General Psychology chapter7

Associative Learning

linking two events that occur close together

Behaviorism

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

Observational Learning

learning by observing others.

Operant Chamber

(also known as a Skinner box) containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animal's rate of bar pressing or keypecking.

Latent Learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.

B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)

College English major and an aspiring writer who, seeking a new direction, entered graduate school in psychology. Skinner developed a behavioral technology that revealed principles of behavior control.

What was Pavlov's Classic Experiment

During conditioning, Pavlov presented a neutral stimulus (a tone) just before an unconditioned stimulus (food in mouth). The neutral stimulus then became a conditioned stimulus, producing a conditioned response.

Skinner Box

The box has a bar (a lever) that an animal presses—or a key (a disc) that an animal pecks—to release a reward of food or water, and a device that records these responses

Albert Bandura

The famous Bobo doll experiment children imitated the very acts they had observed and used the very words they had heard

Law of Effect

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely

Cognitive Map

a mental representation of the layout of one's environment. For example, after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it.

Higher-Order Conditioning

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one con-ditioning experience is paired with a newneutral 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 tothe light alone. (Also called second-orderconditioning.)

Learning

a releitively permanent change in an organisms behavior due to experience

Conditioned Reinforcer

a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer; also known as a secondary reinforcer

Operant Conditioning

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.

Classical Conditioning

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

Thorndike's law of effect became the basis for operant conditioning and the "behavioral technology" developed by:

a. Ivan Pavlov. b. John Garcia. c. B. F. Skinner.* d. John B. Watson.

Taste-aversion research has shown that animals develop aversions to certain tastes but not to sights or sounds. This finding supports

a. Pavlov's demonstration of generalization. b. Darwin's principle that natural selection favors traits that aid survival.* c. Watson's view that study should be limited to observable behavior. d. the early behaviorists' view that organisms can be conditioned to any stimulus.

Early behaviorists believed that for conditioning to occur, the unconditioned stimulus (US) must immediately follow the neutral stimulus (NS). demonstrated this was not always so.

a. The Little Albert experiment b. Pavlov's experiments with dogs c. Watson's behaviorism theory d. Garcia and Koelling's taste -aversion studies*

Bandura believes that modeling is not automatic. Whether a child will imitate a model depends in part on the:

a. child's family connections to the model. b. child's ability to distinguish right from wrong. c. rewards and punishments received by the model.* d. child's age in relation to that of themodel.

In Pavlov's experiments, dogs learned to salivate in response to a tone. The tone is therefore a(an)

a. conditioned stimulus.* b. unconditioned stimulus. c. neutral stimulus. d. unconditioned response.

After Watson and Rayner classically conditioned a small child named Albert to fear a white rat, the child later showed fear in response to a rabbit, a dog, and a sealskin coat. Little Albert's fear of objects resembling the rat illustrates

a. extinction. b. generalization.* c. spontaneous recovery. d. discrimination between two stimuli

The partial reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable times is a:

a. fixed - interval schedule. b. variable - interval schedule.* c. fixed - ratio schedule. d. variable - ratio schedule.

Dogs can learn to respond (by salivating, for example) to one kind of stimulus(a circle, for example) and not to another (a square). This process is an example of

a. generalization. b. discrimination.* c. acquisition. d. spontaneous recovery

Learning is defined as "a relatively permanent change in an organism's behavior due to:

a. instinct." b. mental processes." c. experience."* d. formal education."

There is considerable controversy about the effects of heavy exposure to TV programs showing violence. However, most experts agree that repeated viewing of TV violence:

a. makes all viewers significantly more aggressive. b. has little effect on viewers. c. dulls the viewer's sensitivity to violence.* d. makes viewers angry and frustrated

Rats carried passively through a maze and given no reward later ran the maze as well as rats that had received food rewards for running the maze. The rats that had learned without reinforcement demonstrate:

a. modeling. b. biological predisposition. c. shaping. d. latent learning.*

Children learn many social behaviors by imitating parents and other models. This type of learning is called:

a. observational learning.* b. reinforced learning. c. operant conditioning. d. classical conditioning.

Your dog is barking so loudly that it's making your ears ring. You clap your hands, the dog stops barking, your ears stop ringing, and you think to yourself, "I'll have to do that when he barks again." The end of the barking was for you a

a. positive reinforcer. b. negative reinforcer.* c. punishment. d. primary reinforcer.

A medieval proverb notes that "a burnt child dreads the fire." In operant conditioning, the burning would be an example of:

a. primary reinforcer. b. negative reinforcer. c. punisher.* d. positive reinforcer

Salivating in response to a tone paired with food is a (an); pressing a bar to obtain food is a (an).

a. primary reinforcer; conditioned reinforcer b. conditioned reinforcer; primary reinforcer c. operant behavior; respondent behavior d. respondent behavior; operant behavior*

One way to change behavior is to reward natural behaviors in small steps, as they get closer and closer to the desired behavior. This process is called:

a. shaping.* b. punishment. c. taste aversion. d. classical conditioning.

We now know that cognitive processe (thoughts, perceptions, and expectations) play an important role in learning. Evidence comes from studies in which rats:

a. spontaneously recover previously learned behavior. b. develop cognitive maps.* c. exhibit respondent behavior. d. generalize responses.

Parents are powerful models of behavior. They are most effective in getting their children to imitate them if:

a. their words and actions are consistent.* b. they have outgoing personalities. c. one parent works and the other stays home to care for the children d. they carefully explain why a behavior is acceptable in adults but not in children.

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

a. two responses; a response and a consequence b. two stimuli; two responses c. two stimuli; a response and a consequence * d. two responses; two stimuli

Punishment

an event that decreases the behavior it follow

Primary Reinforcer

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need.

Shaping

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

Negative Reinforcement

increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response

Respondent Behavior

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus.

Operant Behavior

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences.

Mirror Neurons

frontal lobe neurons that fire when performing certain actions or when observing another doing so. The brain's mirroring of another's action may enable imitation and empathy

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

in classical conditioning, a previously neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

in classical conditioning, a stimlulus that unconditionally - naturally and automatically - triggers a response

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Acquisition

in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.

Discrimination

in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned Response (CR)

in classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)

Unconditioned Rresponse (UR)

in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivation when food is in the mouth

Variable - Ratio Schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

Variable - Interval Schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.

Fixed - Ratio Schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses.

Fixed - Interval Schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified timehas elapsed.

Reinforcer

in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.

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

Partial (Intermittent) Reinforcement

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinctionthan does continuous reinforcement.

Continuous Reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

Extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.

Modeling

the process of observing and imitating a specific 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 elicitsimilar responses.