Unit 6 Learning

How does classical conditioning occur?

Classical conditioning occurs when an organism learns to associate a neutral stimulus which becomes a conditioned stimulus with and unconditioned response that becomes a conditioned response. After being exposed to unconditioned stimulus that causes an unconditioned response to begin with.

What is cognitive learning?

Cognitive learning is learning of mental processes and has less to do with physical learning behaviors.

Does conditioning affect emotions?

Conditioning affects emotions by helping people complete tasks and adjust behavior which can make them happier.

How does conditioning apply to practical problems?

Conditioning can be a lot like creating a habit which can help people do things every day, like drink more water, exercise or brush their teeth.

What factors and conditions influence the different kinds of learning?

Culture, location, expectations, environment, and attention can influence how well and what people learn.

How are people influenced by patterns of reward?

Different patterns of reward can influence how often and well people can perform that behavior. The best pattern of reward

How can the types of learning help people address behavioral problems?

Each type of learning can influence how people behave. Conditioning someone to learn a behavior, operant conditioning can help get rid of unwanted behaviors.

How does operant conditioning occur?

It occurs when organisms learn to associate a certain behavior with a consequence.

What is learning?

Learning is an almost permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experiential processes.

How does biology influence learning?

Organisms can only learn things that they are capable of, you can't teach a bird to throw a ball.

What does punishment do to behavior?

Punishment decreases an unwanted behavior

What are the different kinds of operant reinforcement?

There is positive reinforcement which increases a behavior with a positive stimulus, and negative reinforcement which takes away a bad stimulus and increases behavior.

Law of Effect

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

Does learning occur by imitation?

Yes, observational learning can occur through imitation of another person

Superstitious Behavior

a behavior that occurs around the same time as the desired behavior that the subject begins to associate this behavior with the desired reward

Response

a behavior that was the result of a stimulus

Robert Rescorla

a behavioral neuroscientists who tested rat's responses to stimuli and studied predictive values

Intrinsic Motivation

a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

Extrinsic Motivation

a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment

Cognitive Map

a mental representation of the layout of one's environment

Successive Approximations

a method of shaping behavior where behavior similar to the desired behavior is rewarded in order to get to the desired behavior

Schedules of Reinforcement

a pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

Stimulus Control

a phenomenon that occurs when an organism behaves one way in the presence of a stimulus and another way when it is gone

Higher-Order (second-order) Conditioning

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus is one conditioning experience is paired with a new neural stimulus, creating a second, often weaker, conditioned stimulus

Conditioned Reinforcer

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

Insight Learning

a sudden realization of a problem's solution

Biofeedback

a system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure or muscle tension

Instrumental Learning

a theory that assumes that you can teach humans things by conditioning them with consequences

Behavioral Contract

a therapeutic technique where a client signs a contract that allow for certain consequences are given for identified behavior

Phobia

a type of anxiety disorder, a strong irrational fear of something that poses no actual threat

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

Drill and Practice

a type of learning that uses disciplined and repetitious exercise to perfect a skill

Coping

alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods

Secondary Reinforcer

also known as a conditioned reinforcer

Consequences

an action or response that follows the behavior

Negative Attention-Seeking

an attempt to become the center of attention to gain validation

Punishment

an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows

Primary Reinforcer

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

Reflex

an involuntary and nearly instantaneous movement in response to a stimulus

Shaping

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

Habituate

an organism's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it

Punisher

any consequence that decreases the frequency of a preceding behavior

Operant Reinforcer

anything that increases a behavior

Emotion-Focused Coping

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to one's stress reaction

Problem-Focused Coping

attempting to alleviate stress directly, by changing the stressor or the way we interact with the stressor

Social Reinforcer

attention or praise from others to reinforce behavior

Respondent Behavior

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

Operant Behavior

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences

Token Economy

giving a reward when someone completes a desired task

Conditioned Response (CR)

in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits not response before conditioning

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

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

Acquisition

in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response

Unconditioned Response (UR)

in classical conditioning, an unlearned naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus

Operant Chamber

in operant conditioning, a chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer

Fixed Interval Schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforced a response only after a specified time has elapsed

Variable Interval Schedule

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

Variable Ratio Schedule

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

Discriminative Stimulus

in operant conditioning, a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement

Reinforcer/Reinforcement

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

Fixed Ratio Schedule

in operant conditioning, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned response to elicit similar responses

Negative Reinforcement

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

Positive Reinforcement

increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers, any stimulus that when presented after a response, strengthens the response

Observational Learning

learning by observing others, also called social learning

Associative Learning

learning that certain events occur together

Latent Learning

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

Chaining

method of teaching that connects sequences of behaviors together to form a terminal behavior

Learned Taste Aversion (Garcia Effect)

once a negative consequence (vomiting, bad taste) is associated with a food/drink the animal/person will. begin to avoid that food/drink because of a survival instinct against poison

Skinner Box

operant chamber where animals manipulate bars/levers to obtain reinforcers

Expectancy

proposes that individuals behave/act in a certain way because they are motivated to choose one behavior over another because of what they expect the end result to be

Respondent Reinforcement

reinforcement that elicits a natural bodily response

Partial (intermittent) Reinforcement

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

Continuous Reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

John Garcia

researched taste aversion in rats

Albert Bandura

studied observational learning with his Bobo Doll experiment

Ivan Pavlov

studied/coined classical conditioning with his experiment on dogs where he conditioned them to salivate at the sound of a bell

Stimulus Discrimination (CC and OC)

the ability of organisms to discriminate between similar stimuli

Self-Control

the ability to control impulses and delay short-term gratification for greater long-term rewards

Cognitive Learning

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

Extinction (CC and OC)

the diminishing of a conditioned response, occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced

Learned Helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

Stimulus Generalization (CC and OC)

the inability of organisms to discriminate between similar stimuli

External Locus of Control

the perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal control determine our fate

Internal Locus of Control

the perception that you control your own fate

Learning

the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Modeling

the process of observing and imitating another behavior

Feedback

the process of receiving input from the environment based upon the actions or output of the system

Spontaneous Recovery (CC and OC)

the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response

Desensitization

the reduction of responsiveness to a certain stimulus

Escape Learning

the subject learns a behavior that terminates an aversive stimulus

Instinctive Drift

the tendency of some animals to revert back to instinctual behaviors

Generalized Reinforcers

the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned response to elicit similar responses

Behaviorism

the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes, most research psychologists today agree that it should be objective, but not that it should not study mental processes

Omission Training (Negative Punishment)

this takes away a rewarding stimulus to decrease behavior (taking away someone's phone when they don't do their chores)

Aversive Conditioning

using unpleasant stimuli to stop unwanted behavior

Antecedents

what is happening right before the behavior occurs

Avoidance Learning

when an organism learns to avoid a behavior in order to not get an unpleasant stimulus/punishment

Vicarious Reinforcement

when watching a model do something, we have this behavior reinforced for us too