Learning

Acquisition

The process of learning a conditioned response

Conditioned Stimulus

When Pavlov's neutral stimulus, the bell, became capable of producing the response, salivation, the neutral stimulus became a _____ ______. Step 1: The dog is shown food (unconditioned stimulus) and he salivates in response (unconditioned response). Step 2: The dog hears the sound of the bell (neutral stimulus) and does not respond. Step 3: The dog hears the sound of the bell and is immediately presented with food and he salivates in response. Step 4: The dog hears the sound of the bell (conditioned stimulus) and the dog salivates in response (conditioned response). A neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus through classical conditioning.

Robert Rescorla

a contingency theorist.

Reinforcement schedules

are rules used to determine when reinforcement will be given.

Extinction in Operant Condition

can occur if the response no longer results in reinforcement.

Ivan Pavlov

first studied classical conditioning. He examined a four-step learning procedure involving reflexes. He also showed that evidence of learning is apparent when a (conditioned) stimulus produces a new (conditioned) response in his famous experiments involving dogs.

Albert Bandura (b. 1925)

initiated the social learning theory and is most often associated with observational learning.

fixed-interval schedule

involves giving reinforcement after the same period of time has elapsed. For example, a monkey would be given a banana 10 seconds after it pushed a pedal

associative learning

involves learning a connection between two stimuli. It occurs in both classical and operant conditioning. Example through operant conditioning: You learn that studying leads to better grades. Therefore, since you want to make good grades, you study more.

Behavior modification

involves the application of principles of operant and/or classical conditioning in order to eliminate unwanted behaviors and replace them with desirable ones. An example of this application is rewarding a child's polite behavior but ignoring his or her temper tantrum.

Associative Learning

involves the learning of an association between a response and a stimulus or two stimuli.

Habituation

is a change in responsiveness in which an organism displays decreased responsiveness to the stimulus after repetitive exposure to the stimulus. For example, when a stuffed hawk is placed inside the cage of a song bird, the bird reacts as if the hawk were a real predator. However, the bird soon learns that the hawk is not a real predator.

Sensitization

is a type of non-associative learning in which the progressive magnitude of responses to stimuli follows repeated exposure to a stimulus. An example is if a person becomes blind, over time their sense of hearing becomes heightened. It's not that sounds are louder, but because of their lack of eyesight the body becomes more aware of the sounds around them.

Insight

is a type of problem solving behavior that involves figuring out a new way to solve a problem or organize stimuli. It can also be described as a "lightbulb" moment, when you suddenly come up with a new solution to solve the problem if other solutions haven't worked. An individual does not necessarily need to have a specific behavior reinforced in order to use his or her insight.

Classical conditioning

is learning that generates changes in responding by pairing together two stimuli together. In this learning the type of behavior exhibited by the organism is reflexive and elicited.

Operant conditioning

is the use of consequences to alter the occurrence and form of behavior. In this conditioning, the type of behavior exhibited by the organism is voluntary and emitted. Also known as instrumental conditioning, an organism learns an association between a stimulus and a response that follows it. Learning the association between the stimulus and response will increase or decrease the frequency of the response, depending on the quality of the stimulus (enjoyable or unpleasant). Punishment and reinforcement have opposite effects on behavior and are used in operant conditioning.

Negative punishment

is when a stimulus is removed to decreased behavior.

observational Learning

occurs as a result of observing, retaining, and replicating behavior that is observed in other individuals. In this type of learning, the person learning does not need to be reinforced or punished in order to engage in a behavior more or less often. Rather, the individual learns consequences associated with certain behaviors by watching them happen to other people and then applying lessons learned to his or her own life. An example of this type of learning is looking up a video online to help teach you how to change a broken head lamp in your car.

Extinction in Classical Conditioning

occurs when the controlled stimulus is presented time after time without the unconditioned stimulus and therefore, the conditioned response disappears. For example, if the ringing of a bell is repeatedly presented without being followed by meat powder, then the dogs will stop salivating to the ringing of the bell.

fixed ratio schedule

reinforcement is given each time after a set number of responses have occurred. An example of this is a monkey receives a banana after pushing a pedal four times

Learned Helplessness

results from situations in which no perceived connection between a response and a reinforcer exists and thus, the individual is lead to believe that responses and outcomes/rewards are unrelated. When a subject believes his or her behavior has no effect upon a reward, the individual becomes apathetic or unresponsive and gives up.

