinforcing consequence
51
Motivating operation
anything that changes the effectiveness of a consequence
52
Establishing operations
motivating operations that increase the effectiveness of a consequence
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Abolishing operations
motivating operations that decrease the effectiveness of a consequence
54
Relative value theory
relative values of activities determine whether given activity will reinforce another
55
Premack principle
high-probability behaviour reinforces low-probability behaviour
56
Response-deprivation theory
behaviour becomes reinforcing when individual is prevented from engaging in the behaviour at its normal frequency
57
Two-process theory
both classical and operant learning are involved in avoidance learning
58
One-process theory
avoidance learning involves only operant learning
59
Shaping
training procedure to reinforce successive approximations of a desired behaviour
60
Behavior chain
a connected sequence of behaviour which usually must be completed in a particular order
61
Chaining
teaching an animal or person to perform a behaviour chain
62
Backward chaining
begin with the last link in chain and work backward toward first element
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Problem
a situation in which reinforcement is available but behaviour necessary to produce it is not
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Superstition
any behaviour that occurs repeatedly even though it does not produce the reinforcers that maintain it
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Learned helplessness
learned through exposure to inescapable aversives
66
Schedules of reinforcement
distinctive rules describing the contingency between a behaviour and reinforcement
67
Schedule effects
distinctive patterns of behaviour produced under various reinforcement schedules
68
Run rate
the rate at which behaviour occurs once it has resumed following reinforcement
69
Extinction
a previously reinforced behaviour is never followed by reinforcers → decline in behaviour frequency
70
Extinction burst
abrupt increase in behaviour following extinction
71
Duration schedules
reinforcement contingent on continuous performance for fixed or variable period of time
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Noncontingent reinforcement schedules
reinforcement delivered independently of behaviour
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Progressive schedules
rules describing contingencies change systematically
74
Progressive ratio
requirement for reinforcement increases in predetermined way, often immediately
75
Break point
point at which rate of behaviour falls off sharply or stops entirely
76
Ratio stretching
thinning a reinforcement schedule
77
Ratio strain
when ratio is stretched too rapidly/too far and performance breaks down
78
Compound schedules
various combinations of simple schedules
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Multiple schedule
behaviour under influence of two or more simple schedules, each associated with a particular stimulus --> change is signalled
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Mixed schedule
behaviour under influence of two or more simple schedules, each associated with a particular stimulus --> change is not signalled
81
Chain schedule
reinforcement delivered only on completion of last in a series of schedules (with signal of change)
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Tandem schedule
reinforcement delivered only on completion of last in a series of schedules (with no signal of change)
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Cooperative schedule
reinforcement dependent on behaviour of two or more individuals
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Concurrent schedule
two or more schedules available at once, so subject can make a choice
85
Partial reinforcement effect
tendency of behaviour that has been maintained on an intermittent schedule to be more resistant to extinction than behaviour that has been on continuous reinforcement
86
Discrimination hypothesis
theorizes that extinction takes longer after intermittent reinforcement because it is harder to distinguish between extinction and an intermittent schedule than between extinction and CRF
87
Frustration hypothesis
nonreinforcement of previously reinforced behaviour is frustrating (an aversive emotional state), so anything that reduces frustration will be reinforcing
88
Sequential hypothesis
PRE is a result of differences in sequence of cues during training
89
Response unit hypothesis
PRE is an illusion – behaviour on intermittent reinforcement only seems to be more resistant to extinction because we fail to account for the response units required for reinforcement
90
Matching law
given two behaviours (B1 and B2), each on its own reinforcement schedule (r1 and r2, respectively), relative frequency of each behaviour equals relative frequency of reinforcement available
91
Disruption theory
early theory of punishment that proposed that response suppression was due to disruptive effects of aversive stimuli, so punished behaviour is only temporarily suppressed
92
Response prevention
preventing behaviour from occurring by altering environment (e.g. think ahead)
93
Differential reinforcement
combine nonreinforcement of unwanted behaviour with reinforcement of another
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Differential reinforcement of alternative behaviour
reinforcement made available for specified alternative to unwanted behaviour (i.e. provide another way to obtain same reinforcement)
95
Differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviour
reinforce a behaviour that is incompatible with unwanted behaviour, necessarily reducing rate of unwanted behaviour
96
Differential reinforcement of low rate
reinforce behaviour only if it occurs at low rate
