Gen Psych

Which of the following qualifies as learning under a classical conditioning process?

The association of a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus

extinction

a basic phenomenon of learning that occurs when a previously conditioned response decreases in frequency and eventually disappears

Robert Rescorla's experiments showed that for classical conditioning to occur

a conditioned stimulus must reliably predict a reinforcement.

Higher-order conditioning

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone. (Also called second-order conditioning.)

learning

a relatively permanent change in behavior, knowledge, capability, or attitude that is acquired through experience and cannot be attributed to illness, injury, or maturation

Classical conditioning is a learning process in which

a subject associates an existing stimulus with a new stimulus.

classical conditioning

a type of learning through which an organism learns to associate one stimulus with another

shaping

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

stimulus

any event or object in the environment to which an organism responds

A stimulus that signals whether a certain response or behavior is likely to be rewarded, ignored, or punished is called a

discriminative stimulus

behaviorism

limiting psychology to the study of overtly observable behavior

A variable-ratio schedule will reward a subject

on an irregular and non-conditional basis.

Edward Tolman's rat maze experiment demonstrated that

reinforcement does not determine whether learning occurs.

law of effect

states that the consequence, or effect, of a response will determine whether the tendency to respond in the same way in the future will be strengthened or weakened.

stimulus

the food

operant conditioning

the process through which consequences increase or decrease the frequency of a behavior.

spontaneous recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

Generalization

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

biological predispositions

Genetically programmed tendencies to acquire classically conditioned fear responses to potentially life-threatening stimuli

Why are school-age children particularly likely to learn aggressive behavior from violent television programming?

They are not inhibited by observing negative consequences.

How did Garcia and Koelling's work on taste aversion change our understanding of classical conditioning?

They demonstrated that inherent traits can extend pairing intervals.

Biofeedback

a way of getting information about internal biological states

disinhibitory effects

in social cognitive theory, seeing a model rewarded for prohibited or threatening behavior increases the likelihood that the observer will perform that behavior

successive approximations

small steps in behavior, one after the other, that lead to a particular goal behavior

salivation to food

unlearned response, or unconditioned response

positive reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.

rote learning

Learning information in a relatively uninterpreted form, without making sense of it or attaching much meaning to it.