Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM


Top Flashcards (Certified)
All Flashcards

PSYC111 > Learning > Flashcards

Learning Flashcards

(92 cards)

Start Studying
1
Q

What is behaviour in the context of learning psychology?

A

The observable actions of an organism in response to stimuli in its environment.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are reflexive behaviours?

A

Innate, automatic responses to specific stimuli, such as eye-blinking or sucking in newborns.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What are instinctual behaviours?

A

Innate patterns like imprinting or migration that are species-specific and not learned.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is learning?

A

A relatively permanent change in behaviour or knowledge due to experience.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is habituation?

A

A decrease in the strength of a response after repeated exposure to the same stimulus.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

How did young turkeys demonstrate habituation?

A

They stopped responding to the more common goose shape and only reacted to the rarer hawk shape.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Who was Ivan Pavlov?

A

A Russian physiologist known for discovering classical conditioning through digestive system research.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What is a neutral stimulus (NS)?

A

A stimulus that initially produces no specific response other than focusing attention.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is an unconditioned stimulus (US)?

A

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is an unconditioned response (UR)?

A

An unlearned, naturally occurring reaction to the unconditioned stimulus.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is a conditioned stimulus (CS)?

A

A previously neutral stimulus that, after association with a US, triggers a conditioned response.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is a conditioned response (CR)?

A

A learned response to a previously neutral stimulus that has become a CS.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What example demonstrates classical conditioning in the lab?

A

Pairing a puff of air (US) with a click (NS) until the click alone (CS) causes an eye-blink (CR).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What is a conditioned emotional response?

A

A learned emotional reaction to a previously neutral stimulus associated with an emotional event.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What study demonstrated conditioned fear in children?

A

The “Little Albert” study by Watson & Rayner, where a baby learned to fear a white rat.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What is spontaneous recovery?

A

The reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a rest period.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is extinction in classical conditioning?

A

The gradual weakening and disappearance of a CR when the CS is presented without the US.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What is stimulus generalisation?

A

When a CR occurs to stimuli similar to the original CS.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What is stimulus discrimination?

A

When a CR is only elicited by the original CS and not by similar stimuli.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is systematic desensitisation?

A

A therapy combining extinction, stimulus generalisation, and counterconditioning to treat phobias.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What is blocking?

A

When learning does not occur because a reliable predictor of the US already exists (e.g., light + noise + shock).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What is higher-order conditioning?

A

Using a previously conditioned stimulus as a US to condition a new stimulus.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What is sensory preconditioning?

A

When two stimuli are paired together before one is associated with a US, leading the other to elicit the CR.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What is the contingency principle?

