Psychology Chapter 5
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- learning
- the process by which experience or practice results in a relatively permanent change in behavior or potential behavior
- conditioning
- the acquisition of specific patterns of behavior in the presence of well-defined stimuli
- classical (or Pavlovian) conditioning
- the type of learning in which a response naturally elicited by one stimulus comes to be elicited by a different, formerly neutral stimulus
- operant (or instrumental) conditioning
- the type of learning in which behaviors are emitted (in the presence of specific stimuli) to earn rewards or avoid punishments
- unconditioned stimulus (US)
- a stimulus that invariably causes an organism to respond in a specific way
- unconditioned response (UR)
- a response that takes place in an organism whenever an unconditioned stimulus occurs
- conditioned stimulus (CS)
- an originally neutral stimulus that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus and eventually produces the desired response in an organism when presented alone
- conditioned response (CR)
- after conditioning, the response an organism produces when only a conditioned stimulus is presented
- desensitization therapy
- a conditioning technique designed to gradually reduce anxiety about a particular object or situation
- conditioned food (or taste) aversion
- conditioned avoidance of certain foods even if there is only one pairing of conditioned and unconditioned stimuli
- operant behavior
- behavior designed to operate on the environment in a way that will gain something desired or avoid something unpleasant
- reinforcer
- a stimulus that follows a behavior and increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated
- punisher
- a stimulus that follows a behavior and decreases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated
- law of effect
- Thorndike’s theory that behavior consistently rewarded will be “stamped in” as learned behavior, and behavior that brings about discomfort will be “stamped out” (also known as the principle of reinforcement)
- positive reinforcer
- any event whose presence increases the likelihood that ongoing behavior will recur
- negative reinforcer
- any event whose reduction or termination increases the likelihood that ongoing behavior will recur
- punishment
- any event whose presence decreases the likelihood that ongoing behavior will recur
- avoidance training
- learning a desirable behavior to prevent the occurrence of something unpleasant such as punishment
- learned helplessness
- failure to take steps to avoid or escape an unpleasant or aversive stimulus that occurs as a result of previous exposure to unavoidable painful stimuli
- response acquisition
- the “building phase” of conditioning during which the likelihood or strength of the desired response increases
- intermittent pairing
- pairing the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus on only a portion of the learning trials
- Skinner box
- a box often used in operant conditioning of animals, which limits the available response and thus increases the likelihood that the desired response will occur
- shaping
- reinforcing successive approximations to a desired behavior
- extinction
- a decrease in the strength of frequency of a learned response because of failure to continue pairing the US and CS (classical conditioning) or withholding of reinforcement (operant conditioning)
- spontaneous recovery
- the reappearance of an extinguished response after the passage of time, without further training
- stimulus generalization
- the transfer of a learned response to different but similar stimuli
- stimulus discrimination
- learning to respond to only one stimulus and to inhibit the response of all other stimuli
- response generalization
- giving a response that is somewhat different from the response originally learned to that stimulus
- higher-order conditioning
- conditioning based on previous learning; the conditioned stimulus serves as an unconditioned stimulus for further training
- primary reinforcer
- a reinforcer that is rewarding in itself, such as food, water, and sex
- secondary reinforcer
- a reinforcer whose value is acquired through association with other primary or secondary reinforcers
- contingency
- a reliable “if-then” relationship between two events such as a CS and a US
- blocking
- a process whereby prior conditioning prevents conditioning to a second stimulus even when the two stimuli are presented simultaneously
- schedule of reinforcement
- in operant conditioning, the rule for determining when and how often reinforcers will be delivered
- fixed-interval schedule
- a reinforcement schedule in which the correct response is reinforced after a fixed length of time since the last reinforcement
- variable-interval schedule
- a reinforcement schedule in which the correct response is reinforced after varying lengths of time following the last reinforcement
- fixed-ration schedule
- a reinforcement schedule in which the correct response is reinforced after a fixed number of correct responses
- variable-ratio schedule
- a reinforcement schedule in which a varying number of correct responses must occur before reinforcement is presented
- biofeedback
- a technique that uses monitoring devices to provide precise information about internal physiological processes, such as heart rate or blood pressure, to teach people to gain voluntary control over these functions
- cognitive learning
- learning that depends on mental processes that are not directly observable
- latent learning
- learning that is not immediately reflected in a behavior change
- cognitive map
- a learned mental image of a spatial environment that may be called on to solve problems when stimuli in the environment change
- insight
- learning that occurs rapidly as a result of understanding all the elements of a problem
- learning set
- the ability to become increasingly more effective in solving problems as more problems are solved
- social learning theory
- a view of learning that emphasizes the ability to learn by observing a model or receiving instructions, without firsthand experience by the learner
- observational (or vicarious) learning
- learning by observing other peopleÂ’s behavior
- vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment
- reinforcement or punishment experienced by models that affects the willingness of others to perform the behaviors they learned by observing those models