Learning and Memory Flashcards
Learning
the way in which we acquire new behaviors, usually through combination of stimuli and responses
Stimulus
anything to which an organism can respond, including sensory inputs
Operant conditioning
Learning by consequence; linking voluntary behavior with consequence to alter frequency of those behaviors
Behaviorism
BF Skinner; theory that all behaviors are conditioned
Positive reinforcement
increase a behavior by adding positive consequence or incentive, ie paying someone for work
Negative reinforcement
increase freq of behavior by removing something unpleasant, ie aspirin takes away headache, makes someone more likely to take one next time they have a headache
2 types:
1. escape learning = reduce unpleasant thing that already exists
2. avoidance learning = avoid unpleasant future result
Reinforcement
INCREASES frequency of a behavior
Discriminative stimulus
reward is potentially available if the stimilus is present in operant conditioning
Punishment
DECREASES frequency of a behavior
Positive punishment
adds unpleasant consequence to reduce behavior, ie getting whipped for stealing
Negative punishment
reducing behavior by removing a stimulus
Fixed ratio schedule
reinforce after specific # of times behavior is performed
Variable ratio schedule
reinforce after varying number of performances of a behavior
Fixed interval schedule
reinforce behavior after certain amount of time has passed, ie if pressing lever gets an award every minute, pressing lever after 20 seconds doesn’t result in a reward
Variable interval schedule
different intervals of time pass between each reinforcement
