Unit 3

Question 1

learning

Answer 1

the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Question 2

habituation

Answer 2

decreased response to a stimulus w/ repeated exposure to it

Question 3

associative learning

Answer 3

learning that certain events occur together by classical or operant conditioning

Question 4

stimulus

Answer 4

any event or situation that evokes a response

Question 5

cognitive learning

Answer 5

the acquisition of mental information whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language

Question 6

classical conditioning

Answer 6

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate evnets

Question 7

behaviorism

Answer 7

view that psychology
1. should be an objective science that
2. studies behavior without referencing mental processes
most researchers agree with 1 but not 2

Question 8

neutral stimulus

Answer 8

a stimulus that elicited no response before conditioning

Question 9

unconditioned stimulus

Answer 9

a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response

Question 10

unconditioned response

Answer 10

an unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus

Question 11

conditioned response

Answer 11

a learned response to the previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus

Question 12

conditioned stimulus

Answer 12

an originally unimportant stimulus that starts triggering a learned response after association with the unconditioned stimulus

Question 13

acquisition

Answer 13

when one links the neutral stimulus to the unconditioned stimulus

Question 14

higher order conditioning

Answer 14

procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in on experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus which creates a second weaker conditioned stimulus.

Question 15

extinction

Answer 15

when a conditioned response diminishes

Question 16

spontaneous recovery

Answer 16

the reappearance after a pause of an extinguished conditioned response

Question 17

generalization

Answer 17

the tendency for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

Question 18

discrimination

Answer 18

the learned ability to distinguish between a stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

Question 19

operant conditioning

Answer 19

behaviors increase after reinforcers and after punishments they decrease

Question 20

reinforcement

Answer 20

any consequence that STRENGTHENS behavior

Question 21

Law of Effect

Answer 21

thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely to repeat, and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely to repeat

Question 22

operant chamber

Answer 22

contains a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer. attached devices record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking

Question 23

shaping

Answer 23

reinforces guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

Question 24

successive approximations

Answer 24

attempts to perform a task that is slightly better than a previous performance

Question 25

positive reinforcement

Answer 25

ADDS a desired stimulus to INCREASE the frequency of a behavior

Question 26

negative reinforcement

Answer 26

REMOVES an aversive stimulus to INCREASE the frequency of a behavior

Question 27

primary reinforcers

Answer 27

innately satisfying -- no learning needed

Question 28

secondary reinforcers

Answer 28

are satisfying because we have learned to associate them with more basic rewards

Question 29

immediate reinforcers

Answer 29

offer immediate payback

Question 30

delayed reinforcer

Answer 30

require the ability to delay gratification

Question 31

premack principle

Answer 31

the reinforcer must be desired by the subject for it to be reinforcing, if it is not desirable it will not strengthen the behavior

Question 32

continuous reinforcement

Answer 32

reinforcing the desired response EACH TIME it occurs

Question 32

partial reinforcement

Answer 32

reinforcing a response only part of the time, though it results in slower acquisition in the beginning, it shows greater resistance to extinction later on

Question 33

reinforcement schedule

Answer 33

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be enforced

Question 34

fixed ratio

Answer 34

reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

Question 35

varaiblae ratio

Answer 35

reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses, hard to extinguish because of unpredictability

Question 36

fixed interval

Answer 36

reinforces a response only after a specified amount of time has elapsed

Question 37

variable interval

Answer 37

reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals. produces slow steady responding.