Section 20 Basic learning concepts and Classical conditioning

By linking two events that occur close together, both sea slugs and seals are exhibiting ______ ______.

associative learning

US=

unconditioned stimulus

The first step of classical conditioning, when an NS becomes a CS, is called ______. When a US no longer follows the CS, and the CR becomes weakened, this is called _______.

acquisition; extinction

Classical and operant conditioning involves learning through _____, whereas observational learning involves learning through _____.

association; imitation

What was Watsons view that influenced North American psychology?

Behaviorism

CS=

conditioned stimulus

NS=

neutral stimulus

What is an event or situation that evokes a response?

stimulus

"Experimental investigation... should lay a solid foundation for future true science of psychology"

Ivan Pavlov

What Russian physiologists explored the phenomenon of classical conditioning?

Ivan Pavlov

How long does it take to form a beneficial habit?

On average behaviors became habitual after about 66 days

How do we use cognitive learning?

We acquire mental information that guides our behavior

The textbook mentions that Pavlov and his associates explored five major conditioning processes. These processes do NOT include:

accommodation

Few researchers today agree that psychology should ignore mental processes, but most agree that ___ ___ is a basic form of learning by which all organisms adapt to their environment

classical conditioning

We learn to associate two stimuli and thus to anticipate events?

classical conditioning

In Pavlov's experiments, the tone started as a neutral stimulus, and then became a(n) stimulus ____.

conditioned

Jonas, a veteran of the war in Iraq, suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder. Now, back home in a quiet California neighborhood, he jumps when he hears a firecracker or a car backfire. In the terminology of classical conditioning, these sounds are BEST thought of as _____ stimuli.

conditioned

When Laney passes Avenue D, her heart pounds and her stomach tightens. Laney often bought crack cocaine on that street before she became clean. Within the framework of classical conditioning, the sight of Avenue D is a(n) _____ stimulus, whereas her body's reaction is a(n) _____.

conditioned; conditioned response

Pam uses drugs. Her dealer drives a black car. Pam's heart starts pounding and she feels "keyed up" when she sees a black car pull alongside the curb in front of her house. In this scenario, the unconditioned stimulus is MOST likely:

crack cocain

Dogs have been taught to salivate to a circle but not to a square. This process is an example of ______.

discrimination

In classical conditioning, the _____ stimulus elicits no response before conditioning begins.

neutral

What is one form of cognitive learning that lets us learn from others' experiences?

observational learning

With respect to learning, _____ is a form of _____.

observational learning; cognitive learning

We learn to associate a response (our behavior) and its consequence.

operant conditioning

What is behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus?

respondent behavior

Which list contains an item that does NOT fit?

voluntary, respondent behavior, classical conditioning

Which example demonstrates that learning has occurred? avoiding speeding in an area where one received a ticket previously flinching when one hears the sound of a car accident blinking when something goes into one's eye pulling one's hand back from a sharp object

avoiding speeding in an area where one received a ticket previously

CR=

conditioned response

Linda had leukemia as a child and had to undergo numerous bouts of chemotherapy. The chemotherapy always made her nauseous. As she underwent a year of treatment, the waiting room started to make her nauseous. Nausea from the waiting room is the:

conditioned response

In a study of classical conditioning, A. J. repeatedly hears a tone just before having a puff of air directed into their eye. Blinking in response to a tone presented without a puff of air is a(n):

conditioned response (CR)

"Sex sells!" is a common assumption in advertising. Using classical conditioning terms, explain how sexual images in advertisements can condition your response to a product.

A sexual image is a US that triggers a UR of interest or arousal. Before the ad pairs a product with a sexual image, the product is an NS. Over time the product can become a CS that triggers the CR of interest or arousal.

____ is the ability to learn new behaviors that helps one cope with new or changing circumstances.

Adaptability

What is learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence (as in operant conditioning)?

Associative learning

What is the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2)?

Behaviorism

Stimulus 1: lighning - stimulus 2: thunder - response: startled reaction; wincing The result after repetition: stimulus: lightning- response; anticipation of booming thunder; wincing What conditioning is this called?

Classical conditioning

What is type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli; as a result, to illustrate with Pavlov's classic experiment, the first stimulus (a tone) comes to elicit behavior (drooling) in anticipation of the second stimulus (food

Classical conditioning

What are the two main forms of learning associations?

Classical conditioning and operant conditioning.

What have been some applications of Pavlov's work to human health and well-being? How did Watson apply Pavlov's principles to learned fears?

Classical conditioning techniques are used to improve human health and well-being in many areas, including behavioral therapy for some types of psychological disorders. The body's immune system may also respond to classical conditioning. Pavlov's work also provided a basis for Watson's idea that human emotions and behaviors, though biologically influenced, are mainly a bundle of conditioned responses. Watson applied classical conditioning principles in his studies of "Little Albert" to demonstrate how specific fears might be conditioned.

What is the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language?

Cognitive learning

How can habits be formed

Habits form when we repeat behaviors in a given context and, as a result, learn associations—often without our awareness. For example, we may have eaten a sweet pastry with a cup of coffee often enough to associate the flavor of the coffee with the treat, so that the cup of coffee alone just doesn't seem right anymore!

Companies often pay to make their products visible in popular movies—such as when admired actors drink certain beverages. Based on classical conditioning principles, what might be an effect of this pairing?

If viewing an admired actor (a US) elicits a positive response (a UR), then pairing the US with a new NS (the beverage) could turn the beverage into a conditioned stimulus (CS) that also elicits a positive conditioned response (CR).

An experimenter sounds a tone just before delivering an air puff that causes your eye to blink. After several repetitions, you blink to the tone alone. What is the NS? The US? The UR? The CS? The CR?

