Ch. 6

conditioned taste aversion

"Sauce Bearnaise Syndrome" - development of a nausea or aversive response to a particular taste because that taste was followed by a nausea reaction, occurring after only one association; Garcia's studies; evolution biologically programmed some organisms to avoid poisonous foods

operant conditioning

A form of learning in which voluntary responses come to be controlled by their consequences; B.F. Skinner

conditioned stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that has, through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a conditioned response.

primary reinforcers

Events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs

elicited

drawn forth, classically conditioned responses are elicited because they are automatic

attention

first of 4 key processes of observational learning: must pay attention to another person's behavior and its consequences

optimal foraging theory

food-seeking behaviors of many animals maximize the nutrition gained in relation to the energy expended to locate, secure, and consume various foods.

generalization gradients

shows the tendency for a behavior to occur in a situation that is diffrenent from the training situation - the more similar new stimuli are to the original CS, the greater the generalization

retention

storing a mental representation of what you witnessed in your memory

reinforcement contingencies

the circumstances or rules that determine whether responses lead to the presentation of reinforcers

Extinction

the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency

Law of effect

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

schedule of reinforcement

determines which occurrences of a specific response result in the presentation of a reinforcer

conditioned reflex

another name for Pavlov's "psychic reflex"; an acquired response that is under the control of (conditional on the occurrence of) a stimulus

instrumental learning

another name for operant learning; introduced by Edward Thorndike

trial

any presentation of a stimulus or pair of stimuli

Learning

any relatively durable change in behavior or knowledge that is due to experience; most behavior is the result of learning

secondary reinforcers

conditioned reinforcers; events that acquire reinforcing qualities by being associated with primary reinforcers

simultaneous conditioning

conditioning where the conditioned stimulus (CS) and unconditioned stimulus (UCS) are presented and terminated at the same time; not very effective

short-delayed conditioning

conditioning where the conditioned stimulus (CS) begins just before the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), and end together; most effective and best facilitates the acquisition of most conditioned responses; ideal delay is a half second

reproduction

converting stored mental images into overt behavior

cumulative recorder

creates a graphic record of responding and reinforcement in a Skinner box as a function of time

preparedness

A species-specific predisposition to be conditioned in certain ways and not others

avoidance learning

An organism acquires a response that prevents some aversive stimulation from occurring

unconditioned response (UCR)

An unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning.

performance

Bandura distinguished between acquisition and performance of a learned response; said that reinforcement affects performance more than acquisition and that people emit responses they think are likely to be reinforced

trace conditioning

CS begins and ends before UCS is presented; not very effective

signal relations

CS-UCS relations that influence whether a CS is a good signal

discriminative stimuli

Cues that influence operant behavior by indicating the probable consequences (reinforcement or nonreinforcement) of a response.

instinctive drift

The tendency for an animal's innate responses to interfere with conditioning processes.

resistance to extinction

In operant conditioning, the phenomenon that occurs when an organism continues to make a response after delivery of the reinforcer for it has been terminated.

Positive reinforcement

Reinforcement that occurs when a response is strengthened because it is followed by the presentation of a rewarding stimulus.

stimulus contiguity

The occurrence of stimuli together in time and space. Pavlov theorized that for two things to be paired, they must occur together at the same time and place.

Conditioning

a basic kind of learning that involves associations between environmental stimuli and the organism's responses.

higher-order conditioning

a conditioned stimulus functions as if it were an unconditioned stimulus; shows that classical conditioning does not depend on the presence of a genuine, natural UCS - an already established CS will do; new conditioned responses are built on on the foundation of already established CR

immunosuppression

a decrease in the production of antibodies, specialized protein produced to repel the invasion of infectious agents

conditioned response (CR)

a learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning.

Acquisition

a process in classical conditioning by which the association of a neutral stimulus with a natural stimulus is first established

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

a stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response without previous conditioning.

Pavlovian conditioning

a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus acquires the ability to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus; named for Pavlov; also called classical conditioning

Classical conditioning

a type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus; also called Pavlovian conditioning

Phobia

an irrational fear of a specific object or situation

shaping

an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

escape learning

an organism acquires a response that decreases or ends some aversive stimulation

Reinforcement

occurs when an event following a response increases an organism's tendency to make that response; Skinner

punishment

occurs when an event following a response weakens the tendency to make that response

stimulus discrimination

occurs when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus does NOT respond in the same way to stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus - the less similar new stimuli are to the original CS, the greater the likelihood (and ease) of discrimination; conversely: if a new stimulus is quite similar to the original CS, discrimination will be difficult to learn

Stimulus generalization

occurs when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus responds in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus

continuous reinforcement

occurs when every instance of a designated response is reinforced

Skinner box

operant chamber, has a bar or key that an animal presses or pecks to release a reward of food or water, and a devise that records the responses.

emitted response

operant response - voluntary (emit means to send forth) opposite of elicited

intermittent reinforcement

partial reinforcement; occurs when a designated response is reinforced only some of the time

fixed-ratio (FR) schedule

reinforcer is given after a fixed number of nonreinforced responses.

variable-ratio (VR) schedule

reinforcer is given after a variable number of nonreinforced responses.

fixed-interval (FI) schedule

reinforcer is given for the first response that occurs after a fixed time interval has elapsed

motivation

reproducing an observed response depends on whether you believe that the response will pay off

spontaneous recovery

the reappearance of an extinguished response after a period of nonexposure to the conditioned stimulus

variable-interval (VI) schedule

the reinforcer is given for the first response after a variable time interval has elapsed

Two-process theory of avoidance

the theory that avoidance behavior is the result of two distinct processes: 1) classical conditioning in which a fear response comes to be elicited by a CS, and 2) operant conditioning in which moving away from the CS is negatively reinforced by a reduction in fear

concurrent schedules of reinforcement

two or more reinforcement schedules that operate simultaneously and independently, each for a different response

Observational learning

type of learning that occurs when an organism's responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models.

matching law

under concurrent schedules of reinforcement, organisms' relative rate of responding to each alternative tends to match each alternative's relative rate of reinforcement - if the magnitude or quality of reinforcement earned by each alternative is manipulated, organisms will adjust their responses

psychic reflex

what Pavlov called the learned response when dogs began salivating when just a tone was presented; it later came to be called the conditioned reflex

Negative reinforcement

when a response is strengthened because it is followed by the removal of an aversive (unpleasant) stimulus