97
Delusions
false beliefs that often (but not always) have an organic basis
98
Goldiamond’s Paradox
the occasional absence of maintaining consequences is required for reinforcement to be available on other occasions
99
Constraint-induced movement therapy
restricting movement of normal limb to reinforce consequences of using defective limb
100
Observational learning
learning by observing events and their consequences
101
Social observational learning
observing behaviour of another individual and consequences of model’s behaviour
102
Asocial observational learning
learning from consequences of observed events in the absence of a model
103
Ghost condition
solution shown but to observer, does not appear that a model caused the solution
104
Imitation
to perform an observed act, whether modeled or not
105
Over-imitation
tendency to imitate observed behaviour even when it is clearly irrelevant to producing reinforcement
106
Social cognitive theory
cognitive processes account for learning from models (but environmental and biological events also influence behaviour)
107
Operant learning model
observational learning is just a variation of operant learning → so modeled behaviour and consequences serve as cues that similar behaviour will be reinforced or punished in the observer
108
Generalization
tendency for the effects of a learning experience to spread
109
Vicarious generalization
generalization across people/observational learning
110
Response maintenance
generalization over time (the opposite of forgetting)
111
Response generalization
generalization across behaviours
112
Stimulus generalization
tendency for changes in behaviour in one situation to spread to other situations
113
Generalization gradient
data on stimulus generalization plotted on a graph shows that the more closely a stimulus resembles the training stimulus, the more similar the behaviour to the training behaviour
114
Mental rotation
experiment in which people are shown images that have been rotated and asked if image is inverted
115
Stimulus discrimination
tendency for behaviour to occur in certain situations but not in others
116
Discrimination training
procedure for establishing discrimination
117
Pavlovian discrimination training
one conditional stimulus (CS+) regularly paired with a US and another conditional stimulus (CS-) regularly appears alone
118
Operant discrimination training
one stimulus (S+ or SD) indicates behaviour will have reinforcing consequences and another stimulus (S- or Sdelta) indicates behaviour will not have reinforcing consequences
119
discriminative stimuli
stimuli that signal different consequences for behaviour
120
Simultaneous discrimination training
discriminative stimuli presented at the same time
121
Successive discrimination training
S+ and S- alternate (usually randomly) – when S+ appears, behaviour reinforced; when S- appears, behaviour not reinforced
122
Matching to sample
task is to select the stimulus that matches a standard using two or more comparison stimuli (i.e. alternatives) which include S+ and one or more S-
123
Errorless discrimination training
S- presented in very weak form and for short periods → disc seldom pecked → then strength of S- increased but bird still did not peck it
124
Differential outcomes effect
improvement in discrimination learning as a result of different consequences
125
Concept
any class the members of which share one or more defining features
126
Stimulus control
when discrimination training brings behaviour under the influence of discriminative stimuli
127
Peak shift
phenomenon in generalization data for peak behaviour to shift away from S-
128
Forgetting
deterioration in performance of learned behaviour following retention interval
129
Retention interval
a period during which learning or practice of the behaviour does not occur
130
Free recall
individual given opportunity to perform previously learned behaviour → if the performance takes longer or there are more errors, forgetting has occurred
131
Prompted/cued recall
a variation of free recall – consists of presenting prompts (that were not present during training) to increase likelihood behaviour will be produced
132
Relearning method
measures forgetting in terms of amount of training required to reach previous level of performance
133
Recognition
participant has to identify the material previously used (e.g. multiple choice tests)
134
Delayed matching to sample
matching to sample but participant prevented from performing following sample until delay ends
135
Extinction method
when extinction proceeds more rapidly after retention interval than it would have immediately after training, forgetting has occurred
136
Gradient degradation
a flattening of a generalization gradient → to the extent that training establishes stimulus control, any decline in steepness of generalization gradient indicates forgetting
137
Overlearning
phenomenon that learning continues even after we seem to have achieved mastery
138
Proactive interference
previous learning can interfere with recall
139
paired associate learning
technique in which person must learn a list of word pairs so that when given first word, participant must produce the second
140
Retroactive interference
when what we learn increases forgetting of previous learning
141
Context
stimuli present during learning that are not directly relevant to what is learned (e.g. studying environment)
142
Cue-dependent forgetting
when stimuli of learning context absent, performance suffers
143
Instinctive drift
tendency of an animal to revert to a fixed action pattern, which sets limits on learning
144
Continuum of preparedness
an animal comes to a learning situation genetically prepared to learn (in which case learning proceeds quickly), unprepared (in which case learning proceeds steadily but more slowly) or contraprepared (in which case learning is slow and irregular)
