Learning

Question 1

What is learning?

Answer 1

The process of acquiring knowledge or skills resulting from experience

There are many approaches to learning

Question 2

Define the behaviorist approach to learning.

Answer 2

An approach that states behaviors are learned through interactions with the environment

Question 3

What is conditioning?

Answer 3

The learning process by which the behavior of an organism becomes dependent on an event occurring in its environment

Question 4

What is a stimulus?

Answer 4

An environmental event that triggers a response in an organism

Question 5

What is a response?

Answer 5

A behavioral reaction to a stimulus

Question 6

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 6

A simple form of learning that occurs through repeated associations between two stimuli to produce a conditioned response

Question 7

What occurs in the ‘before conditioning’ stage of classical conditioning?

Answer 7

No learning has occurred

Question 8

Define unconditional stimulus (UCS).

Answer 8

A stimulus that consistently produces a naturally occurring, automatic response

Question 9

What is an unconditioned response (UCR)?

Answer 9

A response that occurs automatically/involuntarily when the unconditioned stimulus is presented

Question 10

What is a neutral stimulus?

Answer 10

A stimulus (prior to conditioning) that doesn’t produce a response

Question 11

What happens during the conditioning stage of classical conditioning?

Answer 11

Learning occurs through association

Question 12

What is acquisition in classical conditioning?

Answer 12

The process during which an organism learns to associate two events (the neutral stimulus and the unconditional stimulus)

Question 13

What occurs in the ‘after conditioning’ stage of classical conditioning?

Answer 13

The conditioned stimulus produces a conditioned response

Question 14

Define conditioned stimulus (CS).

Answer 14

A stimulus that was previously neutral but now produces a conditioned response after association with the unconditioned stimulus

Question 15

What is a conditioned response (CR)?

Answer 15

A learned behavior that is similar to the unconditioned response and is triggered by the conditioned stimulus

Question 16

What is reinforcement?

Answer 16

A stimulus from the environment that increases the likelihood of a response occurring in the future

Question 17

Define positive reinforcement.

Answer 17

When a behavior is followed by adding a desirable stimulus, increasing the likelihood of the behavior occurring again

Question 18

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 18

When a behavior is followed by the removal of an undesirable stimulus, increasing the likelihood of the behavior occurring again

Question 19

What is punishment in the context of behavior?

Answer 19

A stimulus from the environment that decreases the likelihood of a behavior occurring again

Question 20

Define positive punishment.

Answer 20

When a behavior is followed by adding an undesirable stimulus, decreasing the likelihood of the behavior occurring again

Question 21

What is negative punishment?

Answer 21

When a behavior is followed by the removal of a desirable stimulus, decreasing the likelihood of the behavior occurring again

Question 22

What is operant conditioning?

Answer 22

A learning process in which the likelihood of a voluntary behavior occurring is determined by its consequences

Question 23

What is an antecedent?

Answer 23

An environmental stimulus that triggers an action

Question 24

Define behavior.

Answer 24

An observable action by an organism

Question 25

What is a consequence in behavioral terms?

Answer 25

Something that makes a behavior more or less likely to occur again

Question 26

Who is the learner in observational learning?

Answer 26

The individual who observes, remembers and initiates the actions of the model

Question 27

Define model in the context of learning.

Answer 27

The live, pre-recorded, or symbolic person being observed

Question 28

What is observational learning?

Answer 28

A type of social learning that occurs when a learner observes a model’s actions and their consequences to guide their future actions

Question 29

What is the first step of observational learning?

Answer 29

Attention: when the learner actively watches the model’s behavior and the consequences

Question 30

What occurs in the retention stage of observational learning?

Answer 30

The learner stores (retains) a mental representation of the model’s behavior

Question 31

What is reproduction in observational learning?

Answer 31

When the learner's physical and mental capabilities enable them to perform the model's behavior

Question 32

What is motivation in the context of observational learning?

Answer 32

The learner's desire to perform the model's behavior

Question 33

What does reinforcement mean in observational learning?

Answer 33

Receiving a reward or desirable factor that increases the likelihood that the learner will reproduce the behavior in the future