Followers of the ______ ______ theory believe that much of our learning occurs through watching what happens to other people, often while in social situations.

social learning

contingency Theory of Learning

states that in order for learning to occur, a stimulus must provide the subject information about the probability that certain events will occur.

latent learning

the individual does not immediately express the learning in a demonstrated response, but the learning occurs without apparent reinforcement and is applied in later situations.

variable-interval schedule

the reinforcement is given after an unpredictable or varying interval of time has passed. Most effective form. For example, if a professor offers pop quizzes on a VI, then students must study frequently and always be prepared for class to ensure they make a good grade on pop quizzes.

BF Skinner

(1904-1990) is well known for work in areas such as behavior modification (specifically operant conditioning) and experimental psychology. is also well known for his work in operant conditioning and for creating a device called an operant box. The operant box is also known as a ____ box. The term operant comes from the idea that animals operate on their environments to produce effects. Inside the ____ box, a lever that can be pressed (operant) is connect to a food source (reinforcer). A rat placed inside the box learns through operant conditioning that by pressing the lever, they receive food, making them more likely to press the lever.

learning

A process known as _______ occurred with the dogs in Pavlov's experiment when they began to salivate after exposure to the bell. Because of Pavlov's experiments, it is now believed that what an individual (human or animal) learns reveals itself as an expectation that the unconditioned stimulus will become evident after the controlled stimulus. Conditioned responses can generally be considered preparatory responses because they prepare the organism for the unconditioned stimulus (and resulting unconditioned response) that predictably manifests after the conditioned stimulus. If meat powder unsurprisingly shows up after the ringing of the bell, then the dog goes ahead and begins to salivate when the bell rings.

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience

Conditioned Response

In Pavlov's experiment, the dog's salivation in response to the conditioned (neutral) stimulus, the bell, is called ____

Operant Conditioning

In ____ _____ evidence of learning is manifested through behavior happening more or less often.

neutral

In classical conditioning, Pavlov's meat powder (the unconditioned stimulus) was presented repeatedly to the dogs immediately after presenting another stimulus, a ______ stimulus, meaning one that would not automatically produce the unconditioned response. The ______ stimulus used in this scenario by Pavlov was a bell. On its own, the sound of a bell would not produce salivation in dogs, but when immediately followed by the unconditioned stimulus of meat powder, the dogs learn that the sound of the bell signals food and thus elicits salivation.

unconditioned Stimulus

In classical conditioning, the ______ ______ already produces the response of interest. In Pavlov's famous experiment involving dogs and meat powder, the meat powder, which is the _____ _____, would cause the dogs to salivate.

unconditioned response

In classical conditioning, the response of interest is known as the ________ ______. As in the famous case of Pavlov's dogs, the dogs' salivation was a result of the unconditioned stimulus, the meat powder.

models

In observational learning, the people from whom we learn In observational learning, we learn or change a behavior after watching a ____ engage in that behavior.

Variable Ratio Schedule

In one incidence, a monkey receives a banana after pushing a pedal seven times and then in another incidence, it receives the banana after 3 pushes of the pedal. This is an example of a ________ An example is a slot machine: they may pay out a consistent amount of money over the long term, but you don't know which pull of the handle will result in winning money.

punishment

In operant conditioning, _____ causes a decrease in a certain behavior. occurs when the addition of a stimulus decreases a behavior, such as a rat receiving an electric shock when pressing a lever. "Negative punishment" occurs by removing a stimulus, such as food being removed when a rat presses a lever.

reinforcement

In operant conditioning, _____ is the process of following an action with stimulus meant to make the repetition of the action more likely. The stimulus presented following the action is called a _____.

positive reinforcement

In operant conditioning, ______ ______ involves presenting a stimulus in order to increase the probability that a particular response will occur. In operant conditioning, when a stimulus is applied and desired behavior increases, _____ ______ occurs. An example is giving a dog a treat after it follows a command to roll over.

negative reinforcement

In operant conditioning, ________ ______ involves taking away an unwanted or unpleasant stimulus in order to increase behavior. In operant conditioning, when a stimulus is removed and a certain behavior increases, ____ _____ occurs. For example, if a rat presses a lever then an electrical shock is removed.

shaping

In operant conditioning, the subject must first demonstrate the response that the experimenter is planning on rewarding. ______ is the name given to the first few steps needed in order for the subject to take part in the behavior that is to be rewarded. For example, if a monkey is to be rewarded for pressing a pedal, it must first learn to go near the pedal in the operant box, touch the box, and press the pedal.

positive punishment

In operant conditioning, when a stimulus is applied and desired behavior decreased, _____ _____ occurs. is when a stimulus is applied to decrease a behavior.

Negative Punishment

In operant conditioning, when a stimulus is removed and a certain behavior decreases, ______ ______ occurs.