Lesson 4 - Behavior And Learning

Question 1

Term that encompasses the following:
-Theory of mind
-Conscious thought and action
-Mind/brain duality
-Meta-rationality

Answer 1

Cognition

Question 2

A change in the brain that results in behavior being modified for longer than a few seconds

Answer 2

Learning

Question 3

Animal learns relationship between 2 things

Answer 3

Associative learning

Question 4

Animal learns to react to an event or stimulus without reinforcers

Answer 4

Non-associative learning

Question 5

What are the two types of associative learning?

Answer 5

Classical conditioning & operant conditioning

Question 6

What are the two types of non-associative learning?

Answer 6

Habituation & sensitization

Question 7

When animals learn to associate something that normally would not have had an effect with something that normally would be meaningful, we call this…

Answer 7

Classical conditioning

Question 8

What is an example of an unconditioned stimulus paired with an unconditioned response?

Answer 8

A dog salivating (UR) when it sees delicious food (US) is considered a normal association

Question 9

What is an example of a conditioned stimulus producing a conditioned response?

Answer 9

Ringing a bell (CS) causes salivation (CR).

Explanation: Ringing a bell was initially a neutral stimulus, but if the bell rings initially when food is offered, the dog will start to associate the bell with food. Thus, the bell ringing, even in the absence of food, starts to cause salivation (turning an UR into a CR)

Question 10

Classical conditioning was discovered by…

Answer 10

Ivan Pavlov

Question 11

Term meaning that “two events must be closely paired in time”

Answer 11

Contiguity

Question 12

Term meaning “one event must always predict the other”

Answer 12

Contingency

Question 13

Term meaning “it must be something the animal perceives as important”

Answer 13

Saliency

Question 14

Trial and error learning; learning through association of behavior with the immediate consequences of the behavior (reward/outcome)

Answer 14

Operant conditioning

Question 15

Behavior analysis was developed in the 20th century by…

Answer 15

B.F. Skinner

Question 16

Behaviors that are __________ are more likely to recur, while behaviors that are __________ are less likely to recur (in similar situations)

Answer 16

Rewarded/reinforced; punished

Question 17

True or False: Efficacy of reinforcement and/or punishment on behavior is dependent on long term effects rather than immediate effects.

Answer 17

True

Question 18

Adding something wanted to increase desired behavior (i.e. rewarding a dog in times it is not jumping on you/being calm)

Answer 18

Positive reinforcement

Question 19

Removing something aversive to increase desired behavior (i.e. if initially pushing as a response - no longer pushing a dog down while it is jumping on you

Answer 19

Negative reinforcement

Question 20

Adding something aversive to decrease undesired behavior (i.e. pushing a dog away when they are jumping on you)

Answer 20

Positive punishment

Question 21

Removing something wanted to decrease undesired behavior (i.e. not giving attention to a dog that is jumping on you)

Answer 21

Negative punishment

Question 22

Non-stop learning with positive reinforcement; important when initially learning a behavior but can be detrimental in the long term

Answer 22

Continuous reinforcement

Question 23

When positive reinforcement is given inappropriately or at the wrong times, causing undesirable behaviors to be reinforced, we call this…

Answer 23

Non-contingent reinforcement

Question 24

The process of gradually dropping rewards for the worst of acceptable responses, but frequent enough and with enough intensity to still encourage the animal to learn the behavior

Answer 24

Intermittent (Differential) reinforcement

Question 25

When behavior is reinforced on a fraction of occasions, we call this…

Answer 25

Variable ratio

Question 26

When behavior is performed for differing lengths of time before reward, we call this…

Answer 26

Variable duration

Question 27

What are the benefits of using clickers for training?

Answer 27

The clicker is a marker (an instantaneous signal), and it can bridge the gap between identifying to the animal that they performed a specific desired behavior correctly (at the moment it occurs) and supplying a reward for said behavior

Question 28

True or False: Clicker training utilizes both classical and operant conditioning

Answer 28

True; initially classical conditioning (clicker as a neutral stimulus marks something positive for the animal) and changes to operant conditioning when the animal intentionally repeats an action in order to earn a reward

Question 29

Building a new behavior by selectively reinforcing variations in existing behavior during action (not after completion)

Answer 29

Shaping

Question 30

Hands-off method of guiding an animal through a behavior (i.e. using food to guide a dog into “down” from “sit”)

Answer 30

Luring

Question 31

Learning not to respond to a stimulus that triggers an instinctive response; Reduction of a psychological (behavioral) response when a specific stimulus occurs repeatedly

Answer 31

Habituation

Question 32

Increasing responsiveness to a repeated stimulus; tends to be caused by more intense or aversive stimuli, especially if stimuli repeats when an animal is still physiologically aroused from the initial exposure

Answer 32

Sensitization

Question 33

Sensitization vs habituation depends on three things…

Answer 33

-Form of stimulus -Intensity of stimulus -Timing between repeat presentations

Question 34

Provides a means of safely exposing a pet to a stimulus at or below the predicted fear threshold; involves slow, gradual exposure and positive reinforcement

Answer 34

Desensitization

Question 35

This is used to change a pet’s attitude or emotional response to a stimulus…

Answer 35

Counter-conditioning

Question 36

A technique in which the pet is taught, using reinforcement-based techniques, to replace the undesirable behavior with a desirable one

Answer 36

Response substitution

Question 37

When an animal is given prolonged exposure to a stimulus that is fear or aggression evoking with the inability to leave the situation until no longer reactive; extremely stressful and often worsens fear

Answer 37

Flooding

Question 38

A founder of modern ethology and animal behavior study (along with Tinbergen); discovered imprinting behavior

Answer 38

Konrad Lorenz (1903-1989)

Question 39

Rapid and relatively stable learning and bond between a newborn and caregiver (or object) in very early life; Involves attachment to object or living being that can be generalized to all objects in that class and that will later evoke behavior patterns in the adult

Answer 39

Imprinting

Question 40

Animals that are developed at birth/hatching and are mobile and can stand/follow their mother

Answer 40

Precocial species