Study Plan: Learning

Learning is best defined as a relatively permanent change in behavior that ________.

occurs as a result of experience

Gillian's kids struggle to get out the door in the morning for school, so she creates a sticker chart where they can put on a sticker each time they are ready to go before 7 a.m. Once they fill they chart, they'll get a new bunk bed. This is an example of ________.

operant conditioning

Money is an example of which type of reinforcer?

secondary

Henry is observing beetles for his biology project. They return to their nest at unpredictable intervals all day long, so Henry keeps a close watch all day. Which reinforcement schedule is this?

variable interval

Before Bandura proposed his Bobo doll experiment, most learning specialists believed that learning only occurred ________.

when an individual did something and discovered the consequences directly

What is the difference between a reflex and a learned behavior?

A reflex is a behavior that humans are born knowing how to do, such as sucking or blushing; these behaviors happen automatically in response to stimuli in the environment. Learned behaviors are things that humans are not born knowing how to do, such as swimming and surfing. Learned behaviors are not automatic; they occur as a result of practice or repeated experience in a situation.

Compare and contrast classical and operant conditioning. How are they alike? How do they differ?

Both classical and operant conditioning involve learning by association. In classical conditioning, responses are involuntary and automatic; however, responses are voluntary and learned in operant conditioning. In classical conditioning, the event that drives the behavior (the stimulus) comes before the behavior; in operant conditioning, the event that drives the behavior (the consequence) comes after the behavior. Also, whereas classical conditioning involves an organism forming an association between an involuntary (reflexive) response and a stimulus, operant conditioning involves an organism forming an association between a voluntary behavior and a consequence.

Which of the following is an example of a reflex that occurs at some point in the development of a human being?

Infant sucking on a nipple

________ broke the constraints of ________, which emphasized that learning was the direct consequence of conditioning to stimuli.

Latent learning; behaviorism

What was the most important takeaway from Ivan Pavlov's experiment with dogs?

Learning can occur when a conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Which of the following is an example of a reflex?

a newborn baby knowing how to nurse

Which is an example of a positive reinforcer?

being told "nice work!" after completing your homework

In ________ the stimulus or experience occurs before the behavior and then gets paired with the behavior.

classical conditioning

Two forms of associative learning are ________ and ________.

classical conditioning; operant conditioning

Associative Learning

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

Rewarding successive approximations towards a target behavior is known as

shaping

Which component of a classically conditioned behavior automatically elicits a reaction? For example, dimming the lights will cause the eyes to dilate.

unconditioned stimulus