A

Conditioning is stronger when the CS reliably predicts the US and is not presented without it.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
What is delayed conditioning?
CS precedes and overlaps with US — the most effective conditioning method.
26
What is trace conditioning?
CS starts and ends before the US — less effective than delayed conditioning.
27
What is simultaneous conditioning?
CS and US start and end at the same time — usually ineffective.
28
What is backward conditioning?
CS follows the US — generally ineffective or inhibitory.
29
What is the compensatory-reaction hypothesis?
The body produces an opposite response to the expected drug effect, contributing to tolerance.
30
How does classical conditioning relate to drug overdose?
Without the usual CS cues, the body doesn’t prepare, increasing overdose risk.
31
What is conditioned taste aversion?
A strong aversion to a food or drink associated with illness, even with long delays between CS and US.
32
Who was Edward Thorndike and what was he known for?
Edward Thorndike was an American psychologist (1874–1935) who studied animal learning using puzzle boxes and formulated the Law of Effect.
33
What is Thorndike’s Law of Effect?
Responses followed by satisfying consequences become more likely; responses followed by discomfort become less likely.
34
What did Thorndike conclude from his puzzle box experiments with cats?
Learning was gradual, not sudden insight; behaviour was shaped by consequences, not understanding.
35
How does punishment relate to Thorndike’s Law of Effect?
Punishment weakens the connection between behaviour and situation, making the behaviour less likely to occur.
36
How is Instrumental Conditioning different from Classical Conditioning?
Instrumental Conditioning focuses on how consequences affect the likelihood of a response, whereas Classical Conditioning involves associations between stimuli.
37
Who was B.F. Skinner and what was his contribution to psychology?
An American behaviourist (1904–1990) who developed Operant Conditioning and emphasized objective measurement in psychology.
38
Why did Skinner invent the "air crib"?
To control the environment for infants, allowing more time for social interaction. It was controversial and sometimes misinterpreted.
39
What is an operant in Operant Conditioning?
An operant is a response defined by its effect on the environment.
40
What is Skinner's version of the Law of Effect?
Behaviours followed by reinforcement increase; behaviours followed by punishment decrease.
41
What is shaping in behaviour training?
Gradually reinforcing successive approximations of the desired behaviour.
42
What is positive reinforcement?
Adding a stimulus after a behaviour to increase the likelihood of that behaviour.
43
What is negative reinforcement?
Removing an aversive stimulus after a behaviour to increase the likelihood of that behaviour.
44
What is positive punishment?
Adding an aversive stimulus after a behaviour to decrease the likelihood of that behaviour.
45
What is negative punishment?
Removing a desirable stimulus after a behaviour to decrease the likelihood of that behaviour.
46
What is a conditioned reinforcer?
A stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through association with a primary reinforcer (e.g., money).
47
What is continuous reinforcement?
Every instance of a response is reinforced. Useful for learning new behaviours.
48
What is partial reinforcement?
Only some responses are reinforced. More resistant to extinction.
49
What is a fixed-ratio schedule?
Reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of responses (e.g., FR10 = every 10th response).
50
What is a variable-ratio schedule?
Reinforcement occurs after a variable number of responses, averaged over time (e.g., VR10 = average of 10 responses).
51
What is a fixed-interval schedule?
The first response after a fixed time interval is reinforced.
52
What is a variable-interval schedule?
The first response after a variable time interval is reinforced.
53
What is extinction in Operant Conditioning?
The removal of reinforcement leads to a decrease in behaviour strength.
54
What is the partial reinforcement extinction effect?
Behaviours reinforced intermittently are more resistant to extinction than those reinforced continuously.
55
What is an extinction burst?
A temporary increase in the frequency or intensity of behaviour when reinforcement is first removed.
56
What is Premack’s Principle?
High-probability behaviours can reinforce low-probability behaviours.
57
How can deprivation change the effectiveness of reinforcers?
Deprivation increases the value of certain behaviours or reinforcers, making them more effective.
58
What is stimulus control?
When behaviour is more likely to occur in the presence of specific antecedent stimuli.
59
What is stimulus generalisation?
Behaviour occurs in the presence of stimuli similar to the original discriminative stimulus.
60
What is stimulus discrimination?
Behaviour occurs only in response to a specific stimulus, not similar ones.
61
What was learned from Jenkins & Harrison’s experiments on discrimination training?
Reinforcement sharpens stimulus control; discrimination training leads to narrower generalisation.
62
What did Honig & Slivka (1964) find about punishment generalisation?
Punishment effects can generalise to similar stimuli, reducing responses to them as well.
63
Can non-human animals learn concepts?