NS = tone before conditioning; US = air puff; UR = blink to air puff; CS = tone after conditioning; CR = blink to tone.

In classical conditioning, what are the processes of acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination?

In classical conditioning, the first stage is acquisition, associating an NS with the US so that the NS begins triggering the CR. Acquisition occurs most readily when the NS is presented just before (ideally, about a half-second before) a US, preparing the organism for the upcoming event. This finding supports the view that classical conditioning is biologically adaptive. Extinction is diminished responding, which occurs if the CS appears repeatedly by itself without the US. Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of a weakened conditioned response, following a rest period. Generalization is the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to a CS. Discrimination is the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other irrelevant stimuli.

What is behaviorism's view of learning?

Ivan Pavlov's work on classical conditioning laid the foundation for behaviorism, the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Behaviorists believed that the basic laws of learning are the same for all animals, including humans.

Which statement does NOT illustrate classical conditioning? Thomas felt energized after smelling coffee brewing in the morning, even though he had yet to drink the coffee. Whenever Tabitha smells Polo Sport cologne, she feels a tingle of romantic excitement because it reminds her of her boyfriend, who always wears that cologne. The sound of a neighbor's drill sends a shudder up Tasha's spine because it reminds her of the dentist's office. Marcus always pays his cell-phone bill on time in order to avoid a late charge.

Marcus always pays his cell-phone bill on time in order to avoid a late charge.

Who was Pavlov, and what are the basic components of classical conditioning?

Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, created novel experiments on learning. His early twentieth-century research over the last three decades of his life demonstrated that classical conditioning is a basic form of learning. Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli and anticipate events. A UR (unconditioned response) is an event that occurs naturally (such as salivation), in response to some stimulus. A US (unconditioned stimulus) is something that naturally and automatically (without learning) triggers the unlearned response (as food in the mouth triggers salivation). A CS (conditioned stimulus) is originally an NS (neutral stimulus, such as a tone) that, after association with a US (such as food) comes to trigger a CR. A CR (conditioned response) is the learned response (salivating) to the originally neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus.

Who said "The science of psychology should instead study how organisms respond to stimuli in their environments. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods."

John B. Watson

admitted to "going beyond my facts" when offering his famous boast: "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors."

John B.Watson

What is the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors?

Learning

How do we define learning, and what are some basic forms of learning?

Learning is the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors. In associative learning, we learn that certain events occur together. In classical conditioning, we learn to associate two stimuli and thus to anticipate events. Automatically responding to stimuli we do not control is called respondent behavior. In operant conditioning, we learn to associate a response and its consequence. These associations produce operant behaviors. Through cognitive learning, we acquire mental information that guides our behavior. For example, in observational learning, we learn new behaviors by observing events and watching others.

What behavior that operates on the environment, producing a consequence?

Operant behaviors (these operate on the environment to produce consequences)

What conditioning is this called? (a) Behavior: being polite (b) Consequence: getting a treat (c) Behavior strengthened

Operant conditioning

Why does Pavlov's work remain so important?

Pavlov taught us that significant psychological phenomena can be studied objectively, and that classical conditioning is a basic form of learning that applies to all species.

In Watson and Rayner's experiments, "Little Albert" learned to fear a white rat after repeatedly experiencing a loud noise as the rat was presented. In these experiments, what was the US? The UR? The NS? The CS? The CR?

The US was the loud noise; the UR was the fear response to the noise; the NS was the rat before it was paired with the noise; the CS was the rat after pairing; the CR was fear of the rat.

If the aroma of a baking cake sets your mouth to watering, what is the US? The CS? The CR?

The cake (including its taste) is the US. The associated aroma is the CS. Salivation to the aroma is the CR.

Pavlov and Watson came to share both a disdain for "mentalistic" concepts (such as consciousness) and a belief that the basic laws of learning were the same for all animals—whether dogs or humans. True or False

True

Learned associations feed our habitual behaviors. True or False?

True. Habits can form when we repeat behaviors in a given context, sleeping in a certain position in bed, fidgeting in class, eating popcorn when watching a move.

What is a connection or relationship between two items (e.g., ideas, events, feelings) with the result of experiencing the first item?

association

After Watson and Rayner classically conditioned Little Albert to fear a white rat, the child later showed fear in response to a rabbit, a dog, and a furry coat. This illustrates

generalization

What conditioning principle is influencing the snail's affections?

generalization

Which idea is NOT one of Pavlov's major contributions to the field of psychology? Significant psychological phenomena can be studied objectively. The discipline of psychology could be based on objective laboratory methods His methods demonstrated the importance of subjective judgments. Principles of learning apply across species.

his methods demonstrated the importance of subjective judgements

Learning is defined as "the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring _____ or ______ ."

information; behavior

The process of acquiring new and enduring behaviors and information through experience is called: Please choose the correct answer from the following choices, and then select the submit answer button. Answer choices

learning

In psychology, the term conditioning refers to:

learning associations between environmental events and behavioral responses

Animals can be trained to perform many behaviors through _____; that is, by providing well-timed rewards as the animals progressively better approximate the desired behaviors.

shaping

The eminent psychologist _____ became known for shaping rat and pigeon behaviors by delivering rewards as the animals more closely approximated a desired behavior.

skinner

Two forms of associative learning are classical conditioning, in which the organism associates _____ , and operant conditioning, in which the organism associates _____.

two or more stimuli; a response and its consequence

Before the tone ever sounded, Pavlov's dog salivated each time food was presented, exemplifying a(n) _____ response.

unconditioned

UR=

unconditioned response