Psychology Exam Chapter 5

Biological preparedness

A biological readiness to learn certain associations because of their survival advantages

Cognitive maps

A learned mental image of a spatial environment that may be called on to solve problems when stimuli in the environment change

Unconditioned Response

A response that takes place in an organism whenever an unconditioned stimulus occurs

Unconditioned Stimulus

A stimulus that invariably causes an organism to respond in a specific way

Discrimination

Ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been paired with an unconditioned stimulus. (If a bell tone were the conditioned stimulus, discrimination would involve being able to tell the difference between the bell tone and other similar sounds.)

Conditioned Response

After conditioning, the response an organism produces when a conditioned stimulus is presented.

Bobo Doll experiments

After watching an adult behave aggressively toward an inflated doll, the children in Bandura's study imitated many of the aggressive acts of the adult model

Conditioned Stimulus

An originally neutral stimulus that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus and eventually produces the desired response in an organism when presented alone.

Shaping-- Dalmatian vs College student

B. F. Skinner The method requires that the subject perform behaviors that at first merely resemble the target behavior; through reinforcement, these behaviors are gradually changed or "shaped" to encourage the target behavior itself.

Instrumental behavior

Behaviors designed to operate on the environment in a way that will gain something desired or avoid something unpleasant

Extinction

Decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus. Conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Positive Reinforcer

Events whose presence increases the likelihood that ongoing behavior will reoccur

Negative Reinforcer

Events whose reduction or termination increases the likelihood that ongoing behavior will reoccur

Cognitive element of expectation

Expecting something to come after when classical conditioning. Ex: dog expects food after the bell rings

Observational Learning

Learning by observing other people's behavior

Puzzle box

Edward Lee Thorndike experiment simple wooden cage, to study how cats learn

Means-end relationship

Knowledge that the production response in a given situation will have a given effect.

Latent Learning

Learning that is not immediately reflected in a behavior change

Acquisition

- Initial stage of learning when a response is first established and gradually strengthened - How long it takes and the number of times you pair things together

Basic Principles of Classical Conditioning

-Acquisition -Extinction -Spontaneous recovery -Generalization -Discrimination

Shaping

-a method of training by which successive approximations toward a target behavior are reinforced -calculated reinforcement of a "target behavior": it uses operant conditioning principles to train a subject by rewarding proper behavior and discouraging improper behavior.

Survival (food aversion)

Conditioned avoidance of certain foods even if there is only one pairing of conditioned and unconditioned stimuli. Ex: when a flavor or food is paired with an illness, or knowing which food is poisonous.

Which produces the most consisted behavior

Fixed Interval

Habituation

Gradual reduction in responding

The four schedules of reinforcement

In operant conditioning, the rule for determining when and how often reinforcers will be delivered Fixed interval Variable Interval Fixed ration Variable ratio

The neural elements of operant condition

Pleasure centers 1. nucleus accumbens 2. medial forebrain 3. hypothalamus 4. involves dopamine Medial Forebrain bundle: pathway from midbrain to hypothalamus into nucleus accumbens, are the most susceptible to stimulation of pleasure.

Law of effect

Principle of reinforcement Thorndike's theory that behavior consistently rewarded will be "stamped in" as learned behavior, and behavior that brings about discomfort will be "stamped out"

Which produces the highest rate of behavior?

Ratio schedules- Higher rates of responding because number of rewards received is directly related to the number of responses made. Variable ratio : slot machines

Spontaneous recovery

Reappearance of the conditioned response after a rest period or period of lessened response.

Superstitious behavior

Reinforcement of accidental behavior Type of the reaction to certain situations/impulses that gets so embedded in individual's course of action that they repeat it continuously. Ex: wins lottery ticket, continues to buy ticket from same place.

Positive Punisher

Something that decreases or suppresses behavior by adding something undesirable outcome or consequence after the behavior.

Negative Punisher

Something that decreases or suppresses behavior by subtracting something desirable after the behavior.

Generalization

Tendency for the conditioned stimulus to evoke similar responses after the response has been conditioned. (If a child has been conditioned to fear a stuffed white rabbit, the child will exhibit fear of objects similar to the conditioned stimulus.)

Fixed ratio schedule

The correct response is reinforced after a fixed number of correct responses

Learning

The process by which experience or practice results in a relatively permanent change in behavior or potential behavior

Classical Conditioning

The type of learning in which a response naturally elicited by one stimulus comes to be elicited by a different, formerly neutral, stimulus

Operant conditioning

The type of learning in which behaviors are emitted (in the presence of specific stimuli) to earn rewards or avoid punishments

Which is the hardest to extinguish

Variable-ratio Intermittent reinforcement makes an instrumental conditioned response much steadier and more resistant to extinction.

Variable-ratio schedule

Varying number of correct response must occur before reinforcement is presented

Evolutionary advantage of adaptiveness

behavior which contributes directly or indirectly to an individual's survival

Fixed Interval Schedule

reinforced after fixed length of time since the last reinforcement

Variable-interval schedule

reinforced after varying lengths of time following the last reinforcement.