Yes, pigeons can learn categories such as "fish" vs "no fish", showing basic concept learning.
64
What did the Breland & Breland study show?
Instinctive drift can interfere with learned behaviours, showing biological constraints on learning.
65
What is behavioural contrast?
When the rate of behaviour changes in response to changes in the reinforcement conditions of another behaviour.
66
What is differential reinforcement?
Reinforcing a specific response while withholding reinforcement for other responses.
67
How does Operant Conditioning apply to education?
It can be used to shape behaviour through reinforcement schedules and positive feedback.
68
What is token economy?
A behaviour modification system where tokens are earned for desirable behaviours and exchanged for rewards.
69
How can Operant Conditioning be used in animal training?
By reinforcing desired behaviours with treats or praise using shaping and schedules of reinforcement.
70
How does reinforcement differ from reward?
Reinforcement increases behaviour frequency; a reward may not necessarily change behaviour.
71
Why is timing important in reinforcement?
Immediate reinforcement is more effective than delayed reinforcement in strengthening behaviour.
72
What is contingency in Operant Conditioning?
The relationship between behaviour and its consequence; strong contingency increases learning effectiveness.
73
What is observational learning?
Observational learning occurs when an organism's responding is influenced by observing the behaviour of others (models).
74
What evolutionary advantage does observational learning offer?
It allows quicker acquisition of adaptive behaviours compared to trial-and-error learning and is generally safer or more efficient.
75
What was the key finding from Palameta & Lefebvre’s (1985) bird study?
Only birds that observed both the piercing and eating (Observational Learning group) showed significantly faster learning, showing true observational learning.
76
What is the difference between blind imitation and local enhancement?
Blind imitation involves copying without seeing the outcome; local enhancement involves attention being drawn to a location or object due to another’s actions.
77
What did Cook & Mineka’s (1987) monkey study show about fear learning?
Monkeys learned fear of snakes through observation, but did not learn fear of flowers, showing biological constraints on what can be learned.
78
What are the four key processes in Bandura's theory of observational learning?
Attention, Retention, Production, and Motivation.
79
What was shown in Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment?
Children imitated aggressive behaviour towards a Bobo doll after observing adults do so, showing observational learning of aggression.
80
How does model similarity affect observational learning?
People are more likely to imitate models who are similar to themselves in attributes or experiences.
81
What was the purpose of Poche et al. (1988)’s study?
To teach children self-protection skills against abduction using observational learning techniques via video modeling and rehearsal.
82
What was the outcome of the follow-up in Poche et al.’s study?
One month later, most children who were trained still performed protective behaviours correctly in a different setting.
83
What challenge does the dolphin and sea lion dialogue highlight in studying animal cognition?
The challenge of defining cognitive processes in animals without anthropomorphising or making inaccurate assumptions based on human behaviours.
84
What is the 'Clever Hans' effect and why is it important?
It refers to animals appearing to demonstrate cognitive abilities by unintentionally picking up on human cues, not genuine understanding—highlighting the need for careful controls.
85
How is communication in animals like vervet monkeys and bees different from human language?
Animal communication lacks complex structure, extended vocabulary, and syntactic rules that characterize human language.
86
What are key features that distinguish true language from communication?
Use of arbitrary symbols, reference to non-present objects, and syntactic rules for generating new meanings.
87
Why were early attempts to teach apes spoken language largely unsuccessful?
Apes, like chimpanzees, lack the anatomical adaptations necessary for producing human speech sounds.
88
What was Washoe’s contribution to language research in apes?
Washoe was taught American Sign Language, learned over 160 signs, and could combine signs meaningfully—though showed little syntax.
89
What were Terrace’s criticisms in the Nim Chimpsky study?
Nim's sign use was limited in length and meaning, lacked syntax, and was often cued by human trainers—suggesting limited language-like behaviour.
90
What is Yerkish and who was it developed for?
Yerkish is a symbolic language developed by Duane Raumbaugh for apes like Lana, Austin, and Sherman to study language using lexigrams.
91
How did Kanzi acquire his symbolic language abilities?
Kanzi learned lexigram use incidentally during his mother's training, showing spontaneous interest and naturalistic language learning.
92
What is Kanzi’s demonstrated level of language understanding?
Kanzi understands around 500 spoken words and uses about 200 lexigrams, showing some grasp of syntax—comparable to a 2–2.5-year-old human child.

PSYC111 (4 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions