Psych Ch. 6: Learning

Stimulus

An environmental condition that elicits a response.

Contingency theory

The view that learning occurs when stimuli provide information about the likelihood of the occurrence of other stimuli.

In the behavior-therapy method of ______, a client is continuously exposed to a fear-evoking stimulus until the fear response is extinguished.

Flooding

In stimulus _______, organisms learn to show a conditioned response in response to a more limited range of stimuli.

Discrimination

Discrimination

(a) In conditioning, the tendency for an organism to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not forecast an unconditioned stimulus. (b) Hostile behavior that is directed against groups toward whom one is prejudiced.

Was "Little Albert" "prepared" to acquire his fear of rats?

Evolutionary theorists believe that humans are indeed prepared, biologically, to readily develop fears of objects and situations that threatened our survival in our evolutionary history.

Repeated presentation of a CS (such as a tone) without the UCS (such as meat) will _______ the CR (salivation).

Extinguish

What is the role of spontaneous recovery in classical conditioning?

Extinguished responses may show spontaneous recovery as a function of the time that has elapsed since extinction occurred. Spontaneous recovery is adaptive in that environmental conditions may have reverted to what they were before.

Successive approximations

In operant conditioning, a series of behaviors that gradually become more similar to a target behavior.

Conditioned response (CR)

A learned response to a conditioned stimulus.

Reward

A pleasant stimulus that increases the frequency of the behavior it follows.

Positive reinforcer

A reinforcer that when presented increases the frequency of an operant.

Negative reinforcer

A reinforcer that when removed increases the frequency of an operant.

Primary reinforcer

A reinforcer whose effectiveness is based on the biological makeup of the organism and not on learning.

Fixed-interval schedule

A schedule in which a fixed amount of time must elapse between the previous and subsequent times that reinforcement is available.

Variable-interval schedule

A schedule in which a variable amount of time must elapse between the previous and subsequent times that reinforcement is available.

Fixed-ratio schedule

A schedule in which reinforcement is provided after a fixed number of correct responses.

Variable-ratio schedule

A schedule in which reinforcement is provided after a variable number of correct responses.

Operant conditioning

A simple form of learning in which an organism learns to engage in certain behavior because it is reinforced.

Reflex

A simple inborn response to a stimulus.

Tolman labels learning without performing _______ learning.

Latent

What is learning?

Learning is the process by which experience leads to modified representations of the environment (the cognitive perspective) and relatively permanent changes in behavior (the behavioral perspective).

John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner used conditioning to teach "Little _________" to fear rats.

Albert

Model

An organism that engages in a response that is then imitated by another organism.

Orienting response

An unlearned response in which an organism attends to a stimulus.

Unconditioned response (UCR)

An unlearned response to an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned reinforcer

Another term for a secondary reinforcer.

In the _____-and-pad treatment for bed-wetting, a child is taught to awaken in the night when he or she has to urinate.

Bell, buzzer

________ training enables organisms to gain control of autonomic responses to attain reinforcement.

Biofeedback

Tolman's work with rats suggests that they develop ______ maps of the environment.

Cognitive

________ are aversive events that suppress the frequency of the behavior they follow.

Punishments

Cognitive psychologists define learning in terms of a change in the way organisms mentally _________ the environment.

Represent

Thorndike believed that _______ stamp in behavior and punishments stamp it out.

Rewards

___________ reinforcers, such as money, acquire their value through association with established reinforcers.

Secondary, learned, conditioned, acquired

Reinforce

To follow a response with a stimulus that increases the frequency of the response.

Higher order conditioning

(a) According to behaviorists, a classical conditioning procedure in which a previously neutral stimulus comes to elicit the response brought forth by a conditioned stimulus by being paired repeatedly with that conditioned stimulus. (b) According to cognitive psychologists, the learning of relationships among events, none of which evokes an unlearned response.

Flooding

A behavioral fear-reduction technique based on principles of classical conditioning. Fear-evoking stimuli (CSs) are presented continuously in the absence of actual harm so that fear responses (CRs) are extinguished.

Continuous reinforcement

A schedule of reinforcement in which every correct response is reinforced.

Punishment

An unpleasant stimulus that suppresses the behavior it follows.

Operant behavior

Behavior that operates on, or manipulates, the environment.

How do we explain what happens during classical conditioning from a cognitive perspective?

From the cognitive perspective, classical conditioning is not merely the mechanical association of stimuli such that a new stimulus comes to elicit the same response elicited by another; rather, the new stimulus provides information about how events are related. According to contingency theory, organisms learn associations between stimuli only when stimuli provide new information about each other.

In stimulus _______, organisms show a conditioned response in response to a range of stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus.

Generalization

Latent learning

Learning that is hidden or concealed.

In using behavior ________, teachers reinforce desired behavior and extinguish undesired behavior by ignoring it.

Modification

Skinner developed the concept of _______ as an alternative to the concepts of reward and punishment.

Reinforcement

Operant

The same as an operant behavior.

Law of effect

Thorndike's view that pleasant events stamp in responses, and unpleasant events stamp them out.

A response to an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is called an __________ response (UCR).

Unconditioned

Spontaneous recovery

The recurrence of an extinguished response as a function of the passage of time.

What is the role of generalization in classical conditioning?

Generalization is the tendency for a conditioned response to be evoked by stimuli that are similar to the stimulus to which the response was conditioned. Generalization helps organisms adapt to new events by responding to a range of stimuli similar to the CS.

Learning

(a) According to behaviorists, a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience. (b) According to cognitive theorists, the process by which organisms make relatively permanent changes in the way they represent the environment because of experience. These changes influence the organism's behavior but do not fully determine it.

Biological preparedness

Readiness to acquire a certain kind of conditioned response due to the biological makeup of the organism.

What is the contribution of B.F. Skinner to the psychology of learning?

Skinner developed the concept of reinforcement, encouraged the study of discrete behaviors such as lever pressing by rats, and innovated many techniques for studying operant conditioning such as the "Skinner box" and the cumulative recorder. He was also involved in the development of behavior modification and programmed learning.

Cognitive map

A mental representation of the layout of one's environment.

Behaviorists define learning in terms of a change in _____________.

Behavior

What is the role of discrimination in classical conditioning?

In discrimination, organisms learn to show a CR in response to a more limited range of stimuli by pairing only the limited stimulus with the UCS.

In conditioning a taste aversion _______ association(s) is/are usually required.

Only one

Extinguished responses often show _________ recovery as a function of the passage of time.

Spontaneous

Programmed learning

A method of teaching that breaks down tasks into small steps, each of which is reinforced and then combined to form the correct behavioral chain.

In ________ order conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus comes to serve as a conditioned stimulus after being paired repeatedly with another conditioned stimulus.

Higher

Generalization

In conditioning, the tendency for a conditioned response to be evoked by stimuli that are similar to the stimulus to which the response was conditioned.

What is higher order conditioning?

In higher order conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus comes to serve as a CS after being paired repeatedly with a stimulus that has already become a CS.

Discriminative stimulus

In operant conditioning, a stimulus that indicates that reinforcement is available.

Why do many psychologists disapprove of punishment?

Many psychologists recommend not using punishment because it hurts, it does not suggest acceptable behavior, it may create feelings of hostility, it may only suppress behavior in the specific situation in which it is used, it may generalize to the suppression of wide varieties of behavior, and it may suggest that recipients punish others as a way of coping with stress.

We may mechanically imitate other people because of the action of ______ neurons in the brain and not because of reinforcement.

Mirror

Partial reinforcement

One of several reinforcement schedules in which not every correct response is reinforced.

What is operant conditioning?

Operant conditioning is a simple form of learning in which organisms learn to engage in behavior that is reinforced. Reinforced responses occur with greater frequency.

_________ learning breaks down learning tasks into small steps and reinforces correct performance of each step.

Programmed

Why did Skinner distinguish between reinforcers on the one hand and rewards and punishments on the other?

Rewards and punishments are defined, respectively, as pleasant and aversive events that affect behavior. Skinner preferred the concept of reinforcement because its definition does not rely on getting inside the head of the organism. Instead, lists of reinforcers are obtained empirically by observing their effects on behavior.

A __________ is an environmental condition that evokes a response from an organism.

Stimulus

Shaping

A procedure for teaching complex behaviors that at first reinforces approximations of the target behavior.

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that elicits a response from an organism prior to conditioning.

Secondary reinforcer

A stimulus that gains reinforcement value through association with established reinforcers.

Cumulative recorder

An instrument that records the frequency of an organism's operants (or "correct" responses) as a function of the passage of time.

What is classical conditioning?

Classical conditioning is a simple form of associative learning in which a previously neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus, or CS) comes to elicit the response evoked by a second stimulus (the unconditioned stimulus, or UCS) as a result of repeatedly being paired with the second stimulus.

According to _______ theory, learning occurs because a CS indicates that the UCS is likely to follow.

Contingency

A _______ stimulus indicates when an operant will be reinforced.

Discriminative

What are discriminative stimuli?

Discriminative stimuli (such as green lights) act as signals or cues that indicate when an operant (such as pecking a button) will be reinforced (as with food).

Thorndike originated the law of _________ in learning.

Effect

Counterconditioning

A fear-reduction technique in which pleasant stimuli are associated with fear-evoking stimuli so that the fear-evoking stimuli lose their aversive qualities.

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that elicits a conditioned response because it has been paired repeatedly with a stimulus that already elicited that response.

Classical conditioning

A simple form of learning in which an organism comes to associate or anticipate events. A neutral stimulus comes to evoke the response usually evoked by another stimulus by being paired repeatedly with the other stimulus. (Cognitive theorists view classical conditioning as the learning of relationships among events so as to allow an organism to represent its environment.) Also referred to as respondent conditioning or Pavlovian conditioning.

