a systematic, relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs through experience |
learning |
a theory of learning that focuses solely on observable behaviors, discounting the imporance of mental activity such as thinking, wishing, and hoping |
behaviorism |
learning that occurs when an organism makes a connection, or an association, between two events |
associative learning |
the process of learning associations |
conditioning |
What are the two types of conditioning? |
classical and operant |
when organisms learn the association between two stimuli; as a result they learn to anticipate events |
classical conditioning |
organisms learn the association between a behavior and a consequence, such as a reward; learn to increase behaviors that are followed by rewards and decrease those that are punished |
operant conditioning |
learning that occurs through observing and imitating another's behavior |
observational learning |
learning process in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an innately meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar response |
classical conditioning |
a stimulus that produces a response without prior learning |
unconditioned stimulus (US) |
an unlearned reaction that is automatically elicited by the unconditioned stimulus |
unconditioned response (UR) |
a previously neutral stimulus that eventually elicits a conditioned response after being paired with the unconditioned stimulus |
conditioned stimulus (CS) |
the learned response to the conditioned stimulus that occurs after conditioned stimulus- unconditioned stimulus pairing |
conditioned response (CR) |
the initial learning of the connection between the unconditioned stimulus and the conditioned stimulus when these two stimuli are paired |
acquisition |
the CS and US are presented very close together in time |
contiguity |
the CS must not only precede the US closely in time, it must also serve as a reliable indicator that the US is on its way |
contingency |
the tendency of a new stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus to elicit a response that is similar to the conditioned response |
generalization (in classical conditioning) |
the process of learning to respond to certain stimuli and not others |
discrimination (in classical conditioning) |
the weakening of the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is absent |
extinction (in classical conditioning) |
the process in classical conditioning by which a conditioned response can recur after a time delay, without further conditioning |
spontaneous recovery |
the recovery of the conditioned response when the organism is placed in a novel context |
renewal |
Who coined the term 'behaviorism'? |
John B Watson |
What does classical conditioning provide an explanation of? |
fears |
What was involved in the experiment with Albert? |
conditioning a baby to fear a white rat and then a rabbit |
a classical conditioning procedure for changing the relationship between a conditioned stimulus and its conditioned response |
counterconditioning |
a form of treatment that consists of repeated pairing of a stimulus with a very unpleasant stimulus (eg electric shocks and nausea-inducing substances) |
aversive conditioning |
a decrease in the production of antibodies, which can lower a person's ability to fight disease |
immunosuppression |
a special kind of classical conditioning involving the learned association between a particular taste and nausea |
taste aversion |
decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations |
habituation |
What are classical conditioning and operant condition forms of? |
associative learning |
What does classical conditioning explain? |
how neutral stimuli become associated with unlearned, involuntary responses |
in classical conditioning, organisms learn the association between what? |
two stimuli |
Classical conditioning is a form of what? |
respondent behavior |
behavior that occurs in automatic response to a stimulus such as a nausea-producing drug, and later to a conditioned stimulus such as sweet water that was paired with the drug |
respondent behavior |
Classical conditioning is not effective in explaining what sort of behaviors? |
voluntary |
What sort of conditioning is best for explaining voluntary behaviors? |
operant |
Operant conditioning focuses on the association between what? |
behaviors and the stimuli that follows them |
a form of associative learning in which the consequences of a behavior change the probability of the behavior's occurrence |
operant conditioning or instrumental conditioning |
___ also plays a key role in operant conditioning, as it does in classical |
contingency |
Who emerged as the primary figure in operant conditioning? |
B F Skinner |
Thorndlike's law stating that behaviors followed by positive outcomes are strengthened and that behaviors followed by negative outcomes are weakened |
law of effect |
rewarding successive approximations of a desired behavior (eg, train a rat to press a bar to get food) |
shaping |
the process by which a stimulus or event (a reinforcer) following a particular behavior increases the probability that the behavior will happen again |
reinforcement |
What are the two types of reinforcement? |
positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement |
What do positive and negative reinforcement have in common? |
are experienced as pleasant increase the frequency of the behavior |
the presentation of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to increase the frequency of that behavior |
positive reinforcement |
the removal of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to increase the frequency of that behavior |
negative reinforcement |
an organism's learning that it can altogether avoid a negative stimulus by making a particular response |
avoidance learning |
Both positive and negative reinforcement involve rewarding behavior. What involves following a behavior with the addition of something? And the removal? |
positive reinforcement negative reinforcement |
an organism's learning through experience with negative stimuli that has no control over negative outcomes |
learned helplessness |
a reinforcer that is innately satisfying; one that does not take any learning on the organism's part to make it pleasurable (eg. food, water, and sexual satisfaction) |
primary reinforcer |
a reinforcer that acquires its positive value through an organism's experience; a secondary reinforcer is a learned or conditioned reinforcer (eg, getting an A on a test, or a paycheck) |
secondary reinforcer |
where behaviors are rewarded with tokens that can be exchanged later for desired rewards |
token economy |
performing a reinforced behavior in a different situation |
generalization (in operant conditioning) |
responding appropriately to stimuli that signal that a behavior will or will not be reinforced |
discrimination (in operant conditioning) |
decreases in the frequency of a behavior when the behavior is no longer reinforced |
extinction (in operant conditioning) |
when a behavior is reinforced every time it occurs |
continuous reinforcement |
when a reinforcer follows behavior only a portion of the time |
partial reinforcement |
specific patterns that determine when a behavior will be reinforced |
schedules of reinforcement |
a consequence that decreases the likelihood that a behavior will occur |
punishment |
the presentation of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to decrease the frequency of that behavior |
positive punishment |
the removal of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to decrease the frequency of that behavior |
negative punishment |
the use of operant conditioning principles to change human behavior |
applied behavior analysis or behavior modification |
What does Bandura's Model of Observational Learning consist of? |
Attention Retention Motor Reproduction Reinforcement |
unreinforced learning that is not immediately reflected in behavior |
implicit learning or latent learning |
a form of problem solving in which the organism develops a sudden insight into or understanding of a problem's solution |
insight learning |
he tendency of animals to revert to instinctive behavior that interferes with learning |
instinctive drift |
the species-specific biological predisposition to learn in certain ways but not others |
preparedness |
when an individual believes that their qualities are carved in stone and cannot change |
fixed mindset |