What is the role of spontaneous recovery in operant conditioning?

As in classical conditioning, spontaneous recovery occurs as a function of the passage of time, which is adaptive because things may return to the way they once were.

How do people learn by observing others?

Bandura has shown that people can learn to do things simply by observing others; it is not necessary that they emit responses that are reinforced to learn. Learners may then choose to perform the behaviors they have observed "when the time is ripe"--that is, when they believe that the learned behavior is appropriate or is likely to be rewarded. Some learning of motor acts and emotional responses by observation appears to be automatic and enabled by mirror neurons.

A response to a conditioned stimulus (CS) is termed a _____ response (CR).

Conditioned

What are the various schedules of reinforcement?

Continuous reinforcement leads to the most rapid acquisition of new responses, but operants are maintained most economically through partial reinforcement. There are four basic schedules of reinforcement. In a fixed-interval schedule, a specific amount of time must elapse after a previous correct response before reinforcement again becomes available. In a variable-interval schedule, the amount of time is allowed to vary. In a fixed-ratio schedule, a fixed number of correct responses must be performed before one is reinforced. In a variable-ratio schedule, this number is allowed to vary. Ratio schedules maintain high response rates.

Mary Cover Jones taught a little boy to overcome his fear of rabbits by means of ________.

Counterconditioning

In systematic _______, the client is gradually exposed to fear-evoking stimuli under relaxing circumstances.

Desensitization

In operant conditioning, repeated performance of a learned response in the absence of reinforcement leads to _______ of that response.

Extinction

What is the role of extinction in operant conditioning?

Extinction is adaptive in operant conditioning. Learned responses are extinguished as a result of repeated performance in the absence of reinforcement. (Why continue to engage in a response that goes unreinforced?)

What is the role of extinction in classical conditioning?

Extinction is the process by which conditioned stimuli lose the ability to elicit conditioned responses because the conditioned stimuli are no longer associated with the unconditioned stimuli. Extinction helps organisms adapt the environmental changes. After a UCS-CS association has been learned, for example, repeated presentation of the CS (for example, a tone) without the UCS (meat powder) extinguishes the CR (salivation).

In a(n) _________ schedule, a specific amount of time must elapse since a previous correct response before reinforcement again becomes available.

Fixed-interval

How can we use shaping to teach complex behavior patterns?

In shaping, successive approximations of the target response are reinforced, leading to the performance of a complex sequence of behaviors.

Bandura believes that observational learning ____ a mechanical process.

Is not

___________ reinforcers increase the probability that operants will occur when they are removed.

Negative

___________ reinforcers increase the probability that operants will occur when they are applied.

Positive

__________ reinforcers such as food have their value because of the biological makeup of the organism.

Primary

Time out

Removal of an organism from a situation in which reinforcement is available when unwanted behavior is shown.

What is the contribution of Ivan Pavlov to the psychology of learning?

Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov happened upon conditioning by chance when he was studying salivation in laboratory dogs. Pavlov discovered that reflexes can be learned, or conditioned, through association.

What is the evidence that people and other animals form cognitive maps of their environments?

Some evidence is derived from Tolman's research on latent learning. He demonstrated that rats can learn--that is, they can modify their cognitive map of the environment--in the absence of reinforcement.

In shaping, we reinforce ________ approximations to the goal.

Successive

What is taste aversion, and why are taste aversions of special interest to psychologists?

Taste aversions are examples of classical conditioning in which organisms learn that a food is noxious on the basis of a nauseating experience. Taste aversions are of special interest because learning may occur on the basis of a single association and because the unconditioned stimulus (in this case, nausea) can occur hours after the conditioned stimulus (in this case, the flavor of food). Taste aversions apparently provide organisms with an evolutionary advantage.

Extinction

The process by which stimuli lose their ability to evoke learned responses because the events that had followed the stimuli no longer occur. (The learned responses are said to be extinguished.)

Behavior modification

Therapy techniques based on principles of learning that teach adaptive behavior and extinguish or discourage maladaptive behavior.

What are the various kinds of reinforcers?

These include positive, negative, primary, and secondary reinforcers. Positive reinforcers increase the probability that a behavior will occur when they are applied. Negative reinforcers increase the probability that a behavior will occur when they are removed. Primary reinforcers (such as food or water) have their value because of the organism's biological makeup. Secondary reinforcers (such as money and approval) acquire their value through association with established reinforcers.

What is the law of effect?

This is Thorndike's view that responses are "stamped in" by rewards and "stamped out" by punishments.

In a(n) _________ schedule, the number of correct responses that must be performed before reinforcement because available is allowed to vary.

Variable-ratio

Systematic desensitization

Wolpe's behavioral fear-reduction technique in which a hierarchy of fear-evoking stimuli is presented while the person remains relaxed.